Best documentaries you have seen

magic_murph

Debbie does Dallas - it's a story about a young girl that goes on her holidays and records all the funny and embarrassing antics she get's up too.
A bit like 'Wish you were here' and 'You've been framed'

BadCompany

R P McMurphy wrote: »

There were a couple of scenes where people that knew him were talking about him and then these voice overs overlapped. I found it extremely irritating. The popularity of the documentary puzzles me as I thought it one of the most annoying pieces of film I have ever watched

Fair enough, can't say I really noticed, though I probably just couldn't hear the overlapping voices over the sounds of myself blubbing like a baby :pac:

FudgeBrownie

magic_murph wrote: »

Debbie does Dallas - it's a story about a young girl that goes on her holidays and records all the funny and embarrassing antics she get's up too.
A bit like 'Wish you were here' and 'You've been framed'

I am glad I googled that. Very, very glad.

SamAK

LeBash wrote: »

Debbie does Dallas.

magic_murph wrote: »

Debbie does Dallas - it's a story about a young girl that goes on her holidays and records all the funny and embarrassing antics she get's up too.
A bit like 'Wish you were here' and 'You've been framed'

FudgeBrownie wrote: »

I am glad I googled that. Very, very glad.

I googled it also, and Wikipedia provided this gem of a synopsis line -

"Contrary to the title, the film is not set in Dallas nor does the eponymous Debbie "do" anyone in or from Dallas"

Supposed to be a highlight of the 'Golden Age of Porn', so I suppose I should watch it.

Kleenex in hand, obviously

SPS1

Personally I like ones that pertain to raising awareness on animal welfare/rights.

The Cove & Black Fish as have been mentioned are great.

Earthlings although biased big time & not enough explanation into other farming methods, does a great job at giving a basic understanding on animal rights theory & actually showing people how their meat can be raised & slaughtered. Something I think is important for people to understand.

Temple Grandins documentary "The Woman who thinks like a cow" was great.

ravingitup

I hope nobody's mentioned it already or I'll look stupid, but Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer springs to mind, a fascinating watch for anybody interested in US politics.

MARTYRYAN

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

So many pages in and not a mention of the greatest documentary ever made.....




THIS IS SPINAL TAP

Well, That's a rockumentary

Yamanoto

SmallTeapot wrote: »

- BBC Stacey Dooley investigates: Peru, Cocaine capital of the world

Dooley's well intentioned, but more than somewhat naive & ditzy as hell.

I know BBC Three's a yoof channel, but they often do their viewers a disservice by portraying what are hugely complex problems in a very black & white manner.

LeBash

SamAK wrote: »

I googled it also, and Wikipedia provided this gem of a synopsis line -

"Contrary to the title, the film is not set in Dallas nor does the eponymous Debbie "do" anyone in or from Dallas"

Supposed to be a highlight of the 'Golden Age of Porn', so I suppose I should watch it.

Kleenex in hand, obviously

Very clever. Its a real tear jerker.

Ps i cry as i orgasm!

PizzamanIRL

delw

Evacuate Earth is on Nat geo now,about viruses,good watch

Deathwish4

As a grief monger Dear Zachary and The Bridge are high on my list.

Some others I liked -

Madness In The Fast Lane - Swedish Sisters with mental issues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-bIWm08eJc

Suicide Forest In Japan - Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FDSdg09df8

Wotsername

Not sure of the correct titles, but you get the gist.

David Frost, The Nixon interview.

Also:
Although I am not and never was a fan of Bjork's music, I did develop a new-found respect for her since watching When Bjork met Attenborough.

Must mention, War of The Worlds, An Englishman in New York (Quentin Crisp's life-story.)

And, End of Innocence, San Francisco 1995 (What started as an Aids Epidemic.)

The Pheasant2

Lars1916 wrote: »

Richard Attenborough in general, his wildlife documentaries are second to none

I think you mean David...unless Jurassic park was a documentary

Lawrence1895

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

I think you mean David...unless Jurassic park was a documentary

Of course David, that's embarrassing now :rolleyes:

D1stant

The one TG4 did on the sunken Russian sub Kursk. Class

Tilly

Watched The Bridge last night. Really good but a very tough watch.

I am pie

Searching for Sugarman - absolutely brilliant, incredible story and the tunes are very decent too.

The search for Sixto Rodriguez, huge in South Africa and a nobody everywhere else. Incredible story.

jjdub1

The Death of Yugoslavia

Porkpie

A great video questioning the concept of original ideas, and uncovers the lack of "creativity" in the many great works we know of today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ryPC8bxqE

Dazzler0911

R P McMurphy wrote: »

12 o'clock boys

Guaranteed better than any other documentary mentioned yet.

