Recommend a good documentary

RasTa

I've being watching a lot lately since I'm so bored with the crap coming out these days.

I've seen most of the mainstream ones.

The best one I watched recently was Let the Fire burn which was just unbelievable.

Others I liked were Herzog ones, Heart of Darkness, Street Fight.

MadDog76

MadDog76

JaseBelleVie

Inside Job

Puts in plain language the exact in's and out's of what happened during the 2008 Financial Crisis. One of the best documentaries out there. Staggering, frightening and infuriating all in equal measure.

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

MadDog76

MadDog76

MadDog76

emigrate2012

No fire zone,about the Tamil tiger/indonesian government conflict (I think,in that region,I'm open to correction)
Really harrowing stuff,pretty recent as well.how they were finally defeated,corralling insurgents and civilians alike in that manner.....watch it.
I'm not that emotinal but I'll admit to having a bit of a cry watching it.
Really shocking stuff IMO.

MadDog76

kumate_champ07

Century of Self
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432232/

Zombienosh

Into The Abyss
Grizzly Man
Encounters at the end of the world
Virunga
The Emperor's New Clothes
Dark Days
The Bridge
Jesus Camp

Mizu_Ger

The Fog of War

Tipsy McSwagger

Murder on a Sunday Morning & There's Something wrong with Aunt Diane

Both are available to watch on YouTube

Ipso

Touching the Void.

R P McMurphy

Valley uprising. Charting the history of rock climbing in yosimite valley against the backdrop of the cultural movements of the different eras. Timely with the recent death of Dean potter who features heavily

Sugarlumps

MadDog76 wrote: »

Just got done watching this, thanks for the recommendation.

Chain Smoker

Here's three very easy watches, all in English too. I might add in a list of a ton more later, lemme know what you're looking for specifically.

Hoop Dreams
So Steve James has since proven himself to be one of the best documentarians around (pretty much everything he makes is worth checking out) but this film has the absolutely perfect situation of a great documentarian stumbling upon a story that develops into just about the most interesting thing it possibly could have done. 3 hours long and feels short at that, its omission from the academy awards is still brought up as one of the biggest examples of how meaningless the oscars are.
Definitely not just for sports fans.

American Movie
Film about a guy in nowheresville usa trying to make a low budget film. It's absolutely hilarious, extremely quotable and never feels as if it's looking down on the people involved.

The King of Kong
One of those documentaries that seriously bends the truth to make an entertaining story, but it's one hell of an entertaining story. About two guys going for the donkey kong world record.


Trying to stick to ones that haven't been mentioned, lifted straight from my letterbox'd account with minimal thought beyond "that was f*cking good!":
Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy doc thing), the Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, the Staircase (TV series, courtroom thing), the Up Series (TV series), Crumb (about the comic book guy), The Overnighters, Salesman, 30 For 30 series (sports fans only), Senna, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Stories We Tell, Roger and Me (provided you don't mind Michael Moore's ridiculous stretching of the truth), When the Levees Broke, Deep Water, Dark Days, The Arbor, The Missing Picture, The Act of Killing, Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (fantastic series narrated by James Mason and stuffed with first hand accounts), Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood, the Story of Film, Murderball, the Queen of Versailles, Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?, Rich Hill, Fake It So Real, Actress, Side by Side, A Film Unfinished, Visions of Light, The Hunt For Britain's Paedophiles (Incredibly insightful documentary about Scotland Yard's child pornography unit; I'm genuinely not being at all hyperbolic when I say it's the grimmest and most deeply disturbing documentary I've sat through though so make sure you've thick skin).

And some good documentarians:
Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Steve James, Frederick Wiseman, Barbara Kopple, Albert & David Maysyles, Alex Gibney (nowhere near as good as the others but he has made absolutely tons of solid documentaries)

Rjd2

ESPN 30 for 30 is a very good series. The 2 highlights.

The 2 Escobars.

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

Once Brothers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_FTjCe1C7Y

Indie Game: The Movie

Even if you're not a gamer or have no interest in indie games I would still recommend this. It follows the story of two indie gams developers; the teams behind Super Meat Boy and Fez, as they risk everything to complete their dreams. Very touching and engaging, with extremely likeable people.. And Phil Fish.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Two Irish people are in Venezuela making a documentary on Hugo Chavez, who gives them unprecedented and very personal access. They happen to be there during the attempted military coup to overthrow Chavez. Fantastic story and an intriguing view on what went on. Very Chavez friendly, but still very good. He comes across very well.

enricoh

Tt3d, documentary film about a few different riders trying to win at the isle of man tt- epic stuff imo.

Good call on TT3D - Guy Martin is among the most likeable people I've seen in a documentary.

Another one, which I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned, is -

You've Been Trumped

It tells the story of a small community in Scotland attempting to stop the building of a multimillion dollar Golf course, which would destroy the local ecosystem. If you don't come out of this feeling furious, then there's something wrong.

