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Recommend me some documentaries

minirhyderminirhyder BerlinRegistered User regular
edited March 2011 in Help / Advice Forum
I've recently gotten into documentaries. Specifically documentaries that talk about and expose problems in our world today.
I've watched Super Size me recently and just finished Inside Job.

Can you guys recommend me some more of this stuff?
Docudramas are OK too.

minirhyder on
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Posts

  • Dread Pirate ArbuthnotDread Pirate Arbuthnot OMG WRIGGLY T O X O P L A S M O S I SRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The Corporation is great. It's a three part documentary in one hour chunks and I think you can get it free online legally. It's about modern day corporations, their morality, and the resistance to them.

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  • BigbluefootBigbluefoot Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I'm fairly left-leaning, so I watch the Micheal Moore documentaries. I don't really like to, because they get me so damned mad, but they're good.

    Supposedly Religulous was really good.

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  • minirhyderminirhyder BerlinRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Yeah I watched Religulous, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

    I'll definitely check out Moore's stuff and Corporation.

    Thanks so far! :D

    minirhyder on
  • BigbluefootBigbluefoot Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sicko was really interesting, if very, very annoying.

    Bigbluefoot on
  • finralfinral Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Gasland was an interesting one. It's about natural gas extraction in America and the problems it has caused.

    finral on
  • viciousdogatakviciousdogatak Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Crossing the Line - its a documentary about an American guy that defected to North Korea during the Korean War and still lives there today as a North Korean.

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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    As a die-hard, militant atheist from the deepest levels of my heart, I think I'm qualified to say that Religulous really wasn't that great. Bill Maher is moderately funny at best and although there are a few good parts, it's really not a great movie. Jesus Camp is a much better movie if you're looking for the religious angle.

    Other fantastic documentaries:
    Restrepo
    Man on Wire
    Harvard Beats Yale
    Exit Through the Gift Shop
    Anvil! The Story of Anvil

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • Brian KrakowBrian Krakow Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Harlan County, U.S.A. and The Thin Blue Line are probably my two favorite documentaries. I watched The Parking Lot Movie on netflix instant recently and that was really good too.

    Brian Krakow on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Esh on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Yes Men Fix the World

    I found this absolutely fascinating. Essentially, these guys just go around Punking corporate America. But they are just so erstwhile doing it, yet so completely misguided that the whole thing seems like a train wreck.

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  • AlegisAlegis Impeckable Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief

    fascinating view about one of Osaka's host club
    Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei (22), has a staff of twenty boys all under his training to become the top escorts of Osaka's underground love scene. During their training, they learn how to dress, how to talk, how to walk, and most importantly, how to fake relationships with the girls who become their source of income. Join us as Osaka's number one host boy takes us on a journey through the complex and heartrenching world of love for sale in the Japanese underground.

    Very odd stuff, but compelling documentary

    Alegis on
  • Page-Page- Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I agree with a lot of Micheal Moore's overall points, but I can't stand his movies. Just be aware that you're going to have trouble if you use them as more than a basis for ideas and arguments. They're worse than wikipedia when it comes to fact checking and such.

    It's the same with Religulous. Yes, religionlol and all that, but it's hardly a documentary; there's no real point to it, other than laughing at some really misguided people.

    I've also got a long and exhaustive list of good docs, but I'll only post a few, after seconding both Yes Men movies, Jesus Camp, and Man on Wire.

    [vidURL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vupEpNjCuY"]Babies[/vidURL] is what it says on the tin; more than an hour of baby footage, culled from 4 different families from different parts of the world. There's no dialogue, no concrete point or narrative, it's just fascinating and beautiful. And has some good music.

    [vidURL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrO65Fn2MLY"]My Kid Could Paint That[/vidURL]. This movie is interesting on many levels, and takes a wild twist a little over half-way through. Worth watching even if you have no opinion on "modern art."

    [vidURL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUmQkea8nms"]The English Surgeon[/vidURL]. It's not the best movie, and anything else I say would be a spoiler, but it's also very nice to watch.

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  • The_Glad_HatterThe_Glad_Hatter One Sly Fox Underneath a Groovy HatRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    pinching in for Man on Wire, an amazing docu. The narrator is a bit quirky, but he's an awesome storyteller.

    Tyson is allright if you can handle tyson's monotome voice.

    I just finished watching The Tillman story, powerfull stuff about how the gov't covered up a friendly fire death.

    Exit trough the gift shop is very, very well done. a must if you have even the slightest interest in street art or banksy.

    edit; and if you're into art: "the art of the steal" about the city of philadelphia screwing over a millionare's will by trying to "steal" his art collection.

