Your documentary recommendations.
polycounter lvl 17
Hey smart folks, I know a lot of you enjoy the occasional documentary, which ones are your favorites, and/or which ones are you looking forward to?
Here's one I'm looking forward to, seems pretty awesome;
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrF0ew6PDX0&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
A few others I've enjoyed greatly (many of which are on netflix instant);
-F*ck: A documentary
-This Film is Not Yet Rated
-The Atheism Tapes
-Carrier
-Gonzo
-Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost
-Chased By Dinosaurs
-Blood Into Wine
-Restrepo
...hmmmm I know a ton more but I'll add em later!
Here's one I'm looking forward to, seems pretty awesome;
[ame]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrF0ew6PDX0&feature=player_embedded[/ame]A few others I've enjoyed greatly (many of which are on netflix instant);
-F*ck: A documentary
-This Film is Not Yet Rated
-The Atheism Tapes
-Carrier
-Gonzo
-Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost
-Chased By Dinosaurs
-Blood Into Wine
-Restrepo
...hmmmm I know a ton more but I'll add em later!
Replies
Oil, Smoke and Mirrors
Well here, just anything posted here basically. (All free)
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com
On a side note:
WIND TURBAN!
edit:
some other ones:
GasLand
Earth 2100
The 11th Hour (2007)
For The Bible Told Me So
The Yes Men Fix The World
Who Killed The Electric Car
Why Men Watch Porn (2009)
PBS Nova Saved By The Sun
Aftermath Population Zero
Life After People - History Channel
CNBC Originals Porn Business of Pleasure
Discovery Channel - Anatomy of Sex
National Geographic - When Rome Ruled
National Geographic Samurai Sword
National Geographic A World Without Oil
FRONTLINE - PBS:
college inc.
Heat
Inside the Meltdown
Is Wal-Mart Good for America
Ten Trillion and Counting
The Card Game
The Warning
Breaking the Bank
BBC - Adam Curtis Documentaries(each over 3 hours long):
The Century of the Self
The Power of Nightmares
The Trap
I guess my viewing preferences have been revealed.
Can't recomment it enough. Such an emotional film!
http://www.banksyfilm.com/
also VBS.TV has a ton of short (half hour ish) documentaries.
Also my wife loved "The Cove", but she couldn't even watch the end she was crying so much, interesting documentary though.
Religulous
Garbage Warrior seconded
BBC Earth and Life (are they considered documentaries?)
Most of Penn & Teller's Bullshit episodes are pretty entertaining.
Fucking eh, thats awesome. I want to build a house like that when I move back home to Canada!
- Carrier (multi part docu I saw on Hulu that follows the lives of a number of individuals serving on an aircraft carrier)
- Dust to Glory (follows a few individuals doin the Baja 1000)
Loved these and just found a new one thats really similar called Wild China.
I honestly didn't know that much about China's countryside before watching it so it was very refreshing. Also it's available for instant play on Netflix.
Alot of really great ones in that list:
http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/9806/the-decades-top-docs-2000-2009/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6718420906413643126# <--- part 1 of 4
Goddamn, this one. Can't believe I forgot it.
Because I'm a father and I had to go through a rough custody battle with my ex to have plenty of time with my son, this doc shows how truly flawed the justice system in both the US and Canada is. It shows how insane people can be. It shows how far people will go to fight for their family. This doc is easily the biggest emotional impact I've felt from any piece of video. Watching it felt like my throat was ripped, made me enraged, and had some of the more tender moments imaginable. A top notch doc, I recommend it to everyone and anyone, but warn you that it is insanely tragic and deeply depressing.
Exit through the Gift Shop
Why We Fight
Loose Change
on a more light hearted note I have to recommend Helvetica, a documentary about a font interesting? You bet!
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Exit Through The Gift Shop - Inspiring until it's depressing
Objectified - Good doc about object design
King Corn - About how shitty corn is ruining us
Don't You Forget About Me - Cool doc about John Hughes and how no films have come close to them since
American Pimp - An oldie but a goodie
Some recommendations off the top of my head:
Trinity and Beyond; film about America's atomic bomb program and the atmospheric tests carried out between 1945-1962.
