Documentaries

[El Diablo]

lapoker posted these recently and requested they be posted here. I'm a huge fan of documentaries, so let's kick things off here w/ lapoker's recent documentaries list:

some of these have probably been discussed before, but...

cocaine cowboys - chronicles the cocaine trafficking boom in miami during the 70s/80s. features interviews with the two biggest transporters and one of the top enforcers. exposes a number of key figures who are largely unknown and dispells the myth that pablo escobar was the top dog in the business. a compelling mix of news footage and interviews. this was the best of the bunch - really awesome.

dark days - follows a group of homeless who live in an abandoned, underground railroad tunnel in new york. they have "houses" and electricity etc. in their little world. this sounds like it would be interesting, but for whatever reason it was boring. i only made it halfway through.

mayor of the sunset strip - biography of music scenester rodney bingenheimer, the first dj to play blondie, van halen, duran duran, coldplay and hundreds of other big bands. he's kind of like the forrest gump of the music world as he has befriended everyone from bowie to cher to gwen stefani. an interesting look at a weird dude. i had high hopes for this one, and was reasonably satisfied. lots of interviews and original footage.

dig! - follows the rise(?) and fall of two bands - the dandy warhols and the brian jonestown massacre. it's billed as being a comparison between the two frontmen - courtney taylor and anton newcombe, but taylor is so uninteresting that most of the footage follows necombe as he creates trainwrecks at every opportunity. though he is compared to dylan and lennon and plays over 80 instruments, his addictions and mental health problems leave him nothing more than tragic. the film was shot over seven years and cut from 1500 hours of film. i enjoyed it.

slasher - john landis directs this look at a traveling car salesman who is employed by dealers in need of immediate inventory reduction. in the film, the slasher travels to memphis with his entourage to rescue a dealership . though it was well done, the characters failed to grab me, which is surprising because i generally find good salesmen to be intriguing. worth a watch.

stevie - during his time in college, steve james (who directed hoop dreams), became a Big Brother to stevie, a kid growing up in poor, white, rural illinois. ten years after they lost touch, james returns to find out what has become of stevie. with little going for him, stevie has been in and out of trouble with the law and has a life that is sad at best. the film takes quite a turn as during filming, stevie is accused of sexually abusing a young girl. though completely disturbing, this is one of the more powerful films i've seen in years. i'm not even sure i enjoyed it, but james is so good at making documentaries and such an amazingly compassionate guy, that i somehow feel better for having watched it.

the poet and the con - a guy documents the parallels between his life and the life of his criminal uncle. i don't even feel like writing any more about it - it sucked.

[[censored]]

I really enjoyed The Fog of War which is about former secretary of Defense Robert Mcnamara. It gave a interesting historical account but I thought the best parts were the words of wisdom Mcnamara himself provides as the film moves along.

Mr. Conservative : Barry Goldwater (HBO) was also one that I enjoyed and learned from. If you are a conservative or enjoy politics I think this would be worth seeking out

[ChicagoTroy]

Baghdad ER on HBO was quite good.

Hookers on the Point is excellent. I learned that whatever changes, the gaaaaaame remaaaains the saaaaaame.

[El Diablo]

[censored],

The Fog of War is by Errol Morris. He is one of my favorite documentary filmmakers.

Here are three other of his films (I think he has 8) that I really liked. I look forward to seeing the rest of them

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. - about an electric chair inventor who denies the Holocaust happened.

The Thin Blue Line - About a police murder and a guy wrongfully convicted for it.

Vernon, Florida - Can't describe it. Wacky people.

Some other of the many documentaries I love:

Crumb - about a crazy comic book writer/artist.

Rank - professional bullriding circuit

Murderball - wheelchair rugby. intense.

Spellbound - spelling bee

Word Wars - scrabble

Cowboy del Amor - about an old guy who sets up American guys w/ Mexican brides

That's just a few. Happy to elaborate on any of them, but I really enjoyed all of them. They all followed the same pattern of focusing on the stories of a few key participants in these worlds.

[NajdorfDefense]

The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris - got a man released from Death Row. Doesn't get better than that.

Pumping Iron. Gov. Arnold v Lou Ferrigno and a look at the bodybuilding world circa 1976.

Hoop Dreams. Probably the best documentary of the 1990s. It is an unbelievably good film.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19941021/REVIEWS/410210301

[El Diablo]

CT: A bunch of those hooker/pimp documentaries on HBO are great. American Pimp is another documentary on that topic that's pretty entertaining.

ND: Pumping Iron and Hoop Dreams, two great picks.

[glen]

I am Trying to Break your Heart - about the making of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Great Documentary, even if one is not a fan of Wilco. Examines a unique situation of an excellent record that gets dropped by the label due to concerns of its sales potential with regard to money the label had already spent. The second disc is more for fans and includes excellent concert and behind the scenes music footage.

When We Were Kings - Ali/Foreman, Rumble in the Jungle - on espn classics frequently, but nonetheless one of my favorite documentaries of all time.

[octopi]

I just saw something on the news last night about The Bridge which is about people committing suicide off the Golden Gate bridge over the course of a year. It stirred controversy for several reasons, and I think I'm going to catch it. The filmmaker used four cameras at two locations to film, and then afterwards, talked to the families about the person who jumped. It looks like it's still making the rounds in art house theatres, but has anyone seen it?

[Frinkenstein]

Hoop dreams is easily my favorite documentary and one of my favorite films of all time.

From wikipedia:
[ QUOTE ]
Hoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James. It follows the story of two Chicago, Illinois high school students and their dream of becoming professional basketball players. Originally intended to be a 30-minute short produced for the Public Broadcasting Service, it eventually led to 5 years of filming and 250 hours of footage. It premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Despite its length (171 minutes) and unlikely commercial genre, it received high critical and popular acclaim. It was on more critics top ten lists than any other film that year, including Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, and Quiz Show.

The film follows William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers who are recruited by St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominantly white high school with an outstanding basketball program. Taking 90-minute commutes to school, enduring long and difficult workouts and practices, and acclimating to a foreign social environment, Gates and Agee struggle to improve their athletic skills in a job market with heavy competition. Along the way, their families celebrate their successes and support each other during times of hardship.

The film raises a number of issues concerning race, class, economic division, education and values in contemporary America. It also offers one of the most intimate views of inner-city life to be captured on film. Yet it is also the human story of two young men, their two families and their community, and the joys and struggles they live through over a period of five years.


[/ QUOTE ]

[econophile]

El D,

I recommend "Gates of Heaven" as your next Errol Morris documentary. It's pretty amazing.

[shaundeeb]

Mail order wife is hilarious how sad the guys are, they could be any 2 guys from 2+2.

[stealyourface]

Dope Sick Love about heroin addicts in NYC is a little dated but entertaining.

Also there was a good documentary about Rikers island prison but i can't remember the name.

[XXXNoahXXX]

I found Rize (Dave LaChapelle) a documentary about Clowning/Krumping dance styles to be real interesting.

Obviously Inconvenient Truth was good.

[Georgia Avenue]

Grey Gardens: 60s doc about these two crazy old wasps ladies (mother and daughter) on Cape Cod living in a crumbling old mansion that's overgrown with weeds. One of the first docs to acknowledge and address the impact a filmmaker has on his subjects.

Of course, Grizzlyman does this more explicitly, as do most Wener Herzog docs.

[Razor]

I enjoyed the following

51 Birch Street - Documentary filmmaker Doug Block didn't plan on doing a documentary on his parents. However, within months of his mother's sudden death, his father marries his former secretary and Block realizes his parent's marriage may not have been as good as he thought it was.

In the Realms of the Unreal - Fascinating documentary about Henry Darger, a janitor who lived a poor, solitary life. At the end of his life his landlord discovered a 15,000 illustrated novel entitled "In the Realms of the Unreal" in his room. Dakota Fanning narrated. In the Realms of the Unreal (http://www.realmsoftheunreal.com/index.html)

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine - A look at Kasparov's match against Deep Blue from his perspective. The documentary deals with Kasparov's suspicion that human intervention was involved and the affect it had on him and the match.

Tarnation - Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother. Probably a bit to disturbing to say I enjoyed this, but it was interesting viewing.

[UMTerp]

I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard great things about No Driection Home: Bob Dylan http://imdb.com/title/tt0367555/. A documentary about Dylan directed by Scorsese - what more could you want?

Hoop Dreams is my personal favorite doc as well. It's probably the only documentary I've watched several times, and every time I get through it, I think the same thing - "I can't believe that movie is 3.5 hours long." It just flows so well, and is really easy to get immersed in and sit through.

The only other recommedation I can think of off the top of my head is Dust to Glory http://imdb.com/title/tt0386423/, an entertaining film about the Baja 1000, an annual off-road race held in Mexico. The scenery and camerawork are particularly top-notch. A well-put-together piece for such a low-budget movie.

[econophile]

American Dream (imdb link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099028/)) is a great documentary about a labor strike at a Minnesota meat packing plant. I was impressed with how well the film shows the different parties affected by the strike: the workers and their families, the townspeople, the management, and the union negotiators; and manages also to paint higly personal individual portraits.

[snagglepuss]

the smartest guys in the room - enron scandal. solidly made. entertaining. helps explain a lot of the scandal to a lot of people who really have no idea of what happened at all.

the kid stays in the picture - highly entertaining 'documentary' about the life of famous producer robert evans. i really, really enjoyed this film. it was fast and engaging. narrated by evans of course, who does an amazing job.

[wet work]

El D,
I seem to remember you mentioning being a fan of The Flaming Lips. I think there's a documentary called Fearless Freaks, if you haven't seen it/heard of it you may be interested in checking it out.


I've been wanting to see Cocaine Cowboys for a while now seems like it would be really good.

I actually own 20% of a documentary about Ramblin' Jack Elliot and a few other old musicians called Pioneer Troubadours. The project is kind of still unfinished and my involvement is only financial but hopefully the guys doing it will get their act together and finish the movie. At this point I'm kind of doubtful it'll ever be finished (hippies....) but they're good people and I'm holding out hope it'll happen eventually.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]
I just saw something on the news last night about The Bridge which is about people committing suicide off the Golden Gate bridge over the course of a year. It stirred controversy for several reasons, and I think I'm going to catch it. The filmmaker used four cameras at two locations to film, and then afterwards, talked to the families about the person who jumped. It looks like it's still making the rounds in art house theatres, but has anyone seen it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Recent thread. (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=7466652&an=&page=0&vc=1)

Still haven't seen it yet.

[Claunchy]

My favorite Errol Morris documentary is Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. It's basically all talking-heads interviews and old stock footage, but it tells the story of 4 different weird, eccentric people. Thematically it's about what human existence is like. Good stuff.

Also, most HBO documentaries are typically very solid. One that stands out for me was a couple years back called Small Town Ecstasy. It was done by the same guy who did Capturing the Friedmans, and it's about this dad who parties and does drugs with his kids. Messed-up stuff.

[The DaveR]

The Michael Apted 7 Up series.

[jbrent33]

Be Here to Love Me about singer-songwriter Townes Van Zant is one of my favorite music documentaries.

He was a really troubled guy from an affluent family who walked away and became basicly a vagabond musician. Many critics agree he was one of the great songwriters of our time. He was given electro shock therapy for depression and it ended up erasing most of his childhood memories. A fascinating story.
Trailer (http://www.townesthemovie.com/trailer_large.html)

[turnipmonster]

hopefully bdk3clash will chime in, he's the documentary master. a good one about andy goldsworthy, one of my favorite artists, is rivers and tides (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307385/).

goldsworthy makes sculptures and other things out of things he finds while exploring nature. he also does some installations. here's a black hole with leaves:

http://www.msubillings.edu/art/images/Art%20History/Andy_Goldsworthy_Rowan_Leaves_with_Hole.jpg

[The DaveR]

Also very good was Capturing the Friedmans. Particularly since that was a huge bit of local news for me when I was growing up.

[wet work]

My Best Fiend- documentary about Klaus Kinsky by Werner Herzog.

Crumb is an excellent recommendation too.

[samjjones]

Many find them cloying, but I greatly enjoy Ken Burns' films, particularly The Civil War.

Another that deserves mention is Lost In La Mancha, which is about Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp's quixotic journey to film a Don Quixote movie.

[private joker]

Two of the best ones that haven't yet been mentioned are:

The Times of Harvey Milk -- a terrific and very moving look at the controversial gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated. I cried.

Startup.com -- I defy anyone to find a better exploration of the dot-com boom and bust.

[El Diablo]

Noah: I thought Rize was visually great and enjoyed the dancing, but as a documentary I thought it was pretty bad in terms of creating a compelling story. I wouldn't recommend it.

Claunchy: Small Town Ecstasy was crazy, highly recommend it. Yeah, I try to watch all those HBO documentaries.

syf: Dope Sick Love was such a downer. I recommend it, but pretty sad stuff.

[TiK]

[ QUOTE ]

Spellbound - spelling bee
Word Wars - scrabble

[/ QUOTE ]

Your mentioning these reminded me of Wordplay, focusing on the annual crossword puzzle tournament founded by Will Shortz, crossword editor of the New York Times. The documentary is interspersed with interviews of puzzlemakers, and puzzle doers (some pretty entertaining clips including Bill Clinton and Jon Stewart).

[DonkeyKongSr]

[ QUOTE ]
dig! - follows the rise(?) and fall of two bands - the dandy warhols and the brian jonestown massacre. it's billed as being a comparison between the two frontmen - courtney taylor and anton newcombe, but taylor is so uninteresting that most of the footage follows necombe as he creates trainwrecks at every opportunity. though he is compared to dylan and lennon and plays over 80 instruments, his addictions and mental health problems leave him nothing more than tragic. the film was shot over seven years and cut from 1500 hours of film. i enjoyed it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dig! is excellent. I watched it on a flight to London a little over a year ago. It was the most interesting of the 5 or 6 movies I watched on those flights. The fact that it spans such a long period of time allows it to tell a really interesting story of the contrasts of these two bands struggles and successes from near the very beginning of their existences.

[cobrakai111]

[ QUOTE ]
The Michael Apted 7 Up series.

[/ QUOTE ]

I recently read about this and it sounded like a really interesting idea. Can I start viewing this from any movie or do I need to start from the beginning to really get it?

[El Diablo]

TiK,

I thought Wordplay was OK, but largely becasue I find the subject matter so interesting. Overall I was pretty disappointed and don't think it's nearly as good as those two.

[suzzer99]

American Experience on PBS is probably my favorite show right now. The pieces they did on The Quiz Show scandal, and on Fidel Castro's story were absolutely incredible. I've like almost everything else they've done. I would suggest anyone into documentaries put it on their season pass.

