Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

la,

HHAHAAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHHA

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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!

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

I enjoyed This Film Is Not Yet Rated.
If you are interested in movies this gives you a good understanding of the challenges filmmakers go through with the MPAA ratingsboard.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

One of my favorites is the Iceman 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

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

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

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

Bus 174

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

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

dogtown and stoked

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

Grizzly man!
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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 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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

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] 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


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

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

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

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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...

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.

Re: Documentaries
 

[ 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.