Looking for GOOD documentaries on weird/unusual stuff

Librarian

Title says it all, I am looking for interesting, smart and fun documentaries about well basically everything as long as it is a good documentary, but right now I would prefer something that is not too dry or has a focus on economics, pollution, or other serious business.

I would really love to see something good about hauntings, paranormal stuff, or maybe conspiracy theories, but some documentary that really tries to show the background behind those so called phenomenons and is not a totally dumbed down ghosthunteresque flick full of bad lightning and cheap shocks.
I have not yet found one like that, it was always about the same level and quality as watching Jonathan Frakes on X-Faktor.

Some newer documentaries I know and enjoyed:

King of Kong
Man on Wire
Spellbound
Cropsey
Marvencol
Exit through the gift shop
Catfish
Penn & Teller
Monster Camp
How TV ruined your life

Skoal Cat

You've listed the ones I would have so...
Jesus Camp
There was also a documentary made about John Waters' movie Pink Flamingos.

Six

I don't see Dear Zachary on your list. Remedy that. I'd also recommend the Paradise Lost docs. Neither of those are going to make you feel good about humanity, though.

Some other docs I've watched recently and enjoyed:

Restrepo
The Thin Blue Line
Snuff

None of this is really about paranormal stuff, but they're still fascinating.

Librarian

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I watched Jesus Camp or started to, but that was just too depressing for me.
I have also seen The Devil's Playground, which is a good doc about the Amish people.
I have been meaning to see Dear Zachary and Restrepo, thanks for reminding me.

finral

Here are a few that aren't paranormal, but are a little offbeat.
American Movie - About a poor young guy in some backwoods town pursuing his dream of making a horror movie. He and his friend are pretty strange, and it makes for some entertaining watching.
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia - About the remaining family of a once famous tap dancer (Jesco White). Doesn't sound that weird, but the Whites are pretty crazy, and Johnny Knoxville was involved in the project.
Also, Darkon - If you liked Monster Camp, it is pretty similar.

TychoCelchuuu

Anvil! The Story of Anvil!

MushroomStick

Life After People was neat.

wonderpug

I haven't seen it but I've heard The Parking Lot Movie is entertaining and humorous. Chronicles the lives of a bunch of attendants at a parking lot, and their weird encounters.

Helvetica was pretty ok, but might be too dry for you. It's all about the font, for which there is a surprising amount of things to talk about.

tardcore

If you can find it, God Speed You! Black Emperor is a '70s documentary about a Japanese biker gang.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Speed_You!_Black_Emperor

Six

I just watched Air Guitar Nation and you should too. It's as ridiculous and delightful as it sounds.

I found Helvetica to be boring and insipid, which I guess was expected, but it was too boring and insipid for me.

Waldo

Grizzly Man (gotta love Herzog's narration especially).

Also, Harlan County USA is probably one of the best I have ever seen, about a Kentucky coal town's workers attempt at unionization, and the resulting brutal (and I do mean horrifyingly brutal) struggle that follows.

y2jake215

The Best Worst Movie

a documentary about the awful movie Troll 2

Arrath

Yukon Passage, a National Geographic documentary about 4 guys (my Dad being one) retracing the steps of the Gold rush. And its all on youtube.

EWom

Looks like you have netflix streaming, because when I'm searching netflix docs I see your entire list over and over.

If you do, do a search for Ancient Mysteries, it's an A&E series of docs that explores random stuff, I've watched a few of them, and they're pretty good. There's astrology, bigfoot, human sacrifice, camelot, and more.

NatGeo has some good ones too, I just watched Stonehenge Decoded. I thought it was very well done, and interesting.