Bongalongherb

Capitalism A Love Story...

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

Into Eternity...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4sqFyCHcbg

MagicIRL

The Life's & Deaths of Robert Durst - This is the greatest documentary I have ever seen. So captivating, that I watched all six parts back to back with my parents in a single sitting. I can't really describe this without giving away the plot, so I'll let the trailer do the talking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9HegGGm8dE

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - A film about a man who makes sushi... only he's the best in the world at it, and the detail and craftsmanship that goes in to the entire process is incredible. It's entirely in Japanese, but, as someone who has never eaten sushi, it is beyond captivating. Highly, highly recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1UDS2kgqY8

Bones Brigade - A film that charts the rise of skateboarding in the US. It follows Tony Hawk and co as they pursue their dream. The best part of the documentary is listening to Rodney Mullen talk (about 1:50ish into the trailer). He is so soft spoken, but the passion he has for his sport and his hobby is infectious. Again, I watched this as a non-skater and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

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

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room - This one is a bit bizarre. It follows the incredible rise of Enron and the complete implosion that followed. The contempt and deceit involved in the whole thing is incredible. Riveting how people can treat each other like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6duQhWuVk

Muscle Shoals - Musicle Shoals is a small town in rural America, that just so happens to have produced some of the greatest classic rock songs ever recorded, thanks to a small group of local musicians and producers. Brilliant stuff for any fan of music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UDe4JrFAIQ

Others worth mentioning: Chasing Ice, The Square, Dirty Wars, terms & Conditions Apply, Fed Up, Downloaded and +1 for West of Memphis and Blackfish which I saw mentioned earlier in the tread.

brevity

MagicIRL wrote: »

The Life's & Deaths of Robert Durst - This is the greatest documentary I have ever seen. So captivating, that I watched all six parts back to back with my parents in a single sitting. I can't really describe this without giving away the plot, so I'll let the trailer do the talking.

Its absolutely brilliant.

I'm going to recommend The House I Live In. If you've ever wanted to learn about the history of drugs, their effect on society and the failed war on drugs...this is for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0atL1HSwi8

RasTa

Ooo forgot about this thread, I've seen about 85% of what was put up already but I'll give the last one a go.

If you're looking for a good documentary that happens to involve skateboarding then I enjoyed this, never knew Tony Hawk was such a shill, although the documentary isn't about him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wDiszmA2o8

darced

This post has been deleted.

the_syco

Birders - The Central Park Effect

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

Chain Smoker

RasTa wrote: »

If you're looking for a good documentary that happens to involve skateboarding then I enjoyed this, never knew Tony Hawk was such a shill, although the documentary isn't about him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wDiszmA2o8

Not sure if I've hated a documentary as much as this one since Catfish. I'd've considered it a reasonably good watch if I didn't know that people are apparently incapable of watching a documentary that pretty much begins with the guy saying "disclaimer: I'm a huge bull****ter" with somewhat skeptical eyes. You're dealing with an extremely embittered loser who had a huge chip on his shoulder when he was on top of the world, let alone now.

Here's Tony Hawk's response to it, surprised he's not being more vocal considering he's able to rebut just about everything. Worst you can really say about the guy is that he's a gigantic geek who approached it all like a gigantic geek.

charlie_says

Seen many of the previously mentioned docs, great suggestions so far.

Let the Fire Burn

Crazy murder by police in Chicago in the 1980's. Shocking stuff especially the civil hearing footage is incredible.

Also here is a list of docs I prepared a few years ago

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57115169#post57115169

MadDog76

Chain Smoker wrote: »

Not sure if I've hated a documentary as much as this one since Catfish. I'd've considered it a reasonably good watch if I didn't know that people are apparently incapable of watching a documentary that pretty much begins with the guy saying "disclaimer: I'm a huge bull****ter" with somewhat skeptical eyes. You're dealing with an extremely embittered loser who had a huge chip on his shoulder when he was on top of the world, let alone now.

Here's Tony Hawk's response to it, surprised he's not being more vocal considering he's able to rebut just about everything. Worst you can really say about the guy is that he's a gigantic geek who approached it all like a gigantic geek.

All This Mayhem is Tas's side of the story, that interview you linked to is Tony's side ......... but what's the truth?

Probably somewhere in between ......... either way it's a highly entertaining documentary and well worth a look ........ at least that's my side of the story!

Chain Smoker

MadDog76 wrote: »

All This Mayhem is Tas's side of the story, that interview you linked to is Tony's side ......... but what's the truth?

See, that's just totally buying into his bull****. He's an extremely unreliable narrator, his track record is awful and a hell of a lot of what he spouts is quite easy to disprove, which Hawk does with relative ease. You can enjoy a documentary and still acknowledge that it's highly dubious.

