Best documentaries you have seen

Mike Guide 69

Yamanoto wrote: »

This was absolutely compelling stuff from start to finish, a US courtroom documentary in 8 parts by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2345vJZhSw

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuu_-MB93fOoE5db3PvJU0G7hK7kV5c2k

I have to say, i watched all 8 parts of this documentary and it is incredible, it is one of the best documentarys i've ever seen, possibly the best documentary i've seen involving murder/trial case. What makes it compelling is the twists and turns that crop up at each episode that affects both prosecution and defence teams and how they try present their sides of the story. A very sad story with actually some unintentional black humour thrown in, makes this a fascinating documentary, guarantee you will addicted after the first episode......

Yamanoto

Mike Guide 69 wrote: »

I have to say, i watched all 8 parts of this documentary and it is incredible, it is one of the best documentarys i've ever seen, possibly the best documentary i've seen involving murder/trial case. What makes it compelling is the twists and turns that crop up at each episode that affects both prosecution and defence teams and how they try present their sides of the story. A very sad story with actually some unintentional black humour thrown in, makes this a fascinating documentary, guarantee you will addicted after the first episode......

Did you watch it just recently Mike?

I first saw it on BBC Four, where they ran it as an eight-episode marathon one Friday night some years back. I subsequently bought it on DVD for a couple of pals, who also found it a fantastic watch.

Not sure if you're aware, but due to some developments in the Peterson case, the documentary team revisited the whole thing & produced a 2 hour sequel below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzY_hsXuj8

marienbad

And Death on A Sunday Moring is the previous work by Lestrade the Friench diectroe and an equally outstancd doc.

Daveysil15

I found this to be particularly interesting. It's about population growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN06tLRE4WE

Rfrip

I enjoyed man on wire
He was nuts

geckovision

Mike Guide 69 wrote: »

I have to say, i watched all 8 parts of this documentary and it is incredible, it is one of the best documentarys i've ever seen, possibly the best documentary i've seen involving murder/trial case. What makes it compelling is the twists and turns that crop up at each episode that affects both prosecution and defence teams and how they try present their sides of the story. A very sad story with actually some unintentional black humour thrown in, makes this a fascinating documentary, guarantee you will addicted after the first episode......

Started this after I saw the post. On episode two now. Great stuff!

Mike Guide 69

Yamanoto wrote: »

Did you watch it just recently Mike?

I first saw it on BBC Four, where they ran it as an eight-episode marathon one Friday night some years back. I subsequently bought it on DVD for a couple of pals, who also found it a fantastic watch.

Not sure if you're aware, but due to some developments in the Peterson case, the documentary team revisited the whole thing & produced a 2 hour sequel below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzY_hsXuj8

Yeah, i actually started watching it after reading your post and watching it on youtube, good call. I managed to watch all the episodes in the last few days, .After chapter 8, the video went straight into the follow up sequel, i'll watch that tonight. But definitely, its a brilliant and addictive series that shows the insights of the case, but especially it highlights the more "human element/condition" that a lot of other documentarys on similar subjects dont show, as it gives a unique insight into how both families and siblings on either side were affected by the case.

ClovenHoof

Daveysil15 wrote: »

I found this to be particularly interesting. It's about population growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN06tLRE4WE

Billionaires terrifying of their wealth being devalued. Ever notice how when these types get super rich they are suddenly very concerned about population? More people waters down their riches. Been going on for nearly two centuries with this lot.

geckovision

Finished The Staircase over the weekend. Brilliant!

Guilty as hell!!!

fleet_admiral

one about yellowstone a while ago, fascinating and scary at the same time

ratsam

The Armstrong Lie is a good one..... Fascinating stuff...!

Bill Cunningham New York.... brilliant

Man on Wire... superb

Food Inc....

The Imposter....

I watch a lot of doc's but can't remember any more. Dam it....

Exit through the Gift Shop - I'd use documentary VERY loosely on that one. Complete fiction! Banksy laughing all the way to the bank!

