Favorite documentaries?

[filmcinematographer]

Since documentaries are becoming more and more popular ii was just wondering what are some of your favorite documentaries past present and upcoming.

Here's my list:

Past: Streetwise, Dark Days
Present: Be Here to Love Me, After Innocence
Upcoming: Favela Rising

[JK]

Jaws.
The Matrix.
Star Wars.

[Zens7s]

- Rattle and Hum

- Capturing the Friedmans: If you haven't seen this it's about accused child molestors, but at the end not even the documentarian can figure out what really happened. Really worth watching.

[Zens7s]

Since documentaries are becoming more and more popular ii was just wondering what are some of your favorite documentaries past present and upcoming.

Here's my list:

Past: Streetwise, Dark Days
Present: Be Here to Love Me, After Innocence
Upcoming: Favela Rising
I just heard about Dark Days, I think. Is that about the homeless people that live in the subway tunnels in New York City?

[filmcinematographer]

I just heard about Dark Days, I think. Is that about the homeless people that live in the subway tunnels in New York City?

Yeah Dark Days is this great black and white documentary about homeless people living in abandoned sections of the NYC subway system. Its great because the filmmaker lived with them for the duration of the shoot and they helped him film it and build the platform to get moving shots. Definately worth checking out along with all the other docs I listed.

[FanGirl]

"Highlander is a documentary shot in real time." - aqua teen

Which kind of documentary style are we talking? There are many kinds. Does that include the stuff about movies on the DVDs? Does History Channel shows count?

I used to work for the History Channel as some people here know so I'm pretty picky on the documentaries. I can't watch a lot of them without critiquing them. I was in physical pain watching some of the Biography because the quality was so bad. *shudders* And then other times I'll get caught up seeing a still of something I never saw before and then try and figure out where they got it from.

[phit_demon]

I'm a sucker for a well-made documentary, and I think the king of documentarians (is that a word?!) is Errol Morris (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001554/). The man has made a slew of exceptional films, such as The Fog of War: Eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara, Mr Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, a documentary on Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, and a really cool collection of mini-docs for TV called First Person.
Top of the pile though, is a film he made in 1988 called a The Thin Blue Line. I can't say enough about this film, it's the most perfectly crafted documentary I've ever seen. Plot Summary here (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096257/plotsummary)

If you haven't seen any of the man's films, do yourself a favour and buy/downlaod/rent one ASAP.

Btw, you can order his stuff on his website (http://www.errolmorris.com/) (oh my god. I've become a spammer!!:eek: )

[ProfessorU]

Hoop Dreams
Triumph of the Will

both classics in their generations.

[FanGirl]

Speaking of Hoop Dreams, St. Joe's was my brother school. They finished filming the year before I started. You know the Arch diocese sued them for defamation and won? Million dollar suit over that movie.

[Monster of Rock]

The Aristocrates - Pretty funny Documentary about an old Vaudville Joke.
Grizzly Man - A film about a guy who gets eaten by a wild bear.
Pimps up Hos down - Classic HBO documentary / who by the way make some of the best I've seen
American Movie - a documentary about a low budget film maker with a lot of heart. ( I herd Kevin Smith did a project with Marc and Mike from the film)
Dribble- The first short film on TROMAdance III
Crumb- a documentary about the 60s comic book icon Robert Crumb

I also wanted to see the new documentary on Charles Bukowski. I've read about it on line but havent been able to locate it any where.

[Monster of Rock]

The best documentaries I've ever seen are low budget Pornography films.

[By-tor]

The best documentaries I've ever seen are low budget Pornography films.Ever see Monster of Cock? And don't tell me you starred in it, that was me. I believe I saw you in Monster of Crock, though.

[Monster of Rock]

Nope never even herd of monster of Cock. Could you maybe breifly explain the plot outline?

[JK]

I guess since someone is lurking around in here, I could finally give a serious answer:

Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse -The documentary Coppola's wife shot during the filming of Apocalypse Now.

[Rob101]

Ever see Monster of Cock?
It's good to see that some people never change. ;)

[BOP TILL U DROP]

How the heck do people get banned around here?

[Erasmus Cunk]

There was a good documentary on British TV in the 80s called John's Not Mad. It was about a teenager in Scotland who suffered from Tourette's Syndrome. It starts off being quite funny when, for example, you see him shouting "fucking peas!" at the top of his voice in a supermarket, but you soon start to feel sorry for the guy as you realise how difficult his life must be.

On the DVD, which came out a couple of years ago, there is a follow-up doc about how he is now, twenty years later. It's good to see him coping well; he just takes it all in his stride and seems to have completely gotten over the embarrasment and awkwardness he felt as a teenager. A lesson for us all.

[JK]

How the heck do people get banned around here?


With few exception, they picked a fight they could never have won in the first place. I think Monster Crock was one of mine...

[BlueRoster]

Fast Cheap and Out of Control directed by Mr. Morris

Salesman & Grey Gardens directed by The Maysles Brothers

Stone Reader by Mark Moskowitz

Stevie directed by Steve James (director of Hood Dreams)


Documentaries are what I do, so I could go on and on, but those are probably my top 5.

