Documentary Recommendations

Kingp35

I was wondering if you lot could recommend some good documentaries to me. I have recently been watching quite a few of them and I find that they can be very interesting if done well.

Documentaries that I have seen include:

Bowling for Columbine
Fahrenheit 9/11
Road to Guantanemo
Grizzly Man
Touching the Void
An Inconvenient Truth
Capturing the Friedmans
Dark Days

Does anybody else have any recommendations for me? I love learning new stuff from a well made documentary.

Sad Professor

Outfoxed is good, it's about Fox News and it's "fair and balanced" style of reporting.

Kingp35

Thanks. Ill check it out

Anyone know anymore?

johnny_ultimate

D.I.G is superb. Great little music film about the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and their little feud.
Taranation was pretty cool as well. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390538/

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the revolution will not be televised,

How art made the world <-- awesome

gunner palace

monkeyfudge

Micheal Moore's 'Roger and Me' is pretty good... probably better than his later stuff.

And 'Lost in La Mancha' is a good one about Terry Gilliam's cursed production of Don Quixote .

SoupyNorman

'The Corporation' is one of the better anti-corporate Docs out there.

monkeyfudge

"This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is another good one... It's about the US Rating system.

Kingp35

Cheers lads, some really interesting ones have been mentioned so far. Ill definitely have to get my hands on a few of them.

S.M.B.

BUS 174 is a fantastic documentary about the hijacking of a bus in Brasil.

DublinWriter

There was a recent three-part documentry on BBC called 'The Trap'.

I'm not sure if it's commercially available yet, but it was one of the best documentries I've seen, ever.

theKED

Would you include Planet Earth? I got it for Xmass and its spectacular.

What about Martin Scorcesse's "No direction home" about Bob Dylan?

Or how about a documentary about the making of a movie:
"Hearts of Darkness: a filmmaker's Apocolypse" is a Documentary shot while filming in 1977/1979 that chronicles how Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" was plagued by extraordinary script, shooting, budget, and casting problems--nearly destroying the life and career of the celebrated director.
The documentary Won 2 Emmys.

The documentary deals with some serious issues including Fransis Ford Coppola's nervous breakdown in which he contemplates suicide.
Martin Sheen had a heart attack during the filming and some shots of Willard's back are of doubles, including Sheen's brother who was flown out specially. Coppola was so worried that backing would be withdrawn by the studio and distributor if news of Sheen's heart attack leaked out, that he kept it quiet, even to the extent of explaining Sheen's hospitalization as being due to "heat exhaustion" in the official Shoot Schedule.

Originally scheduled to be shot over six weeks, ended up taking 16 months.

A typhoon destroyed sets, causing a delay of several months.

Marlon Brando was paid $1 million in advance. He threatened to quit and keep the advance. Coppola told his agent that he didn't care, and if they couldn't get Brando, they would try Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, and then Al Pacino. Brando eventually turned up late, drunk, 40kg overweight, and admitted he hadn't read the script or even "Heart of Darkness", the book it was based on. He read Coppola's script, and refused to do it. After days of arguments over single lines of dialogue, an ad-lib style script was agreed upon, and this was shot according to Brando's stipulations that he appears in shadows.

Eleanor Coppola filmed and recorded the making of this film, leading to Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.

If this isn't enough reasons to watch it, i don't know what is.

[EMAIL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102015/"]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102015/[/EMAIL]

Petey2006

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. A fascinating study of a man looking back on his career and the decisions, both good and bad, that shaped the world.

Running Bing

Watched hated the other day:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107086/


Tbh it is not a very good documentary and could(should) have been much better but the subject matter is so interesting it is worth a look. bUt you will need a very very strong stomach, it really is a vile film.

Running Bing

theKED wrote:

Eleanor Coppola filmed and recorded the making of this film, leading to Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.

If this isn't enough reasons to watch it, i don't know what is.

