Law & crime films
Movies inspired by and based on true stories.
View trailers, reviews, films, and facts about law and crime films. Discover the facts vs. fiction, history vs. Hollywood.
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Most films included are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). They have at least a 70% rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or above. Enjoy the best true story films about law and crime!
Lady Justice
​True crime films and legal dramas are among the most abundant films in the based on a true story category. "Truth is stranger than fiction" is well-demonstrated in many of these movies, which also give us a glimpse into legal systems that may affect us even today. The concept of Lady Justice is known in countries around the globe, dating back to ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman goddesses, representing truth, order, law, custom, morality, and justice. She is blindfolded because justice ought to be unbiased. Some law and crime films explore the gap between what is and what ought to be in the legal landscape. Enjoy these true crime thrillers, courtroom dramas, and portrayals of real cases in civil and criminal law. ​​​
64 films inspired by and based on true stories about law and crime in alphabetical order:​
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Heavenly Creatures (1994)
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​On the Basis of Sex (2018)​​
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Quiz Show (1994)
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PG-13 | Drama, Law | In 1980s Woburn, Massachusetts, personal injury lawyer Jan Schlichtmann takes on an environmental pollution case at the risk of bankrupting his firm and career. The case is against two companies responsible for several children being diagnosed with leukemia, due to contamination of the town's water supply.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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A Civil Action book by Jonathan Harr
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Case Summary - Anne Anderson et al. v. W.R. Grace & Co. et al. from Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
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Considering A Civil Action by Jerome P. Facher
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Jan Schlichtmann, Three elements of our legal experience video on YouTube
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"A Civil Action" Attorney Jan Schlichtmann at Barry School of Law, April 2013 on YouTube. Jan begins speaking about the film and his law career at 3:21.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | During a vacation in the Australian outback, a Seventh Day Adventist family's baby goes missing from their tent, and the mother witnesses a dingo (a wild Australian dog) running from the tent. She must fight to prove her innocence when public opinion and rumors turn against her, and she is accused of murder.
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The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain ("The Dingo Trial") by Professor Douglas O. Linder at UMKC School of Law
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Dingo baby case reopened 24 years after Meryl Streep film 2012 article in The Guardian
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Azaria Chamberlain inquest 2012 article from National Museum Australia
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R | Drama, Law & Crime, Thriller | Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee and Liutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway are military lawyers who defend two U.S. Marines charged with killing another Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Can You Handle the True Story Behind Aaron Sorkin's 'A Few Good Men'? article by Shreejit Nair on Collider
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AFI Catalog of Feature Films: A Few Good Men (1992) History "Castle Rock Entertainment was sued for $10 million in damages by several Marines involved in the incident that inspired the film, as reported in a 26 Feb 1994 The Times (London) brief. The marines claimed they never gave permission for filmmakers to use their story, and pointed out key details that were taken from real life, including the stuffing of a poisoned rag down the victim’s throat. A Castle Rock executive responded that the lawsuit was without merit. . . . Less than two months after The Times (London) brief, a 7 Apr 1994 HR item reported that David V. Cox, one of the marines who had been acquitted and honorably discharged, was found shot to death on 2 Apr 1994."
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The Real Story Behind ‘A Few Good Men’ article on Film School Rejects
All the Money in the World (2017)
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Mystery, Survival, Thriller | In 1973 Rome, Italy, the grandson of billionaire Jean Paul Getty, the richest person in the world, is kidnapped, but Getty refuses to pay the ransom, despite desperate pleas from his grandson's mother and his adviser.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts: ​
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J. Paul Getty Biography - biography.com
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Kidnapped grandson of Getty billionaire found - history.com
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Getty Museum endowed - history.com
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History of Getty - getty.edu
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‘All the Money in the World’ Angers Family of Getty Kidnappers - article on Variety
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A Billion-Dollar Heir and a Sliced-Off Ear: The Brutal True Story of J. Paul Getty III's Kidnapping - article on People
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R | Biography, Drama, History, Law | In 1839, the slave ship Amistad sets sail from Cuba to America, when the slaves aboard revolt. The courts in the USA decide whether those captured are slaves or free.
