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Thread: Documentaries

  1. #31
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    I just saw Catfish. Real or fake, dunno, don't care, it was engaging.

  2. #32
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    Where's the mind blowing space shit?!

    Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking - 3 part BBC series, a great primer if you're new to space docs and has phenomenal production values to boot.

    Atom - 3 part BBC series featuring Jim Al-khalili which delves into the hidden atomic and sub-atomic worlds of quantum theory. After you watch this you will honestly not know whether you exist or not. It melts your brain, and it's presented in a really compelling way by following the history of the main competing theories to the present including the theories that "failed".

    Dangerous Knowledge - 3 part BBC series where math geniuses stare into the abyss, and go insane. Literally. Fun facts contained in this documentary include the fact that infinities come in different sizes, and logic has been mathematically proven to have limits. I suck at math, but I love the concepts discussed in this series. It's another one that will utterly destroy your entire understanding of the world and mathematics. So far beyond fascinating that there really isn't a word for it.

    Anything with Brian Cox, but primarily the two "Wonders" series, Wonders of the Solar System, and Wonders of the Universe. Cox has an uncanny ability to describe complex scientific phenomena in terms that anyone can understand while channeling the spirit of Carl Sagan (one of his key influences). Both of these series are extremely revealing and incredibly thought provoking and beautiful.

    Mind blowing earth shit:
    Life, Planet Earth, and Frozen Plant (all 9 part series, I think) are all fucking INCREDIBLE (get the ones with David Attenborough's narration). The best documentary film makers on the planet work for these folks. Seriously, there's a single 60 second scene in Life - Plants that took two fucking years to film because they measured the forest and then recreated it with a green screen in the studio so they could time lapse the growth of plants, and then transpose it back into the forest setting. It's rigoddamndiculous. The production value on all these films are simply breath taking. Be sure to catch their 10 minute 'making of' featurettes after every episode, they're almost as mind blowing as the content of the docs themselves. Here's a scene from one of the episodes in Frozen Planet:
    Last edited by Magtig; 05-20-2012 at 06:06 PM.

  3. #33
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    Oh, right, also http://docuwiki.net is an amazing resource for all documentaries, which includes torrent and download links.

  4. #34
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    Happy B-Day, Mr. Moog!

  5. #35
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    It was the Green Film Festival this weekend just gone. The films I saw were
    Happy : a doc about why some people are happy, some aren't and how it affects us. It was great.
    Vegecated : A story about 3 people going vegan for 6 weeks, started annoying, and it was kinda cheaply produced, but the message got though. I'm now eating mostly vegan food.
    Transitions 2.0 : More of a marketing reel for the Transitions.org initatives.. easily the worst doc I saw. A few stand out things but it was kinda tired.
    The City Dark : a quiet doc about the loss of the night sky and what it means. Really excellent stuff.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Magtig View Post
    Life, Planet Earth, and Frozen Plant (all 9 part series, I think) are all fucking INCREDIBLE (get the ones with David Attenborough's narration). The best documentary film makers on the planet work for these folks. Seriously, there's a single 60 second scene in Life - Plants that took two fucking years to film because they measured the forest and then recreated it with a green screen in the studio so they could time lapse the growth of plants, and then transpose it back into the forest setting. It's rigoddamndiculous. The production value on all these films are simply breath taking. Be sure to catch their 10 minute 'making of' featurettes after every episode, they're almost as mind blowing as the content of the docs themselves. Here's a scene from one of the episodes in Frozen Planet:
    A few years ago when I had just built my first computer and bought a 1080p monitor, one of the first things I did was watch a Bluray rip of Planet Earth. Did I mention that I was smoking a lot of weed at the time? Needless to say, it was one of the best choices I had ever made. Those series are so goddamn well done, it's just breathtaking.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by liquidcalm View Post
    Happy : a doc about why some people are happy, some aren't and how it affects us. It was great.
    This seems potentially rife with silliness. TELL ME MORE!

  8. #38
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    'Worse Than War' examines genocide.