Was actually dissappointed with this I have to say, thought it was going to be way better. Plus the main character in it was a little sh*t.


Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Don't think this has been mentioned yet, surprisingly, because it is by far and away the maddest documentary I've ever watched. Pretty hard watching at times but it is unbelievable watching.

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is a 1996 documentary film directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky about the trials of three teenage boys who came to be known as the West Memphis Three in West Memphis, Arkansas. They were accused of the murder and sexual mutilation of three prepubescent boys. The boys on trial for the crime were Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. The film was followed by two sequels: Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.

Edit: Just seen that this has been mentioned, ah well, worth another plug.

rolliepoley

Attack of the Japanese Giant Hornets.

http://natgeotv.com/uk/nature-uncut/videos/attack-of-the-japanese-giant-hornets

SamAK

Great series about scientific discovery with Brian Cox, really really worth a watch.

"Professor Brian Cox guides viewers through 350 years of British science to reveal what science really is, who the people are who practice it, and how it is inextricably linked to the past, present and future of each and every one of us.

In the first part, Professor Cox grapples with science's darker side, asking why, when science has done so much for us, it often gets such a bad press. Starting with the original Frankenstein - the grisly 19th century tale of George Foster's hanging and subsequent 'electrocution', Brian confronts the idea that science can go 'too far'. From the nuclear bomb to genetic modification, British science has always been at the cutting edge of discovery, but are British scientists feckless meddlers, or misunderstood visionaries whose gifts to humanity are corrupted by the unscrupulous?"

whirlpool

I watched the Dissecting the hand documentary yesterday. Fascinating.

Reiketsu

Bulgaria's Abandoned Children. It's about kids who have been abandoned and left in institutions due to mental or physical disabilities. It just broke my heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZ-ERQczj8

Garzard

Would have to be Reeling in the Years and the Dogfights series on History Channel.

Billy86

I am pie wrote: »

Searching for Sugarman - absolutely brilliant, incredible story and the tunes are very decent too.

The search for Sixto Rodriguez, huge in South Africa and a nobody everywhere else. Incredible story.

Some of the best sports documentaries around are the ESPN: 30 for 30 series. They are usually heavily focused on American sports, but they tend to cover more than just the sport itself and instead how it impacted on or was impacted by civil rights, civil wars, prejudices, personal vices, etc.

Once Brothers is one of the best ones, about the Yugoslavian national basketball team whose players blew up in the NBA in the early 90s, and how it all fell apart with the Balkan war.

Into the Wind is also epic...

Other great ones are 'The U', 'The Trial of Allen Iverson', 'The 16th Man' (1995 South African rugby team), 'Without Bias', 'June 17th 1994' (a LOT of stuff happened that day!), 'Catching Hell' and bizarrely enough 'Tim Richmond: To the Limit' which is about something I hate - NASCAR racing. Mainly because he was hilarious and just took the p**s constantly.

Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks is also a great watch.

They're pretty much all on Youtube as well.

youtube!

dunno if its been mentioned yet but one for music fans and non music fans alike has to be the cannes award winning doc on the drummer Ginger Baker,

"Beware of Mr Baker" I had no interest in watching it but was persuaded by all the 5 star reviews and all I can say OMFG in capitals, he is the most fascinating talented mean spirited old bastard rolled into one, I rave about this now because quite frankly it is indeed the best documentary I have ever watched, give it just one minute and I absolutely guarantee you will not be able to stop watching. Riveting .

A taster...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEjZ95QZErU

Adamocovic

Could have been said before but "King of Kong" documentary about the lad trying to beat the King Kong world record. Sounds stupid but dear god it is very interesting and in now time you get attached with his struggle ha

Billy86

Adamocovic wrote: »

Could have been said before but "King of Kong" documentary about the lad trying to beat the King Kong world record. Sounds stupid but dear god it is very interesting and in now time you get attached with his struggle ha

On that note, Indie Gamer is pretty interesting. But King of Kong is awesome - randomly, a friend of a friend of a friend pranked the Billy Mitchell guy from that for a podcast he does.

Adamocovic

Billy86 wrote: »

On that note, Indie Gamer is pretty interesting. But King of Kong is awesome - randomly, a friend of a friend of a friend pranked the Billy Mitchell guy from that for a podcast he does.

Ha awesome! Whats Indie Gamer like?

job seeker

This is the best one Ive ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxqRw-bo84I

Its about dogs.. Woof Woof.