Also History Viewpoint is a British series has some pretty good stuff. There's one I found moving called "The Germans We Kept" about German POWs that stayed and helped rebuild Britain after the war.

A lot of new history has come out in the last 5-10 years with the Soviet Union opening their files. Discovery Channel (I think) had a documentary called Russian Roulette about this incident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Alexandrovich_Arkhipov) that will curl your hair. Apparently 4 Russian subs were patrolling around the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis--in horrid living conditions, with tactical nukes, and very vague orders about when they were allowed to fire. There were a few confrontations where we were literally a bad gesture away from WW-III. The US had no idea until a few years ago that these subs were nuclear armed.

Once every few weeks or so I try to scan through every show on DirectTV (A-Z) looking for interesting stuff. Otherwise it's just too hard to know what's out there with all the channels. It takes a few hours to do.

[[censored]]

[ QUOTE ]
Also very good was Capturing the Friedmans. Particularly since that was a huge bit of local news for me when I was growing up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't believe I forgot about this one. A great documentary that caused me to feel a wide range of emotions from sympathy, to disgust, and confusion.

I highly recommend this one.

[TiK]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought Wordplay was OK, but largely becasue I find the subject matter so interesting. Overall I was pretty disappointed and don't think it's nearly as good as those two.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

[suzzer99]

Holy crap I just realized no one's mentioned Endless Summer yet. One of my favorite films--documentary or not. The stuff in Africa where they surf with some of the locals and become the first people to surf a pristine beach are highlights.

[snagglepuss]

i have only seen a bit of it, but a good friend always recommended American Movie

Plot : A hapless amateur filmmaker struggles to produce his latest horror film, "Coven."

[danzasmack]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also very good was Capturing the Friedmans. Particularly since that was a huge bit of local news for me when I was growing up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't believe I forgot about this one. A great documentary that caused me to feel a wide range of emotions from sympathy, to disgust, and confusion.

I highly recommend this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah this immediatly came to mind for me too. The eldest son really sells me on the father being guilty. He is probably the worst actor in the world and obviously faking a lot of what he says. I wonder what happened to his career after that documentary came out.

[El Diablo]

suzzer,

Riding Giants is another one about surfing that I really liked.

[ChicagoTroy]

I was being a little sarcastic on the Hookers on the Point thing. It's one of those so-bad-it's-good things to me, but doesn't belong alongside Pumping Iron or many of the others mentioned. American Pimp was legitimately well done IMO.

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
suzzer,

Riding Giants is another one about surfing that I really liked.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you seen Endless Summer? Old doccumentary following two surfers going around the world.

[TiK]

[ QUOTE ]

Also there was a good documentary about Rikers island prison but i can't remember the name.

[/ QUOTE ]

Was it Lock-up: The Prisoners of Rikers Island?

[BukNaked36]

[ QUOTE ]
I really enjoyed The Fog of War which is about former secretary of Defense Robert Mcnamara. It gave a interesting historical account but I thought the best parts were the words of wisdom Mcnamara himself provides as the film moves along.


[/ QUOTE ]

I found Fog of War absolutely fascinating. You're listening to one of the leaders of the US talk about being on the edge of total nuclear war 3 times and only escaping because they were lucky.

Somehow you always feel the guys at the top know more than you. It's scary to realize they don't.

[Razor]

[ QUOTE ]
Riding Giants is another one about surfing that I really liked.

[/ QUOTE ]

I enjoyed Step Into Liquid as well.

[The DaveR]

The Fog of War is a great movie. I'm amazed still at the moral compromises that McNamara is willing to accept in himself.

[TiK]

I saw one titled The Cats of Mirikitani this past Tribeca Film Festival. I'm not going to do the description justice, so from the website:

[ QUOTE ]
Eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy's painful past. An intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing powers of friendship and art, this documentary won the Audience Award at its premiere in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

[/ QUOTE ]

Apparently, the filmmaker initially intended the film to chronicle four seasons in the life of a homeless NYC artist, until 9/11 happened and she ended up taking the guy in, at which point she learns his history (i.e. his being in an internment camp, his having his American passport revoked, etc.). It was very moving. Probably more so for me being that I'm Japanese-American. But I recommend it to all.

[MusashiStyle]

Grizzly Man has some depth. It was interesting to see that someone with basically an "unsuccessful" life could do something original, defining himself. Even if he was incredibly stupid in some ways.

[criminaldave]

There was a "100 best" countdown on documentaries about a year ago in the UK. After it they showed "Touching The Void", a documentary film telling the story of two mountaineers who got in to difficulties up some *big* mountain in a snowstorm, with one of them breaking a leg.

film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379557/)

book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touching-Void-Joe-Simpson/dp/0099771012)

Truly remarkable

[jrbick]

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco -- pretty cool film whether or not you're a fan of Wilco's music. An interesting glimpse into the lives of working musicians. Filmed durring the recording of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." Also chronicles the corporate fiasco that had the band dropping their label and signing a new one mid-production.


Comedian -- Kick a film that documents Jerry Seinfeld's return to stand-up post-sitcom. At the same time, documents a 'rookie' comedian working for a big break. Pretty intriguing.

[SomethingClever]

[ QUOTE ]
i have only seen a bit of it, but a good friend always recommended American Movie



[/ QUOTE ]

I can verify that this movie is remarkable.

[bwana devil]

[ QUOTE ]
Also very good was Capturing the Friedmans . Particularly since that was a huge bit of local news for me when I was growing up.

[/ QUOTE ]

an excellent movie. by the time it was over, i wasnt sure what to believe, was confused but was sure i felt sorry for most everyone in the film. and those kids were still likable. what conflicting feelings.

the movie doesnt try and present any answers which is what a great documentary of this type does.

if youve never seen a movie about a child-abusing clown, i highly recommend this.

[alebron]

The Comedian follows Jerry Seinfeld as he creates a whole new standup act from scratch after retiring his old act on the I'm Telling You For The Last Time HBO special. Also follows Orny Adams, a journeyman comic trying to make it big. Interviews of many famous and not-so-famous comedians abound, it captures the craft of standup better than anything else I've seen.

[MikeyPatriot]

7 Up Series as mentioned is great. You probably don't need to watch all of them as they show clips from all the prior shows. Girlfriend and I watched up to 42 a few months ago. Extremely interesting.

Marjoe is the story of a former child evangelist. His parents had him preaching (and even marrying couples) as a 3 year old boy. When his father left him and his mother in his teens, he quit and ran off with some hippies. The film documents his life in his twenties after he started preaching again so he can make money. He is getting out of the business again and exposes evangelists for what they are - scam artists.

I had more, but some friends walked in. Might post later.

[thatpfunk]

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000GNOSGS.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V61056792_.jpg

really interesting from a music fan's perspective and quite sad. on the dvd there are some cool extras including him meeting the woman he was obsessed with for 20 years. not my favorite documentary of all time but something well worth seeing.

[odellthurman]

I also love documentaries and watch as many as I can. Here are some good documentaries that I don't believe have been mentioned:

One Day in September - Outstanding look at the 1972 Olympic hostage situation involving Israeli athletes.

4 Little Girls - Spike Lee film about the 60's bombing of a black church in Alabama.

Paradise Lost - Very good crime documentary about the West Memphis Three - boys arrested for murdering children. There is also a Paradise Lost II that gives updates, but it's not as good. It is worth watching if you really like the first one.

Last Days - Focuses on a handful of Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust.

Into the Arms of Strangers - This looks at the Kindertransport, where Jewish children during WWII were taken to escape the Holocause and live with English families.

Also, Capturing the Friedmans has been mentioned a couple of times, and it is unbelievably fascinating. You should also check out the separate bonus disc.

[FoxwoodsFiend]

I thought "Fade to Black," which was basically a documentary (more in the mold of "the last waltz" in so far as it wasn't narrated but just did a good job of editing footage to convey its point) of Jay-Z's last concert in Madison Square Park cut with scenes of the making of the Black Album was extremely fascinating. Watching him construct songs on the fly with no preparation and listening to him talk about his life provided a lot of insight into how much different and more intelligent/artistic Jay-Z is from most other rappers.

[Costanza]

Something The Lord Made (http://www.hbo.com/films/stlm/)

A story about Alfred Blalock, the surgeon credited with inventing the first operation to correct Tetralogy of Fallot (blue-baby syndrome), and Vivien Thomas, his lab assistant. A good bit of it revolves around how Thomas' contributions were marginalized because he was African American.

Besides it just being a good story, it was interesting to me because it shows places I went to school and talks about a lot of people who were lumiaries from there. I went to Vanderbilt as an undergrad which is where Blalock and Thomas start out before going on to Johns Hopkins, Tinsley Harrison (Blalock's medical school rommmate) basically built my medical school into what it is today, and a couple of Blalock's surgical residents became faculty members at my medical school as well.

Also interesting for me because it talks about a time when some things we take for granted in medicine today (treating shock with fluids/plasma, heart surgery) were considered novel and even taboo.

[private joker]

Speaking of Spike Lee, last month I saw When the Levees Broke, his amazing Katrina doc. While I didn't need all 4 hours of it (the first 90 minutes or so is standard reporting, and the last hour is a bit redundant), the middle section is so incredibly powerful that it has to be seen.

Spike gets really angry, and the political skewering of Bush & co. is really intense. The characters are rich, the footage is striking, the score is beautiful, and you'll weep several times at some of the accounts from survivors.

[kipin]

The Mark Twain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306355/) documentary by Ken Burns is excellent. Of course I may be a bit biased in thinking this as Mark Twain is one of my heroes.

The Jazz (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221300/) 10 part documentary also by Ken Burns is also amazing, although I have only seen a couple episodes of it.

Come to think of it pretty much anything by Ken Burns (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122741/) is amazing.

[econophile]

Gimme Shelter (link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065780/)) is a great rock & roll documentary about the Rolling Stones, and captures a violent riot at the Altamont Springs concert.

[KJS]

Burden of Dreams shows the difficulties Werner Herzog faced making his epic 'Fitzcarraldo', which is about bringing an opera house to the Peruvian jungle.

Project Grizzly highlights one man's obsession with building a grizzly bear attack proof suit. I think all the best docs are about obsessions.

The Decline of Western Civilization covers the early punk scene in LA and has great footage of some pioneers of that genre. The Metal Years sequel is also good for different reasons and has some priceless footage of dumb metal dudes.

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer tells the story of the woman at the center of 'Monster'. Don't watch it just for that reason though, see how the director is very much a part of the story, for better or worse.

KJS

[Dids]

[ QUOTE ]
Also very good was Capturing the Friedmans. Particularly since that was a huge bit of local news for me when I was growing up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought this was fantastic, and really hard to watch.

"Hookers At The Point" is horrible. The naration is just awful.

[drexah]

I really just meant to post to ask where you have seen these documentaries (specifically, Cocaine Cowboy) are they rentable at say, Blockbuster? Or do you have to buy them online...but one of the best documentaries i have seen is the one that takes place in Lowell, MA. when it was the "crack city of the U.S." it's titled High on Crack Street: lost Lives In Lowell I remember seeing it when was younger and it had a pretty big impact on me. I also watched a grateful dead documentary that is very long but real fun to watch, however i'm sure its about 100x better if you're on mushrooms/acid since everyone in the video is sooo messsed up and the music is just trippy.

[jesusarenque]

Here is a link of good (free) onine documentaries covering several subjects:

Docs (http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/home)

[wet work]

Anyone see the documentary "Driver 23", it's about this delusional musician. It's kind of hard to describe but I found it entertaining. He leads this crappy life and is hopelessly optimistic that he's going to be a rockstar.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
Startup.com -- I defy anyone to find a better exploration of the dot-com boom and bust.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can not remember if this was any good but E-Dreams, the "rise and fall" of Kozmo.com, is an in-depth look at a company that typified the dot-com boom-bust. I believe ~$60M was invested by VCs, along with ~$100M from corporations, and it may have even enjoyed a post-money valuation of >$1B! (Diablo correct me if I'm wrong.)

March of the Penguins is incredibly well executed, and I will 5th / 6th whatever Hoop Dreams as my favorite documentary.

-Al

[private joker]

Just realized Michael Moore is nowhere to be found in this thread. Despite the fact he is an insufferable, miserable prick, I think people often underrate his skills as a filmmaker. The craft involved with Bowling For Columbine is extremely strong and people forget how good he is at what he does. Agree with his politics or not, BFC is a really good movie.

[James282]

The Devil's Playground - A documentary about the Amish tradition of Rumspringe(spelling is awful), when Amish kids leave the Amish way of life for an undefined amount of time and are allowed to live the way the rest of society does. They can leave for as long as they want, and are always welcomed back into the church if they want to be. These kids do some absolutely crazy stuff, drugs, beer, sex, you name it. Very interesting watch.

James

[odellthurman]

[ QUOTE ]
Just realized Michael Moore is nowhere to be found in this thread. Despite the fact he is an insufferable, miserable prick, I think people often underrate his skills as a filmmaker. The craft involved with Bowling For Columbine is extremely strong and people forget how good he is at what he does. Agree with his politics or not, BFC is a really good movie.

[/ QUOTE ]

I left out a lot of political documentaries. Documentaries are another good reason to be a liberal. Liberals make better documentaries.

[lippy]

[ QUOTE ]
Just realized Michael Moore is nowhere to be found in this thread. Despite the fact he is an insufferable, miserable prick, I think people often underrate his skills as a filmmaker. The craft involved with Bowling For Columbine is extremely strong and people forget how good he is at what he does. Agree with his politics or not, BFC is a really good movie.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually agree with some of MM's ideologies and find them very enjoyable. However, I have such a tough time considering him a documentary filmmaker.

[private joker]

Just because he's biased doesn't mean his movies aren't documentaries. No doc is completely objective. Consciously not taking a stand can be equally subjective and manipulative. Moore is an idealogue and often narrow-minded in his aggressive politicking, but at least he doesn't vote for people like Bush and at least he has real talent for getting gripping footage.

[tomahawk]

[ QUOTE ]
I saw one titled The Cats of Mirikitani this past Tribeca Film Festival. I'm not going to do the description justice, so from the website:

[ QUOTE ]
Eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy's painful past. An intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing powers of friendship and art, this documentary won the Audience Award at its premiere in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

[/ QUOTE ]

Apparently, the filmmaker initially intended the film to chronicle four seasons in the life of a homeless NYC artist, until 9/11 happened and she ended up taking the guy in, at which point she learns his history (i.e. his being in an internment camp, his having his American passport revoked, etc.). It was very moving. Probably more so for me being that I'm Japanese-American. But I recommend it to all.