    Highly recommended. My soul was crushed forever a couple of years ago when I visited Auschwitz, and the questions raised in the movie have been bothering me a great deal. The obvious "How?", "Why?" are addressed, but it attempts to dig deeper and it's very powerful.

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Magtig View Post
    Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking
    Atom
    Dangerous Knowledge

    Anything with Brian Cox, but primarily the two "Wonders" series, Wonders of the Solar System, and Wonders of the Universe. Cox has an uncanny ability to describe complex scientific phenomena in terms that anyone can understand while channeling the spirit of Carl Sagan (one of his key influences). Both of these series are extremely revealing and incredibly thought provoking and beautiful.

    Mind blowing earth shit:
    Life, Planet Earth, and Frozen Plant (all 9 part series, I think) are all fucking INCREDIBLE (get the ones with David Attenborough's narration).
    I've been really into science related documentaries lately, especially when I'm at my friend's place. I have been going over there about once a week and while I'm there we watch some of the series Universe that's on Netflix Instant. The new season just started recently, I think, but there's like 4 seasons on Netflix. I'd seen the first episode of Into The Universe, but we watched the next two. I wasn't aware of Dangerous Knowledge, but that subject really fascinates me so I'm going to watch it this weekend. Hopefully Atom as well. I'm aware of a lot of what you mentioned that Atom covers, but it never hurts to go over something you know, plus I'm sure there's plenty in there that I've never heard before. I've seen episodes of Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, but I want to buy them on BluRay once I get out on my own and get a player and TV. You mentioned Carl Sagan, and his Cosmos are on Netflix Instant. There's a nice disclaimer at the beginning about how it's been 30 years since it aired and not everything still applies, but most of it does. I really enjoy it; there's something in the way Sagan talks that is very soothing, plus he can be very subtly funny at times.

    So yeah, thanks for those recommendations of the ones I hadn't heard of. I'll come back and post here after I watch them this weekend.

  10. #40
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    I also watch the Universe series, and while I like it, all of the docs I mentioned are head and shoulders above it. Which makes sense, Universe is great for a weekly program to keep you up to date, the other specials are just that *special*. heh /cheese (that was really awful, I apologize)

    Um, and yeah, Cosmos is just as relevant as it ever was and the reason is Sagan's insight, wit, and especially the knowledge he brings from history, philosophy and literature to the study of the universe. He's my favorite big-dicked scientist.

    I look forward to your comments!

  11. #41
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    That questionable Vanilla Ice thread sent me to a flashback of this. It's just the trailer, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere...



    I was 3 drinks in on a Friday evening & this came on PBS. For some reason, I really enjoyed it.

  12. #42
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    I just made this list of documentaries off the top of my head for another forum. I'm sure a lot of you have seen all of these, but I thought I'd post it here just in case. Also, sorry for posting films that were already listed in this thread. I'm just copy/pasting.

