Documentaries - Best and Worst

ToadVine

Anvil! The story of Anvil.

Adventures at the end of the World.

Renn

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Last Train Home is my new benchmark for feature documentary. Loved everything about it. Heartbreaking, insightful, beautiful, intensely personal yet on a grand scale. The camera and editing styles are thoughtful and engagingly inobtrusive. As close to documentary perfection as I have yet witnessed.

Remember really disliking this. Felt it was far too staged for my liking and not falling into the 'true' documentary category.

chillywilly

Paths to Freedom

But seriously, if you are in to gang culture etc then watch Cocaine Cowboys 1 and 2. It's about the rise of cocaine, murders, and the people behind it in America. Both can be watched on youtube i think.

If you are in to history/travel/America/New York then I'd recommend the PBS "New York, A Documentary Film" series. It gives you a great description of the birth of New York form the first Dutch settlers through to the Irish gang era, all the way up on 9/11. Most if not all of these can be watched on youtube.

Oh, Zietgiest is also worth a watch. It's a bit conspiracy driven (or is it?! ) but i found it enjoyable to watch. It's basically about how a few rich individuals (Rockerfeller, JP Morgan etc) controlled the wealth of America by ensuring that the "Federal Reserve Act" was put it place, which meant they could profit from every dollar given out to banks(banks being themselves, strange I know).

pookiesboo

Grey Gardens

DMcL1971

Raw Deal: A Question of Consent

Tells the story of a stripper hired to perform at a frat party. She stays on afterwards for more drinks and to party. The next morning she is found running from the frat house claiming to have been raped. The frat boys are arrested. They then reveal they have a video tape of the entire nights proceedings. At whch point things start to take a few unexpected twists.

Despite interviews with nearly everyone involved and some disturbing video footage this documentary leaves most viewers arguing about whether a rape ocurred or not. All the evidence presented shows how incredibly difficult rape is to prove. All the footage can be interpereted two ways and every interviewee seems reliable one minute and a liar the next. The police, lawyers and politicians are so busy covering their asses the are of little help.

EoghanIRL

I love the nazi secrets documentaries on history.

check out Bike on Documentary heaven,
top class

Da Shins Kelly

CountryJoe wrote: »

DIG: Follows two bands (Brian Jonestown Massacre & The Dandy Warhols) for seven years. Absolutely fascinating and at times a bit disdurbing. The BJM's Anton Newcombe comes across as a violent sociopath. Although nobody in the movie comes out of it really well, aside from the tambourine player Joel, whos so off his face it renders him harmless. Absolutely essential viewing.

If anything, I thought the Dandy Warhols came out worst in that documentary. Courtney came off as an absolute c*nt to me, and it seemed like they were trying to portray Anton as a sociopath (I accept that Anton is slightly crazy, but he's also an amazing musician and not a psycho by any means). It's a great documentary, but I though the BJM were sometimes deliberately cast in a bad light as a band who couldn't get their sh*t together, when in fact they are an absolutely brilliant band and a million times better than the Dandy Warhols.

I love Capturing the Friedmans. Originally intended as a documentary about children's birthday parties entertainers, focusing on David Friedman who dressed up as a clown at these parties, and becomes about the whole Friedman family who are torn apart child molestation accusations against the father Arnold and the brother Jesse at the height of all the pedophile scare-mongering and witch-hunts during the 80s. I thought it was a good unbiased documentary. I genuinely couldn't decide whether I thought they did it or not at the end, and still can't.

Jesus Camp made me very, very angry. It's about a Christian summer camp for children, where the children are told to "purify" themselves, are taught to disbelieve anything scientific, taught to become preachers from a very young age, and go through exorcism-like rituals where they have "demons" cast out of them. The faith is used not only for religious purposes, but also political ones with the children being taught about abortion and being set up as "an army of God" to oppose the "enemy" that is Islam. It also features an appearance from Ted Haggard, the televangelist who condemned homosexuals and was later revealed to have engaged in homosexual activity with a rent boy and did crystal meth. Again, the information is presented quite evenly and without bias. It's quite upsetting viewing at times and the extent to which these kids are brainwashed and at times, as far as I'm concerned, mentally abused, is shocking.