Billy86

Adamocovic wrote: »

Ha awesome! Whats Indie Gamer like?

About the guys how make the small, independent type games that you're morel ikely to buy as apps. Some are pretty fecking pretentious, some are pretty weird, but some are really likeable characters. It follows three different games in the build up to their releases, but it's just really fun to watch even if you're not interested in computer games (I think I've bought all of three in the last 6-7 years).

Billy86

Also completely forgot Dark Days, where a guy basically brought a camcorder down to the 'underground city' of homeless people in NYC's abandoned parts of the subway system. It's a good 15 or so years old now, but will completely change how a lot of people look at the homeless. It's not something that's really covered much at all - how they live.

youtube!

Aileen the life of a serial killer is amazing but damn sad that she was executed...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364930/?ref_=tt_rec_tti

zenno

This is an absolutely fascinating high-resolution footage about the Apollo Missions - not just Apollo 11. See it as Stanley Kubrick's unlisted masterpiece. One of the astronauts says: "It's like a scene out of 2001.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyR40hiih8s

Fiery biscuits

Some of the best I've seen..

Man on wire
Dirty wars
Blackfish
Park Avenue:Money Power and the American Dream.

lemonhead315

"Paradise Lost" three part documentary. Amazing story.

ceadaoin.

I just watched TWA flight 800 on Netflix and would recommend it. It's about a flight that exploded off Long Island in 1996, killing all on board. For once it seems that the conspiracy theories that surrounded the accident might be true.

careful_now

'Penguins - Spy in the Huddle' was excellent.

FlawedGenius

History of racism bbc documentary 3 hours long, its on youtube.

angeline

Rain in my Heart was deeply upsetting. It followed the lives of alcoholics and told the story of each one, often while becoming intoxicated during filming and their plans of recovery along with their journies in and out of hospital. Sadly, it was not a happy ending for everyone with some finally succumbing to their illness

yayabalexreya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ6t5JA7OBA&list=PL335884A12576F03F

Here, learn about what's really going on in this world and how we're conditioned. The whole playlist here is mind blowing. Hour after hour of it.

rwg

angeline wrote: »

Rain in my Heart was deeply upsetting. It followed the lives of alcoholics and told the story of each one, often while becoming intoxicated during filming and their plans of recovery along with their journies in and out of hospital. Sadly, it was not a happy ending for everyone with some finally succumbing to their illness

Just watched that - very intimate perception of some peoples lives

losthorizon

Senna
Project Nim
Life on Earth
and The World at War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQap9AAPOs

The stories that surrounded that project were amazing - sad and poignant.

Actually that regular series 7up is quite good too.

Obviously the TV series Rock'N'Roll years and Reeling in the Years are excellent as well.

Smidge

Reiketsu wrote: »

Bulgaria's Abandoned Children. It's about kids who have been abandoned and left in institutions due to mental or physical disabilities. It just broke my heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZ-ERQczj8

That was indeed a very difficult watch.
I see that "The Cove" has been mentioned already. Same again(albeit in a different way)a difficult watch.

I'm surprised no-one has yet mentioned "The Dying Rooms".
I love documentaries and will try to watch despite not really wanting to watch certain ones(the Bulgarian one is an example).
The Dying Rooms stayed with me for a long time after watching.

micar

Saw this a few years ago on C4.It was called "Kill Me If You Can" and was part of a Psycho series.

It's the most weird and messed up documentary I have ever seen.

Here is a short description

It is July 2003 and a 14-year-old boy, John, is the victim of a near-fatal stabbing in Altrincham near Manchester. His 16-year-old friend Mark is the chief suspect. But why would a teenager who has never been in any trouble try to kill his best friend?

An incredible story emerges of how Mark has been recruited over the web to be a secret service agent by a spy mistress called Janet Dobinson. She promises him sex and riches if he passes an initiation test: to kill his friend John. The schoolboy is propelled into a world of espionage; his bland suburban surroundings become a landscape of mystery and intrigue.

But in court, facing charges of attempted murder, Mark finally learns the truth - Janet and a host of other people he met on the internet are all fictitious characters invented by someone bent on manipulating his every move. But who would know enough to trick him into attempting murder?

Here is a link to part 1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iY52ChebWU

Billy86

I remember when that happened! Such a weird story but disappeared pretty quick, going to have to give that a watch.

geckovision

micar wrote: »

Saw this a few years ago on C4.It was called "Kill Me If You Can" youtube.com/watch?v=0icomChebWU

Wow. Looks interesting. Definitely going to check that out.

07Lapierre

Well worth a watch.
http://youtu.be/z5eHYohFdic