The Light Bulb Conspiracy
Nov 30, 2010 | IMDB 7.6
75 min Watch NowDocumentary
Once upon a time... consumer goods were built to last. Then, in the 1920’s, a group of businessmen realized that the longer their product lasted, the less money they made, thus Planned Obsolescence was born, and manufacturers have been engineering products to fail ever since. Combining investigative research and rare archive footage with analysis by those working on ways to save both the economy and the environment, this documentary charts the creation of ‘engineering to fail’, its rise to prominence and its recent fall from grace.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Codes of Gender
Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
From the West
UFO Diaries
Pitch People
Nicola: Mussels, Kebab & Coca Cola
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Helvetica
Miyazaki, Spirit of Nature
Fuel
El camino
Generation Sputnik
From Us To Me / Vom Wir zum Ich
Tax Me If You Can
The Flickering Flame
Modern Business Machines
The Altruism Revolution
Médicaments : Les Profits de la pénurie
General Hercules
What Would Jesus Buy?
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Codes of Gender
IMDB 6.5 | Oct , 2010
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
IMDB 7.7 | Jul , 2019
An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.From the West
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2016
A film essay investigating the question of what “the West” means beyond the cardinal direction: a model of society inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germany’s postwar history and architecture. The narrator shifts among reflections on modern architecture and property relations, detailed scenes from childhood, and a passed-down memory of a “hemmed-in West Germany,” recalling the years of her parents’ membership in a 1970s communist splinter group.UFO Diaries
IMDB 8 | Jun , 1995
They are around us. Everywhere. People talk about it, movies and TV shows talk about it, but what are UFOs? What do they want? And the most important question: what do they do in our daily life?Pitch People
IMDB 10 | Oct , 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.Nicola: Mussels, Kebab & Coca Cola
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2021
Antonio, a filmmaker running out of ideas, has a vision of the city's patron, St. Nicholas, who asks him to make a film about his true story. So Antonio sets out on a journey in the myth's footsteps, crossing all the countries where the saint is revered. Turkey, Belgium, Holland, France, Russia, all the way to the United States, where he is better known as Santa Claus, i.e., Santa Claus. A journey in the midst of a melting pot of popular cultures and traditions, with all their contradictions, a journey through colors and religious rigor mixed together giving life to a sacred figure who is, at the same time, a consumerist model.Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
IMDB 7.2 | Apr , 2005
A documentary about the Enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business practices, and how they led to its fall.Helvetica
IMDB 7.2 | Sep , 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.Miyazaki, Spirit of Nature
IMDB 8 | May , 2025
A documentary that focuses on Hayao Miyazaki’s deep connection to nature and the environmental themes expressed through his films.Fuel
IMDB 7.2 | Nov , 2008
Record high oil prices, global warming, and an insatiable demand for energy: these issues define our generation. The film exposes shocking connections between the auto industry, the oil industry, and the government, while exploring alternative energies such as solar, wind, electricity, and non-food-based biofuels.El camino
IMDB 10 | Sep , 2015
Generation Sputnik
IMDB 6.5 | Dec , 2016
From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.From Us To Me / Vom Wir zum Ich
IMDB 8 | Nov , 1988
This first co-production between the GDR and Great Britain is intended to contribute to an understanding of the situation and attitudes of millions of working people in opposing social orders. Using the example of shipyard workers, fishermen, the brigade and family of a trade union active cook and unemployed person of various ages and professions in Newcastle on the one hand and a brigade of crane operators of the Warnowwerft and fishermen of the Warnemünde cooperative on the other hand, insights into the way of life and attitudes of people of our time are to be conveyed.Tax Me If You Can
IMDB 8 | Dec , 2022
Welcome to the enchanted world of capital evasion. The keys to fortune: knowing how to hide, find accomplices and take advantage of all the flaws. The rest of us mere mortals are left with austerity policies and the joy of living in an increasingly unequal world... How far will predators go in this widespread plundering of our economies? How is the political staff complicit? How are we braking? Between Paris and Geneva, Washington and Luxembourg, from Société Générale to HSBC, via Mac Donald, Ikea and Google ... we will track down the circuits of tax evasion and decipher the mechanisms of tax fraud.The Flickering Flame
IMDB 5.7 | Dec , 1996
Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.Modern Business Machines
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1947
An intriguing historical film, demonstrating many expensive business machines found in modern offices of the era, including electromatic and Chinese typewriters and machines for filming, stenciling, folding and lithographing. Among the machines shown are Diebold's Flofilm microfiche recorder, the Fileomatic Desk, the Pierce Electronic Wire Recorder, the Soundscriber with plastic disk, the Elliott Stencil Machine with Graphotype machine, the Davidson Duplicator for litho printing, the Davidson Folder for letters, the Varityper, the Autotypist Perforator, the IBM Chinese character typewriter, and speed typist Stella Pajunas, using an IBM Model A Electric Typewriter, who set a one-hour typing speed record in 1946 of 140 net five-stroke words per minute.The Altruism Revolution
IMDB 8 | Jun , 2015
For generations, we have believed that man is driven by ruthless self-interest. But over the past decade, this idea has been increasingly challenged. New research from fields as diverse as political science, psychology, sociology and experimental economics is forcing us to rethink human actions and motivation. ‘The Altruism Revolution’ examines the scientific reasons behind the call for a more caring society.Médicaments : Les Profits de la pénurie
IMDB 7 | Apr , 2022
Injectable anti-inflammatories, anticoagulants, anti-infectives, anticancer drugs and even cotton wools are in short supply. Like many others in France, the pharmacy at Rennes hospital is constantly on the edge. Over the past two decades, shortages of medicines and health products have increased twentyfold in Europe. With almost all laboratories affected, practitioners and health establishments are forced to juggle with quotas to make up for shortages. Some even have to prioritise patients in terms of access to treatments, according to scales established by the laboratories. In the Netherlands, hospital pharmacies have resigned themselves to manufacturing the molecules they lack.General Hercules
IMDB 0 | Jun , 2022
In June 1893, European prospectors unlawfully took claim to ‘The Golden Mile’ on Aboriginal land. In little over a hundred years the natural landscape has been transformed into the industrial hellscape of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. As incumbent Mayor John Bowler starts to campaign for a second term, independent prospector John ‘General Hercules’ Katahanas decides to run against him on an anti-corruption ticket. What starts out as a quirky David-vs-Goliath political battle, unravels into a portrait of a man, a town and a country sent mad by the timeless cycles of exploitation, racism and greed.What Would Jesus Buy?
IMDB 5.9 | Mar , 2007
A serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!