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw this at a film festival here in Norway, and it won an award here too. I second the recommendation, it was really an amazing little film.

[Jack of Arcades]

Jesus Camp by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady is a pretty good look at an evangelical camp for kids. I used to go to these things, so I think it was pretty accurate. It focused mostly on three kids (Levi, Rachel, and Victoria), the head of the ministry (Becky Fischer), and a radio host for Air America, Mike Papantonio who debates Becky Fischer.

Some people called it "disturbing" but what I saw were some genuine and likable kids. If you want to know what it's like to be an evangelical, go ahead and watch this.

[pokulator]

the grizzly man

from IMDB
A devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska

[Eagles]

Ken Burns' documentary on Baseball is excellent. I found it very entertaining even though I wasn't alive for like any of it.


Another very good sports documentary was When We Were Kings

[J.A.Sucker]

How can any list be complete without "Scared Straight"?

You get such classic lines as: "I ain't never heard the sounds of no birds chirping, but I do know what it sounds like to hear a mean screaming 'cause he's got two dicks in his ass!"

and

"Give me your shoes... GIVE ME YOUR DAMNED SHOES!!!!!!!!"

Plus, the narrator is Columbo. How does it get better than that? Memories of watching that film in 8th grade is priceless. Ahh, public school...

Oh yeah. "Hoop Dreams" was probably the best doc ever made, IMO. What a great film.

[ScottieK]

One recent documentary I really enjoyed was the History Channel's "The Revolution" about the Revolutionary War, which covers the colonies' unrest with taxation to Washington's becoming the first President of the United States. It's amazing to realize just how underfunded and overstressed the colonial soldiers were in the harsh northern winters, how Washington managed to rally his troops year after year, how Benedict Arnold's defection came about, and how the war turned from a supposed British onslaught to a complete British surrender. I watched it every week.

ScottieK

[plaster8]

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is "Winged Migration." The footage of migratory birds -- and the story of how the filmmakers were able to get it -- is amazing. I thought I would be bored by it, as I'm not a bird-watcher or anything, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I also third the nomination of "American Movie." It alternates between being hilarious, depressing (the main character is a bit of a loser) and inspiring (despite a ton of setbacks, the guy just will not stop chasing his dream).

[Wires]

Can anyone tell me the name of this documentary? I saw it on the indie film station a year or so ago but never caught (or don't remember) the name.

The film focussed on a group of homeless people living underground in the New York subway system. They created a makeshift village with plywood homes and even discovered a way to route electricity to these homes. The conditions were horrible but somehow it was working for them. The city eventually forced them to leave after setting some of them up with affordable housing. I remember they didn't adjust so well to life in their new homes. I'd like to see this again and be able to recommend it to others but I haven't come across it again since that first time.

Another one I recommend is Black Tar Heroin. The director followed a group of kids who used for a year or two. It was incredible to see how quickly and mercilessly the drug destroyed these people.

[Runkmud]

Reversal of Fortune - What happens when a homeless man is given $100,000 to do with whatever he chooses. I really enjoyed this one, think about all the possibilities and watch the reality.

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]
Can anyone tell me the name of this documentary? I saw it on the indie film station a year or so ago but never caught (or don't remember) the name.


The film focussed on a group of homeless people living underground in the New York subway system. They created a makeshift village with plywood homes and even discovered a way to route electricity to these homes. The conditions were horrible but somehow it was working for them. The city eventually forced them to leave after setting some of them up with affordable housing. I remember they didn't adjust so well to life in their new homes. I'd like to see this again and be able to recommend it to others but I haven't come across it again since that first time.

[/ QUOTE ]

uh, you might want to read the op.

[El Diablo]

la,

HHAHAAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHHA

[CharlieDontSurf]

Year of the Bull
Year of the Bull is a stunning look into the life of one high-school football player determined to get out of the inner-city and into a Division I collegiate program. This documentary follows an entire season with the Miami Northwestern Bulls and Taurean Charles, an All-American, blue-chip prospect battling standardized tests, societal pressures, family conflict and internal struggles. In addition to the standout’s problems, he is faced with trust issues because everyone surrounding him has an agenda.

The War Room
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Bill Clinton himself is almost never seen.


American Movie
On the northwest side of Milwaukee, Mark Borchardt dreams the American dream: for him, it's making movies. Using relatives, local theater talent, slacker friends, his Mastercard, and $3,000 from his Uncle Bill, Mark strives over three years to finish "Covan," a short horror film. His own personal demons (alcohol, gambling, a dysfunctional family) plague him, but he desperately wants to overcome self-doubt and avoid failure. In moments of reflection, Mark sees his story as quintessentially American, and its the nature and nuance of his dream that this film explores.

Journey's with George
The film by Nancy Pelosi's daughter that follows George W. Bush campaign in 2000

Paradise Lost
Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances and this film presents the real-life courtroom drama to the viewer, as it unfolds.

Baraka
Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred monks do a monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky.

War Photographer
Documentary about war photographer James Nachtwey, considered by many the greatest war photographer ever.

The Blue Planet
Seas of Life collection by the BBC

[lapoker17]

yeah - that george w one was great - and im not a gw hater either.

war room was good too.

startup.com, mentioned earlier, is probably my favorite ever. pure comedy. so many morons. corporate espionage!

[El Diablo]

CDS,

Journeys with George, yeah that was great.

I just saw her most recent HBO documentary, Friends of God about the evangelical Christian movement across the US. Very good stuff.

[El Diablo]

All,

My friend Rambo recommended these three movies.

the corporation - about, well, corporations. he liked it a lot.

devil's miner - about a young bolivian kid working in a dangerous mine. this one he felt was slow, but still interesting.

why we fight - focuses on the 'military industrial' complex and as the title says, why we fight. he also found this one a little slow.

Of those I've only seen The Corporation, which I thought was a little slow, overly dense, and dry.

ED: Edited recs above.

[Golden_Rhino]

[ QUOTE ]

My friend Rambo recommended these three movies.

the corporation - about, well, corporations. he liked it a lot.

devil's miner - about a young bolivian kid working in a dangerous mine. this one he felt was slow, but still interesting.

why we fight - focuses on the 'military industrial' complex and as the title says, why we fight. he also found this one a little slow.

Of those I've only seen The Corporation, which I thought was a little slow, overly dense, and dry.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that the corportation was kinda dry and slow, but you have to keep in mind that a lot of these documentaries are made for 'regular people'. The things that you (or most 2+2ers) would consider common knowledge, most people wouldn't know.

I showed clips from the Corporation to a grade 12 class and they loved it. They had no idea how corporations work, and what they are capable of.

My biggest problem with it (and most documentaries), is that it was obviously pushing an "evil empire" agenda.

ED: Edited quote.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I really liked

Waco: The Rules of Engagement: In one of the most tragic face-offs in the history of law enforcement, the deadly debacle at Waco pitted the Branch Davidian sect against the FBI in an all-out war. This Academy Award-nominated documentary directed by William Gazecki makes the most of footage and recordings to examine how the events that led to the tragedy of April 19, 1993, unfolded, and how the FBI's unrelenting approach made what was already a bad situation much worse.


I'm an athiest and a liberal and I can't help but side with the davidians. One very interesting thing about this documentary is how bad the democratic congressmen look. They clearly are not up to conducting meaningful oversight of the executive branch when the president is a democrat, in the same way that we've had essentially no oversight of the Bush administration while congress was controlled by republicans.


---------------------------------------------------
Hearts and Minds: An Academy Award-winning documentary that casts a sharp eye toward the U.S. government's costly -- in terms of lives, budget and honor -- all-out effort during the Vietnam War. Director Peter Davis uses his own war footage, newsreels, presidential speeches and interviews with the likes of Robert Kennedy, Gen. William Westmoreland and Daniel Ellsberg to provide a compelling argument against war.

Fascinating film with many amazing clips.

[Kharnage]

I enjoyed This Film Is Not Yet Rated (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/).
If you are interested in movies this gives you a good understanding of the challenges filmmakers go through with the MPAA ratingsboard.

[epiLog]

[ QUOTE ]
Another one I recommend is Black Tar Heroin. The director followed a group of kids who used for a year or two. It was incredible to see how quickly and mercilessly the drug destroyed these people.

[/ QUOTE ]

Second that. Very disturbing.

[P Chippa]

One of my favorites is the Iceman (http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/kuklinski2/5.html) Richard Kuklinski. They did 2 interviews with him, about 10 years apart, from the prison that he is in and made a film for each one. He was hit man for the mob and admits to killing many people (exact #'s escape me). The person interviewing him is some kind of shrink and throughout the piece they cut in and out of the interview, some reenactments, and actual pictures of the crime scenes. This documentary was very compelling and I've watched it several times. If you like the mafia type stuff, you should really check these out. They are on HBO on demand every once in a while.

[Yeti]

You guys should check out Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends.

It was a BBC docu series made a few years back where he would explore various 'weird' groups in America, eg. neo-nazis, wrestlers, swingers, rappers, survivalists, etc. Always interesting and usually hilarious.

He was the first person I saw who covered the young blonde twins who sing racist songs, since then I've seen their story mentioned a few times on various shows.

He recently got commissioned to make 10 new documentaries and the first, entitled 'Gambling In Las Vegas' airs this Sunday on the BBC. Should be good.

Also, I don't believe a US airdate has been announced yet, but David Attenborough's Planet Earth was unreal. Some incredible camera work.

[Orangeheat]

Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War".

I try and watch it at least once a year on DVD. I like the personal stories from the soldiers perspectives as well as the many vintage photos he uses to tell the story.

From imdb:

[ QUOTE ]
This highly acclaimed mini series traces the course of the U.S. Civil War from the abolitionist movement through all the major battles to the death of President Lincoln and the beginnings of Reconstruction. The story is mostly told in the words of the participants themselves, through their diaries, letters, and Visuals are usually still photographs and illustrations of the time, and the soundtrack is likewise made up of war-era tunes played on period instruments. Several modern-day historians offer periodic comment and insight on the war's causes and events.

[/ QUOTE ]

Orange

[Wires]

uh, you might want to read the op.

Of course. I just wanted to see if YOU were paying attention.


Can't believe I overlooked that. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

While reading this thread I jotted down the names of a half dozen or so docs I want to see. Didn't even notice El D. already had that one covered in his OP.

[mrkilla]

[ QUOTE ]
Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War".

I try and watch it at least once a year on DVD. I like the personal stories from the soldiers perspectives as well as the many vintage photos he uses to tell the story.

From imdb:

[ QUOTE ]
This highly acclaimed mini series traces the course of the U.S. Civil War from the abolitionist movement through all the major battles to the death of President Lincoln and the beginnings of Reconstruction. The story is mostly told in the words of the participants themselves, through their diaries, letters, and Visuals are usually still photographs and illustrations of the time, and the soundtrack is likewise made up of war-era tunes played on period instruments. Several modern-day historians offer periodic comment and insight on the war's causes and events.

[/ QUOTE ]

Orange

[/ QUOTE ]

You beat me to this. It was just replayed on PBS. There is a newer DVD release with some extras , Maps and photos too. If you dig history and/or the Civil war this is really a must you can srsly watch all the DVD's in a row and not care that you lost a day of your life.

[Black Wings]

Louis Theroux's first series is amazing. Kinda odd ball take on things and very funny. Cant wait till sunday.

A few others that come to mind.

tarnation (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tarnation-Jonathan-Caouette/dp/B0009PGTD8/sr=1-1/qid=1170258404/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Cost $218 to make and is produced by Gus van sant(elephant). Quite quirky , often painful to watch doc of Jon Caouettes family. Has an array of differnt types of footage which add to the interest but for me it didnt quite live up to its billing. Lots of friends loved it mind.

march of the penguins (http://www.amazon.co.uk/March-Penguins-Jacquet-Morgan-Freeman/dp/B000CETV9U/sr=1-1/qid=1170258694/ref=sr_1_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Not sure how my girlfriend tricked me into thinking this was a cartoon but loved it anyway. Awesome take on the love life of these little animals. Narrated by Morgan Freeman.

Touching the viod (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touching-Void-Brendan-Mackey/dp/B0001B3ZI2/sr=1-1/qid=1170258829/ref=sr_1_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Not really a lot here to say other than watch it.

Bus 174 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bus-174-Jose-Padilha/dp/B0002ISGTC/sr=1-1/qid=1170258876/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Intense and very insettling. People talk about Rio as being very unsafe, this kinda shows why. Basic plot...guy boards bus, takes passenagers hostage, gets shown on live on TV.

Scratch (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scratch-Doug-Pray/dp/B0000DINKC/sr=1-1/qid=1170259127/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Gives the a little history of hip-hop DJing. Not for everyone but has a good vibe.

dogtown (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lords-Dogtown-Z-Boys-Emile-Hirsch/dp/B000BY6OGY/sr=1-1/qid=1170259289/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) and stoked (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoked-Rise-Gator-Mark-Rogowski/dp/B0002K10NE/sr=1-1/qid=1170259317/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-6165583-8899163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Again not for everyone but if you enjoy skateboarding it might be of interest.

[ayecappy]

[censored] speaking man gets eaten in alaska with his wife by grizzlys, how does it get more badass than that? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Paluka]

The Fog of War is definitely my favorite documentary. I won't bother explaining more since others have...

The one recommendation I have that others have not mentioned here is A League of Ordinary Gentlemen . This is a fascinating documentary about the PBA. I saw it and Murderball around the same time, and I found the bowling movie much more interesting.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]

The War Room
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Bill Clinton himself is almost never seen.


[/ QUOTE ]

Forgot about this. Interestingly, Carville names people who he thinks are behind the adultery leaks during the NH primary and one, Roger Ailes, is now head of Fox News.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

The War Room
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. Bill Clinton himself is almost never seen.


[/ QUOTE ]

Forgot about this. Interestingly, Carville names people who he thinks are behind the adultery leaks during the NH primary and one, Roger Ailes, is now head of Fox News.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha forgot about this also... I actually own this thing.

Believe some of his other docs have been mentioned in this thread - D.A. Pennenbaker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._A._Pennebaker) is very good at what he does:

[ QUOTE ]
In the early 1960s Pennebaker (known as "Penny" to his friends), together with Richard Leacock and Robert Drew, founded Drew Associates. In 1963 Leacock and Pennebaker left to found their own production firm. Later he often worked with his wife, Chris Hegedus. Their company, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, has made a number of influential documentaries. Sometimes called "Pennebaker documentaries", these films, shot with an obviously hand-held camera, typically eschew voice-over narration and interviews in favor of a "simple" portrayal of events.

