The Merchants of Cool

Feb 27, 2001

0h 55m

★ 7.5

How businesses market to American teenagers, and the effect they have together on popular culture.

Overview

A documentary on the marketing of pop culture to Teenagers.

Genres

Documentary

History

Music

The Merchants of Cool Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self

Douglas Rushkoff

Self

Christina Aguilera

Self

Greg Berlanti

Self

Jessica Biel

Self

Adam Carolla

Self

Fred Durst

Self

Malcolm Gladwell

Self

Carson Daly

Self

Lewis Goldstein

Shaggy 2 Dope

Self

Brian Graden

Self (archive footage)

Tom Green

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

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10.0

Information Violence

Apr 10, 2002

No overview available.

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0.0

Behind the Screens, Hollywood Goes Hypercommercial

Jan 1, 2000

Hollywood movies are rapidly becoming vehicles for the ulterior marketing and advertising motives of studios and their owners, rather than entertainment in their own right. Behind the Screens explores this trend toward "hypercommercialism" through phenomena such as product placement, tie-ins, merchandising and cross-promotions. It combines multiple examples taken directly from the movies with incisive interviews provided by film scholars, cultural critics, political economists, and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Behind the Screens presents an accessible argument designed for school and college-age audiences-- precisely the demographic most prized by both Hollywood studios and advertisers alike. It features examples drawn from movies such as Wayne's World, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Summer of Sam, and Toy Story.

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0.0

Joanne

Jan 13, 2017

Joanne is a model, a teacher, a fighter, a chameleon. But when her private semi-nude photos went public, this woman of many talents came to be simply known as 'the topless teacher'. Together with her former student, artist Simon Fujiwara, she seeks to reclaim her image through social media and branding tactics. Shifting between advertisement and portraiture, this meta-narrative on identity manages to infuse playfulness in its layered commentary on who you are and how you're seen.

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4.0

X-Rated: The Ads They Couldn't Show

Mar 10, 2005

Every year, thousands of commercials are made that never reach our TV screens, deemed too shocking to see. In order to make it onto the screen, they must clear all manner of obstacles, from fussy clients to obsessive regulators and restrictive rights issues. X-Rated takes a look at these outlawed pieces of advertising, revealing the most explicit, controversial and shocking ads never seen. These are ads that break all manner of taboos, from sex, violence, blasphemy, homosexuality, animal cruelty, rapping pensioners, swearing children, suicidal toys and naked athletes to Kylie in her undies on a bucking bronco. Amongst the contributors are advertising executives, producers and censors. The programme also takes a look at the embarrassing world of western celebrities in Japanese ads.

9.0

A Associação

Jan 5, 2021

No overview available.

0.0

Café au Lait

Invalid Date

No overview available.

7.2

Helvetica

Sep 12, 2007

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

7.0

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

Jul 14, 2004

This film examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news, and provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangerous impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

5.3

The Good Night

Jan 25, 2007

Gary, a musician, is trapped in an unhappy relationship with his live-in lover, Dora. He becomes enthralled with a beautiful seductress who enters his dreams, and tries to control his dream-state so he can spend more and more time with her. When Gary sees his mystery woman's face on a bus billboard, he discovers she is real, and fate brings him an opportunity to meet her.

7.7

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Sep 26, 2008

Boogie Man is a comprehensive look at political strategist, racist, and former Republican National Convention Committee chairman, Lee Atwater, who reinvigorated the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. He mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush and played a key role in the elections of Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

0.0

The Choice - The Risks of Web Democracy

Jun 7, 2018

Italy’s biggest political party, the Five Star Movement, promotes direct democracy through internet voting. Five Star Movement uses a digital platform named Rousseau, that allows Movement’s members to vote online and express their opinion on various issues. But who governs this data?

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0.0

Un tout petit pays

Dec 3, 2019

No overview available.

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6.0

Juppé, forcément...

Jun 1, 1995

No overview available.

7.0

Irresistible: Why We Can't Stop Eating

Nov 25, 2024

Chris van Tulleken takes a personal view at why ultra-processed foods are so irresistible and how they have come to dominate food culture.

4.9

Spice World

Dec 18, 1997

World famous pop group the Spice Girls zip around London in their luxurious double decker tour bus having various adventures and performing for their fans.

8.2

Greetings From Planet Smurf

Jun 8, 2018

The Smurfs were created in 1958 by the Belgian comic author Peyo (Pierre Culliford, 1928-1992) and they are one of Belgium's most recognized exports. From Brussels to Los Angeles, via Dubai, a journey into the tiny world of the famous little blue people, from the story of the creation of the original comic to the account of their huge global commercial exploitation.

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2.0

The Perfect Selfie

Jan 27, 2017

Teenager Olivia Oras has 20,000 Instagram followers. The documentary follows a year of her life.

8.5

Pitch People

Oct 22, 1999

The art of the "pitch" and its role in society, as told by many of the pitch industry's greatest salesmen, including Arnold Morris, Sandy Mason, Lester Morris, Wally Nash and Ed McMahon as well as a look at the Popeil family.

0.0

A Imagem da Música - Os Anos de Influência da MTV Brasil

May 3, 2017

The documentary goes through the 23 years of MTV Brazil, taking stock from the avant-garde to the ostracism of the broadcaster that was the main guide for the musical, cultural and social formation of young people in the 90's and 2000's with interviews and testimonials from former VJ's and artists that emerged and became popular in the country because of the channel.