What's the best documentary you've seen?

sbsquarepants

Three that stood out for me are:-
Bowling for Columbine
Exit through the gift shop
Hooked: illegal drugs and how they got that way

Glenbhoy

Hoop Dreams

following about 4 years in the lives of two southside Chicago kids as they pursue their NBA dreams.

Absolute classic, my non-sports loving wife was totally engrossed and still recommends (3 yrs later) to all and sundry.

Wattle

I'd love to see 'Hearts of Darkness' which was a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. It was shot by Francis Ford Coppola's wife. Laser used to have it but it seems to have disappeared now.

smash

you've been framed.

daveyeh

Spinal Tap

snubbleste

Anything that John Pilger creates. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pilger

cock robin

Touching the void, Water the great mystery, Zeitgeist, The Obama deception, The Planets, Long Way Round.

punk77

Wattle wrote: »

I'd love to see 'Hearts of Darkness' which was a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. It was shot by Francis Ford Coppola's wife. Laser used to have it but it seems to have disappeared now.

Absolutely brilliant documentary. Arguably,the best documentary on the making of a film ever.A tragedy,comedy and disaster movie rolled into one and a must see for any fans of Apocalypse Now. I can't understand why it was never released as part of a special edition package of Apocalypse Now. It really increases your appreciation of the film itself.
Another 'Making of ' documentary that is right up alongside Hearts of Darkness is Burden of Dreams. Directed by Les Blank, this film documents the making of and madness of Werner Hertzog's '82 film Fitzcarraldo. Superb.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_Dreams

Wattle

punk77 wrote: »

Absolutely brilliant documentary. Arguably,the best documentary on the making of a film ever.A tragedy,comedy and disaster movie rolled into one and a must see for any fans of Apocalypse Now. I can't understand why it was never released as part of a special edition package of Apocalypse Now. It really increases your appreciation of the film itself.
Another 'Making of ' documentary that is right up alongside Hearts of Darkness is Burden of Dreams. Directed by Les Blank, this film documents the making of and madness of Werner Hertzog's '82 film Fitzcarraldo. Superb.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_Dreams

On the same subject there's a documentary called 'My Best Fiend'. It's about Werner Herzog's relationship with Klaus Kinski who was an absolute raving lunatic. Fascinating stuff.

Akrasia

I dunno if this has been mentioned, but Sigur Ros did a documentary about a series of life gigs they did around iceland. It is a stunning film.
'Heima' I strongly recommend it

af_thefragile

Senna. Amazing guy, amazing documentary.

BBC's Planet Earth, It was a visual masterpiece deserves to be watched on bluray and nothing less.

Cathaoirleach

Boozed Up Irish Abroad is a fantastic documentary from TV3. Highly recommended.

LH Pathe

When's Tallafornia on? should be good. That's what I like about TV3, finger on the pulse

LostGirly

March of The Penguins! No contest! Morgan Freeman narrating and it's about penguins!!

sunflower27

LostGirly wrote: »

March of The Penguins! No contest! Morgan Freeman narrating and it's about penguins!!

I loved that. Not seen it in years. I particularly liked the belly slides

parrai

http://youtu.be/swkq2E8mswI

CapriSunFun

Anything by Louis Theroux, all his documentaries are amazing. Personal faves are Body Building, South Africa, Louis and the Nazis, and The Most Hated Family In America which is about the Westboro Baptist Church (the "God Hates Fags" folk). I applaud him for not punching each and every one of them in the face.

Fozzydog3

Can anyone recommend a documentary like American Movie or King of Kong ? something that can go from hilarious to sad in a second

Custardpi

Saw this a few years ago, incredibly sad documentary about about one person's ability to bring others along on his journey of destruction & the harshness of the American judicial & penitential system which brutalises inmates & can turn petty criminals into monsters. The woman in the film was finally released a few years after it was made. Troy Kell, the main focus of the story, remains on death row.

Geekness1234

Restrepo.

Sisko

Wattle wrote: »

I'd love to see 'Hearts of Darkness' which was a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. It was shot by Francis Ford Coppola's wife. Laser used to have it but it seems to have disappeared now.

Been looking for this for years.

steddyeddy

Anyone ever see Peter Taylor's docementarys on the troubles in the north? He had a program on each of the sides in the troubles.

jugger0

Bravos deadly mission, cant stop eating, Tourette de france

fjon

pennypocket wrote: »

Also Requiem for Detroit, a fascinating account of the rise and fall of Motor City in the twentieth century.

http://documentaryheaven.com/requiem-for-detroit/

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned more. Really excellent docu, definitely would recommend it!

chin_grin

Gonna add two more (recently watched and fascinated by them).

Loose Change: An American Coup.

and

Zeitgeist


<puts on tin foil hat>

Wattle

Sisko wrote: »

Been looking for this for years.

It's on Amazon for a tenner or so.

foxyboxer

Another mention for ATOM by Jim Al-Khalili. Watched all 3 parts again recently.

Brilliant stuff. "If you suck all the empty* space out of all the atoms in your body, you'd be no bigger than a grain of fine salt...but you'd still weigh the same"



* Quantum foam, the stuff that emptiness is made of.

Standard Toaster

Caught the end of this the other night, have roughly half of them downloading
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/50_documentaries_to_see_before_you_die_final_top_10_how_many_have_you_seen/


Will probably watch 'Hoop Dreams', 'Tarnation' and 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' next.

Vicxas

Planet Earth is pretty amazing, especially in HD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Earth_(TV_series)

Overheal

Planet Earth, Extreme Engineering, etc.

So many good documentaries. If we were discussing one-off documentaries I'd have to think about it some more.