[/ QUOTE ]

-Al

[mattsey9]

Two that I liked that haven't been mentioned so far:

Roger & Me: Michael Moore's first work documents the town of Flint, Michigan after the closing of GM's plant put 30,000 people out of work.

The Weather Underground: A lookback at the Weather Underground, an anti-war movement from the 60's & 70's. A lot of footage from the beginning of the movement and "where are they now" interviews with several of the main members.

[El Diablo]

All,

Sorta interesting that neither of these films have been mentioned yet. Both are worth watching, though not at the top of my list.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Michael Moore documentary re; 9/11.

Super-Size Me - About the fast food industry / health impacts on America. Guy eats just McDonald's for a month. Very flawed and silly experiment, but interesting premise.

[Hobbs.]

Bukowski: Born into This. I really enjoyed this when I saw it recently. The film use a bunch of 70s and 80s interviews along with some filmed poetry readings to tell the story of Bukowski's life.

[KOTLP]

I second Touching the Void. Someone here recommended it a while back. One of the most amazing survival stories I've ever seen.

[Hoya]

Herzog documentaries are almost all very good.

For the nature side I'd suggest Microcosmos (insects) and Winged Migration (birds), which have beautiful imagery and show stuff well beyond that which you'd see on Animal Planet or Discovery.

[NajdorfDefense]

Lost in La Mancha
Enron
and Capturing the Freidmans were all very good.

Hoop Dreams may be 3.5 hours but feels like 20 mins to me.

[donkeylove]

Second to The Kid stays in the Picture and Stoked. Also Gladiator Days:The Anatomy of a Prison Murder I haven't seen mentioned.

[1-Lucky-SOB]

El Diablo
Cocaine Cowboys - Out of all the films in this thread that I now wanna see. I wanna see this one the most. Might even get down to a Blockbuster soon to get it?

The Bridge - Gotta see this flick.

Mayor of the Sunset Strip - Classic scene when Rodney interviewed the Sex Pistols on the phone. The pioneer of KROQ and now he is relegated to a Sun. night show. The Rodney on the Roq compilation albums where I first heard Agent Orange and Black Flag. This movie made me feel old. Entertaining.

KJS
The Decline of The Western Civilisation - Penelope Spheeris first film with FEAR, Black Flag, The Germs, X, Circle Jerks, and others. A punk rock classic detailing the LA hardcore scene, circa '81.

I didn't like the The Metal Years near as much, highlights: Ozzy cooking breakfast, Chris Holmes attempting to drink himself to death in the pool, while his mom sits there with a very worried look on her face.
Penelope Spheeris went on to direct bad major motion pictures The Beverly Hillbillies, the Brady Bunch, etc..

Orangeheat, mrkilla, samjjones
The Civil War., Baseball, any Ken Burns doc. - Ken Burns always gets a big budget for his docs, and spends the $$ well. Always well made movies.


[censored]
Mr. Conservative : Barry Goldwater - I am Liberal, Libertarian, Democrat from Ariz., and I liked this one alot. This flick was made by his grandaughter[?], anyway she sugarcoats what a true Badassmofo Barry was. He was a true free thinker who would now roll over in his grave with alot of the crap the conservitive GOP now does in his name.

Our local Phx. rag The New Times did an review / article [LINK (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/Issues/2006-10-19/news/feature.html)] on Barry when this flick came out. They were the last people to have access to the full BG archives, where BG true ideology on politics and his true feelings about his family life in general came out in public for the first time in his old letters. The family has now since sealed alot of the archives that painted them in their true light.


The DaveR
Hookers on the Point - Half way interesting look into the lives of street whores, meh. Agree with DiDs, that the narrator was awful. Can't believe they let him do a second one.
American Pimp - Kinda on subject, was better.

Aloysius
March of the Penguins [/b]- Wanna see it.

HBO- Legendary Nights series - Hagler vs Leonard, sticks out.

Eagles
When We Were Kings - Rumble in the Jungle, Zaire, Africa George Foreman vs Ali how the locals immediately bonded with Ali and seemed to dislike George. Which was weird, because later in his career Foreman was such a fan favorite. Maybe just a better marketing team PR man?

MusashiStyle
Grizzly Man - Have seen pieces and parts of this, liked it alot, wanna see the whole thing

Frontline & NOVA on PBS - In the last few months one aired that was very good chronicling Eisenhower and 'military industrial' complex. Qoute - "we know they have weopons of Mass Destruction - We got the reciepts for them!" ROLMAO still when I thik of this line.

This year they also did one I liked very much on the US Forest Service, chronicling the history and different policy direction the agency has taken in their history

econophile
Gimme Shelter - Couldn't believe how ghey they were back then. Mick okay...but keith Richards seemed just as ghey, which suprised me. Good flick, but I thought it could have been a little better? When the chit was hitting the fan during Sympahy For the Devil, Mick and the Stones could have done alot more to help the situation. Sonny Barger talking about how the Stones hung the Angels out to dry. The Hells Angels supposedly still have a open contract out on Mick Jagger from this concert.

lippy, private joker & odellthurman
Bowling For Columbine, Roger and Me, and fareinheit 911 - I do think that even if republicans saw these movies with open minds, before the reviews. MM would get much more credit for the great all around movies he makes,

odellthurman; Liberals are just generally more artistic. so it is a natural they are better filmakers.

The Shot Heard Around the World [HBO?] - Detailing the epic season and rivalry between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Giants. Chronicles the season and ends with a playoff game for the National League Pennant. October 3 1951, Bobby Thomson launches "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" & "The Giants Win The Pennant!" ...
MLB - Box Score and Newspaper Article on this Game....Right Side of Page, You Can Listen To The 9th Inning of this Game (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_51reg_100351_bkn nyg)


J.A.Sucker Scared Straight - You get such classic lines as: "I ain't never heard the sounds of no birds chirping, but I do know what it sounds like to hear a mean screaming 'cause he's got two dicks in his ass!" - and - "Give me your shoes... GIVE ME YOUR DAMNED SHOES!!!!!!!!"
This show did scare me straight haven't even thought about it fot probably 25 years.
J.A.Sucker; you put those qoutes in your post, and I can hear them just like it was yesterday. This Terrified my azz when I was a kid.

Wires
Black Tar Heroin [/b]- Wanna see this one.

Golden_Rhino & El D
the corporation: was this the movie where they made a website as some conservitive sort of group, then went to a board meeting in Europe?

Golden_Rhino
Qoute "My biggest problem with it (and most documentaries), is that it was obviously pushing an "evil empire" agenda."
When you start analyzing the world in depth, it seems very easy to come up with conspiracy theories. When you follow the $$, sometimes it paints ugly pictures for you. [Kind of typical of alot of docs.]

P Chippa
The Iceman: Richard Kuklinski - Might have been the HBO 'coroner' narrating it? The first one was very much superior to the second one. How he kept it hidden from his family, and potrayed himself as being such a family man. Intense.


-1

[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just realized Michael Moore is nowhere to be found in this thread. Despite the fact he is an insufferable, miserable prick, I think people often underrate his skills as a filmmaker. The craft involved with Bowling For Columbine is extremely strong and people forget how good he is at what he does. Agree with his politics or not, BFC is a really good movie.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually agree with some of MM's ideologies and find them very enjoyable. However, I have such a tough time considering him a documentary filmmaker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. It's not a documentary if you completely make up facts to suit your worldview. Rise and Fall of Enron and Thin Blue Line are documentaries.
BFC is not, simply a well-made 'based on a true story' film that takes multiple liberties with history, which has nothing to do with POV or having a 'storytelling' angle.

Hoop Dreams had 3.5hours of footage after 6 years, so they clearly left stuff out and had a POV [Arthur's mom as hero, Gates' coach as gloryhound, etc] but is factually accurate in all depictions and narrations, unlike BFC.

[yellowsub]

Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[DeezNuts]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Startup.com -- I defy anyone to find a better exploration of the dot-com boom and bust.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can not remember if this was any good but E-Dreams, the "rise and fall" of Kozmo.com, is an in-depth look at a company that typified the dot-com boom-bust. I believe ~$60M was invested by VCs, along with ~$100M from corporations, and it may have even enjoyed a post-money valuation of >$1B! (Diablo correct me if I'm wrong.)

March of the Penguins is incredibly well executed, and I will 5th / 6th whatever Hoop Dreams as my favorite documentary.

-Al

[/ QUOTE ]

Hoop Dreams is awesome. Along the same basketball-vein, I really enjoyed Year of the Yao and Through the Fire. Although not even close to the level of Hoop Dreams, each of these films really made me like the subjects, Yao Ming and Sebastian Telfair, respectively.

Edit: Also would like to add Once in a Lifetime, the story of the New York Cosmos(who had Pele on the team) and how soccer was a huge deal, for a brief flickering moment in the USA.

DN

[KOTLP]

[ QUOTE ]
Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[/ QUOTE ]
Man this one pissed me off, even more so because I watched it directly after An Inconvenient Truth.

[blatz]

The Cruise You can never fully understand New York City until you see it through the eyes of "Speed" Levitch. Some kind of renaissance man, part poet/philiosopher, a circle line bus tourguide and an entirely different kind of rebel, his view on life and the modern city are delivered in an amazingly hilarious film.

The director, Bennet Miller, has made two movie; this one, 10 years ago, and Capote.

[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[/ QUOTE ]

...their 75-150 mi driving limit on an 8-hr charge, and top speed of 80?
Something not mentioned in the film at all- just a thought. I don't know anyone who would want to drive in LA or NJ or DC with a car that maxes out after a few hours of driving.

According to GM, fully costed these would have been $80k, which you can debate, but is still awfully high for a car that only 800 people leased at half that price or less 10 years ago. These were 'quietly killed' by lack of demand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster
This goes up to 130mph and 250mi before a new charge, with a reported fuel efficiency of 135mpg. Let's see how that does.
You can reserve a 2008 model today.

[KOTLP]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[/ QUOTE ]

...their 75-150 mi driving limit on an 8-hr charge, and top speed of 80?
Something not mentioned in the film at all- just a thought. I don't know anyone who would want to drive in LA or NJ or DC with a car that maxes out after a few hours of driving.

According to GM, fully costed these would have been $80k, which you can debate, but is still awfully high for a car that only 800 people leased at half that price or less 10 years ago. These were 'quietly killed' by lack of demand.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't lack of demand that killed them. Also, keep in mind the technology was rapidly improving and prices would obviously have come way down. We could all be driving 500+ mile electric cars today if the auto companies, state of CA, and the federal government wanted us to. They already had 300 mile versions ready at the time GM pulled the plug.

[CharlieDontSurf]

GM might be saved if they can actually ge this off the ground
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16503845/

[KOTLP]

[ QUOTE ]
GM might be saved if they can actually ge this off the ground
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16503845/

[/ QUOTE ]
I read this a few weeks ago, and my thought was it sure looks like inferior technology to me than what was already proven years ago...

[maryfield48]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought "Fade to Black," which was basically a documentary (more in the mold of "the last waltz" in so far as it wasn't narrated but just did a good job of editing footage to convey its point) of Jay-Z's last concert in Madison Square Park cut with scenes of the making of the Black Album was extremely fascinating. Watching him construct songs on the fly with no preparation and listening to him talk about his life provided a lot of insight into how much different and more intelligent/artistic Jay-Z is from most other rappers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wonder if that conclusion is justified unless you've also seen documentaries about other rappers.

[maryfield48]

[ QUOTE ]
I found Rize (Dave LaChapelle) a documentary about Clowning/Krumping dance styles to be real interesting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Showtime is showing Rize this Saturday at 7:30pm.

[Benal]

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey - Sam Dunn is a 30-year old anthropologist who wrote his graduate thesis on the plight of Guatemalan refugees. Recenly he has decided to study the plight of a different culture, one he has been a part of since he was a 12-year old: the culture of heavy metal. Sam sets out on a global journey to find out why this music has been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned and yet is loved so passionately by its millions of fans. Along the way, Sam explores metals' obsession with some of life's most provacative subjects - sexuality, religion, violence and death - and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Shot on location in the UK, Germany, Norway, Canada and the US, this documentary is the first of its kind. It is both a defense of a long-misunderstood art form and a window for the outsider into the spectacle that is heavy metal.

Tokyo Girls - Tokyo Girls is a candid journey into the world of four young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai - the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came. One hostess calls it "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new. Shot in Canada, Osaka and Tokyo, this is a riveting inside look at the impact of the "economy geisha." Desired mainly for her looks, the hostess is rapidly replacing the cultural institution of geisha - women trained in the ancient art of traditional entertainment.

[Abones]

[ QUOTE ]
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey - Sam Dunn is a 30-year old anthropologist who wrote his graduate thesis on the plight of Guatemalan refugees. Recenly he has decided to study the plight of a different culture, one he has been a part of since he was a 12-year old: the culture of heavy metal. Sam sets out on a global journey to find out why this music has been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned and yet is loved so passionately by its millions of fans. Along the way, Sam explores metals' obsession with some of life's most provacative subjects - sexuality, religion, violence and death - and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Shot on location in the UK, Germany, Norway, Canada and the US, this documentary is the first of its kind. It is both a defense of a long-misunderstood art form and a window for the outsider into the spectacle that is heavy metal.

[/ QUOTE ]

I loved Metal: A Headbanger's Journey His interviews in the film are great. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys metal and/or documentaries.

Has anyone seen Kurosawa: A Documentary on the Acclaimed Director It is in my Netflix queue currently.

[Razor]

Mad Hot Ballroom - Documentary about NYC public school students who participate in the program where they learn to ballroom dance and participate in a ballroom dance competition. I liked this one a ton.



these two aren't for the homophobic

Gay Sex in the 70's - a look at the gay scene in NYC during the 70's.

That Guy: Peter Berlin - the life and times of photographer/model Peter Berlin.

[Ser William]

[ QUOTE ]
Paradise Lost
Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances and this film presents the real-life courtroom drama to the viewer, as it unfolds.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to reiterate how good this was. I would be surprised if anyone could watch this and not come away thinking that the kids convicted of murder aren't innocent.

[waarior]

The Boys of Baraka - Kind of surprised that this has not been mentioned. Follows four inner-city youths from Baltimore who are accepted into the Baraka school in Kenya. A school founded "to give "at-risk" African- American boys from Baltimore a chance to learn academically and grow personally in an environment far removed from their troubled neighborhoods." Excellent.