I generally can let a documentary bending the truth slide quite a lot once it serves to build an entertaining enough story (e.g. Roger & Me, the King of Kong), it's not wholly justifiable when so many people seem to lap up what they're told by a talking head but if I'm getting my laughs then I don't really care.
However, Tas Pappas attempts to settle a whole bunch of scores didn't seem to add much of anything and that is what ultimately took away from my enjoyment of a documentary damn near tailor made for me (extremely well edited skateboarding documentary?! hell yes I do want that!). Even from reading that interview with Hawk, there's bits where he talks about not really understanding Tas's approach to competitions and the example is such a fascinating contrast between the two which the documentary choose to hide, there's no need to be all this fabricated heat between the two at all. "We didn't fit in, we couldn't fit in, we wouldn't have wanted to even if we could" would present him in a much more admirable and mature way than "THEY DIDN'T WANT US THERE BECAUSE [insert significant distortion of the truth]"




...and, em, I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but Deliver Us From Evil by Amy Berg (West of Memphis), is an outstandingly well constructed character study of an absolute monster of a man (defrocked priest Oliver O'Grady) Vimeo link here

MadDog76

Chain Smoker wrote: »

See, that's just totally buying into his bull****. He's an extremely unreliable narrator, his track record is awful and a hell of a lot of what he spouts is quite easy to disprove, which Hawk does with relative ease. You can enjoy a documentary and still acknowledge that it's highly dubious.

I generally can let a documentary bending the truth slide quite a lot once it serves to build an entertaining enough story (e.g. Roger & Me, the King of Kong), it's not wholly justifiable when so many people seem to lap up what they're told by a talking head but if I'm getting my laughs then I don't really care.
However, Tas Pappas attempts to settle a whole bunch of scores didn't seem to add much of anything and that is what ultimately took away from my enjoyment of a documentary damn near tailor made for me (extremely well edited skateboarding documentary?! hell yes I do want that!). Even from reading that interview with Hawk, there's bits where he talks about not really understanding Tas's approach to competitions and the example is such a fascinating contrast between the two which the documentary choose to hide, there's no need to be all this fabricated heat between the two at all. "We didn't fit in, we couldn't fit in, we wouldn't have wanted to even if we could" would present him in a much more admirable and mature way than "THEY DIDN'T WANT US THERE BECAUSE [insert significant distortion of the truth]"

*Shrugs* I completely disagree

Kenny Logins

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

Cropsey - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1277936/

rockatansky

The Death of Yugoslavia - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283181/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
6 Part Documentary on the Breakup of Yugoslavia captured from the very start with the rise of Milosevic. Very strange seeing people who would eventually end up in the Hague giving interviews as if what went on was perfectly normal. All 6 episodes are up on Youtube and would highly recommend it.


CitizenFour - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4044364/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Watched this last weekend. Brilliant Documentary about Edward Snowden and his leaking of highly classified NSA documentation regarding their Global Surveillance Programs.


His Big White Self - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773288/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Nick Broomfields Documentary about the leader of the Racist South African Party the AWB, Eugene Terblanche. Some very memorable moments in this including the shooting dead of 3 of his followers who moments before are shown on camera begging for help before being executed, and Terblanche and his supporters ram raiding and taking over the World Trade Centre in Johannesburg where an ANC and Afrikaner National Party are holding discussions.


The Battle of Chernobyl - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elmVJE5M_mw
Discovery Channels excellent documentary about the wost Nuclear disaster in the history of man kind and the tens of thousands of heroes who bravely sacrificed their own health to stem the flow of Radioactive material from the damaged Reactor. Some excellent video footage in this as well as contributions from Mikhail Gorbachev.

QPR - The Four Year Plan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKhYShSUOrQ
Just sheer madnes. Well worth a watch if you have even the slightest interest in Football. Watch what happens when Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Lakshmi Mittal take over London based QPR and succeed in leading Queens Park Rangers into the Premier League within 4 years, firing Manager after Manager during this time, some within a couple of months of getting the job.

Bongalongherb

The Nightmare. Documentary 2015.

A look at a frightening condition that plagues thousands; sleep paralysis.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3317522/

Older documentary of sleep paralysis 2009 below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2gh51KdnQ

RasTa

That Deliver us from Evil seriously pissed me off last night, watched first 30, not sure I will go back. Might punch a priest...

The Black Oil

Murder on a Sunday Morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK0RX4Wh1tE

15 year old is wrongly accused of murder. Pat McGuinness the public defender is quite a guy. Some incredibly sloppy police work and very moving court scenes that are very different to how it's done on TV.

Tipsy McSwagger

RasTa wrote: »

That Deliver us from Evil seriously pissed me off last night, watched first 30, not sure I will go back. Might punch a priest...

Mea Maxima Culpa is similar but a better doc imo.

Mightydrumming

Not sure if Louis was mentioned here!