Gandalph

I went through most posts and not one mention of March of the Penguins dafuq?!

I like my business documentaries so I really enjoyed the likes of Enron: Smartest Guys in the room basically about the greed surrounding Enron that caused it to collapse. The Inside Job is a basic description of the current economic crisis, I loved the way most interviewees from major corporations were put on the spot to ask questions and couldnt find the answers. And The Corporation is just about corporations in general, the greed, the strategies, the scandals etc pretty enjoyable but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone not into that sort of thing.

mikemac1

Probably mentioned already but Fog of War is worth checking out

About Robert McNamara, top man at Ford and the World Bank and in between was US Secretary of Defense

I think he died soon after the film came out



+1 to The Revolution will not be Televised
Shows the power of the media and how you can edit a video to anything you want.

You see soldiers on a bridge supervising an unruly mob except when you zoom out there are no protesters at all!!

Was done by some Irish people so a big coup for them

briany

Winnebago Man : A documentary film maker sets out to find the man who starred in this profanity laced outtake compilation from an 80s Winnebago (camper van) advert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWUWPx2VeQ

T.C.O.B

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Documentary that follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell.

That plot description might seem really bland but the docu is far from it. The subterfuge in the world of arcade gaming is something to behold. This is well worth checking out.

briany

T.C.O.B wrote: »

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Documentary that follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell.

That plot description might seem really bland but the docu is far from it. The subterfuge in the world of arcade gaming is something to behold. This is well worth checking out.

That's a documentary I'd like to see a sequel to because Wiebe continued his pursuit of the record and also Mitchell and co. were not a hundred percent pleased with their portrayal in the first. I think a second would have an interesting narrative even though the doc would be more of the same on the whole but people who enjoyed the first would still enjoy a second.

briany

briany wrote: »

That's a documentary I'd like to see a sequel to because Wiebe continued his pursuit of the record and also Mitchell and co. were not a hundred percent pleased with their portrayal in the first. I think a second would have an interesting narrative even though the doc would be more of the same on the whole but people who enjoyed the first would still enjoy a second.

As far as I know some eastern guy hammered both their high scores

kingtiger

urbanledge wrote: »

As far as I know some eastern guy hammered both their high scores

Yep this guy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Chien%E2%80%98s

and he has his own short docu

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1824950/

Kurz

kingtiger wrote: »

Yep this guy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Chien%E2%80%98s

and he has his own short docu

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1824950/

He's a big spoilsport who came and ruined the fun! I love that movie also.

One of the best I've seen has to be The Devil and Daniel Johnson. It was about a year ago when I saw it but it stayed with me, there's just something very touching about it.

I'm sure it's been mentioned but one of my worst would be Grizzly Man. I know a lot of people love it and I watched it because it was so highly rated but I found it a huge disappointment. The story was drawn out and not particularly interesting and I felt the characters were all completely false. The main character isn't likeable either.

T.C.O.B

briany wrote: »

That's a documentary I'd like to see a sequel to because Wiebe continued his pursuit of the record and also Mitchell and co. were not a hundred percent pleased with their portrayal in the first. I think a second would have an interesting narrative even though the doc would be more of the same on the whole but people who enjoyed the first would still enjoy a second.

I certainly would've liked to have seen a follow up too. The director suggested that they played down Mitchells character, making him more light hearted than his real life personna, fleshing that out alone could be interesting viewing.

briany

T.C.O.B wrote: »

I certainly would've liked to have seen a follow up too. The director suggested that they played down Mitchells character, making him more light hearted than his real life personna, fleshing that out alone could be interesting viewing.

I'd actually read kind of the opposite, that the film was cut to make Mitchell appear more aloof and egotistical like that they'd omitted the bit where Mitchell met with Wiebe to make it appear as if he didn't want to confront him etc.

Kurz wrote: »

He's a big spoilsport who came and ruined the fun! I love that movie also.

One of the best I've seen has to be The Devil and Daniel Johnson. It was about a year ago when I saw it but it stayed with me, there's just something very touching about it.