The Man Who Knew viewable here (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/) Frontline documentary on John O'Neill. FBI counter-terrorism official and authority on Al Qaeda in the 90's. He repeatedly warned of a the danger from Bin Laden. Chafed against the FBI bureaucracy and was head of security at the WTC on 9/11.

The Beauty Academy of Kabul American women who start a Beauty parlor in Kabul in 2003. Provides a welcome view of life in Kabul after the Taliban. Worth a viewing if interested in current affairs etc.. but otherwise so-so.

Have to echo other posters who said Touching the Void Awesome survival story.

[J.A.Sucker]

Two more great ones I just thought of:

Hands on a Hardbody About this crazy contest in Texas to win a Nissan Hardbody pickup. A great insight into the human psyche. One of the yokel-type dudes has some tremendous words of wisdom that most would think he's incapable of articulating. A great film.

Trekkies All about Star Trek geeks. Some horrifying stuff in there. Kind of painful to see how pathetic people are, but if it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone, who cares?

[DeezNuts]

[ QUOTE ]
Two more great ones I just thought of:

Hands on a Hardbody About this crazy contest in Texas to win a Nissan Hardbody pickup. A great insight into the human psyche. One of the yokel-type dudes has some tremendous words of wisdom that most would think he's incapable of articulating. A great film.

[/ QUOTE ]

This one is great. Even though the production quality is pretty poor, the characters are extremely entertaining(po' Southern trash). Not available yet on DVD, though.

DN

[Jackal69]

these are all worth seeing:

enron - smartest guys in the room
wallmart - high cost of low prices
biggie and tupac (plus other nick broomfield stuff)
death in gaza
mclibel
put the needle on the record
riding giants
dogtown and z boys
the corporation
capturing the friedmans
tupac resurection

also everyone should watch the Loose change film on 9/11

http://www.loosechange911.com/lcfc.htm

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]

cocaine cowboys - chronicles the cocaine trafficking boom in miami during the 70s/80s. features interviews with the two biggest transporters and one of the top enforcers. exposes a number of key figures who are largely unknown and dispells the myth that pablo escobar was the top dog in the business. a compelling mix of news footage and interviews. this was the best of the bunch - really awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is my first post in your forum. i downloaded this movie on the other week on a whim. never heard of it before but i loved the movie Blow, so this sounded good. i watched it about it week ago and man was it awesome. i probably would have been a coke smuggler if i was that age in the 70s

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]
Holy crap I just realized no one's mentioned Endless Summer yet. One of my favorite films--documentary or not. The stuff in Africa where they surf with some of the locals and become the first people to surf a pristine beach are highlights.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is an awesome surf flic. also worth watching is Endless Summer II, Riding Giants (note my location) and Step Into Liquid.

of a similar genre is Dogtown and Z-Boys

also instead of making another new post:
[ QUOTE ]
Project Grizzly

[/ QUOTE ]
awesome! i don't know where to find it though. some guys brought it into my marketing class like 5 years ago and we watched most of it. i can't remember at all how it tied into the class, but it was hilarious and wicked.

also el d you mentioned Why We Fight. it's pretty dec. i'd call it the 'military industrial complex' rather than the 'military industrial' complex though.

peace

[Marwan]

Onibus 174 (Bus 174) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340468/

Good documentary about a hostage situation on a bus in Rio .. powerful doc.

[Metamorphatory]

Havent seen anyone mention: The Smashing Machine yet.

An excellent look inside the world of MMA and in particular the rise and ultimate fall of Mark Kerr. From his addiction to painkillers and steroids to his first defeat in the ring.

Also features Mark Coleman and Bas Ruttan.

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]
Havent seen anyone mention: The Smashing Machine yet.

An excellent look inside the world of MMA and in particular the rise and ultimate fall of Mark Kerr. From his addiction to painkillers and steroids to his first defeat in the ring.

Also features Mark Coleman and Bas Ruttan.


[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, that was awesome, i saw it a long time ago, may need to see it again.

i just got born into brothels and control room (about al jazeera) from netflix.

[Arnfinn Madsen]

A look into a different world, not a well made movie, but still interesting:

Disbelief (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7658755847655738553&q=disbelief)

[SB182]

i may be a little too mainstream and a few years late, but i recently saw "Murder on a Sunday Morning". It did a great job of showing the flaws that can exist in eyewitness id's and confessions. Plus, the public defender is just an awesome character.

[MicroBob]

Some documentaries that have been mentioned that I have liked a lot:

Hoop Dreams - Really terrific as many have mentioned.

Thin Blue Line - Same. This film really got to me. It's been so long since I've seen it and I still remember how I was so blown away by it.

Crumb - Funny and weird.


Diablo mentioned Word-Wars about the Scrabble Circuit which I haven't seen yet. I really want to check this out.
The book Word Freaks about the same subjet was really good I thought and got me interested.


A few months ago I saw a documentary on ESPN called, "The Time of Their Lives" about the growth of the NY Cosmos and North American Soccer League in the 1970's including Pele and other star players.
This documentary was masterfully done in my opinion.
The music and editing gave it a kind of funky 70's feel but without being so over-the-top as to be silly.

Even if you're not a soccer fan I think it would be interesting to see the story of how this practically semi-pro team drawing 1k fans a game was able to somehow land the best player in the world and eventually become a huge craze and sell-out Giants Stadium (over 70k fans) and then, almost just as quickly, fade-away entirely.


Koshien - This was a documentary I saw on PBS a few mths ago about the Japanese High-School baseball tournament. Not really that well-done but still somewhat interesting to watch. Thousands of teams battling in a giant nationwide single-elim tourney. Top 49 teams go to the Koshien finals that every player dreams of participating in.
It's a glimpse into the difference in attitudes in general between the U.S. and Japanese cultures as well imo.


Trekkies - Funny film from about 10 yrs ago about obsessed Star Trek fans attending various conventions, etc. Some of the interviews with the nerdier of the group are really funny of course, but I also developed an appreciation for how devoted they are to the history of the show.


The Big Bang (1989) - Probably my favorite documentary. Interviews with various people from different walks of life about love, life, death, etc. Some have very interesting stories to tell. Funny, sweet, thoughtful, simple.
Read a review on IMDB that it didn't go in-depth enough on each of the topics. I thought that keeping it moving and a little lighter and not bogging it down in really deep philosophy was the preferred approach.

[MicroBob]

Regarding some other documentary makers:

Michael Moore - I saw Fahrenheit 911 and was really disappointed. Frankly, I thought it was pretty terrible. And my political leanings are not that far from Moore's.
I have a feeling I would not be impressed by Columbine either but I still want to see it and will try not to let my opinion of 911 influence me.


Ken Burns - I've seen parts of Civil War, Baseball and Jazz. I didn't particularly care for any of them actually.
Jazz I guess I liked best. The baseball one really disappointed me.
one thing I remember is that he actually dubbed in sound-effects (like crack of the bat, fan-noise, etc) on some films that obviously wouldn't have had any sound because they were so old...and also onto modern games where I thought he would have been better to just use the regular sound even if it included the announcer.

I remember being annoyed at how they portrayed the Game 6 of the 1975 World Series (Cincy and Boston) because it was weird that the crowd noise would be the same for a Cincy base-hit as it would be for a Boston base-hit.

This was only one of the aspects that bugged me about it though.

[limon]

i cant beleive no one has mentioned VERNON, FLORIDA. has anyone mentioned VERNON, FLORIDA? it is an absolute must see on the order of: my brothers keeper, crumb, roger and me and PARADISE LOST.

[wet work]

I don't recall seeing this one mentioned, Tom Dowd & The Language of Music. If you're into music this is a must see. Dowd's influence on music is immeasureable.

[cbloom]

For those in SF , the Balboa Theatre is showing all the oscar nominated documentaries FOR FREE , Feb 20 & 21.

http://www.balboamovies.com/oscar/
The Balboa Theater - Oscars 2006

[SZEppi]

Great thread! But why hasn't anybody mentioned Jean Xavier Lestrade yet? imho he is the best documentary film maker out there juging by the two things i've seen by him: (death on) the Staircase and Murder on a Sunday Morning. Like John Grisham, only stranger, more disturbing and more unpredictable. Maybe they never aired in the US, since he is a French filmmaker, but both documentaries are on the US judicial system.

****
Plot Synopsis: Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, presents a gripping courtroom thriller, offering a rare and revealing inside look at a high-profile murder trial. In 2001, author Michael Peterson was arraigned for the murder of his wife Kathleen, whose body was discovered lying in a pool of blood on the stairway of their home. Granted unusual access to Peterson's lawyers, home and immediate family, de Lestrade's cameras capture the defense team as it considers its strategic options. "The staircase" is an engrossing look at contemporary American justice that features more twists than a legal bestseller.
****
French documentary about the trial of a black American teenager accused of robbing and murdering an elderly white tourist at a Florida hotel. The film follows the teen's defense team as they build a case that shows ineptitude and prejudice on the part of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

[Quanah Parker]

I guess this more of a mockumentry:
FISHING WITH JOHN
This is so good and funny. This guy Joh seems to know everyone and gets them to go fishing with him. Dennis Hopper in Thailand, Tom Waits in Jamacia, and it's just perfect. Way too serious voice-overs like when John and Tom Waits are paddling up a river. Something like(deep voice) "Tom and I were now where no white man had ever fished before."

[starbird]

American Splendor -- Brilliant, but is it a documentary? /images/graemlins/heart.gif Harvey Pekar.

I'm a Ross McElwee fan -- Charleen, Sherman's March.

[eejit]

On The Muscle
Follows the horses, trainer, veterinarian, jockeys, owners and caretakers through the highs and lows of a year of world class racing leading up to the Breeders Cup.

[bbbushu]

Post deleted by [censored]

[lapoker17]

2 more i just saw:



control room - about tv network al jazeera. follows the network's operations around 2003 when the us and allies began to wage war on iraq. the subject matter is super-facsinating to me - "upstart", often unpopular network covers a war on its home turf - but the final product falls way short. the characters are boring, and for a war, there is very little action. there is a fetching female producer who is enjoyable to watch, and a likable army pr officer, but other than that it's just a bunch of middle eastern men bitching about how awful the us is, which is pretty tired and played out at this point.

word wars - folllows 4 scrabble experts as they prepare for the national championships. this is an amazing film. the characters are as real as any i've ever seen - real in that they are generally unsuccessful in all areas of life, and they don't make any effort to appear otherwise. one of my favorite parts of the film is this quote from GI Joel (one of the subjects - GI stands for gastro intestinal because he has horrible acid reflux and is constantly chugging maalox):

"i never applied myself ever into anything i ever did in my life besides scrabble. i never succeeded in any other endeavor. i have done very little to contribute to society most of my life. i was a college dropout. i felt i had learned everything i needed to get by in this life in kindergarten - when i knew how to read.

i don't have a real life as compared to most people i know and even most scrabble players i know. how a typical day goes for me: i sleep while the sun is shining, then uh, get up, and uh eventually play a few games of scrabble, and that's the day.....

there's very little else i'm actually qualified to do at this point, and playing scrabble is the only thing my body will allow me to sit still and do."

tons of parallels exist between the scrabble world and the poker world. everyone should see this.

[creamfillin]

http://www.unflinchingtriumph.com/shell.html

A fun mockumentary you can view in its entirety online

[thedorf]

Gobble Gobble.

Judging by the rest of your list though, you've missed a few.

BURDEN OF DREAMS is a documentary about the making of the movie FITZCARRALDO. First you have to see FITZCARRALDO, then BURDEN OF DREAMS. FITZCARRALDO is directed by a man named Werner Herzog who ate his shoe after Errol Morris (director of vernon, fla.) made his first movie (GATES OF HEAVEN). morris wouldn't get off his ass, so herzog told him he'd eat his shoe if he made a movie. Well, he ate his shoe and someone filmed it. it's an extra on the Burden of Dreams DVD.

Also, "hearts of darkness" It's the making of Apocalypse Now. You'll trust me if you see the movies above.

[thedorf]

Werner Herzog!!! I've seen about 8 of his movies and I'm going to eventually see them all.

[thedorf]

Charliedont surf? Are you serious?? Where is HEARTS OF DARKNESS???????? Please explain.

[russellmj]

Mr. Death: This docu follows the exploits of a prison guard's son who helps repair the electric chair of a prison back east, and then somehow manages to parlay this into "expert" status and get work all over the country making/repairing electric chairs. Full of himself and cocksure, things spiral out of control and he winds up a pariah.

Heart of Gold: Johnathan Demme's Docu/concert film of Neil Young's premiere of his songs from the album Prairie Wind. Must see for any Young fan.

C*cksucker Blues: Documentary of The Stones '72 tour in support of their album Exile On Mainstreet. This film was never officially released though bootlegs are occasionally available. Read all about it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocksucker_blues)

[ohgeetee]

I thought Rock School (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436727/) was worth watching. The teacher is a Zappa freak that basically runs a rock school for kids of almost all ages.

Bowling for Columbine and moreso Farehnheit 9/11 are hardly documentaries IMO. There is certainly going to be bias in documentaries, but these films have complete falsities and misrepresentation of truth in them, which is about as anti documentary as you can get. Its bad that I have to qualify with this, but its usually needed... I am about as far from conservative as one can get, but I still hate being purposefully misled by such a maniac.

[lapoker17]

2 more:

overnight - follows troy duffy, who wrote the boondock saints, and his group of friends during a time when it seems their careers in entertainment are taking off. this is like the startup.com of the hollywood scene. a bunch of geniuses who have it all figured out and are about to take over the world. they inevitably flame out completely and they are such huge douchebags that the ending is perfect. not particularly well made, but if you like laughing at losers you should check it out.

street fight - chronicles the 2002 mayoral election in newark, nj. the incumbent, sharpe james is the prototypical fast talking, crooked, career politician. his opponent is corey booker, a stanford and yale educated city councilman who lives in one of the housing projects in his district. lots of dirty politics. if you enjoy the political subplots on the wire, you will like this a lot. well produced and very interesting.

[ChrisCo]

On Any Sunday is a classic motorcycle/dirtbike documentary from the 70s with Steve Mqueen. Great if you have any interest in any two wheel sport.

Why We Fight is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.

Who killed the electric car is good as yellosub was saying.

Baraka is an awsome. It has clips from cultures all around the world. Has some excellent footage and really opens your eyes. This would be a good movie to be drugged out too if that is your thing. It would be a fun trip.

Outfoxed is a good one to see also.

There was a video I believe I saw from OOT that followed meth users in Australia that was amazing.

