What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Franco ·
December 30, 2012 at 9:30pm
I recently got Netflix and I love it. There are so many great documentaries out there that defy categorization, and I have learned so much watching them. Last night I watched a brilliant one: Bones Brigade, about skateboarding. If you are at all interested in business, cultural phenomena, sports and mastery, teenage boys and what they do to survive, teamwork, coaching and holding a group together, facing adversity and challenges, fame at a young age - this has it all. It is absolutely inspiring.
There are so many more! Yours?
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Dec '12
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I've always been fascinated by "Idiocracy".
Jul '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
1. King Corn: 2 guys plant an acre of corn in Iowa and find out a hell of a lot they didn't know about subsidies, how much corn is part of the food stream, etc. Great stuff.
http://www.kingcorn.net/the-film/synopsis/
2. Dogtown and Z-Boys: Piece on the birth of the skateboard culture in the 1970's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtown_and_Z-Boys
3. Restrepo: Documentary on the Afghanistan war, told at the platoon level. Well worth a look to get a feel for what it must have been like to be deployed there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrepo_%28film%29
Just a few off the top of my head. If you're really strapped for time, pull any of the National Geographic documentaries off Netflix. I tend to inhale the WW2-era documentaries with a very large straw. Well worth the time.
Aug '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
JoALT and I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It was pretty good, although I don't go much into documentaries.
Mar '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I used to like A&E's Mysteries of the Bible series a lot. The Discovery Channel had a pretty good series of mini-docs on outlaws of the old west that was done pretty well, too
Sep '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
One of my favorite movies. But technically, it's not a doc, thank God!
Nov '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I used to love documentaries but have become a skeptic because of all the pseudo-science and think many of them merely propaganda. People see a documentary and think it's gospel. For instance there is an interesting one about what has happened to our honey bees. The science, or studies, seems to be pretty thorough and correct however all the blame goes to 'big agriculture' and 'mono-culture' and makes me suspicious. A couple of friends jumped right on it, and I reminded them to be cautious however they are sold- from one documentary.
Nov '12
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
First World War (2003) was a great one on WWI, they even got New Zealand actors for the NZ bits rather than having some Aussie do it.
May '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I like the Secrets of the Dead series that was on PBS. There are a handful of episodes on Netflix.
Mar '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Fred Wiseman's institutional documentaries (e.g., High School, Basic Training, Welfare) always fascinated me.
Sep '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I agree, they can be used as a vehicle for propaganda (see Michael Moore and Al Gore) I avoid those kinds of documentaries too. It's usually clear when a doc is one-sided and has an agenda. There is a difference too between a point of view, common in most documentaries - and an agenda.
Two more great documentaries: Magic vs. Bird - you don't need to like or know pro basketball to enjoy this amazing film
Thrilla in Manilla - this one is an epic documentary that touches on a myriad of angles. Don't need to be a boxing fan
Feb '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Grizzly Man
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Buck
When We Were Kings
Microcosmos
Aug '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
FEATURE LENGTH:
Street Fight - About Cory Booker's first (failed) campaign to become the mayor of Newark
Murderball - About the awesome sport of Wheelchair Rugby.
Freakonomics - Inspired by the book of the same name.
The Aristocrats - About the filthiest joke ever conceived by man.
Joy Division - About the band of the same name.
Michael Moore Hates America - An expose about Moore, but with a difference. The guy who made the film gets his own light shone back on him, and he learns a lesson about the hidden pitfalls of documentary filmmaking.
TELEVISION
The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson teaches economic history.
A History of Celtic Britain - From the Bronze Age to the Romans
A History of Scotland - From the Picts to the 21st Century
An Idiot Abroad - Travel the world with a simpleton that hates travel.
Connections - About the interconnectedness of scientific history.
Free To Choose - Milton Friedman's masterpiece.
Genius of Britain - About the history of British science.
Edited on December 30, 2012 at 6:43pmNov '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I liked Expelled.
Jul '11
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Murderball rocks.
Sep '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Murderball looks great! I'll definitely watch that!
Saw Grizzly Man - very good and interesting.
Did you see this episode? Japanese Super Sub? The captain of the the supersub, named Arizumi, was mentioned several times in the documentary, captured my father and interrogated him in 1943. Arizumi committed the most heinous maritime atrocity of WWII. Sinking the S.S Jean Nicolet and killing survivors (most) in cold blood. My father had a Liberty Ship named after him and testified at War Crimes Trials in Japan after the war.
Jul '12
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
"The Kid Stays in the Picture" is superb. It's about the life of movie producer Robert Evans. Great photos, narration and music. Evans stumbled into Hollywood, literally discovered at a pool. He went on to produce some great films. Must see.
Sep '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
I second that! I had forgotten. It was magnificent and very enlightening about so many things. A great documentary!
Dec '12
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Franco
One of my favorite movies. But technically, it's not a doc, thank God! · 1 hour ago
Time will tell. But since you insist on purity, I'll go with "Buck".
Sep '10
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Central Scrutinizer
Franco
One of my favorite movies. But technically, it's not a doc, thank God! · 1 hour ago
Time will tell. But since you insist on purity, I'll go with "Buck". · 0 minutes ago
Time will tell indeed! I always thought one major flaw was that it was set so far in the future. It looks like a couple of decades to me.
Dec '12
Re: What Are Your Favorite Documentaries?
Franco
Central Scrutinizer
Franco
One of my favorite movies. But technically, it's not a doc, thank God! · 1 hour ago
Time will tell. But since you insist on purity, I'll go with "Buck". · 0 minutes ago
Time will tell indeed! I always thought one major flaw was that it was set so far in the future. It looks like a couple of decades to me. · 5 minutes ago
I can't think of a single thing in that movie (Idiocracy) that isn't bound to happen.