    The_Glad_Hatter on
  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    If you like sports, most of ESPN's 30 for 30 docs are great. I'd particularly recommend The Two Escobars which is mostly about the Colombian drug trade and not sports. Also good and related to larger societal issues:

    No Crossover: The Trial of Alan Iverson - race, the criminal justice system)
    The Best That Never Was - race again, exploitation of young athletes
    June 17, 1994 - Covers a packed day in the sporting world, but most notably the OJ White Bronco chase, and how in a lot of ways, that day was the birth of the modern American media; it's a gimmicky doc with absolutely no narration, just the clips cut together.
    The U - the merger of Miami Hurricanes football and the hip hop culture of the late 80s and early 90s; this will likely be repeated in this Sunday's doc The Fab Five about the 1991-1994 Michigan basketball team.

    Not quite as good a doc, but still good and looking at the breakup of Yugoslavia from the perspective of a Serbian and a Croat NBA player whose friendship was destroyed by the civil war: Once Brothers

    If you just like sports, almost the entire series is worth checking out. Most critics thought that other than The Two Escobars, the best was Winning Time: Reggie Miller Versus the New York Knicks.

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  • George Fornby GrillGeorge Fornby Grill ...Like Clockwork Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    yes yes yes seconding Exit Through The Gift Shop

    So good.

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  • oldsakoldsak Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I just watched Food, Inc. which is really good.

    oldsak on
  • RaneadosRaneados police apologist you shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I'm going to use this opportunity to share a great place to actually watch these documentaries as well

    http://documentaryheaven.com/

    hundreds and thousands of documentaries, some of which you've never heard of

    Raneados on
  • ShogunShogun Hair long; money long; me and broke wizards we don't get along Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Seriously watch Exit Through the Gift Shop.

    I also watched Catfish which was sort of interesting. Its about a guy who starts an internet relationship with the family member of a facebook friend he makes when the friend paints a photograph he took. Then weird things happen and it all sort of unravels.

    Shogun on
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Leader,_His_Driver_and_the_Driver's_Wife

    Also Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. They range from the fairly light and trivial (UFO enthusiasts, Pro Wrestling) to fairly gritty stuff (Extreme Zionists, Black Nationalism, South African Boer Separatists) so you might want to be selective. He's a far better documentarian then a lot of people give him credit for, he's a master at insinuating himself into the confidence of wildly disparate groups of people and tends to conduct very interesting interviews.

    EDIT: Also there appears to be several of the Louis Theroux docs on that site Rane linked

    japan on
  • JasconiusJasconius sword criminal mad onlineRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Seconding "Restrepo" and raising you the doc on Jack Abramoff and the name of it escapes me. From the guy who did the Enron doc.

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  • SixSix Caches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhex Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Exit Through the Gift Shop is great, but I'm not sure I'd really call it a documentary.

    But watch it no matter what.

    I'll throw out Paradise Lost 1 & 2 because I used to run internet communities based on them.

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  • benholiobenholio Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    King of Kong

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  • WonderMinkWonderMink Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    As a die-hard, militant atheist from the deepest levels of my heart, I think I'm qualified to say that Religulous really wasn't that great. Bill Maher is moderately funny at best and although there are a few good parts, it's really not a great movie.

    I disagree. He really asks questions and demands answers from the people he asks. He challenges bad answers. It is great.

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  • Calamity JaneCalamity Jane That Wrong Love Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    dark days

    great film about homelessness

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  • mere_immortalmere_immortal So tasty!Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    japan wrote: »
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Leader,_His_Driver_and_the_Driver's_Wife

    Also Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. They range from the fairly light and trivial (UFO enthusiasts, Pro Wrestling) to fairly gritty stuff (Extreme Zionists, Black Nationalism, South African Boer Separatists) so you might want to be selective. He's a far better documentarian then a lot of people give him credit for, he's a master at insinuating himself into the confidence of wildly disparate groups of people and tends to conduct very interesting interviews.

    EDIT: Also there appears to be several of the Louis Theroux docs on that site Rane linked

    Came here to recommend these, and his specials too. Full list here (specials at the bottom). Think you can find most on youtube.

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

    He has a pretty amazing ability to find the humanity in groups of people most of the public would detest without being condescending.

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  • Grey PaladinGrey Paladin Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Wholly unprofessional, containing its fair share of swearing and many unspeakably horrible images The Vice Guide to Liberia still gives one of the best views of the country.

    The Vice Guide to North Korea is pretty good, too. Both are (legally) available for free online, on either youtube or the website.

    The Human Turbine covers the lives of a group of Palestinians that refused to leave their homeland, living in caves and without most-any technology due to the IDF not allowing new construction on what they consider illegally occupied land. A group of professors from varios Israeli universities help them set up an independant electrical grid using wind and solar power.

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  • Anarchy Rules!Anarchy Rules! Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis is very good, and compares the rise of the Neo-cons and radical islamists, whilst also arguing that the threat from al-Qaeda is a myth perpetrated by politicians to unite the populace.

    Anarchy Rules! on
  • minirhyderminirhyder BerlinRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Thanks for all the suggestions!

    I've watched The Corporation and loved it, in a very depressing infuriating way.