I'm sure it's been mentioned but one of my worst would be Grizzly Man. I know a lot of people love it and I watched it because it was so highly rated but I found it a huge disappointment. The story was drawn out and not particularly interesting and I felt the characters were all completely false. The main character isn't likeable either.

I disagree about Grizzly Man. Maybe some went into that film expecting a touching portrayal, a film similar to Into the Wild or something but I don't think the film was about that. It was about a misguided and troubled do-gooder and an example of many western people's profound disconnect from the natural world. The man seemed to think he was some great eco-warrior who could commune with beasts but in trying and striving to be that, he crossed a line that you don't cross. He paid the price for that and that's what this film is about.

The interviews in that film felt really staged but for me that just adds another layer of weirdness on the film. Were these people taking advantage of the tragic death of their friend/colleague so they could emote on camera?

Thanks for the recommendations!
I watched Dig! and project Nim last night.

As I said before check out B.I.K.E
its about a bicycle gang but starts to focus more on one of the wannabe members who's a heroin addict.Funny and sad

briany

Check out 'A Complete History of my Sexual Failures' about a film maker who, after his latest break up, decides to go back and interview any old flame that will still speak to him to get a greater understanding of what it is about him that makes it seemingly impossible for him to maintain a relationship.

Quite a bit of the documentary feels staged and is played for laughs (of the cringe behind the couch kind) but it is excellent if you're in the mood for a lighter doc.

MakeEmLaugh

Please, if you get the chance, watch We Were Here. It's a documentary about the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco in the early 1980s. It is a very frightening and moving film.

At one point one of the survivors compares his father's experience of the Korean War to his own experience of the AIDS crisis, and you can't help but feel it's apt.

DjFlin

Dont know if its already been posted but,

Indie Game: The Movie gives a great insight into the development of independent video games. Its quite fascination seeing how some people have poured their heart and souls into their games.

You can buy it straight off the site for 5 USD (Its normally 10 Dollars, seems to be on sale atm). For that you can download or stream it in HD, along with Audio commentary by some of the developers.

mistress_gi

I love most of Werner Herzog's documentaries.
Encounters at the end of the world is wonderful!
(don't know if I can post the IMDB link, mods: please remove if I am breaking any rules!)

Skinfull

The other day I watched "Epicly Later'd" about John Cardiel who was (apparently) a skateboarding phenomenon who was injured in a car accident and paralysed. He was told he'd never walk again and now competes on fixed gear biking (or something)

The doc wasn't actually about the accident and recovery, it got a mention at the end, but it was more about his life and who he was and how he affected the people around him. I'm not a fan of the sport and at times the guys in this movie were so stereotypical "Radical" and "Right on" that is was cringy but it was still compelling viewing.

woof im a dog

dig its absolutely mental, someone uploaded to youtube as well if ya wanna watch it

lolo62

mistress_gi wrote: »

I love most of Werner Herzog's documentaries.
Encounters at the end of the world is wonderful!
(don't know if I can post the IMDB link, mods: please remove if I am breaking any rules!)

Me too he is my hero, have you seen his latest 'into the abyss' best yet in my opinion
He also did similar series of programmes for tv called 'death row' amazing stuff

meoklmrk91

The best: Paradise Lost was fantastic, I think it was wonderfully done and brilliantly objective, I watched all three movies in one sitting. The first is by far the best though. Dear Zachary, while I think it was completely one sided it is just fantastic, I have never been more emotionally devastated while watching film in my life, it is a beautiful, important film and everyone should see it.

The worst: Farenhiet 9/11, it was just trash in fairness. Inheritance, a doc about Amon Goeth's daughter and her meeting Helen Hirsh, who was Goeth's Jewish maid during the war, it was just terrible and Goeth's daughter seemed a little unhinged to me, I don't feel it was appropriate to make the movie.

Honourable mentions: Capturing the Friedmans, probably the most interesting home videos ever recorded. I have never forgotten you: the life and legagy of Simon Wiesenthal, I really liked this one, he was a cool dude, could have been a bit less pandering though.