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Facts:
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The Amistad revolt at Cornell Law
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R | Action, Comedy, True Crime, Drama | Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA in 1978 and soon finds himself involved with the Medellín Cartel and in charge of one of the biggest drug trafficking and covert CIA operations in the history of the United States.
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TV-MA | Biography, Comedy, True Crime, Drama | Frank is a beloved Long Island school superintendent, whom a student reporter reveals is involved in the largest public school embezzlement scheme in American history.
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Facts:
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History vs Hollywood article
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History vs Hollywood video on YouTube
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Bad Education (2019 Film) - plot, cast, production, historical accuracy, themes, etc. on Wikipedia
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The Bad Superintendent: To the Harvard-obsessed parents of Roslyn, Frank Tassone appeared to be the ideal schools chief. Then $8 million went missing." - New York magazine article by Robert Kolker, the article on which the movie was based
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PG | Biography, Drama, Law, Romance | Dido Elizabeth Belle is the illegitimate biracial daughter of a Royal Navy captain, raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord William Murray, Earl of Mansfield and Lord Chief Justice. Belle helps influence her uncle's role in the end of slavery in England when he presides over the Zong case, involving a shipping company's drowning of over a hundred slaves.
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Facts:
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Dido Belle painting and historical facts about Dido and her father, great-uncle, and mother on the Scone Palace website​
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Movie inspired by a painting, 'Belle' is a true story article by Maria Puente in USA TODAY
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Taking a few liberties with the real story of 'Belle' article by Maria Puente in USA TODAY
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Behind 'Belle': An 18th Century Portrait Ahead Of Its Time brief interview with director Amma Asante on NPR
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Belle: was British history really this black and white? article on The Guardian
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Belle: The True Story of Dido Belle book by Paula Byrne on Amazon
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Dido Elizabeth Belle biography on enslaved.org
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The Zong Massacre (1781) article about Gregson v. Gilbert by Ian Bernard on Black Past
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The story of the Zong slave ship: a mass murder masquerading as an insurance claim article on The Guardian
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A New Look at the Zong Case of 1783 article about Gregson v. Gilbert by Trevor Burnard in OpenEdition Journals
PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law & Crime | In the 1950s to 1960s, Walter Keane achieves wild success and fame as an artist of portraits featuring big-eyed children, despite his wife, Margaret, being the real painter who receives no recognition while living with her controlling husband.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Margaret Keane biography on Biography.com and Wikipedia
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Keane Eyes Gallery - Margaret Keane McGuire's art gallery
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Video interview with Walter Keane circa 1964 - interview in which he describes the motivation behind painting the big eyes in "his" paintings
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Margaret Keane quotes with sources on Wikiquote
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"I'd have to lock the door of the paint room. He wouldn't allow anyone in. I was like a prisoner." - Margaret Keane
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"Gradually it dawned on me that I was painting my own inner emotions. Those children were asking: 'Why are we here? What is life all about? Why is there sadness and injustice?' All those deep questions. Those children were sad because they didn't have the answers. They were searching." - Margaret Keane
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama | The film dramatizes the rise and fall of George Jung, who quickly transformed from an ordinary American to the world's premiere importer of cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel in the 1970s.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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History vs Hollywood: The True Story of George Jung by Sunshine Behavioral Health
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TV-14 | Biography, True Crime, Drama | Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the infamous American robbery duo, embarked on a 21-month crime spree in 1932, robbing gas stations, restaurants, and small-town banks in Texas, Oklahoma, and other states.
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Trailer and Reviews: IMDb
Facts:
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History of Bonnie and Clyde from fbi.gov
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Bonnie and Clyde on Britannica.com
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10 Things You May Not Know About Bonnie and Clyde on History.com
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY | MAY 23 Police kill famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde on History.com
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Bonnie Wasn't Clyde's Only Female Accomplice on History.com
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PG-13 | Drama, History, Law, Thriller | During the Cold War, an American lawyer, James Donovan, is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for an American spy plane pilot whom the Soviets captured.