That is all for now.

[proell]

Not the best, but worth a watch and still unmentioned:

Loose Change
Triumph of the Nerds
Catch a Fire

[samsdmf]

Just a quick heads up to UKers- More4 are starting to show a series of Errol Morris films on Monday at 9pm- this monday is 'Mr Death' which is suggested in an early post here.

[debater]

I have always enjoyed all things FRONTLINE.

Most recent was:

"The Meth Epidemic"

Very frustrating to hear how easily this problem could have been significantly reduced. It was not, because of the influence of the major drug companies. Irony or what!

Debater

[ryanj247]

[ QUOTE ]
I just saw something on the news last night about The Bridge which is about people committing suicide off the Golden Gate bridge over the course of a year. It stirred controversy for several reasons, and I think I'm going to catch it. The filmmaker used four cameras at two locations to film, and then afterwards, talked to the families about the person who jumped. It looks like it's still making the rounds in art house theatres, but has anyone seen it?

[/ QUOTE ]

for anyone in vegas, this documentary is playing now through thursday at the tropicana cinemas (http://www.tropicanacinemas.com/) . i saw it last night and i thought it was excellent.

[microbet]

I just saw Who Killed the Electric Car a couple nights ago.

I don't think it was the greatest documentary. A little more time was spent on some things that I don't think were as interesting as some others that got less time. I did know some of this before I saw it though, since I was very interested in the car when it came out. For me it was preaching to the choir, but I'm not totally sure the movie would be convincing to a more skeptical audience.

It was pretty good though. I had already thought that the current policy towards alternative powered cars was bad, but I had thought it was more misguided than intentional.

I was already planning on getting or converting a car to electric soon. The movie certainly has me more motivated.

[iSTRONG]

There was a very good documentary on life in Tehran by/on the BBC a couple of days ago.

Rageh Inside Iran

It can be seen in full on google video (http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=4679426685869498072)

It's a genuine look at the life of iranians in Tehran. Very far from the image of flag-burning fanatics Fox Network wants you to have.

[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
street fight - chronicles the 2002 mayoral election in newark, nj. the incumbent, sharpe james is the prototypical fast talking, crooked, career politician. his opponent is corey booker, a stanford and yale educated city councilman who lives in one of the housing projects in his district. lots of dirty politics. if you enjoy the political subplots on the wire, you will like this a lot. well produced and very interesting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Street fight is totally awesome. 4*s.

[Quanah Parker]

Just got done watching Cocaine Cowboys thanks to this thread.
Unreal. Always been a Dolphins fan but I really didn't realise just how much of an impact the coke dollars had on the city. And the folks interviewed/covered are ..um..intense. The Godmother and her #1 hitman. Miami's unstoppable economy when the rest of the country is in a recession.
Amazing.

[Mr. 3173]

[ QUOTE ]
Just got done watching Cocaine Cowboys thanks to this thread.
Unreal. Always been a Dolphins fan but I really didn't realise just how much of an impact the coke dollars had on the city. And the folks interviewed/covered are ..um..intense. The Godmother and her #1 hitman. Miami's unstoppable economy when the rest of the country is in a recession.
Amazing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah. I just finished it too. What a great film! I knew but had no idea.

[TheFaucet]

Yea cocaine cowboys was the most enjoyable drug documentary I've seen.

[fishfather]

Two I haven't seen mentioned:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0166896/ The Straight Story, though not strictly a documentary

"The Straight Story" chronicles a trip made by 73-year-old Alvin Straight from Laurens, Iowa, to Mt. Zion, Wis., in 1994 while riding a lawn mower. The man undertook his strange journey to mend his relationship with his ill, estranged, 75-year-old brother Lyle. Written by Christian Sandberg

Alvin Straight is a very old man with a quiet life in a small country town. When his brother gets seriously sick, he decides to put away their differences and visit him after many, many years. So, alone, he begins a long journey through hundreds of miles, just to see again his brother, even if it's the last thing he will ever do... Based on a real story. Written by Chris Makrozahopoulos {makzax@hotmail.com}


AND

http://imdb.com/find?s=all&q=southern+comfort Southern Comfort

At its essence, Kate Davis's film, Southern Comfort, is about a transgendered man who is dying from cancer in his female reproductive organs. Southern Comfort is more than this, however. It also deals with the intricacies of the social community that the main character, Robert Eads, has surrounded himself with since transitioning from female to male, details the romantic attachment that Robert has formed with his girlfriend Lola Cola near the end of his life, and examines the dynamics between Robert and his genetic family. More than this, Southern Comfort engages in a discourse on human sexuality that serves to enlighten the audience viewing the film on the realities of transgendered life in the backcountry of the Deep South.

[El Diablo]

Bastards of the Party

HBO documentary. Good, not great. Very interesting if you're interested in gang culture. This documentary traces the history of LA gangs starting from the history in the 40s, but mainly focusing on how things evolved into the current gang culture from the Black Panther and other politically focused organizations.

[Brocktoon]

[ QUOTE ]
dark days - follows a group of homeless who live in an abandoned, underground railroad tunnel in new york. they have "houses" and electricity etc. in their little world. this sounds like it would be interesting, but for whatever reason it was boring. i only made it halfway through.


[/ QUOTE ]

Watching this right now on Netflix (its featured in the play now section and you can watch it for free right on your comp if you have an acct.).

Coincidentally I've watched only about the first half and I decided to pull up this thread and see if anyone mentioned it. Very surprised by your review El D. So far I have found it utterly gripping and fascinating. I'd rate the first half of Dark Days among the best 45 minutes of documentary I've ever seen.

Off to watch the 2nd half now.

[Brocktoon]

Finished. Amazing film. Can't recommend it enough.

El D, I think this one might be worth another look. Try watching the whole thing this time.

[shemp]

Kind of weird not to see The Sorrow and the Pity mentioned.

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]
Very surprised by your review El D.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh - all of the reviews in The op are mine, diablo just posted it for me. i may watch it again - a number of people have advised that.

[wacki]

This one hasn't been mentioned yet:

http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/

It's incredibly dry (I watched it in 2 one hour sittings) and very low budget but historically accurate. There are a few pro-rights people they could have dropped but that goes with the territory I guess. If you are interested in either the 2nd or the 14th amendment this is a good flick to watch. It's interesting to see how misguided even some of our circuit courts are on this piece of history.

[Pete H]

I'm a huge fan of David Attenborough/BBC documentaries.

My favourites are Life of Mammals (http://imdb.com/title/tt0364174/) and The Trials Of Life (http://imdb.com/title/tt0133318/), but they all are worth watching.

Magnificent footage from Norwegian mountains alone make Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk (http://imdb.com/title/tt0353164/) a good choice.

Besides showing skydiving/BASE jumping footage, they also explain why some people want to do things most people wouldn't do for any price.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey - Sam Dunn is a 30-year old anthropologist who wrote his graduate thesis on the plight of Guatemalan refugees. Recenly he has decided to study the plight of a different culture, one he has been a part of since he was a 12-year old: the culture of heavy metal. Sam sets out on a global journey to find out why this music has been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned and yet is loved so passionately by its millions of fans. Along the way, Sam explores metals' obsession with some of life's most provacative subjects - sexuality, religion, violence and death - and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Shot on location in the UK, Germany, Norway, Canada and the US, this documentary is the first of its kind. It is both a defense of a long-misunderstood art form and a window for the outsider into the spectacle that is heavy metal.

[/ QUOTE ]

I loved Metal: A Headbanger's Journey His interviews in the film are great. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys metal and/or documentaries.

[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't like it that much. I felt it was made for people who know nothing or very little about metal.

His view on black metal was just like outsider's view on metal in general: only morons are into that kind of music.

NP: Akercocke - Horns Of Baphomet

[shemp]

Haven't seen the "Up" series mentioned. Seven Up, etc...

[wet work]

Not sure if this counts but the Blue Planet: Seas of Life series is incredible. THat's narrated by David Attenborough I believe as well. Just amazing footage.

[shaniac]

Mayor of Sunset Strip is awesome and depressing. Dig is too long and self-indulgent. Really want to see 'Dark Days.'

Two music docs that may not have been mentioned yet:

Wild Man Blues - Woody Allen's and Soon-Yi traveling through Europe with his jazz band. Barbara Kopple made this, also want to see her recent doc on the Dixie Chicks.

Don't Look Back - Amazing Pennebaker doc on Dylan's late-60s UK tour.

[Pete H]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure if this counts but the Blue Planet: Seas of Life series is incredible. THat's narrated by David Attenborough I believe as well. Just amazing footage.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's another good pick and yes, it's narrated by Attenborough.

[Brocktoon]

I eluded to this earlier but I'll mention it again anyway.

Anyone here who has a Netflix acct can watch a lot of the movies mentioned in this thread instantly on their comp for free. Everyone gets a certain amount of free "watch now" hours per month, a lot of hours FWIW.


They have Word Wars, Game Over: Kasparov vs. the Machine, Dark Days, Crumb, Street Fight, and Supersize Me among others. I've watched all of them (except street fight) after reading this thread

[MicroBob]

This morning on IFC I've been watching "One Day In September" about the 1972 Olympic hostage crisis including footage of ABC's live coverage of the event and interviews with the participants in the crisis.

Jim McKay was the exhausted and emotionally drained anchor at ABC who was supposed to just be covering the Olympic games but had to quickly switch to the role of news-reporter.

A young Peter Jennings was phoning in reports of what he could observe on the grounds.


The whole film is extremely well done.


-- "In 1972, athletes from around the globe gathered in Munich, Germany for the Olympic Games. However, the Olympic spirit of brotherhood and peaceful competition was shattered when eight Palestinian terrorists invaded the athletes' quarters to take the Israeli team hostage, resulting in the violent deaths of eleven athletes. In One Day in September, director Kevin Macdonald mixes newsreel coverage of the tragedy with interviews of witnesses and participants (including Jamil Al Gashey, the only surviving member of the terrorist cadre Black September who were responsible for the killings), as they discuss what happened, and how a dangerous situation turned tragic and deadly . Produced by two-time Oscar winner Arthur Cohn,One Day in September earned Cohn another trophy when it received an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature."


This film is on again tonight at 5:30pm (eastern) and I will probably make sure to either watch the whole thing (haven't seen it from the start) and/or perhaps tape it.

[troymclur]

Not your typical doc, but "The Blue Planet" is far and away the best ocean documentary i have ever seen. It's just stunning. It's in 7 parts, i believe, each covering a different section of ocean life, some of which are out of this world (almost literally). "The Deep" is one of the last sections, and will give you a true appreciation for the evolution of nature.

There are several creatures that have multi-colored lights on them, one even looks like a carousel. However the kicker was a certain underwater creature that would jettison a small, glowing ball from itself near its prey. The ball would burst in a bright flash, temporarily blinding the prey long enough for the creature to attack. This blew me away. Nature has created a [censored] flash bomb!

I recommend this series to any and everybody.

[bkholdem]

In case no one has mentioned these:

The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

and

The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer

These are 2 documentaries about Richard Kuklinski, who worked as a contract killer for the mob for many years. He started killing people in his teenage years and estimates that he has killed over 200 people. There might have been a 3rd one too.

Here's a clip:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=rBSDiCu4Bb8

[suzzer99]

[ QUOTE ]
Not your typical doc, but "The Blue Planet" is far and away the best ocean documentary i have ever seen.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agreed, I love this series. They have a newer one called Life of Mammals that is also amazing.

[MicroBob]

Reminder - The 'One Day In September' documentary I posted about this morning is on again right now on IFC (Independent Film Channel). Just started.

My VCR is rolling (Beat - Don't have Tivo or DVR).

[bkholdem]

[ QUOTE ]
All,

Sorta interesting that neither of these films have been mentioned yet. Both are worth watching, though not at the top of my list.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Michael Moore documentary re; 9/11.



[/ QUOTE ]

There is also a documentory titled 'FarenHYPE 9/11' which is a 'conservative' response to the 'liberal' Moore film. If you dislike Moore/Moore's politics you will proably love FarenHYPE 911 and if you love more you will probably not want to see the HYPE film. lol

[ImsaKidd]

[ QUOTE ]
In case no one has mentioned these:

The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

and

The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer

These are 2 documentaries about Richard Kuklinski, who worked as a contract killer for the mob for many years. He started killing people in his teenage years and estimates that he has killed over 200 people. There might have been a 3rd one too.

Here's a clip:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=rBSDiCu4Bb8

[/ QUOTE ]

The 2 full versions of this are on youtube.

Anyone got links to any documentaries on youtube? Didnt look through the whole thread, but I found the iceman stuff really interesting and would love to watch more.

[wet work]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not your typical doc, but "The Blue Planet" is far and away the best ocean documentary i have ever seen.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agreed, I love this series. They have a newer one called Life of Mammals that is also amazing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Definitely agree. The footage they've gathered has been amazing, to say the least. When it first came out I was blown away by it.

[Kermit]

[ QUOTE ]
CT: A bunch of those hooker/pimp documentaries on HBO are great. American Pimp is another documentary on that topic that's pretty entertaining.

ND: Pumping Iron and Hoop Dreams, two great picks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if this documentary gets any additional attention in this thread. American Pimp is acutally a fairly well done documentary. However, any insight into the world of Pimpin' is grossly overshadowed by the onslaught of hilarious one liners and twisted logic. Its one of the most entertaining films i have ever seen.

[DirtyDiggs]

Murder on a Sunday Morning was excellent.

Also I was a Big fan of Born Rich It was directed by Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Gives an interesting perspective in to young people with old money. A reminder that Fitzgeralds famous opening line is still true.

[troymclur]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
CT: A bunch of those hooker/pimp documentaries on HBO are great. American Pimp is another documentary on that topic that's pretty entertaining.

ND: Pumping Iron and Hoop Dreams, two great picks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if this documentary gets any additional attention in this thread. American Pimp is acutally a fairly well done documentary. However, any insight into the world of Pimpin' is grossly overshadowed by the onslaught of hilarious one liners and twisted logic. Its one of the most entertaining films i have ever seen.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Pimp War segment was gold. For those who haven't seen it, a legendary pimp, one that doesn't his his bitches i might add, goes to gain new turf in Miami (i think) and a rival pimp steals all his ho's, but the guy is like 'what ev!' and brings out a whole new line of bitches. A choice quote: "those were just his second string bitches!".

[troymclur]

This (http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/) site has 419 documentaries available for free, including 'Born Rich'.

[Runkmud]

[ QUOTE ]
This (http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/) site has 419 documentaries available for free, including 'Born Rich'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow! Great find, thanks!

