Best of Enemies

Jul 31, 2015

1h 27m

★ 7.2

Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.

Overview

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Tremolo Productions

Media Ranch

Motto Pictures

Magnolia Pictures

Participant

ITVS

JustFilms / Ford Foundation

Best of Enemies Trailers

Cast

Self

Gore Vidal

Self

William F. Buckley Jr.

Voice of William F. Buckley

Kelsey Grammer

Voice of Gore Vidal

John Lithgow

Self

Dick Cavett

Self

Christopher Hitchens

Self (archival)

Noam Chomsky

Self

Reid Buckley

Self

Andrew Sullivan

Self

Todd Gitlin

Self

Brooke Gladstone

Self (archival)

Paul Newman

IDFA and Canadian filmmaker Peter Wintonick had a close relationship for decades. He was a hard worker and often far from home, visiting festivals around the world. In 2013, he died after a short illness. His daughter Mira was left behind with a whole lot of questions, and a box full of videotapes that Wintonick shot for his Utopia project. She resolved to investigate what sort of film he envisaged, and to complete it for him.

8.2

Lady Gaga, a Star Is Born

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Eccentric and provocative, Lady Gaga is undoubtedly the greatest pop diva. The one who is actually called Stefani Germanotta is a brilliant artist, capable of all the excesses, but also a wounded woman, marked by a terrible drama. An artist who had to fight and overcome many humiliations to reach the top. Today, Lady Gaga is an undisputed music star with 230 million records sold, and a film icon thanks to the film "A Star is Born" and her role in "House of Gucci". In less than 15 years, she has become one of the most influential women in the world. To better understand her, those who have known her since her early days reveal her secrets and tell the story behind the scenes of the films and songs that have built her legend.

7.1

Fahrenheit 9/11

Jun 25, 2004

Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

7.0

An Inconvenient Truth

May 24, 2006

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

5.8

Appointment in Tokyo

Dec 7, 1945

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

5.5

Anwar: The Untold Story

May 18, 2023

It follows the story of Anwar's fight against corruption while in government between the years of 1993 and 1998, which led to his eventual imprisonment and the birth of the reformasi movement.

7.6

JFK

Dec 20, 1991

Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

0.0

The Psychedelic Experience

Jan 23, 1965

Experimental movie, where a man comes home and experiences LSD. His kaleidoscopic visions follow, with readings inspired by the Tibethan Book of the Dead.

7.9

Ben-Hur

Nov 18, 1959

In 26 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.

0.0

The American Question

Oct 29, 2024

An 8-year journey into divided America, The American Question examines the insidious roots of polarization and distrust through past the past and present, revealing how communities can restore trust in each other to unite our country.

10.0

Virgins

Jun 20, 2025

Seville, 1968. Honorio, Rafa, and Vicente are about to turn 20 and dream of escaping their routine. After watching a NO-DO newsreel about the tourism boom on the Costa del Sol and its air of freedom, they decide to travel to Torremolinos to change their lives and, above all, lose their virginity with Swedish women. Armed with the necessary excuses and a loaded Seat 600, they embark on a journey that will challenge everything they thought they knew until then.

8.0

Mirror

Mar 7, 1975

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

0.0

Pouvoir Oublier

May 30, 2025

Pouvoir Oublier is a political documentary first constructed from the words of the speakers whose lives changed on the tragic day of May 10, 1972 in Sept-Îles. Their word will be juxtaposed with archival material from the events, some of which are unpublished, which will reflect the collective euphoria in which Sept-Îles and all of Quebec were then bathed.

7.1

Love & Mercy

May 29, 2015

In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.

6.7

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

Oct 27, 2006

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment

0.0

Habouman's Promise

Apr 16, 2025

No overview available.

6.0

Anna Goldin, the Last Witch

Aug 1, 1991

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

6.3

Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats

Sep 6, 1985

Jack Kerouac's life is examined through interviews with his contemporaries and friends including Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William S. Burroughs. The film also employs dramatic recreations of Kerouac's life beginning with his early childhood.

7.1

Love to Love You, Donna Summer

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The extraordinary story of disco queen Donna Summer through a rich archive of unpublished film excerpts, home video, photographs, artwork, writings, personal audio and other recordings that span the life of one of the most iconic performers ever to shake a room to its timbers. From her early career with Giorgio Moroder in Germany, to later years more focused on spirituality and family life as a shelter from troubles associated with both notoriety and intimate wounds, her story is all the more special for being told in the first person – both singular and plural.

3.8

Montgomery Clift

Jan 1, 1983

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.