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The True Story of 'Bridge of Spies' on Biography.com
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama | In 1959, New York City novelist Truman Capote reads about the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a true story novel about the case. Capote develops a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, while interviewing him in jail and on death row for his research to write his novel, In Cold Blood.
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‘Capote’ vs. Capote: History, Hollywood and the mainstream media by Phil Gibbons on Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
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Philip Seymour Hoffman: The actor talks about Truman Capote’s moral ambiguities and supposed lies interview by Meghan O-Rourke on Slate
Captain Phillips (2013)
PG-13 | Action, Biography, True Crime, Disaster & Survival, Drama, Thriller | In 2009, Somali pirates hijack the U.S. Maersk Alabama and hold its crew and captain hostage in the first American cargo ship hijacking in two hundred years.
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
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PG-13 | Biography, True Crime, Drama | Frank Abagnale, Jr. uses his skill of deception and forgery to work as a doctor, a lawyer, and a co-pilot across the USA before he is even 18 years old, while FBI agent Carl is determined to track down the young con man.
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Frank Abagnale | Catch Me If You Can | Talks at Google on YouTube
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Did the stuff in Catch Me If You Can actually happen? from Based on a True Story Podcast on YouTube
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Episode 42: Catch Me If You Can on History by Hollywood podcast
R | True Crime, Drama, History | "A normal Friday service at a fast food restaurant becomes interrupted by a police officer who claims an employee stole from a customer, but something more sinister is going on."
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Interviews and live video footage of the true story on YouTube
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Acquittal in hoax call that led to sex assault NBC News article published October 31, 2006
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Ex-McDonald's worker wins lawsuit over strip search CTV News article published October 6, 2007
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Strip search legal analysis article by Roy A. Ginsburg of the law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP
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McDonald Corporation v. Ogborn (2009) opinion of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky
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TV-14 | Biography, Drama, History | In 1991, Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States Supreme Court is called into question when Anita Hill, his former employee, testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually harassed her.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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October 11, 1991: Anita Hill Full Opening Statement from C-SPAN on YouTube
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‘Confirmation’ Fact Check: What HBO’s Anita Hill Movie Got Right and Wrong article on The Wrap
PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Law, Mystery | A courageous attorney risks his career and family by bringing an environmental lawsuit against a large and powerful chemical corporation connected to unexplained deaths and pollution in a rural town.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts: ​
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How Accurate Is Dark Waters? on Looper
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Mark and Ruffalo and Rob Bilott Share Story Behind "Dark Waters" | The View video interview on YouTube
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‘Dark Waters’ star Mark Ruffalo, lawyer Rob Bilott tell the true story behind film | Nightline video on YouTube
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The Devil We Know - full investigative documentary on DuPont, Teflon, and the tragic health effects on workers and members of the town
Detroit (2017)
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R | True Crime, Drama, History, Survival, Thriller | A violent police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest race riots in United States history.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt includes World War II historian David Irving in her book about Holocaust deniers, but Irving accuses her of libel, and the legal burden of proof is placed on the accused.
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History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier book by Deborah E. Lipstadt
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R | Biography, Drama, Law | Erin Brockovich is an unemployed, single mother when she convinces her attorney Ed Masry to hire her at his law firm, where she discovers records indicating a Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) cover-up of contaminated water and related illnesses in residents of a California community.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Thriller | "CIA operative Valerie Plame discovers her identity is allegedly leaked by the government as payback for an op-ed article her husband wrote criticizing the Bush administration."