Da Shins Kelly

I saw Inheritance today, and I didn't think it was inappropriate. It is about the meeting of the daughter of Amon Goeth and a Holocaust survivor who worked as a servant in his villa during the Second World War. It is a very sad film obviously from the point of view of the survivor who is traumatized and returns to the villa where she worked and suffered, but also from the point of view of Goeth's daughter, who struggles to live with the burden of her father's terrible legacy and the fact that you can't apologize for other people. It's a very emotional documentary and really a journey of discovery for both women as one tries to find closure and peace, and the other comes to terms with the truth about her family history.

Amalgam

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard (BBC). It is on repeat at the moment. A series, but just about every episode would stand on its own. Very nitty gritty, really got you inside the value system of the everyday Roman.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gknyq

---

I could watch anything by Frederick Wiseman. Chase this up if you can, for starters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titicut_Follies

Da Shins Kelly

I meant to mention Mine too, an intensely emotional documentary about displaced animals after Hurricane Katrina. It follows the stories of the animal rescue teams who rescued pets after the storm, the owners who were forced to leave their pets behind and the families who adopted rescued animals after the hurricane. It raises issues about pet ownership and regarding pets as 'family' and the question of what is truly right for the animal in the wake of such a disaster, and really highlighted to me that you can learn a lot about a person's character from the way they care for their pets. If you're an animal lover and a pet owner, you'll cry your eyes out.

Last night I decided to watch TT3D - Closer to the Edge and it immediately became one of my favourite documentaries ever. Similar to King of Kong, you're introduced to things you might not be interested in, but you are won over by the people/characters that you encounter.

With TT3D, you are introduced to the wonderful Guy Martin; who is an incredible motormouth with a lot to say, yet oozes so much personality and charm, that you can't help but fall in love with him, as he prepares for the Isle of Man motorbike TT. There are also many other brilliant characters that pop up along the way.

When it gets to the TT itself, the footage gets immense. I was on the edge of my seat with my heart in my mouth, to use a cliched expression, yet there is no other way to explain it. Definitely worth the watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn1YB7fk8eg

PhiloCypher

Caught the last half hour of Grand Prix : The killer years on BBC a few months ago.

The last 5 mins were/are particularly harrowing.

MyBrokenKnees

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. Just amazing i have never been as emotionally drained after watching a Documentary.

Vertigo100

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

I meant to mention Mine too, an intensely emotional documentary about displaced animals after Hurricane Katrina. It follows the stories of the animal rescue teams who rescued pets after the storm, the owners who were forced to leave their pets behind and the families who adopted rescued animals after the hurricane. It raises issues about pet ownership and regarding pets as 'family' and the question of what is truly right for the animal in the wake of such a disaster, and really highlighted to me that you can learn a lot about a person's character from the way they care for their pets. If you're an animal lover and a pet owner, you'll cry your eyes out.

Link please?

Amalgam

BBC - Natural World - Unnatural History of London

This particular episode (episode 13 of 13) of a series exploring nature around the world is superb. Recently on repeat with signing for the deaf, I caught it at an ungodly hour..

If you've ever been curious about pigeons that ride the London Underground, deer that flock to the city at night to nibble at lawns, or foxes that sit on command (for sausages) (see below).. this is for you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00tv4zd

---

Very easy to acquire online, for leisurely viewing. *cough*

Da Shins Kelly

Vertigo100 wrote: »

Link please?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNjKQT84joI

MyBrokenKnees

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNjKQT84joI

That looks amazing i will have to check that one out

Tipsy McSwagger

Avoid anything by Nick Broomfield.

CountryJoe

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

If anything, I thought the Dandy Warhols came out worst in that documentary. Courtney came off as an absolute c*nt to me, and it seemed like they were trying to portray Anton as a sociopath (I accept that Anton is slightly crazy, but he's also an amazing musician and not a psycho by any means). It's a great documentary, but I though the BJM were sometimes deliberately cast in a bad light as a band who couldn't get their sh*t together, when in fact they are an absolutely brilliant band and a million times better than the Dandy Warhols.

Agreed, BJM are by far the better band , no question about that. Courtney does come across as a complete asshole aswell, but I think that was the genius in the documentary for me, there was nobody there I could identify with or root for (aside from Joel), but yet I could not take my eyes off it for a second. Compelling viewing from start to finish. It also got me listening in a big way to the music of the BJM.