Rats

jonnyfingers

I saw The Imposter at a preview screening with a Q&A with the director afterwards, it was very good.

Others I'd recommend are:

Man on Wire
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Invisible War
The Cove
Searching for Sugarman
Rock n Roll Nerd (The events leading up to musician/comedian Tim Minchin's big break)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
How to Survive a Plague
Collapse

rwg

geckovision wrote: »

Finished The Staircase over the weekend. Brilliant!

Guilty as hell!!!

Watched it in full over the weekend, this documentary deserves its own thread

The chinese doctor was right though, where was the splatter?

Daveysil15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3Y1e1ZVMQ

Velocity_Girl

"The Elephant In The Living Room" fascinating & heartbreaking documentary about people keeping exotic animals as pets.

jonnyfingers

Watched the Staircase documentaries too, very compelling. I agree that its own thread would be good.

Since watching the documentaries on it I've read up on the other evidence of the case, including the autopsy report. It is a strange one as

the prosecution maintain that a poker missing from the fireplace was the murder weapon and was used to beat Kathleen Peterson in the head. However the lacerations on the head are very deep, but there was no skull fractures, which suggests that a heavy blunt instrument was not the murder weapon. If it was it would have to be a slow and controlled beating to avoid fracturing the skull. Also the lacerations are very similar in size, shape and direction so the blows would have to be very precise. That sounds unlikely to me. Also the missing poker was later found in the garage and forensic tests showed that it was not the murder weapon. Indeed, after the trial, a jury member said that they did not believe that the poker was the murder weapon and discounted it.

So for me the prosecution can't explain how the wounds on the head were even inflicted, never mind proving that they were inflicted by Michael Peterson. The only fact I can see is that a fall down the stairs did not kill Kathleen Peterson, the fatal injuries were caused by something else and she most likely lost consciousness going up the stairs and fell down to the bottom of the staircase as a result. It does seem odd that she would have been bleeding for a couple of hours before dying. Now some of the time from when Peterson reported the accident to the ambulance arriving needs to be included in that, but there is still some time where she was lying there bleeding before being discovered. Peterson claims he was outside continuing to drink some wine which may well be true, but it's far from an airtight alibi.

I read up on the owl attack theory put forward by the defense and while it sounds ridiculous initially there is a bit of evidence to back it up. The lacerations are tri-pronged which fit with injuries caused by an attack from a bird's talons. It would explain why there were no skull fractures and Owl attacks were somewhat common in that area. Also some blood was found outside the house and evidence that the victim was bleeding before she got near the stairs suggesting something happened outside. Also the victim had pulled out clumps of her own hair as if struggling to remove something from here hair, and microscopic owl feathers were found in that hair. The main problem I have with the own theory is she surely would have screamed while being attacked and her husband would probably have heard it and come to help her. That would suggest he should have found her immediately which goes against the claim that she bled to death for a couple of hours.

So the owl attack theory may sound a bit improbable but it seems to be a better explanation for the wounds than what the prosecution have suggested, which is very little as far as I can see. They claim she was beaten with an unknown weapon, which was never found, in a controlled and precise manner, however there are no skull fractures and less blood splatter than in a normal beating. So things aren't adding up.

The fact that Elizabeth Ratliff also died in similar circumstances is interesting. However the original autopsy shows hemorrhaging of the brain secondary to a blood coagulation disorder as the cause of death, which was likely caused by a fall down the stairs. The later autopsy by the same medical examiner that did Kathleen Peterson's autopsy found blunt force trauma to be the cause of death and suggested it was due to a homicide. But again there was no skull fractures and it seems to be the word of one medical examiner against another, and it's interesting that the one who did not suspect murder did not find murder, but the one who did suspect murder did find murder.