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Fair Game (2010 film) - film overview, plot, cast, production, critical reception, historical accuracy, etc. on Wikipedia
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Valerie Plame biography on Wikipedia
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Joseph C. Wilson biography on Wikipedia
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This Day in History (September 29): Reporter Judith Miller released from prison on History.com
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The Long, Complicated History of Political Leaks - article in which The Plame Affair is included (see section # 5) on History.com​
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Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson Interview by movieweb on YouTube
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, History, Sport | Eccentric millionaire John du Pont invites U.S. Olympic wrestling champions and brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz to move to his estate and form "Team Foxcatcher" to train for the 1988 Olympics, but John's self-destructive behavior threatens tragedy for everyone.
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Romance | Oscar Grant is a 22-year-old Bay Area resident and black man who is trying to live a clean life and support his girlfriend and daughter. He takes the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train with family and friends to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve, but upon returning to a station in Oakland, he becomes involved in a police altercation.
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PG-13 | Drama, History, Law & Crime | A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of black activist and murder victim Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.
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PG-13 | Animals, Biography, True Crime, Drama | Scientist Dian Fossey comes to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas and later fights to protect them from exploitation.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Gorillas in the Mist book by Dian Fossey detailing her thirteen years in a remote rain forest with the gorillas
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Dian Fossey biography on gorillafund.org, Biography.com, and New World Encyclopedia
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Secrets in the Mist: Murder on the Mountain (Full Episode) | Dian Fossey by National Geographic on YouTube
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Gaining the Trust of the Gorillas | Dian Fossey: Secrets in the Mist by National Geographic on YouTube
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Dian Fossey Narrates Her Life With Gorillas in This Vintage Footage | National Geographic on YouTube
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Mountain Gorillas' Survival: Dian Fossey’s Legacy Lives On | Short Film Showcase by National Geographic on YouTube
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Dian Fossey Quotes
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"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future." - Dian Fossey
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"The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow." - Dian Fossey
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"The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people." - Dian Fossey
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R | Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller | In Christchurch, New Zealand, 1954, when teenage girls Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme become friends, their parents become concerned that their intense relationship is unhealthy, but the girls plan to take revenge and run away to prevent their separation.
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Facts:
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Two teenagers face charge of killing woman article in Star-Sun, 23 August 1954, p.1 as reproduced on Christchurch City Council Libraries website
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Anne Perry, killer turned crime writer, dies aged 84 article in The Guardian​
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Quotes and interview with director Peter Jackson on the Heavenly Creatures website
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Parker/Hulme Case on the Heavenly Creatures website with biographies of Pauline and Juliet, diary excerpts, murder and trial facts, and more
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama | Inspired by the true story of the Italian family that owned the Gucci fashion empire, this drama depicts the ambitious Patrizia Reggiani as the outsider who marries into the Gucci family and the reckless downward spiral that ensues with the family.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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How Patrizia Reggiani Plotted to Kill Her Ex-Husband Maurizio Gucci on Biography.com
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Patrizia Reggiani biography on Wikipedia
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House of Gucci True Story: Everything The Movie Leaves Out on Screen Rant
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R | Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller | An idealistic, young FBI agent goes undercover to infiltrate a white supremacist group that's plotting an act of terror.
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Q&A with Mike German, former FBI agent and inspiration for the film, Imperium article by Nick Schwellenbach on Medium
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Unrated | Biography, Drama, History, Law & Crime | In 1925 Tennessee, a science teacher is on trial for the state crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution instead of creationism in public school, and two of the USA's top lawyers argue their cases.
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Scopes v. State full text opinion filed January 17, 1927, available on casetext.com
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"The Scopes trial, formally The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. . .The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant." - Wikipedia
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R | True Crime, Drama | In 1998, the small town of Jasper, Texas attracts national attention when three white supremacists brutally murder a black man. The town's first black mayor and the town's white sheriff try to control racial tension as the town swarms with reporters, racists, and Black Panthers.
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R | True Crime, Drama, History, Law, Thriller | New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison leads the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, facing government resistance when he doubts conventional thinking about the murder.