Louis Theroux has a few great ones, such an awkward interviewer but can be blunt as f*ck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Louis_Theroux_documentaries

Chain Smoker

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Mea Maxima Culpa is similar but a better doc imo.

Sorry, yeah, really should've mentioned it along with Deliver Us From Evil! Don't really think the two are as similar as the initially seem, they're very complementary of each other. Both begin from very similar points but progress in different ways. Deliver Us From Evil focuses in-depth on one priest as a case study which requires knowing the system for context while Mea Maxima Culpa uses one case to focus on the system.

Would definitely say Mea Maxima Culpa is the one of the two that's easier to recommend to people so go for it first for sure, it covers the main details of the catholic church child abuse scandals a lot more. Alex Gibney, in fact, is probably the easiest documentarian to recommend to just about anyone too (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear, We Steal Secrets...). The issue I have with Gibney is that his films don't seem to use the medium to achieve anything an article wouldn't (a really f*cking good article, mind, which I presume is why he's THE guy if you want someone to adapt a non-fiction book into a doc), and that is a lot of why I found Deliver Us From Evil to be a better film.


Fake edit: Actually, I'd say there's a lot of very good documentaries you can't recommend to people; ones where a person saying "oooh, this is good, it's about ___" doesn't really capture how harshly it can all be presented. There's one I mentioned a bit earlier that I regret mentioning altogether cos it's awful awful. Not sure if Deliver Us From Evil hits those extremes but you do spend an awful lot of time in the company of a completely remorseless man nostalgically recalling his atrocities.

lebowsky

I watched Going Clear: Scientology and the prison of belief this week (HBO 2015).
It didn't really say anything we didn't already know about scientology but a thoroughly enjoyable watch all the same.

Bongalongherb

Have a look for the documentary called... 'Top Priority - The Terror Within' true story. It's a very interesting one. It is not available on youtube, but it is - from other sources. It will shock you.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1852949/

Federal officer with the Department of Homeland Security discovers a national security breach related to the entry of 23 aliens from terrorist countries into the United States. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, former head of the DEA Robert Bonner can't afford any more media scrutiny, since his incompetence was already exposed in the NASA 'Challenger' disaster. To avoid the scandal, the full might of the government is unleashed against Julia Davis, her family and witnesses. This retaliation reaches the unprecedented magnitude, including four unexplained deaths, Hollywood and the Mafia, false imprisonments and the use of helicopters and airplanes for warrantless surveillance. Amidst many shocking revelations, this documentary provides a new insight into the deaths of well-known Hollywood figures unwittingly dragged into this scandal. The truth is no longer a secret.

adox

A couple I really enjoyed that haven't been mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AehmA3hTLmA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5XHoUUDI4k

nokia69

Mightydrumming wrote: »

Not sure if Louis was mentioned here!

Louis Theroux has a few great ones, such an awkward interviewer but can be blunt as f*ck.

Louis is not being awkward, its all an act or a style and it works, they all take him for a fool, he is always worth a watch

blinding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV_X2B5OK1I

Brian Greene does some very Good Science/Physics documentaries.

He presents them in an entertaining way and also in a way that an ordinary person can get a feel for the science.

There are great Science/physics documentaries on youtube.

Just have a look around and you will find stuff that will tickle your fancy.

Stuff like "Spooky action at a distance/quantum entanglement" can blow your mind (well maybe)

Kenny Logins

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Murder on a Sunday Morning & There's Something wrong with Aunt Diane

Both are available to watch on YouTube

I'm about 20 minutes in and I'm pretty sure "Diane" suffered a stroke, is this right?

the whole year inn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhOp-VEX77U

"Pulling John" a good documentary about arm wrestling.

Tipsy McSwagger

Kenny Logins wrote: »

I'm about 20 minutes in and I'm pretty sure "Diane" suffered a stroke, is this right?

Nope

mewe

Chain Smoker wrote: »

American Movie
Film about a guy in nowheresville usa trying to make a low budget film. It's absolutely hilarious, extremely quotable and never feels as if it's looking down on the people involved.

Loved this. Some proper hilarious scenes, Mike's scream being one of them :pac:

Another good one that hasn't been mentioned is When We Were Kings.

poeticmakaveli

I'm a big boxing fan and the best boxing documentary I have watched was "assault in the ring" I used to always try and upload it to YouTube for people to see but it wouldn't allow it to go up as its HBOs documentary but I seen someone got it up under another name so here it it is! There's a victim in this and the one who is guilty but I felt so bad for both in the end! Watched it years ago and I always watch it now and again,
Enjoy

https://youtu.be/6I5I9kuI-ZI

Aj Furlong

american movie, capturing the friedmans, kung fu elliot, undefeated, king of kong, long way home, anvil the story of anvil, mistaken for strangers, the devil and daniel johnson are all good for starters.