Librarian

American Movie
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
Darkon
Anvil! The Story of Anvil!
The Best Worst Movie

I've watched these already and this is stuff I liked

Grizzly Man
Harlan County USA

I know about these two, but never got around to watching them, since I assumed they are both very bleak. Maybe I will check them out.
I will definitely have a look at the other suggestions as well, is Ancient Mysteries presented by Leonard Nimoy?

cabsy

This Film is Not Yet Rated and Good Hair are both documentaries I've watched and enjoyed lately
I also liked Lord, Save Us From Your Followers which is really not as anti-christian as it sounds.

noir_blood

Oh god...Dear Zachary will just fucking destroy you.

Anvil is awesome..if at all possible, look for it on DVD. The one in netflix streaming is the VH1 version, so it's a bit edited.

Also, check out Beyond the Mat and Wrestling with Shadows, which are both about pro wrestling. Wrestling with Shadows is a bit more insider, but it deals with a very interesting moment in wrestling's history.

Six

noir_blood wrote:

Oh god...Dear Zachary will just fucking destroy you.

Yeah. I don't like to over-hype things in general, because then I get annoyed when people aren't as moved/affected/delighted by things in the same way I am. American Movie is a good example of that - I consider it one of the 4 or 5 funniest things I've ever seen, but in my experience people either seem to totally get and agree with me or give me a weird look like I'm an idiot. So I've kind of stopped evangelizing it.

But Dear Zachary will fuck you up. I watched it because I was going through Netflix and the site said I'd give it close to 5 stars. That didn't make very much sense to me, since I very rarely give anything 5 stars, and Netflix is usually pretty conservative in what it thinks I'll rate something. It's also usually pretty spot on. "5 stars? Who are they kidding?" So I watched it and gave it 5 stars.

Enc

Lots and Lots of Trains. A moving documentary about one man's desperate obsession to sell late night television films.

Seriously, though: Super-size Me is a great one, if something of a classic these days.

Six

Count me among those who thought Super-Size Me was pretty terrible.

Waldo

Librarian wrote:

Grizzly Man
Harlan County USA

I know about these two, but never got around to watching them, since I assumed they are both very bleak. Maybe I will check them out.
I will definitely have a look at the other suggestions as well, is Ancient Mysteries presented by Leonard Nimoy?

Yeah, Harlan County is pretty bleak, but also interesting and amazingly well done. Grizzly Man was more fascinating than bleak, in my opinion.

Also I just recently saw Tabloid and Project Nim in theaters, and I recommend Tabloid highly--go see it if it's playing near you (Nim was pretty decent).

Pure Din

Have you seen Wasteland? It's on Netflix instant watch right now. Despite the premise (poor garbage dump workers in Brazil) it's really a movie about making art, and it has gorgeous cinematography and soundtrack.

McViking

A couple others I've liked:

Dark Days -- About people who live in the utility tunnels under New York. Not as depressing as it sounds.
Style Wars -- The king of graffiti documentaries.
The Gleaners and I -- About people who glean for their livelihood.

Karrmer

Six wrote:

Count me among those who thought Super-Size Me was pretty terrible.

I'm with you. Really terrible "experiment" based on a lot of lies and basically just a massive vegan piece.

Watch Fat Head instead.

B:L

Pumping Iron is a classic, if only to see Arnold being a dick to Lou Ferrigno.

Oh there's also online documentaries, such as The Reem which follows around a MMA champion.

Decius

Watch all the episodes from The Vice Guide to Travel. The last two are really the best of the series, but the entire series is very entertaining. It's on Netflix streaming here in Canada, though I don't know if it's available in the US.

Librarian

I just watched Dear Zachary, omg!
I was feeling pretty bad already halfway through the movie, so I just wikied it to see if the grandparents won the custody battle.
Well that was a bit of a shock to read the summary, but it probably saved me from the worst part of the movie.

Indica1

Life and Debt is a documentary about the economy of Jamaica. Does a really good job of explaining the difference between first and third world countries, and how the World Bank and IMF put entire countries into debt.