    • Everything by Louis Theroux (I lied, this is at the top of the list for a reason)
      He has an amazing interviewing style where he plays a sort of naive nerdy character and gets the subjects to reveal things they normally wouldn't.
    • Almost anything by Vice (Guide to Liberia, Guide to North Korea, the ones about drugs, etc.)
      Vice's style is a bit strange, but they're still entertaining as fuck.
    • Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet
      Beautiful HD nature documentaries. Do yourself a favor and get the ones with David Attenborough narrating. Fuck the Americanized versions.
    • Cosmos
      Astronomer Carl Sagan leads us on an engaging guided tour of the various elements and cosmological theories of the Universe. A must see for any science fan.
    • The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
      Hardcore, oldschool video game nerds compete to get the world's high score in Donkey Kong. Much more entertaining than it sounds. These people take this shit seriously.
    • The Corporation
      The documentary examines the modern-day corporation, considering its legal status as a class of person and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychiatrist might evaluate an ordinary person.
    • Century of the Self
      Focuses on how Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, and Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have analyzed,* dealt with, and controlled ‬people.
    • All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
      A series of episodes about how humans have been colonized by the machines we have built. Although we don't realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.
    • Steve-O - Demise and Rise
      An hour long special about Steve-O of Jackass fame and how crazy he went on booze and drugs.
    • American Juggalo
      A documentary about The Gathering of the Juggalos, where thousands of I.C.P. fans go to hang out and have sex and do drugs for a few days. Weird shit.
    • We Live In Public
      A movie about "the loss of privacy in the internet age." It follows this insane guy who made a shit-ton of money in the big internet boom and does these crazy experiments about loss of privacy. HIGHLY suggested.
    • Restrepo
      The film follows the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company on a 15-month deployment in the Korengal Valley of northeast Afghanistan in the Nuristan area. It's critically praised for a reason. Very well done.
    • The Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia
      Documentary about this family of drug addled, insane, probably inbred crazy hicks who are local celebrities for how fucked up they are. Crazy stuff.
    • Food Inc.
      I'm sure most of you have seen this one, but it's about the American food industry. Mostly about all the horrible things that go on from the moment the animal is born until it hits your plate.
    • This Film is Not Yet Rated
      Basically about how outdated and useless the MPAA is and the effect they have on the movie industry.
    • Exit Through The Gift Shop
      A film directed by Banksy that tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. A really, really well done documentary. A must-see, I'd say.
    • Inside Job
      It's about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption." Won an Academy Award.
    Last edited by Harry Seaward; 06-06-2012 at 04:32 AM.

  13. #43
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    Just finished watching Frozen Planet last night, another fantastic doc from the BBC.

  14. #44
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    Just watched 'Into the Abyss' - I though it was ok, it dragged a bit in the middle and got overly 'touchy-feely' in parts, but it's worth a watch and can spark thought/discussion - which is what you want from a documentary I guess.

  15. #45
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    If you haven't seen, I highly recommend The Yes Men Fix the World. Their publicity stunts make your jaws drop,

  16. #46
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    Watched this last night.

    • Hollywood and the War Machine (Link included)
      Al Jazeera programme examining the symbiotic relationship between the movie industry and the military-industrial complex. Includes interviews with Oliver Stone, Christopher Hedges, and Michael Moore.

  17. #47
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    • Bananaz (Link to YouTube playlist included)
      A really awesome documentary about the band Gorillaz. Includes the path of their career from the birth of the band and recording of the self-titled album until after Demon Days. Tons of footage of them in the studio recording all the songs on the records and a lot of footage of many of the guest stars on the albums. Highly suggested for any Gorillaz fans. I can't believe I'd never seen it before.

  18. #48
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    Also, this...

    This is one of the weirdest fucking things I've seen in a while. Not sure what I can say to prime you for it, but just spend 25 minutes to watch it. I was pretty much speechless during the entire thing.
    Last edited by Harry Seaward; 06-12-2012 at 11:52 PM.

  19. #49
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    You're really breaking my balls with the multiple posts, man.

    Anyway, I watched Dangerous Knowledge the other day, as well as the first hour of Atom. I was expecting more from Dangerous Knowledge, I guess. I've come to realize that I dislike it when something (article, podcast, video) mentions an idea, and that idea's effect on the world (maybe not that extreme), but doesn't really go into the actual concept. For instance, in this one, the idea that there is more than one kind of infinity. I understand exactly what they were talking about, but that didn't give me enough to understand why this guy went mad because of it. Maybe it's because I've taken a great deal of math, and perhaps this far along the way they've cleared up what was perplexing him, but I just don't understand what couldn't be reconciled about there being an infinite number of fractions as well as an infinite number of irrational numbers in between those fractions. I mean, sure, it's crazy to think that that is even possible, but once you accept the idea of infinity, I don't understand why having it show up in different contexts is so mind-breaking.

    This happens with many articles I read as well. The author mentions an idea (or concept or whatever), but then doesn't explain how this works. I am not saying that I want to read a 30 page published paper on the findings of a study, but I want something in between that attempts to explain what it is I'm reading about. If you know any good sites for this, please let me know.

