Latest news with #Tate–LaBianca
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This True Crime Documentary Is A Top Movie On Netflix Right Now
'Chaos: The Manson Murders' is currently the third most popular movie on Netflix, according to the platform's public ranking system. Directed by Academy Award winner Errol Morris, the 96-minute documentary is an adaptation of the 2019 book 'CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties.' The film premiered on the streaming service on March 7. As its title suggests, the movie explores the infamous 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders and various theories around the killing spree, including a governmental conspiracy. Read on for more trending movies of the moment across streaming services, including Hulu, Max, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. And if you want to stay informed about all things streaming, subscribe to the Streamline newsletter. The most popular movie on Max at the moment is the 2024 horror film 'Heretic,' which began streaming exclusively on the platform on March 7. Starring Hugh Grant, the movie tells the story of a diabolical man's deadly encounter with two young Mormon missionaries, played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. Topher Grace also appears as a church elder. 'Picture This' premiered on Amazon Prime Video on March 6. The British rom-com is an adaptation of a 2024 Australian film called 'Five Blind Dates' and follows a young photographer who is told by a spiritual guru that she will find true love in her next five dates. 'Bridgerton' actor Simone Ashley and Hero Fiennes Tiffin star alongside Phil Dunster, Anoushka Chadha, Luke Fetherston, Sindhu Vee and Nikesh Patel. The 2024 sci-fi drama 'Omni Loop' is currently available for streaming on Hulu following a limited theatrical release in September. Mary-Louise Parker plays a quantum physics textbook author who enters a time loop after learning she has only one week left to live. Ayo Edebiri also appears in the film as a research assistant enlisted to help the protagonist work through this time travel mystery. 'Rumours,' a 2024 comedy horror film, is streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime as of March 3. Starring Cate Blanchett, the movie follows G7 world leaders who meet to discuss a global crisis but get lost in the woods, where they encounter surreal beings like reanimated bog bodies and a giant brain. Cue the political satire. The Reviews Of 'With Love, Meghan' Are Scathing. But They're Missing This Blatantly Obvious Point. 'Picture This' Doesn't Work As A Comedy Or Romance This Genre Almost Got The Oscar Recognition It Deserved
Los Angeles Times
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Errol Morris' new Charles Manson documentary presents alternative theories about killings
One of the prevailing theories around Charles Manson is that the infamous cult leader had intended to incite a race war by orchestrating his so-called family's killing spree in the 1960s. But Errol Morris casts doubts on that narrative in his new documentary, 'Chaos: The Manson Murders,' out now on Netflix. Based on the book by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring, Morris' film presents alternative theories surrounding the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders — including how Manson may have had links to government programs related to mind control and brainwashing. Featuring music by Manson, 'Chaos' presents these alternative takes primarily through interviews with O'Neill, Manson case prosecutor Stephen Kay and former Manson associate Bobby Beausoleil. The documentary also includes archival interviews with Manson and his followers. The film challenges the accuracy of (and the motivations behind) the 'Helter Skelter' theory presented by lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in the Tate-LaBianca trial. Through separate interviews, both O'Neill and Beausoleil offer different theories about how and why the Manson-directed killings could have happened. Here's a breakdown of the alternative theories presented in 'Chaos: The Manson Murders.' Manson possibly had links to secret government mind-control programs While acknowledging that there are still some loose threads to this theory, O'Neill suggests that Manson possibly had connections to secret government programs researching mind control and brainwashing, such as the CIA's project MKUltra. According to O'Neill, Manson's time as a parolee in the Bay Area coincided with the time the government was conducting research into the effects of drugs such as LSD on individuals' mental states. During that time, Manson and his followers frequented the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic for treatment as well as to meet with his parole officer Roger Smith. Patients of the clinic were reportedly used as research subjects for these mind control studies. O'Neill also explains that psychiatrist Louis Jolyon 'Jolly' West, who is known to have ties to the MKUltra project, was conducting research on brainwashing in the Haight-Ashbury area at that time. Although he acknowledges there is no proof that Manson and West definitively crossed paths, O'Neill points out that the two men were within each other's orbit while Manson was gaining followers whom some could describe as 'brainwashed' at a time when the government was researching brainwashing. O'Neill also believes Manson having ties to these government research programs could explain Smith's leniency on Manson despite his breaking rules that should have jeopardized his parole. The attempt to pin the killings on the Black Panthers could have been personal or a government conspiracy Among the facts known about the 1969 killings is that words written in the victims' blood were left on various surfaces at the crime scenes. These words — including 'pigs,' 'rise' and 'Helter Skelter' — helped build the prosecution's case that Manson had intended to incite a race war. According to the documentary, around the time of the murders, Manson believed the Black Panthers were going to retaliate against him for killing one of its members. (Manson had shot Bernard 'Lotsapoppa' Crowe, who survived the encounter and was not a member of the Black Panthers, in July 1969. The Tate–LaBianca murders occurred in August.) Alternatively, O'Neill explains that secret government counterintelligence programs at the time were intent on discrediting left-wing political movements such as the Black Panthers. Manson was possibly just motivated by paranoia Beausoleil, a former Manson associate who was convicted of killing Gary Hinman for a drug deal gone bad, believes that Manson's motivation behind orchestrating the 1969 killing spree is much more simple. He suggests Manson urged his acolytes to commit these severe crimes because of his paranoia. According to Beausoleil, Manson probably intended to use these killings to keep his followers in line. (The Hinman killing is also cited as a motive for the Tate-LaBianca murders. It has been suggested that Manson orchestrated the subsequent killings in order to make it seem like all three incidents were connected.)
