Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the third of the six films, "Yesterday's Tomorrows," filmmaker Barry Levinson delves into what we, as Americans, thought the future would be as we traveled through the 20th century. Houses and cars of the future, the promise of technology, and the other hopes and dreams of the early part of the century gave way to the fears and anxieties brought about by the atomic age and the Hollywood disaster films that followed. Soon we wondered if we could control technology, or if it would control us. This film is by turns light-hearted and thoughtful, and rare historical and archival film, produced by government and industry, alternates with on-screen interviews with people as diverse as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, cartoonist Matt Groening, futurist Alvin Toffler, comedienne Phyllis Diller, and actor Martin Mull.
Directed by Barry Levinson
Your score–
Not scoredImages
Cast
Related
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
The Untold History Of The United States
Los Angeles Plays Itself
A Decade Under the Influence
Inside Deep Throat
Visions of Light
9/11: Inside the President's War Room
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
The War Room
Red Army
Fuck
Room 237
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
The War on Democracy
Naqoyqatsi
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper