Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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?

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

[/ QUOTE ]

I enjoyed Step Into Liquid as well.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

book

Truly remarkable

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/...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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

Something The Lord Made

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

The Mark Twain 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 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 is amazing.

Re: Documentaries
 

Gimme Shelter (link) is a great rock & roll documentary about the Rolling Stones, and captures a violent riot at the Altamont Springs concert.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Docs

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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).

Re: Documentaries
 

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.