    Also watched Restrepo and wished it was longer; the 15 month deployment seemed to fly by veryyy quickly on screen. Otherwise it was pretty great.

    Probably gonna check out some Moore documentaries next, but rest assured I'll get to all the suggestions eventually!

    minirhyder on
  • Page-Page- Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The Yes Men movies are great pick-me-ups after something like The Corporation.

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  • Niceguy MyeyeNiceguy Myeye Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I realize that these aren't quite movies, but I think some of the things that you're looking for can be found in the PBS series Frontline

    I haven't watched it in a while because I've had issues with it running at work, but some of the ones I enjoyed were the Tank Man, the Persuaders, and the Merchants of Cool.

    Some of the classic documentaries the Corporation and Manufactuing Consent

    Lately, I've liked a lot of the oddball character documentaries. I'm going to have to second Exit Through the Gift Shop and the King of Kong. I also enjoyed Confessions of a Super Hero on the same out there and interesting characters documentaries.

    Niceguy Myeye on
  • LucidLucid Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Esh wrote: »
    I'd recommend any of Errol Morris' documentary films. Along similar lines I'd suggest Adam Curtis, in particular Century of the Self.

    Also, Jon Ronson does a great series on conspiracy theorists titled The Secret Rulers of the World. He also does a great film named Stanley Kubrick's boxes, which gives excellent insight into the mind of a talented, eccentric film maker.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQq3oYO5sI

    Lucid on
  • ED!ED! Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Waiting for Superman was "good"; but then like most documentaries like this it is quite manipulative (on an emotional level), and you kind of feel bad for everyone around.

    I would not recommend this movie for anyone involved in the teaching profession, as it seems every instructor I've asked about it (who works in pedagogy in some way) hasn't had the most flattering things to say about it. Still a bit eye-opening to see whats going on in some of the worst classrooms/school districts in the country.

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  • SixSix Caches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhex Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    ED! wrote: »
    Waiting for Superman was "good"; but then like most documentaries like this it is quite manipulative (on an emotional level), and you kind of feel bad for everyone around.

    I would not recommend this movie for anyone involved in the teaching profession, as it seems every instructor I've asked about it (who works in pedagogy in some way) hasn't had the most flattering things to say about it. Still a bit eye-opening to see whats going on in some of the worst classrooms/school districts in the country.

    My girlfriend's a public school teacher and we saw together along with 6 or 7 other public school teachers on it's opening night in NY. While they certainly had some issues with it, everyone seemed to really like it overall.

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  • Roland_tHTGRoland_tHTG Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Walmart - High Cost of Low Prices


    Good Copy Bad Copy


    The War On Kids

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  • AtomBombAtomBomb Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Lots of good stuff in this thread. One of my favorite documentaries is The Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison. So, so good. I'll watch a doc about anything if it's well made, and this is so well done and the subject is compelling and heart breaking. Unfortunately, I don't know how you could get a copy, but it does pop up on TV every now and then. They also made a follow up that was good.

    Recently I watched I Think We're Alone Now. It's about obsessive Debbie Gibson fans. At first it seems kind of funny, then it's mostly creepy and sad. Not the best made doc ever, certainly not the same caliber as The Farm or Restrepo or Paradise Lost, but it's neat. It's on Netflix Instant.

    With Moore, I find his subjects interesting. I really like his first film, and I seem to like him a little less with each picture. It's not that they're worse, I just think I'm more forgiving of his earlier work. Docs are his thing now, and I just think he should be better at making them at this point. However, I wouldn't say that any of them aren't worth watching.

    Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is great, and you should watch it even if you don't give a shit about Joan Rivers or stand up comedy in general. It's on Netflix Instant, too.

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  • adytumadytum The Inevitable Rise And FallRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Food, Inc. is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen. It amped up the hyperbole and completely threw away all semblance of "facts" or "documenting." It even contradicted itself in a few places. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, even if they had zero knowledge of how the farm industry works; there are better, less radical sources of information out there.

    I had heard a lot about Restrepo. I watched it this weekend and it was very 'meh.' Interesting subject matter but poorly put together.

    What's good?

    The Cove was a very interesting and well put together doc, even if it was a bit emotionally overwrought in a few places. I think it's something everyone should at least be familiar with if you at all care about animal rights.

    This Film Is Not Yet Rated is excellent.

    Anything from Frontline, and I believe you can watch most (if not all!) of it on their website for free.

    adytum on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    There are a ton of great HBO documentaries, one I particularly loved was "I Knew it Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale" about the actor who played Fredo in the Godfather movies. He had the potential to be one of the best actors every, but he died really young. The documentary is pretty great. Not sure where you would find it though.

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  • adytumadytum The Inevitable Rise And FallRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Can't believe I forgot Born Into Brothels and The Devil's Miner

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  • 1ddqd1ddqd Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    1ddqd on
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Darkon is a pretty good documentary about LARPers.

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