Without a doubt the greatest documentary ever made. Stunning stuff.

da_deadman

monkeyfudge wrote:

"This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is another good one... It's about the US Rating system.

Agreed. If you've a chance to see it then this is a very good documentary.

Also recently watched 'Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price' and 'Enron - The smartest guys in the room'. They are kinda depressing stories but worth watching if you're in any way interested.

chop^chop

Etre et Avoir
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318202/

The Yes Men
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318202/

monkeyfudge

I haven't seen it yet myself.

But I heard Murderball is supposed to be very good. It's about a team of quadriplegics competing in full contact rugby at the Para Olympics.

Documentary film making really has taken off in the past decade or so.

Sad Professor

monkeyfudge wrote:

And 'Lost in La Mancha' is a good one about Terry Gilliam's cursed production of Don Quixote .

I would recommend this also. In fact I would rate all Gilliam-commissioned documentaries as the most insightful and interesting film documentaries I've ever seen. Especially the ones for 12 Monkeys and Criterion's Brazil dvd.

johnny_ultimate

+1 support for Lost in La Mancha, the Yes Men, and the Fog of War.
Enron is also good. I personally found it a little hard to follow since Im not entirely familiar with the American electricity business...
I wasn't a big fan of Wal-Mart. Turned it off fairly quickly - very much a big corporations are evil and eat babies kind of thing.
(1000th post! w00t!)

Running Bing

Another one I heard that is pretty good but have not seen myself is Glastonbury



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464022/

Oh and Metallica:some kinda monster is pretty well rated although I was not into it myself. What a bunch of nonces.

+1 for this film is not yet rated.

Disturbing insight into how one organisation determines what does or doesnt make it to the silver screen.

romperstomper

i can't believe no one has mentioned "When we were Kings"

Quite simply the best piece of filmmaking I have ever seen nevermind the genre

am not linking to imdb. if you have never heard of this film, you need to take your laptop out of the cave

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

But I heard Murderball is supposed to be very good. It's about a team of quadriplegics competing in full contact rugby at the Para Olympics.

i'm not proud of myself, but I laughed at this.. and I'm definitely gonna try get my hands on it.

ianmc38

monkeyfudge wrote:

"This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is another good one... It's about the US Rating system.

I thought it was a snore fest.

I enjoyed the corporation. Very funny and well thought out.

Ashes and show
Childre Udnerground
No Direction Home - For Dylan fans really...
Capturing the Friedmans

ianmc38

Mordeth wrote:

i'm not proud of myself, but I laughed at this.. and I'm definitely gonna try get my hands on it.

I laughed hysterically!

ObeyGiant

Not gonna be a popular choice among all the kids here suggesting documentaries where buses get hijacked and Francis Ford Coppolla has a fit in the jungle, but I thought Mad Hot Ballroom was one of the sweetest, most charming films I've seen in a long while. It's about a bunch of American inner-city elementary school kids who take up ballroom dancing to escape the hardships of their everyday lives. Think "Hoop Dreams", but more schmaltzy and sentimental (in the best possible way).

Kingp35

romperstomper wrote:

i can't believe no one has mentioned "When we were Kings"

How could I forget this? I remember seeing it a few years ago and I loved it. Definitely one of the better documentaries that I have seen.

30txsbzmcu2k9w

i'd be surprised if no one has mentioned The Filth and The Fury yet, fantastic doc on the sex pistols and the punk movement

Is The revolution will not be Televised available on DVD? anyone know?

Running Bing

romperstomper wrote:

i can't believe no one has mentioned "When we were Kings"

Quite simply the best piece of filmmaking I have ever seen nevermind the genre

am not linking to imdb. if you have never heard of this film, you need to take your laptop out of the cave

How did I forget that one! Your right romperstomper it is an absolutely fantastic piece of filmmaking. Even if you have no interest in boxing or Ali or the particular fight it is just absolutely mesmerizing to look at.