[Mister Z]

I haven't had time to read through this whole list yet, but there's a really amazing documentary about Ernest Shackleton. I'm not sure if it's The Endurance (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264578/) or Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280105/), but it's an amazing story about how a crew of 28 struggle to survive after their ship gets stuck in the ice in Antarctica. It's an incredible story about so many things but survival in particular.

[inside??]

Has anyone mentioned "Long Way Round?" It has the highest rating I have ever seen on IMDB. It is like Endless Summer only on motorcycles. AWESOME!

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]

Don't Look Back - Amazing Pennebaker doc on Dylan's late-60s UK tour.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't Look Back is great. Watching it there's this feeling that everything in the movie has dated except Dylan.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]

i just got born into brothels and control room (about al jazeera) from netflix.

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw Born Into Brothels in the theater and thought it was very good, even though some of the things were a bit cliched as documentaries go. I think that documentaries with kids at the right age really can't go wrong.

[Rootabager]

Best doc. ever made is called The Dancing Outlaw: Jesco White.

It was made about this redneck from Boone County West Virginia. I cant explain how great and funny this video is. You can get it off the internet and I promise you will not be dissapointed.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=595 50249

This myspace page has a clip at the bottom that is so hilarious. It's really the funniest video that has ever been made. You guys really need to see it.

[Schaefer]

I'll probably receive a lot of flack for this but I really enjoyed Shut Up & Sing (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000KX0IN6/bookstorenow78-20), a documentary about the Dixie Chicks and their battle with the suits of country music. They made some anti-Bush comments at the beginning of the conflict in Iraq and were blackballed from a ton of country music stations. I think it's definitely worth seeing.

[Goofy G.Goof]

~ Over Canada an Aerial Adventure ~
Very little narration, but absolutely breath taking footage...most shot from a helicopter. The music chosen to accompany the exploration of the various regions is as beautiful as the scenery. The sounds and imagery will leave you with a greater appreciation for the immense size of the country and the stark comparison of so much landscape.

It aired on PBS in 1999-2000. I ordered a copy of the video and still enjoy popping it in now and then. It's almost therapeutic /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ImsaKidd]

[ QUOTE ]
This (http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/) site has 419 documentaries available for free, including 'Born Rich'.

[/ QUOTE ]

wowowowowowoow. I owe you bigtime.

[Kermit]

Yes, that would be the great Filmore Slim (name after Filmore Street in San Francisco).

[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Who Killed the Electric Car? - a great look at the EV1 that GM produced (as well as other electric cars), their amazing potential to redefine driving in america, and how they were quietly killed by a combination of... well i guess you must watch it to see.

[/ QUOTE ]

...their 75-150 mi driving limit on an 8-hr charge, and top speed of 80?
Something not mentioned in the film at all- just a thought. I don't know anyone who would want to drive in LA or NJ or DC with a car that maxes out after a few hours of driving.

According to GM, fully costed these would have been $80k, which you can debate, but is still awfully high for a car that only 800 people leased at half that price or less 10 years ago. These were 'quietly killed' by lack of demand.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't lack of demand that killed them. Also, keep in mind the technology was rapidly improving and prices would obviously have come way down. We could all be driving 500+ mile electric cars today if the auto companies, state of CA, and the federal government wanted us to. They already had 300 mile versions ready at the time GM pulled the plug.

[/ QUOTE ]

From the always yummy Equity Private:
'

Since joining Sub Rosa, I have had occasion to review any number of NFDs. A common theme in major "green" or "socially responsible" projects is that when someone finally bothers to study the larger impact of the technology or product it becomes painfully obvious that the product or technology is either astonishingly impractical or has a more substantial negative impact on, e.g., the environment than the "non-Green" alternatives already in the marketplace. If this pattern appears regular in SRI or Green projects, I believe it is because of this miasma effect. It is, however, easy to avoid the miasma effect. Ask what the pricing mechanism is for the product. Is it the market, or something else that is setting pricing?

Let's take an example. Trying to get back into the swing of work I have been researching hybrid cars, a project I began last spring related to some parts manufacturers we were considering acquisitions of. Some interesting things came out. Ford, for example, was at one point taking losses on every hybrid they sold. I haven't seen recent data but I suspect not much has changed. Consumers simply won't pay the $5,000 - $6,000 premium for a hybrid just "because," or at least not enough of them will do so to make the product even a break-even proposition. What was Ford thinking? Why would this be?

No matter, the savings on gasoline make up the premium cost. Nope. Not for a long while. The Toyota Prius is among the fastest at returning savings to the user. It takes 5 years and then how much can one expect? $80.00.

Well, it's worth it. Buying a hybrid will reduce your impact on the environment and if it takes 5 years to break even, well, that's just fine isn't it?

Sure, it would be, if that were true. It isn't.

In fact, the major hybrids are really quite unfriendly when you use real metrics to evaluate them. In this case, energy cost per mile over the lifetime of the vehicle.

CNW Market Research has done a comprehensive study (updated with 2006 model recently) on the "dust-to-dust" energy costs for everything from extracting and refining raw materials to manufacture, assembly, testing, delivery, driving during the life of the car and even disposal. This is, of course, the metric that should have been used to justify hybrids in the first place (since savings on fuel costs certainly didn't make their manufacture rational).

The study is intensely detailed (a great deal of time is spent modeling how long a vehicle remains with its first owner and how many times it changes hands before being disposed of, for instance, as each incremental transfer is additional energy expenditure). Read the 400 page report, absorb the "energy cost per mile" figures and some interesting things emerge:

* Actual consumption of gasoline is generally less than one third of the total energy consumption in the lifetime of a vehicle
* The 2006 model hybrid with the lowest energy impact during its life cycle is the Toyota Prius that consumes $2.965 per mile during its life
* The 2006 model hybrid with the highest energy impact during its life cycle is the Ford Escape that consumes $3.540 per mile during its life
* For many hybrid vehicles 25% to 30% of the life cycle energy expenditure is consumed in raw material production and manufacture- this is much higher than in non-hybrid vehicles. For foreign built cars this means that emissions in the country of use (the United States, say) are not being eliminated, but rather transferred to the country of manufacture. Next time a hybrid driver looks smug feel free to remind them that they are likely dumping their emissions into the second or third world. What kind of pig subjugates the peoples of Mexico and endangers their health to look "green" for their suburban neighbors and smirks about it?
* Federal (and state) subsidies mean that this energy use and emissions transfer is part of United States monetary policy (and California is exploiting Mexico).

Remembering that the hybrids consume $2.965 - $3.540 of energy per mile during their life cycle it is interesting to consider these figures for other popular vehicles:

Ford Escape: $3.540
Porsche Boxter: $3.388
Toyota Land Cruiser: $3.354
Maserati An: $3.219
BMW 5 Series: $3.197
Cadillac Escalade: $3.197
Corvette: $3.196
Toyota Prius: $2.965
Lincoln Navigator: $2.943
Porsche 911 Carrera 4: $2.806
Lincoln Town Car: $2.661
Range Rover Sport: $2.602
Porsche Cayenne: $2.539
BMW X3: $2.513
Hummer H3: $2.069

Interestingly, most large SUVs have a fairly significantly lower lifetime energy impact than do any of the hybrids.

What a wonderful "Green" investment strategy. Hybrid cars.

Hybrids are such a horrible mess because they mix all the elements required to destroy the market forces. Subsidies, state and federal. Green investing. Substantial research and development to avoid spending money on gasoline, which the market has actually left quite cheap, at the expense of a more expensive product. (Hint: use cheap resources until they are not cheap anymore).

Gas has to hit $6.00 per gallon before today's hybrids show any cost savings to their owners inside of three years. Even the most basic sensitivity analysis would expose this. We can only reason that the likes of Ford either expected $6.00 per gallon in the near future, or simply disregarded the economic analysis in favor of a political one. Is it any surprise that the resulting product is more expensive in every way worth measuring than its conventional counterparts? Shouldn't be if you were paying attention.'

[Phil Van Sexton]

Jerry Seinfeld-Comedian (http://www.amazon.com/Comedian-Jerry-Seinfeld/dp/B00005JLW5/ref=sr_1_1/002-9571889-3100846?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1173550060&sr=1-1) - Like the real life version of the Curb Your Enthusiasm pilot, but with Jerry trying to develop a new act to take on the road. It also follows an up-and-coming comedian, Orney Adams, which was equally entertaining.

I was suprised how little attention this got given the buzz for everything Seinfeld related. Maybe people were expecting a comedy and didn't appreciate this interesting documentary. There were plenty of funny parts (including the dvd commentary), just not the same kind of humor as the TV shows.

[Peter McDermott]

A few I've enjoyed lately and haven't seen mentioned:

Entertaining trash: Crackheads Gone Wild
Cultural history: Godfathers of Mondo and New York Doll
Politics/Current Events: The Power of Nightmares (3 episodes)

[Phresh]

Incident At Oglala: On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm a huge fan of David Attenborough/BBC documentaries.

My favourites are Life of Mammals (http://imdb.com/title/tt0364174/) and The Trials Of Life (http://imdb.com/title/tt0133318/), but they all are worth watching.

[/ QUOTE ]

On that note, I highly recommend The Blue Planet series.

[TiK]

To all in the NYC area, they're screening The Cats of Mirikitani at Cinema Village (http://www.cinemavillage.com/chc/cv/show_movie.asp?movieid=926) 22 E. 12th St. until 3/22.

Also for those in the Bay Area, it'll be screening at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival (http://www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org/2007/films-events/film-detail/?i=16) on 3/17 in San Francisco and on 3/24 in San Jose. Again, I highly recommend this documentary to all.

[suzzer99]

There's a show called iconoclasts on the Sundance Channel that I highly recommend. The most recent one was Samuel L. Jackson on Bill Russell. I had no idea how cool Bill Russell is. And pretty funny too. Best quote (Bill Russel quoting his father - roughly paraphrased);


If a man asks you for $5 worth of work a day, give him $7. This causes two good things to happen:

1. They need you more than you need them.

2. If you need to, you can look any man straight in the eye and tell him to go to hell.


Love that.

[Tao_Jones]

Cocaine Cowboys was excellent...

There is a great docu on famous director Akira Kurosawa (Rashoman, 7th Samurai, Yojimbo, etc.) Kurosawa (http://imdb.com/title/tt0316142/)

Come to think of it, there was another excellent docu on one of my other fav directors... Kubrik (http://imdb.com/title/tt0278736/)

[MadScientist]

The Devil's Playground.

It's about the Amish in during their running around time before joining the church. Doesn't sound interesting, but because they haven't made an oath to their god yet, they party their asses off.
Have 1000 kid parties in their Dad's barn. He looks the other way. Drive cars, hot rods. Sell meth to get the money to party and enjoy life while they can before they joing the church...
It totally changed the way I looked at the Amish.
Also, they are completely technilogically illiterate when they first join regular society which can be funny as [censored].

http://imdb.com/title/tt0293088/

The movie poster alone is pretty [censored] cool.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436720/usercomments) the story of former middleweight champion boxer Emile Griffith.

His most notorious rival, a very macho Cuban named Benny "The Kid" Paret, taunted Griffith because of his "alleged" sexual preference before their 3rd fight with each other. Griffith then beat him to death on live TV in the 13th round. This was the first time the US public watched someone die in a boxing ring.

The film examines the circumstances and characters involved in the story.

[invisibleleadsoup]

[ QUOTE ]
This (http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/) site has 419 documentaries available for free, including 'Born Rich'.

[/ QUOTE ]

great link,thanks for that

[Losing all]

Not one mention of the French 911 docu? I thought this was excellent.

Fog of war and Paradise lost are both great.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

bump

[Your Mom]

I enjoyed PBS' documentary on the Mormons.

[Pete H]

Finally opened The World At War box I've had for few months.

This mammoth comes on 16 discs. I watched the first three discs yesterday and so far it seems amazing.

One important fact is that it's from 1974 when lots of the WWII participants were still alive and available for interview.
wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_at_War_(TV_Series))

IMDB (highest score I've seen there) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071075/)

[rpr]

Yes Men - this is by far my favorite documentary. It's about two guys who impersonate WTO officials and are invited to speak to academics and other global-business type individuals. They give insane but brilliant speeches and the response they get is unreal. They call themselves "Identity Correction Agents" (I think) where instead of stealing someone's identity to commit fraud, they correct someone's identity who's essentially perpetuating a fraud.

The Capitalist Conspiracy - It presents facts from original sources like Philip Dru, Tragedy and Hope and Norman Dodd's Hidden Agenda interview. Regardless of what you think on conspiracy theories or how the world works, reading the works of Colonel House, Carroll Quigley and the testimony of Norman Dodd present an intriguing perspective. That is, that ultra wealthy men (i.e. their foundations) have used great amounts of capital to further a Utopian dream of world peace. Early on they determined the greatest way to change society is through war, thus they infiltrated the State Dept and allegedly incited wars as a means to their noble end goal. The first President to adhere to this ideology was Wilson (essentially House himself), the second was FDR and the third was the greatest ever, George W. Bush. (see Colonel House's Philip Dru (http://unitedelite.net/house.html))

[sharkbitten]

[ QUOTE ]
Finally opened The World At War box I've had for few months.

This mammoth comes on 16 discs. I watched the first three discs yesterday and so far it seems amazing.

One important fact is that it's from 1974 when lots of the WWII participants were still alive and available for interview.
wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_at_War_(TV_Series))

IMDB (highest score I've seen there) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071075/)

[/ QUOTE ]

Awesome documentary. I have this on video and have watched it numerous times in addition to times I've seen it played on PBS. It definitely sets the standard for WW II documentaries. I have never seen a documentary about WW II that can compare. It really looks at he human side of the war as well as the historical side.
/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Jzo19]

wide awake (http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/wideawake/) --currently playing on hbo , watched this a couple nights ago at like 3am , and i loved it (probably because im an insomniac, myself) , its about a guy who is trying to figure out why he is an insomniac and if he can/want to change his sleeping habits ...

[jeffnc]

I'm really enjoying the VH1 Classic Albums series. Some of them are very interesting.

[spyderracing]

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet (saw Endless Summer and Riding Giants), but Billabong Odyssesy is a pretty awesome surf doc.

[Ikaika]

Step Into Liquid is my fave surf documentary.

Pumping Iron isn't quite a true documentary but damn its good. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Dale]

Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135 -- directed by Mel Stuart, this movie chronicles the 1999 Badwater 135 ultramarathon, probably the most grueling of all races, held in Death Valley every July. It starts 283 feet below sea level and ascends to nearly 9,000 feet, and the temperatures are as high as 125 degrees. Stuart follows several of the competitors, age 29 to 67, including two amputees, showing their pre-race training methods and the trials they face during the race. It's interesting to see that some of the older runners fare better, due to their mental strength. I never get tired of watching this.

