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Re: Documentaries
Jerry Seinfeld-Comedian - 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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) |
Re: Documentaries
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.
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Re: Documentaries
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I'm a huge fan of David Attenborough/BBC documentaries. My favourites are Life of Mammals and The Trials Of Life, but they all are worth watching. [/ QUOTE ] On that note, I highly recommend The Blue Planet series. |
Re: The Cats of Mirikitani
To all in the NYC area, they're screening The Cats of Mirikitani at Cinema Village 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 on 3/17 in San Francisco and on 3/24 in San Jose. Again, I highly recommend this documentary to all. |
Re: The Cats of Mirikitani
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. |
Re: Documentaries
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Re: Documentaries
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. |
Re: Documentaries
Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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This site has 419 documentaries available for free, including 'Born Rich'. [/ QUOTE ] great link,thanks for that |
Re: Documentaries
Not one mention of the French 911 docu? I thought this was excellent.
Fog of war and Paradise lost are both great. |
Re: Documentaries
bump
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Re: Documentaries
I enjoyed PBS' documentary on the Mormons.
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Re: Documentaries
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 IMDB (highest score I've seen there) |
Re: Documentaries
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) |
Re: Documentaries
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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 IMDB (highest score I've seen there) [/ 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. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] |
Re: Documentaries
wide awake --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 ...
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Re: Documentaries
I'm really enjoying the VH1 Classic Albums series. Some of them are very interesting.
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Re: Documentaries
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet (saw Endless Summer and Riding Giants), but Billabong Odyssesy is a pretty awesome surf doc.
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Re: Documentaries
Step Into Liquid is my fave surf documentary.
Pumping Iron isn't quite a true documentary but damn its good. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] |
Re: Documentaries
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. |
Re: Documentaries
Don't know if it's been mentioned but i found The falling man 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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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 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] This movie got a special place in my heart. |
Re: Documentaries
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 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 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. |
Re: Documentaries
Children Underground : 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.
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Re: Documentaries
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. |
Re: Documentaries
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 |
Re: Documentaries
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[ 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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/ |
Re: Documentaries
Sorry if this has already been posted, I skimmed the first 2 pages and didn't see it.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston IMBD 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 Even you don't know who he is most people (around my age at least) will recognize this image: http://www.strangeandnew.com/content...L_JOHNSTON.jpg |
Re: Documentaries
Just watched an awesome doc
King of Kong Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games. |
Re: Documentaries
heres one you can just watch on google video.
undercover mosque http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...h&plindex=0 a look at Islamic exremism in Britain. |
Re: Documentaries
Just saw Wake up America 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. |
Re: Documentaries
Has anyone seen Stephen Tobolowsky's 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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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. |
Re: Documentaries
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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. Austinites- hopefully the Drafthouse will be doing something cool for this movie. |
Re: Documentaries
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[ 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. 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. |
Re: Documentaries
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Mr. Awesome's Guide to Getting Girls lol. [/ QUOTE ] Haha, here's a youtube vid of Mr. Awesome One would infer from this that he gets blow jobs from Men. |
Re: Documentaries
The Meaning of Pictures
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_True_Me...89?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. |
Re: Documentaries
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[ 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. |
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