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JFK: Historical Fact/Historical Film journal article by Robert A. Rosenstone
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JFK: Sifting Fact from Fiction - How Accurate is Oliver Stone's Controversial Thriller? on Based on a True Story Podcast YouTube video
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PG-13 | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Law | In 1980s Alabama, Bryan Stevenson seeks to defend those wrongly accused or too impoverished to afford legal representation. In one of his first cases, his client Walter McMillian is sentenced to death for murder, despite evidence proving his innocence.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts: ​
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Bryan Stevenson biography on Wikipedia and Equal Justice Initiative
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Equal Justice Initiative founded by Bryan Stevenson
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McMillian v. State. 570 So. 2d 1285 (1990). Walter McMILLIAN v. STATE on Justia
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McMillian v. State. 616 So. 2d 933 (1993). Walter McMILLIAN v. STATE on Justia
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McMillian v. Johnson, 878 F. Supp. 1473 (M.D. Ala. 1995) on Justia
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We need to talk about an injustice - TED Talk by Bryan Stevenson on YouTube
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"I've come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." - Bryan Stevenson​
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"It's interesting, this question of the death penalty. In many ways, we've been taught to think that the real question is, do people deserve to die for the crimes they've committed? And that's a very sensible question. But there's another way of thinking about where we are in our identity. The other way of thinking about it is not, do people deserve to die for the crimes they commit, but do we deserve to kill?" - Bryan Stevenson
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"Ultimately, you judge the character of a society, not by how they treat their rich and the powerful and the privileged, but by how they treat the poor, the condemned, the incarcerated." - Bryan Stevenson
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Bryan Stevenson quotes with sources on Wikiquote
R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Journalism, Mystery & Thriller | In 1996 California, journalist Gary Webb begins investigating the CIA's role in the 1980s operation to smuggle crack cocaine to Los Angeles to obtain money and weapons for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
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Facts:
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Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
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R | True Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Romance, Western | In 1920s Oklahoma, the Osage Nation tribe becomes wealthy by discovering oil on their land, but tribe members are serially murdered in what became known as the Reign of Terror, attracting an FBI investigation.
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Trailers and Reviews:
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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI book by David Grann on Amazon
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How Much of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Actually True? by The National Archives Foundation
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What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Killers of the Flower Moon article by Ellin Stein on Slate
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William Hale’s Brutal Role in the Osage Murders by Greg Daugherty on History.com
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Unrated | Drama, Law | A woman fights a group trying to evict her whole neighborhood and give it to a corporation, taking her case to the Supreme Court.
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‘Little Pink House’: The real story behind the movie by Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press on The Mercury News
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Eminent Domain Abuse - facts from the official movie website
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KELO V. NEW LONDON (04-108) 545 U.S. 469 (2005) - read the full text U.S. Supreme Court opinion, concurrence, and dissents on the Cornell Law School website
PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law, Romance | In 1958 Virginia, Richard and Mildred Loving are an interracial couple who get married and whose subsequent arrest for interracial marriage leads to a legal battle culminating in a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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What’s Fact and Fiction in Jeff Nichols’s Film about the Lovings by Arica L. Coleman on History News Network
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Loving v. Virginia by history.com editors
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Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) full text opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court. Primary holding: "A unanimous Court struck down state laws banning marriage between individuals of different races, holding that these anti-miscegenation statutes violated both the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment."
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PG-13 | True Crime, Drama, History, Law | In 1940s Connecticut, Thurgood Marshall is a young lawyer working for the NAACP in one of his most challenging, career-defining cases. Marshall and a Jewish lawyer face racism and anti-Semitism while defending a Black chauffer, Joseph Spell, against his wealthy socialite boss, Eleanor Strubing, who accuses Spell of sexual assault and attempted murder.
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The True Story Behind “Marshall” by Lorraine Boissoneault in Smithsonian Magazine
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Article on Variety: Director Reginald Hudlin said, "It's a thriller, not a biopic, about an early case of one of the greatest lawyers in American history."