Manufactured Landscapes; film about the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, dealing mainly with his visual chronicle of the rise of China as an economic superpower.
Baraka; no words or narrative, just pure imagery of cultures around the world.
The Bridge; a camera crew films the Golden Gate bridge for a year to capture suicide jumpers (23 jumpers were captured on film) , the film is about several of these deaths, including an interview with someone that survived the plunge.
102 Minutes That Changed America; documentary about 9/11 featuring very rare footage shot during the attack in NYC.
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/technology/watch/v6261498mqGaaTX2
You can watch a good quality video here or dig it up on Youtube.
If you're going to count Baraka as a doco you could throw Koyaanisqatsi and its sequels in the mix too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640680/
Yes! I watched it over the weekend and loved it. Very interesting.
Yeah, I would definitly recommend Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka. Two of my favorite movies / documentaries. Have watched them both multiple times and can never get enough of them.
If you want to feel miserable watch Darwin's nightmare: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424024/
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He got a series of BBC documentaries where he visits minorities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Theroux
It was pretty interesting to watch. It's about the lottery and how it changes peoples lives not necessarily for the better. One jackpot winner in it, his brother had actually sent a hitman after him, I guess thinking if he died, the brother would get some of the loot.
Another guy went from rags to riches by winning a jackpot, then went from riches to rags again by spending it all carelessly, and now he lives in a one room shack.
It really makes you think about the negative aspects of winning, even though hitting the jackpot would be awesome.
War of the Century : a documentary that documents the brutality of the war in the east which pitted the Germans versus Russians in WW2. Lots of really good and honost accounts of that brutal war.
Ken Burns: The Civil War
Nazis a Warning from History
The Spanish Civil war
Trumbo
Gonzo: The life and Times of Hunster S. Thompson
Check this out. It's called The Vice Guide to Liberia - It's short, but wow. It's a great glimpse into the hell hole that is Liberia.
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Scratch
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The Fog of War
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Empire of Dreams
ILM - Industrial Light & Magic: Creating The Impossible
Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked
The Pixar Story
A Machine to Die For: The Quest for Free Energy
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/machine-die-quest-free-energy/
I really enjoyed these,
The Poetry of Science Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson
Dialogue of Reason Science and Faith in the Black Community
and Sharkwater, about the poaching of sharks (and the enormous shark-fin-industry)
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+1
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On a serious note.
The Trial of Henry Kissinger
(full movie)
[ame]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2815881561030958784[/ame]
Life and Debt
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Edit: Oh and
Why we Fight
(full movie)
[ame]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9219858826421983682[/ame]
Edit, oh and The Yes Men.
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Kaze, I didnt even know there was a sequel until your post!
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Science!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1322493346942339345#
Meh, couldn't figure out how to embed it.
More details in the link. Those MakerBot 3d Printers that everyone here loves uses the Arduino boards.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/arduino/
Food Inc.
Game Over: Gasparov and The Machine
American Pimp
Secrets of the Samurai Sword (NOVA)
Brain Man (science channel)
Into the universe with Stephen Hawking
Looking forward to:
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (airs on pbs february 22nd i believe)
Just watched this one... probably one of the best one I have seen yet. Do not want to ruin it for anyone so just watch it and find out what you're missing.
Zeitgeist always left a bad taste in my mouth, not because of the subject matter, but because theres a lot of incorrect facts.
see http://conspiracies.skepticproject.com/articles/zeitgeist/
Anyway's
BBC's Planet Earth
BBC's Life
BBC's Oceans
Discovery Channel: The Human body pushing the limites
Naked Science series
Who killed the electric car
Objectified - good look at what goes into industrial design //Edit - just saw this linked on the second page
Countdown to Zero - discusses the availability of the components needed to construct a nuclear weapon. If you're in need of a solid fit of paranoia, check it out.
The Most Dangerous Man in America - About Daniel Ellsberg's life and decisions leading up to his leak of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
Also, its an old one, but Hoop Dreams is probably the most powerful documentary out there.
I don't expect anyone to get their facts right about things that happened over 2000 years ago written in another language not spoken or read by anyone today.
The other stuff, it's whatever you want to believe in.. I don't agree with everything said in the first movies but I still found the new one to be a good watch.