Touch the Sound -- this documents Evelyn Glennie, the first and perhaps only full-time solo percussionist in western culture. She's a Grammy award winner in classical music and has also recorded with Bjork, Steve Hackett, and others. The film shows her in a number of settings: solo in Grand Central Station, on the street, in Japan, and extensively with Fred Frith. She is profoundly deaf and "hears" through her feet and the rest of her body. If you're a musician, or even if you're not, you have to see this.

[iSTRONG]

Don't know if it's been mentioned but i found The falling man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810746/) to be real good. It's about the picture of the man falling from WTC that caused such outrage at the time.

Picture: as a link, in case some of you are offended by it. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/05/The_Falling_Man.jpg/250px-The_Falling_Man.jpg)

[iSTRONG]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet (saw Endless Summer and Riding Giants), but Billabong Odyssesy is a pretty awesome surf doc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Endless summer /images/graemlins/heart.gif /images/graemlins/heart.gif /images/graemlins/heart.gif This movie got a special place in my heart.

[Badger]

The King of Kong - I saw this movie because my friend worked on it and it turned out to be really interesting. It's about the competition for the world record on the arcade classic Donkey Kong. It features two men vying for the record- one a former video game whiz kid from the 80's turned restaurateur/hot sauce mogul and an unemployed engineer who becomes a grade school teacher. These two fall perfectly into hero and villain roles. One would be hard pressed to write a script that played out as well as this story did. I met the producer and he explained how fortunate they were that basically fell in his lap as the story was starting to develop. I saw it at SXSW film festival, I think it'll have a wider release in mid August. Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance, especially if for those that might have some nostalgia from the 80's or any interest in arcade games.
imdb link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/)

High Score - While I'm on the subject of video game documentaries this was another interesting one I saw at SXSW the year before. This centers around the game Missile Command, and is about one man's setbacks in his attempt to set the marathon record for the game (something like 80 hours of straight play, no breaks). The gamer was at SXSW and seemed like a surprisingly normal guy, both in the doc and in real life.
imdb link (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808299/)

Having only a marginal interest in video games these films were both still very intriguing to me, and I now know more than I ever wanted to know about the world of competitive gaming.

[iSTRONG]

Children Underground (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264476/) : Filmed in 2001 in Romania. Follows the lives of a bunch of really young runaway kids/orphans living in a Bucarest subway station. Amazing but very disturbing documentary.

[dlv54]

I watched La Sierra this weekend and thought it was excellent. Not quite as good as cocaine cowboys, but close. Anyway, here is the synopsis from the film's website. (ohhh, and I got it at blockbuster so you don't have to buy it was was the case for me for cocain cowboys)

More than 30,000 people have been killed over the last ten years in Colombia’s bloody civil conflict, in which left-wing guerillas fight against the government and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. Recently, as guerillas and paramilitaries sought to control marginal city neighborhoods, urban gangs aligned themselves with each side. In this way, the national conflict was translated into a brutal turf war that pitted adjacent barrios against each other. The documentary La Sierra explores life over the course of a year in one such barrio (La Sierra, in Medellin), through the prism of three young lives

Edison, aka “The Doll,” is a paramilitary commander in La Sierra. At the age of 22, he is also the de facto mayor of the neighborhood and a playboy who has fathered six children by six different women. Openly dedicated to and excited by his life of violence, he is also an intelligent and charismatic young man. As we follow him through the armed conflict, its victories and setbacks, he shares his dreams for himself and his children, and explains his attachment to what he calls “my war.” We follow his life up to the moment he is gunned down in the street, and then witness his family’s suffering and faith in the face of tragedy.

Cielo, age 17, was displaced from the countryside in sixth grade, when her brother and father were murdered by guerillas. A mother at the age of 15, she was widowed when the father of her son (a gang member) was killed. Now Cielo is devoted to a new boyfriend, a paramilitary, who she visits in jail every Sunday. With little or no money to her name, Cielo goes downtown to beg and sell candies on the buses, resisting her friend’s suggestion of prostitution. After her rocky relationship with her boyfriend unravels, Cielo finally gives in and takes a job in Medellin’s red light district.

Jesus, 19, is a mid-level paramilitary member. Badly wounded when a homemade grenade blew up in his hands and face, Jesus presents himself as ready for death at any moment and hoping for little more than the opportunity to continue indulging his taste for marijuana and cocaine. But as the war in La Sierra comes to a end, and the paramilitaries begin a government-sponsored disarmament process, Jesus dreams of beginning a life without war.

La Sierra is an intimate, unflinching portrait of three lives defined by violence, and a community wracked by conflict. Over the course of a year these lives, and the life of the barrio itself, each undergo profound changes, experiencing victory, despair, defeat, death, love, and hope. In a place where journalists are seldom allowed, Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez spent a year filming, interviewing, and building trust. The result is a frank portrayal that not only includes startling scenes of graphic violence and its aftermath, but also reveals intimate moments of love and tenderness, and shows the everyday life that manages to coexist with conflict.

[nutfloppa]

Hated : Documentary about the life and death of the notorious underground punk icon GG Allin.

Most likely the craziest "musician" ever as far as what he did on stage. This one is a must see. Taking a dump on stage and throwing it at the crowd after smearing it all over himself is worth the cost of admission alone.

Hated (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107086/)

[revots33]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Michael Apted 7 Up series.

[/ QUOTE ]

I recently read about this and it sounded like a really interesting idea. Can I start viewing this from any movie or do I need to start from the beginning to really get it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think you need to start at the beginning (although it's worthwhile) - there are enough flashback clips of the subjects at different ages to get a sense of how they've changed throughout their lives. I'd start with 28 Up which I think is a great one and their first as true adults - and then watch each one after that.

For those unfamiliar with it, Michael Apted interviews a cross-section of British kids when they are 7, then again at 14, 21, 28 etc. Every 7 years he puts out a new movie in the series. The most recent was 49 Up, and 56 Up is due out in 5 years or so. The films are fascinating and touching and everyone should see them.

[CharlieDontSurf]

I've seen Ghosts of Cite Soleil and it is really good. Surprised the director didn't get killed while filming it.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghosts_of_cite_soleil/

[jbrent33]

Sorry if this has already been posted, I skimmed the first 2 pages and didn't see it.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston IMBD (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436231/)

I watched this last night and was blown away. I had heard of Daniel Johnston but was not really familiar with his story. This is an incredibly compelling story of a true tortured artist. I'm somewhat of a music snob and in the beginning I really didn't "get" what was so great about him. By the end of the movie I got it.
It won best director at Sundance.

Daniel's Wikipedia Page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Johnston)

Even you don't know who he is most people (around my age at least) will recognize this image:
http://www.strangeandnew.com/content/images/20070204/24_THE_DEVIL_AND_DANIEL_JOHNSTON.jpg

[CharlieDontSurf]

Just watched an awesome doc

King of Kong Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games.

[hexag1]

heres one you can just watch on google video.

undercover mosque

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...h&plindex=0 (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2668560761490749816&q=undercover+m osque&total=103&start=0&num=20&so=0&type=search&pl index=0)

a look at Islamic exremism in Britain.

[anduril]

Just saw Wake up America (http://www.freedomtofascism.com/index.html) by Aaron Russo. It's mostly about tax law and the fact that there is no law that states that you are required to pay federal income tax for wages or labor. Anyone seen it or have insight? I thought it was Michael Mooresque but better IMO.

edit: link is to some sample videos, but I can't find anywhere that specfically shows the documentary. I got it from a friend.

[Chaostracize]

Has anyone seen Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stephen_tobolowskys_birthday_party/)?

And wasn't there also a movie about him going around asking people if they knew who he was? I can't find that on IMDB, but I want to check both of these movies out.

[Slow Play Ray]

[ QUOTE ]
cocaine cowboys - chronicles the cocaine trafficking boom in miami during the 70s/80s. features interviews with the two biggest transporters and one of the top enforcers. exposes a number of key figures who are largely unknown and dispells the myth that pablo escobar was the top dog in the business. a compelling mix of news footage and interviews. this was the best of the bunch - really awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

added to the top of the blockbuster queue. very excited.

[Badger]

[ QUOTE ]
Just watched an awesome doc

King of Kong Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games.

[/ QUOTE ]
Where'd you see it? I got to see it at SXSW when the producer let me sneak into a sold out screening (deliberate brag). I was wondering if it's still screening at festivals or showing anywhere else. Watch for the nationwide release Aug. 17th.
Trailer. (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809834006/video/3053794/)
Austinites- hopefully the Drafthouse will be doing something cool for this movie.

[CharlieDontSurf]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just watched an awesome doc

King of Kong Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games.

[/ QUOTE ]
Where'd you see it? I got to see it at SXSW when the producer let me sneak into a sold out screening (deliberate brag). I was wondering if it's still screening at festivals or showing anywhere else. Watch for the nationwide release Aug. 17th.
Trailer. (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809834006/video/3053794/)
Austinites- hopefully the Drafthouse will be doing something cool for this movie.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have it on DVD.

Mr. Awesome's Guide to Getting Girls lol.

[Badger]

[ QUOTE ]
Mr. Awesome's Guide to Getting Girls lol.

[/ QUOTE ]
Haha, here's a youtube vid of Mr. Awesome (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3gW_91bjkg)
One would infer from this that he gets blow jobs from Men.

[fleece_me]

The Meaning of Pictures

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_True_Me...89?trkid=203957 (http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_True_Meaning_of_Pictures_Shelby_Lee_Adams_Appa lachia/60028589?trkid=203957)

This documentary is impossible to describe. It is haunting, disturbing, controversial and hard to watch. I recommend it to anyone, especially lovers of photography. I think even the least introspective viewer can take something away from this and analytical types like myself will have it stuck in their minds for a long time. I am mindful of sounding melodramatic, but I don't know how someone can watch this and not be moved.

I think Shelby Adams is an amazing photographer, but this doc is about much more. He is certainly aided by the subject matter.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Paradise Lost
Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances and this film presents the real-life courtroom drama to the viewer, as it unfolds.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to reiterate how good this was. I would be surprised if anyone could watch this and not come away thinking that the kids convicted of murder aren't innocent.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just watched this documentary. It's horrifying that a jury in this day and age would convict those kids without a shred of evidence (no physical evidence, no motive, unbelievable and/or coerced confessions, etc). I pray that my life is never in the hands of a jury.

[magne87]

I found a link with some more online documentaries. I have not seen many of them, so I dont know if everyone s working.
http://www.tv-links.co.uk/listings/9

Is there anyone that has a torrent to 51 Birch street? I would love to see it, but Its hard to find it in Norway

[MicroBob]

The documentary that I mentioned previously The Big Bang from 1989 is on cable tonight.
2:40am on Flix if you get that channel. It comes with my cable package.

It's on a few more times this week on that channel too.

I'm going to try to stay up and watch it but I'm really freaking tired so might only make it part-way and then catch the rest later this week.

It's just a bunch of clips of interviews of a few random people asking them things about love, life, etc.
IMO, the film has a good heart.
But I haven't seen it for years and my tastes have changed some so not sure if I'll like it as much.

[Rococo]

For true fans of the genre, I would recommend anything by Frederick Wiseman. He style is highly obversational and very unique. Although there is very little in the way of narration or interviews in his movies, they are still powerful.

Wiseman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Wiseman)

[sublime]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Paradise Lost
Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances and this film presents the real-life courtroom drama to the viewer, as it unfolds.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to reiterate how good this was. I would be surprised if anyone could watch this and not come away thinking that the kids convicted of murder aren't innocent.

[/ QUOTE ]

just watched this and am not sure where i land...the only person in the whole ordeal who seemed capable of something so gruesome was the stepfather john mark byers (wow, what a freak). the kids seemed odd, but when you look at the parents of these kids i suppose they are more 'normal' then we suspect. as usual, the incompetence of the PD in these large cases is revealed and usually prevents the actual truth from coming out.

[Marwan]

Saw Deliver us from Evil a few days ago, not bad, worth a watch.

[Anycall]

watched A State of Mind last night. it follows 2 north korean girl gymnasts and their families for about 1year, finishing off with pyongyang mass games. mass game scenes are spectacular. very interesting to have a peek inside the hermit kingdom.

[kyleb]

The Show on MOJO is an interesting series about minor league ballplayers trying to make it to the Diamondbacks.

[suzzer99]

Very positive review (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/21/DD1SSA04H.DTL) of Ken Burns' - The War. I tivoed this not sure what to expect as I feel like I've already seen lots of exhaustive documentaries on WWII. But after this review I'm getting excited.

"One motivation was learning that more than 1,000 veterans die every day. A real storyteller can't hide from what those losses mean to documenting history. But all that matters is that he did make "The War." Because as it unfolds starting Sunday - roughly seven years in the making and 15 hours long - there is little doubt that this is Burns' masterpiece."


As an aside, whenever I meet a WWII vet, which isn't that often, I always try to say something like "thank you for the sacrifices your generation made for my generation". It might seem a little cheesy, but I think it means more to them than we can imagine.

I had a guy sitting to me on a plane get a little choked up when I thanked him. He was with a bunch of "hump pilots" coming back from a reunion in China. Basically they flew prop planes over the Himalayas from Nepal and India to resupply troops fighting in China. It was an incredibly dangerous job. Puts commercial airline discomfort in perspective.

[mrkilla]

Suz
I DVR'd "The War". Ken Burns usually does an excellent job and his Documentary "The Civil War" is regarded as one the gold standard and one of my favorites (I've already posted about it in this thread) I am excited to see it hopefully some time this week.

[Bartman387]

Awesome thread, but there has been a couple notable exclusions.

The Aristocrats
This is a documentary about a joke. It is a joke only told by comedians to other comedians. One of the most crude, disgusting and entertaining films you will ever see. Especially funny is the telling of the joke by Billly The Mime.

Not quite a doc, and not a mockumentary, I guess a faux-doc:
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
A faux doc made in the Ken Burns style of the history of America had the Confederacy won. It's an interesting idea, has humor, and can be intriguing and though provoking. However it is not quite as convincing as I wanted, and can be a bit over the top in showing how different things would be.

In the same vein:

Death of a President
Another faux doc, which details the events leading up to and following President Bush's assasination. It is a very even handed telling of this possibility, and in doing so stays very neutral (no anti-war, anti-GOP message or slant).