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R | True Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller | In Mississippi, a group of civil rights activists disappears, prompting two F.B.I. agents to investigate, but the agents clash over their strategies when dealing with a refusal to cooperate from both the small town's local authorities and its Black community.
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Coming soon!
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PG | Drama, Law | Norma Rae is a young, single mother who works at a local textile mill for low pay with long hours and poor working conditions, but she is inspired to unionize, despite opposition from her family, fiancé, and employer.
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History by Hollywood podcast Episode 63: Norma Rae Part 1
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AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Norma Rae History article on the film project, which originated when producers read a 1973 New York Times Magazine article by Henry P. Leifermann about cotton mill worker Crystal Lee Jordan, who worked at the J.P. Stevens plant in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and became involved in the union in 1973.
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Crystal Lee: A Woman of Inheritance book by Henry P. Leifermann on goodreads.com
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R | Drama, Law & Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Journalism | Inspired by the true story of reporter Judith Miller, who writes a story outing covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. The characters' names are changed in this fictionalized version of the story, which dramatizes the reporter's refusal to reveal her source and its legal repercussions.
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According to the caption in the opening credits, this is a work of fiction inspired by a true story. Contrast this film with Fair Game (2010), a film based on the true story and told from the perspectives of the former CIA agent and her husband.
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Judith Miller in The First Amendment Encyclopedia on Middle Tennessee State University
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This Day in History: September Reporter Judith Miller released from prison on History.com
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Judith Miller biography on Wikipedia. Excerpt:
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"On October 1, 2004, federal Judge Thomas F. Hogan found Miller in contempt of court for refusing to appear before a federal grand jury, which was investigating who had leaked to reporters the fact that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative."
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Government's Memorandum in Opposition to Judith Miller's Motion for Reconsideration or a Supplemental Order Designating a Particular Place of Confinement Case No.: 04-MS-407 (D.D.C.) (Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan) - on The United States Department of Justice website
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Miller v. United States - Opposition Docket Nos. 04-1507 and 04-1508, brief for the United States in opposition to a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - on The United States Department of Justice website
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R | Biography, Drama, Law & Crime, Thriller, War | In 2003, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun becomes a whistleblower, leaking information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation after she receives a work memo from the United States seeking Britain's aid in gathering information on U.N. Security Council members to blackmail them to vote for the invasion of Iraq.
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Trailers and Reviews:
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IMDb
Facts:
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'Official Secrets': The True Story Behind the Keira Knightley Movie article on Newsweek
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Iraq war whistleblower Katharine Gun: ‘Truth always matters’ by Tim Adams on The Guardian
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | This true story film dramatizes the early career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she is a new attorney and mother struggling in her fight for equal rights. She takes on a groundbreaking tax case with her husband, which changes the way the courts view gender discrimination.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg biography on History.com
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Ruther Bader Ginsburg biography on Biography.com
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg quotes with sources on wikiquote​
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"Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow." - RBG, interview with Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio (2 May 2002). Also quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022.
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"I tell law students…if you are going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, you have a skill—very much like a plumber. But if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself…something that makes life a little better for people less fortunate than you." RBG, On law. Source: The Mercury News, February 6, 2017. As quoted in: Li Cohen (September 19, 2022): Ruth Bader Ginsburg's iconic quotes on law, love and the fight for equality. In: CBS News. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022.
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer who is sued by Monsanto, one of the largest agricultural corporations, for allegedly using their patented seeds after their GMOs interfere with his crops.
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​Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Monsanto vs Schmeiser full text case decision from Canadian Supreme Court​
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‘Percy vs. Goliath’ Is a Cautionary Tale of Corporate Control in Agriculture interview by Lynne Curry on Civil Eats
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PG-13 | Drama, Law | Lawyer Andrew Beckett hides his homosexuality and HIV condition from his Philadelphia law firm, but he is fired when his secret is exposed, and he hires a homophobic lawyer, the only attorney who will represent him in a discrimination lawsuit.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Coming soon!