[Spacemeat]

Channel 4's Dispatches do some fantastic reporting, plus BBC's Horizon. Fave documentary is probably "Zeitgeist" or "Esoteric Agenda". Or "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Moon". Where's my tinfoil hat...

For something a little more light-hearted, Louis Theroux is a good bet. Delightful lil' ragamuffin.

[Trout_Mask_Replica]

My absolute favourite documentary is Crumb.

However, I recently watched Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. I recommend that anybody who hasn't seen either of them check them out. Its unsettling to think that there are modern day witch trials like that going on.

[phit_demon]

Fave documentary is probably "Zeitgeist"

You're using the term loosely I presume?

[Spacemeat]

You're using the term loosely I presume?
That's a good point. It's more like a thesis. Oh! RTE showed a fantastic documentary called Tranquility Bay a few years back. Definitely worth a watch.

[phit_demon]

RTE showed a fantastic documentary called Tranquility Bay a few years back. Definitely worth a watch.

I was telling the director of 2001 Maniacs about that doc at this year's Horrorthon. We were talking about a movie he made on the same subject called Driftwood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460777/).

[ZBarclay]

Devil's Playground - It's a fine documentary about Amish young people as they come of age and carry through Rumspringa. Rumspringa is the time in the life of Amish teens where they are allowed to live "English" in order to decide if the Amish way of life is truly what they choose for themselves. They drink, they party, they get hooked on the meth...it's a very interesting watch. You've never seen anything until you see Amish girls in traditional dress dancing in a barn to hip hop.

[Armpit Rocket]

Just watched Bigger, stronger, faster: The price of being American.
Very entertaining, informative and fairly biased view on steroids.
Definatly worth the watch. It's streamable if you have Netflix.

[Armpit Rocket]

Watched the king of kong last night. Good watch, anyone else want to just punch Billy Mitchell in the face?

[phit_demon]

...anyone else want to just punch Billy Mitchell in the face?

I'd be surprised if anyone didn't want to punch him. What a complete tool!

[Shäne]

I'd be surprised if anyone didn't want to punch him. What a complete tool!

Seconded.

[egoods]

I'd be surprised if anyone didn't want to punch him. What a complete tool!
TOOL!?! Dude, he had a mullet... A MULLET!
Anyway, favorite docs, in no particular order

King of Kong (inspired me to buy and fix up a Dig Dug)
Small Town Gay Bar
Dr. Death (Guy's a nut job, reminds me of the Mort from Family Guy)
Death Race (A man can dream can't he?)
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden (Spurlock is a darn good filmmaker)
Heckler (I still hate Jamie Kennedy after this movie, but it forever changed the way I write movie reviews.)

[phit_demon]

TOOL!?! Dude, he had a mullet... A MULLET!
He brought shame to the Haircut of The Gods.

Dr. Death (Guy's a nut job, reminds me of the Mort from Family Guy)
I think you mean Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr. directed by Errol Morris. It is fantastic, and can be watched in full here (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=654178281151939378).

[RobinHoodDaffy]

He brought shame to the Haircut of The Gods.


And why do guys like that have to wear American flag ties?


Sigh.


I love my country, but sometimes.....

[egoods]

I think you mean Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr. directed by Errol Morris. It is fantastic, and can be watched in full here (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=654178281151939378).

Hmm... I have no idea where I got Dr. Death from...

[phit_demon]

Hmm... I have no idea where I got Dr. Death from...

Meh, easy mistake to make really.

[Scottbob75]

American Movie

[Armpit Rocket]

TOOL!?! Dude, he had a mullet... A MULLET!
Anyway, favorite docs, in no particular order

King of Kong (inspired me to buy and fix up a Dig Dug)
Small Town Gay Bar
Dr. Death (Guy's a nut job, reminds me of the Mort from Family Guy)
Death Race (A man can dream can't he?)
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden (Spurlock is a darn good filmmaker)
Heckler (I still hate Jamie Kennedy after this movie, but it forever changed the way I write movie reviews.)

Thanks, that reminded me I keep forgetting to add Small Town Gay Bar to my queue. Done and done.

[phit_demon]

...Small Town Gay Bar...

'Tis top notch. I saw it a month or so back on late-night TV.

[JasterIsFett]

Trekkies
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

just to add to egoods list, I love all of those as well.

[Threadkiller]

I have to agree with a lot of those listed already. The best one I've seen this year:

"The Yes Men Fix The World."

It's a bit more in the style of Michael Moore only in that it advocates a point of view rather than just tells a story. But it's very funny and worth checking out (unlike most of Moore's films).

Another great one that came out this year is called "Burma VJs" about video journalists in Burma. Any movie that the filmmakers literally risked (and in some cases may have lost) their lives to make can't be easily dismissed.

[donkey]

I saw Man on Wire the other day... Really awesome.

[Trout_Mask_Replica]

Man on Wire

Awesome doc. My favourite part of the Oscars this year was Philippe Petit's acceptance speech:

http://www.ntnews.com.au/images/uploadedfiles/editorial/pictures/2009/02/23/Oscars-Philippe-Petit.jpg

[donkey]

the man is amazing.