As a recommendation, I also found the BBC documentary The Century of the Self to be well worth a watch, its by Adam Curtis. It takes a look at the methods used by Edward Bernays , goverenments and advertisers to try to control people.

Check out American Juggalo,A film about the gethering of the Juggalos.Interesting and a cringefest!

Also American Pimp,
Films are not related.Its about Pimps in the 70's.

I think both are on documentary heaven

MyBrokenKnees

30 for 30 from ESPN some very good,some good and some just awful but worth checking out.
I really enjoyed Big Air the Matt Hoffman story about BMX not something i would have been into but a very interesting story.

krustydoyle

Another vote for "A Complete History of my Sexual Failures" is a good laugh and will def get you thinking about your previous relationships.. Its a right laugh now.

Amalgam

CountryJoe wrote: »

As a recommendation, I also found the BBC documentary The Century of the Self to be well worth a watch, its by Adam Curtis. It takes a look at the methods used by Edward Bernays , goverenments and advertisers to try to control people.

Excellent CountryJoe, must give that a gander, Freud gets a mention too, always a good sign when a documentary has its own Wiki page..

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

breakfasttime

Marwencol I found this documentary really interesting to watch. It follows Mark Hogancamp who, since suffering brain damage as a result of an attack, has created a small scale WW2 era town in his back garden. He creates story lines and portrays them through his photography as a kind of coping mechanism to come to terms with his new life after the attack. It's on the irish netflix for anyone who has it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391092/

WatchWolf

Being Elmo.

Very touching documentary.

WatchWolf

WatchWolf wrote: »

Being Elmo.

Very touching documentary.

I liked it but the dude creeped me out!

Don't think these have been posted yet, but here are two music-based documentaries that are pretty interesting:

Big Easy Express
IMDB
Mumford and Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes embark on a cross-country trip across America to Louisiana, playing various gigs along the way. Some pretty excellent numbers in there, though I felt it tried to be overly artistic in its cinematography, but didn't pull it off. Makes up for it with the beautiful music throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxDASw6Ry9c

Heima
IMDB
Sigur Ros have become famous worldwide, yet haven't played in their native Iceland for years. Heima means home - they return to Iceland and play gigs in some absolutely gorgeous locations. The shots are beautiful, the music is excellent - personally I believe it's one of the best music documentaries out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuftN2ViiN4

Admittedly not a documentary, but Jonsí, of Sigur Ros fame's movie, Go Quiet, directed by the same director that did Heima and How to Train Your Dragon, is a visual and audio treat throughout.
IMDB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePTCbqMqccM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mchwkgiAcx8

charlie_says

Watched Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory a few days ago. Excellent documentary. A powerful retelling of a major miscarriage of justice regarding a brutal murder in Arkansas in the 90's.

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2028530/

Keith186

Just watched part one of this ^^^.

OK documentary, obviously without seeing part 2 and 3 I don't know as much as you but I thought it left out crucial parts about alibis, "where where you at the time of the murder" etc (on hols, have been drinking so memory not the best, stand to be corrected but I don't remember them showing these questions!). I will watch the other two parts anyway, hopefully it will have more answers. I guess I would say on first viewing it was possibly biased and relying on the first guy on having a low IQ of 78 so therefore he was forced to make a confession. One of victims dad with the mustache has all the hallmarks of a killer however so I am still undecided! Can't wait to watch the rest of it,

Found it strange to have pretty much what seemed like unlimited access to both sides and the trials. Maybe in future this method could be a good way to document unclear/disputed verdicts to prevent miscarriages of justice.

blue note

Has touching the void been mentioned? Perhaps my favourite doc. Others would be man on wire and exit through the giftshop.

I also saw a 30 minute one on BBC one evening about a guy who played around with pianist recordings and released them under his sick wifes name. I wish I could remember more about it to describe it, but it was a great doc.

Honourable mentions to senna, project nim, bobby fisher vs the world, one about dolphin killing in Japan that I can't remember the name of.

Also love the BBC nature / space ones, but I don't think they're the sort the thread is about.

Of the ones mentioned, I might look for that king of Kong one and the frat party rape / not rape sounds very interesting too.