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Law | A young lawyer, Richard Goodwin, investigates the game show "Twenty One" and show winner Charles Van Doren to examine the claim that winners were given the answers.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties book by Richard N. Goodwin on Amazon. The content that inspired the film takes up a small part of the book.
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All the Answers 2008 article by Charles Van Doren in The New Yorker
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1950s Game Shows Were LAWLESS video on YouTube
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Title 47 U.S. Code § 509 - Prohibited practices in contests of knowledge, skill, or chance - the 1960 amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 on the Cornell Law School website. The amendment made rigging game shows unlawful.
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Herbert Stempel discusses being "prepped" for "Twenty-One" - video interview on YouTube
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Herbert Stempel discusses his loss on "Twenty-One" - video interview on YouTube
R | Biography, True Crime, Drama | Richard Jewell, a security guard, is praised as a hero for saving lives during a bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, but then his life unravels when the FBI investigates him as a suspect.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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History vs Hollywood article
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History vs Hollywood video on YouTube
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Richard Jewell: The 2002 60 Minutes interview video on YouTube
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R | True Crime, Drama, History | On New Year's Day 1923, a racist lynch mob storms the small, peaceful town of Rosewood, Florida, an almost completely African-American community.
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Trailers and Reviews:
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Rotten Tomatoes
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IMDb
Facts:
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Coming soon!
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Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
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R | Comedy, Drama, Mystery | An affluent New York City couple finds their lives touched and intruded upon by a mysterious young black man who claims to be a friend of their Ivy League children and who is never quite who he says he is.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The story behind Six Degrees of Separation’s other star article by Claude Solnik on Show Business Weekly
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Journalism, Thriller | Edward Snowden is a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaves his job to leak classified information about the NSA tracking all forms of digital communication from not only foreign governments and terrorist groups but also ordinary Americans. In so doing, Snowden becomes a traitor to some, a hero to others, and a fugitive from the law.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Citzenfour (2014): the documentary on which the film is based
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Glenn Greenwald: Why privacy matters 2014 TED Talk
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How we take back the internet | Edward Snowden 2014 TED Talk
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
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Unrated | Biography, True Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War | Sophie Scholl was a student activist in Germany's anti-Nazi resistance group, The White Rose. She and fellow members distribute anti-war and anti-Nazi propapanda in Munich, leading to their arrest in 1943. The film re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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This Day in History: February 18 - Nazis arrest White Rose resistance leaders on History.com
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History of Student Protests on History.com (White Rose Society of Nazi Germany is #3)
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Sophie Scholl biography on Wikipedia
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White Rose on Wikipedia
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Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Tanja B. Spitzer on The National WW2 Museum website
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Sophie Scholl on Wikiquote
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"Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did." - Sophie Scholl, statement to the Volksgerichtshof [People's Court] of Judge Roland Freisler (February 21, 1943).
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"How can we expect a righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause?"- Sophie Scholl, as quoted in Seeking Peace: Notes and Conversations Along the Way (1998) by Johann Christoph Arnold, p. 155
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, Journalism | In 2001, journalists at The Boston Globe investigate and uncover the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the Roman Catholic Church.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
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PG | Biography, True Crime, Drama, History | After the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon faces impeachment and conviction, becoming paranoid and reclusive in his web of lies during his last six months in The White House.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts: Coming soon!​
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R | Biography, Drama, Sport, Survival | Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, but a few people aide in his fight to prove his innocence.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Separating Truth From Fiction in 'The Hurricane' by Selwyn Raab in The New York Times
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Rubin Carter biography on Biography.com
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Rubin Carter on The National Registry of Exonerations
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Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" song on YouTube with lyrics
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Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom autobiography by Rubin Carter and Ken Klonsky on Amazon
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"To every human being in prison, guilty or innocent, I would say that everything depends upon attitude. The physical body is the vehicle in which we traverse life, but our attitude is our steering wheel. In prison, people find themselves at the bottom of human existence. What a prisoner must say is, OK, whatever I’ve done in life has led me to where I am today. Therefore, if I want to get out of prison and stay out, I’ve got to turn around and go back the other way."- Rubin Carter, Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom
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R | Biography, Drama, Journalism, Law, Thriller | Lowell Bergman is the producer of the TV show 60 Minutes who pursues a story from Jeffrey Wigand, a research chemist reluctant to share his knowledge of Big Tobacco's industry secrets as the corporations and courts stand in the way of exposing the truth.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The original 1996 interview "Jeffrey Wigand: The big tobacco whistleblower" on the show 60 Minutes on YouTube, the inspiration for the film
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TV-14 | True Crime, Drama, History | In Laramie, Wyoming, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard is murdered, after which an eight-member theater troupe prepares for the stage version of "The Laramie Project." They travel onsite, recording interviews with the town's citizens over two years. The film uses actual words from the transcripts.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Coming soon!