    As for Atom, the first hour was really good. A lot of it was stuff I already knew, but learning the history of how those things were discovered was really interesting. I never knew about the rivalries between scientists or any of that. Some of it had me laughing out loud; It is done really well. I'm going to a friend's tonight and we are going to watch the second (and maybe third) hour of it.

  20. #50
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    Just watched Talhotblond on TV. FFS how is the mother not locked up?? Sick.

  21. #51
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    I recommend this:

    About where exactly we are going to try and store material that can kill for 100,000 years. Slow, well shot and a subject I personally, had only brushed with.

  22. #52
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    watched this last night on Netflix, and absolutely loved it! Highly recommended!


  23. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by miss k bee View Post
    Just watched Talhotblond on TV. FFS how is the mother not locked up?? Sick.
    I saw that too. The story of talhotblond just gives you shivers, kind of like Catfish (real or fake) it was amazing.

    I am in the middle of Chasing Ghosts, a documentary about the arcade scene in the 80's and the kids that were world record holders, also known as world record dorks but a really fun documentary, I believe it came out before King of Kong?

    Also, has anyone seen I Like Killing Flies? I am a chef and restauranteur so I loved it. It really makes you think. I admire this guy.


  24. #54
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    Everybody should watch the whole of The World at War at least once. It's an exhaustive UK series from the 70s about WW2, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. Due to the time it was made, lots of the top dogs from both sides give commentary, as well as regular soldiers and civilians. It's untouchable, only Laurence Rees' series (Auschwitz, and the absolutely superb "A Warning from History") come anywhere close. Certainly takes a massive dump on all those awful History Channel documentaries (stuff with titles like "secrets of hitler's dog")

    The Cold War follow up series done in coproduction with CNN is great as well, but nowhere near as powerful.

    Brian Cox... lol. Nice series but he gets on my nerves. He used to be the keyboard player in d:ream, did anyone mention that a million times yet?


  25. #55
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    Jiro Dreams of Sushi

    awesome

  26. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by hellospaceboy View Post
    watched this last night on Netflix, and absolutely loved it! Highly recommended!

    This is one of the most fascinating and strange documentaries I've ever watched. Weeks later I'm still asking myself questions about it.

  27. #57
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    The Girl Who Became Three Boys - "story of Gemma Baker, who invented and impersonated three different teen boys, under whose guises she went on to seduce two teenage girls", very weird.

  28. #58
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    watching Indie Game: The Movie. It's on Netflix.

    An actually very interesting behind the scenes look at the creation of some of the bigger and more anticipated indie video games that have come out over the past few years (fez, super meat boy, braid). It's actually more interesting than you might initially presume. It's not so much only for people who like video games, but a really fascinating look at the neurotic and nerve wracking creative process behind any independent production. In some ways, it's actually a really inspiring movie that I feel is very easy to identify with if you've ever put your heart into something creative that completely absorbs your existence.

    The central characters of the film are actually really colorful and intriguing personalities. Also, the soundtrack is really cool.

  29. #59
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    My kinda thread!
    The Shock Doctrine - saw this one not long ago, thought it would shook me more than it did. Nonetheless, great stuff.
    We Are Legion - story behind 4chan/Anonymous. Have yet to see it.
    Sick: The Life And Death Of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist - The dude from the Happiness In Slavery video. No reference to NIN, however it's a good insight on what and why this man did for a living. Some scenes are not for the faint-hearted.
    Deliver Us From Evil - The Catholic priest pedophile is being moved around the state to hide his actions in the past. What the docu does not show is that as of this year he's been jailed for 3 years.
    Word Wars - playing Scrabble is serious business.
    Foo Fighters: Back And Forth - could be just a big fan of the band in me speaking but I thought this one was done brilliantly.

  30. #60
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    I thought the Foo Fighters one was good too, and I'm not even a big fan of theirs so you're not alone in thinking that.

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