Elin

Netflix instant streaming:

Inside Deep Throat (About the Porno, not the Nixon thing)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (Steroid use in America, actually fair and balanced)
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (About the movie ratings board and how they aren't really fair and balanced)
Taboo (About taboos in different cultures)
The Human Family Tree (Genetics)

Netflix DvD:

Terry Jones: Medieval Lives
John Cleese's Wine for the Confused

Those were both instant at one point but haven't been for about 6 months.

wonderpug

Indica1 wrote:

Life and Debt is a documentary about the economy of Jamaica. Does a really good job of explaining the difference between first and third world countries, and how the World Bank and IMF put entire countries into debt.

It's a fascinating documentary but I think that falls squarely in the "has a focus on economics, pollution, or other serious business" category he ruled out.

Ryna

I just got Dear Zachary to watch tonight to see what all the hubbub is about.

Here's some other good ones I recommend:

The Bridge - about some of the people who suicide off the Golden gate bridge
Burning Man - how Hippies and weirdos are the best people

Skoal Cat

My Best Fiend

My Best Fiend (German: Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski, literally My Dearest Enemy - Klaus Kinski) is a 1999 documentary film by Werner Herzog about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski.

If you know who those two guys are, that should be all you need to want to see this.

Librarian

Skoal Cat wrote:

My Best Fiend

My Best Fiend (German: Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski, literally My Dearest Enemy - Klaus Kinski) is a 1999 documentary film by Werner Herzog about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski.

If you know who those two guys are, that should be all you need to want to see this.

Thanks for reminding me! I have been meaning to watch this one for ages.

Some other movies on my list of docs I want to watch I'll throw in here for everyone else who is interested:

Get Lamp - documentary about text adventures
Lost in La Mancha - about Terry Gilliam's epic fail when trying to make a Don Quichote movie
Bells from the Deep: Faith and Superstition in Russia - another Werner Herzog film, sounds very interesting

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Keep em coming, looks like this thread might be of interest to other documentary fans as well.

Malachai

Trekkies - Can't believe this wasn't mentioned yet. Probably because it was assumed everyone has seen it. If you haven't, I highly suggest it. I'm not into Star Trek at all and watched it several times.
Confessions of a Super Hero - About those folks who dress up as super heroes on Hollywood Boulevard and take pictures with tourists for tips. Another one I've watched several times. Love it.
I Think We're Alone Now - 2 people who are obsessed with 80's star Tiffany. Equal parts creepy and interesting. I recommend this to everyone I know that is remotely interested in documentaries.

Already mentioned, but both Monster Camp and Darkon are great. Darkon isn't on Netflix but is available freely (and legally) online.

Not a documentary, but in regard to the supernatural, check Netflix for the NatGeo series "Is It Real?" They actually take a scientific approach to many supernatural topics (Big Foot, crop circles, Nessy, etc.,) as opposed to most of the other material that's out there. Good stuff.

y2jake215

I forgot to mention them earlier, but if you're into sports at all, ESPN's 30 for 30 series has a bunch of decent documentaries. The best of the bunch in my opinion is The Two Escobars, focusing on Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and Colombian soccer star Andres Escobar and the effect each had on the other. Definitely worth seeing.

TychoCelchuuu

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention "Harvard Beats Yale." It's about a football game but I don't give a shit about sports and it was a good documentary.

Tav

A Headbanger's Journey is pretty good if you've got zero prior knowledge of metal. Lots of interviews with the likes of Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy, Corpsegrinder etc... Sam Dunne's passion for the music just oozes out of the movie.

If you like that, Until The Light Takes Us focuses on the infamous Norwegian Black Metal scene. It tries to explain how teenagers from a well-to-do area can still be misanthropic and how the whole scene came to be. Pretty decent watch with a good soundtrack.

Cauld

Planet B-Boy

Skoal Cat

There was also a sequel to Trekkies

SatanIsMyMotor

I'd recommend The Union - a doc about the marijuana trade in BC. Also Beer Wars. Which is about beer.

Apparently I like substance abuse.

Nylonathetep

Cannibal Holocaust deserves a shoutout here.