R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller, War | Based on the NY Times best-selling memoir Guantánamo Diary, this drama portrays Mohamedou Ould Slahi's struggle for freedom from Guantanamo, where he was detained without any charges against him, with the aid of his two U.S. defense attorneys.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Guantánamo Diary book by Mohamedou Ould Slahi on Amazon
The Old Man and the Gun (2018)
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PG-13 | Biography, Comedy, True Crime, Drama, Romance | Forrest Tucker escapes from San Quentin at the age of 70, followed by committing a series of armed robberies that confound authorities and enchant the public due to his polite nature, and he meets a woman who loves him despite his profession.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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R | Biography, Drama, History, Law & Crime, Political Drama, Political Thriller | FBI agent and senate staffer Daniel J. Jones leads an exhaustive investigation into the CIA's use of torture on suspected terrorists in its post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The True Story Behind the Movie The Report article by Madeleine Carlisle in Time magazine
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What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in The Report article by Matthew Phelan on Slate
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | In 2003, Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that became known as Facebook. Six years later, when he is one of the youngest billionaires in the world, Zuckerberg is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the former co-founder. Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook book by Ben Mezrich on Amazon
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Mark Zuckerberg biography on Biography.com and Wikipedia
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February 4 (This Day in History) on History.com
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama | Kathryn Bolkovac is a Nebraska police officer who works as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia, where she outs the United Nations for a sex trafficking coverup.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Kathryn Bolkovac biography on Wikipedia
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A 'Whistleblower' Made Into A Hollywood Heroine - article and interview with Kathryn Bolkovac on NPR
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Madeleine Reese biography on Wikipedia
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R | Biography, True Crime, Drama, History, Western | Wyatt Earp is a lawman who plans to retire in Tombstone, Arizona by starting a business with his brothers, but when they become targets of the Cowboy gang, they and Wyatt's best friend, Doc Holliday, arm themselves to restore order to a lawless land.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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6 Things You Should Know About Wyatt Earp article by Elizabeth Nix on History.com
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Wyatt Earp article by History.com editors
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Doc Holliday article on Biography.com
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Tombstone: Hollywood Showdown with the Author of Tombstone the Book! video from Based on a True Story Podcast on YouTube
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Episode 26: Tombstone on History by Hollywood podcast
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​History Buffs: Tombstone video on YouTube
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R | Biography, Drama, Law | The tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sentenced to death in Texas for killing his three children even after scientific evidence and expert testimony bolstered his claims of innocence.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Cameron Todd Willingham: Wrongfully Convicted . . . on The Innocence Project
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The Prosecutor and the Snitch 2014 article on The Marshall Project
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R | True Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller | In the 1960s and 1970s, San Francisco cartoonist Robert Graysmith, a crime reporter, and the cops become obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorizes Northern California.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Top 10 Things Zodiac Got Factually Right and Wrong on WatchMojo
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Robert Graysmith's nonfiction books Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002)
More to Come!
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Are there more true crime and legal films based on a true story to include here? Any more facts vs. fiction? Reach out and contact me. I am open to respectful questions, comments, positive feedback, and constructive feedback about this website. Thank you, and enjoy the movies!