Either way I look forward to the retrial to see what the prosecution will come up with now that any evidence involving Duane Deaver is likely to be disallowed. But surely they'll need to find a better motive (the suggestion that Peterson's "gay life" which his wife supposedly discovered and was not happy with was discounted by police investigators), and a murder weapon. However my guess is the retrial will never happen. A No Contest of Alford plea will be offered and accepted.

DMcL1971

geckovision wrote: »

Finished The Staircase over the weekend. Brilliant!

I also watched this. I found it fascinating, a very interesting case and also a great documentary on how the legal system works and the amount of effort that goes into a trial. It highlighted the fact that in order to mount any kind of a decent defence you need to have huge financial resources, if you are poor you will just have to give up and head straight to jail.

token56

I feel like Louis Theroux deserves a much bigger shout out here. He has made some wonderful entertaining and informative documentaries over the past number of years.

sillyoulfool

Dear Daughter on RTE 1996.
Christine Buckley, the subject of the documentary , that opened the eyes of most Irish people to the horrors of institutional abuse, died today.

Gongoozler

token56 wrote: »

I feel like Louis Theroux deserves a much bigger shout out here. He has made some wonderful entertaining and informative documentaries over the past number of years.

I dunno, I'll watch more of his documentaries, but watched the one about pedophiles the other night and didn't think it was great. Not very balanced I don't think.

Aglomerado

sillyoulfool wrote: »

Dear Daughter on RTE 1996.
Christine Buckley, the subject of the documentary , that opened the eyes of most Irish people to the horrors of institutional abuse, died today.

That was compelling viewing. Hopefully it will be shown again in her memory.
A brave lady, RIP.

tigger123

The Armstrong Lie is great. It was shot by a filmmaker who had a lot of access to Lance Armstrong over a good few years, and started out as a fan but is slowly turned by what he's seeing as he makes the film, so it's also about the filmmaker and his movie ... a documentary about a documentary. Well worth a look.

Room 237 is great too. It interviews different people as they explain their interpretation of Stanley Kubricks 'The Shining', very strange and very entertaining.

Also, the series on Netflix : Oddesy, The Story of Film, made by an Irish guy. If you're a film fan it's an absolute must.

Am dying to get started on The Staircase, just judging by peoples reaction to it.

tigger123

Gongoozler wrote: »

I dunno, I'll watch more of his documentaries, but watched the one about pedophiles the other night and didn't think it was great. Not very balanced I don't think.

Why don't you think it was balanced?

Gongoozler

tigger123 wrote: »

Why don't you think it was balanced?

I just found it wasn't very good. I mean I would've thought it would've given background of them, and more of them. It focused on the ones that were more likely to be let out. And kept going on about how great they had it. It was a little audience pleasing in that way.

tigger123

Gongoozler wrote: »

I just found it wasn't very good. I mean I would've thought it would've given background of them, and more of them. It focused on the ones that were more likely to be let out. And kept going on about how great they had it. It was a little audience pleasing in that way.

Can't say I saw it that it way. I thought it was focusing on the legal limbo they were in, they had served their sentence and still being detained as no community would have them. I enjoyed it I have to say, there's not many documentary makers that could tackle such a controversial subject.

xalot

Senna,
Bolwing for Columbine and Capturing the Friedmans spring to mind.

Watched Blackfish on Netflix and found it very moving.

minotour

Revelations of the Pyramids

You can find it on Youtibe or topducmentary.com Fascinating stuff about the purpose of the pyramids, focuses more on the why than the who.

Paully D

Thanks for the recommendations on The Staircase. I'm halfway through and really enjoying it.

How or why was the case made into a documentary and how did they get the sort of access that they got, following the accused, the prosecution etc? I've never seen anything like it for such a trial.

I would search for the answer myself but don't want to risk seeing the outcome of the trail or any other subsequent spoiler material online.

Ring4Fea

Art & Copy

Machines of Love and Grace

The Man Who Saved The World

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls [the book was better but still...]

Tasden

Thanks to those who recommended blackfish, really interesting documentary