Documentaries

[Baphomette]

Went on a bit of a Latino-themed docu-binge this week.

Reencuentros: 2501 Migrantes - The story behind Alejandro Santiago's MASSIVE sculptural art project to commemorate migrants from the town of Teococuilco. (He ended up creating a Mexican version of Taliesin in the process.)

The Mexican Suitcase - About the 2007 discovery of over four thousands negatives of the Spanish Civil War. Includes interviews with Spanish refugees and survivors of the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp (which I'd never heard about previously).

Cocalero - Chronicles Evo Morales' run for the presidency of Bolivia.

Romántico - The struggles faced by an immigrant mariachi singer trying to make a living in San Francisco and what happens when he eventually returns home. (Made me feel terrible about all the times I've turned down mariachis.)

Monseñor: The Last Journey of Óscar Romero - Powerful. Still digesting it, three days later. "With rare recordings and film footage from Romero’s own collection and a wide range of interviews from those whose lives were changed by Archbishop Romero, including church activists, human rights lawyers, former guerrilla fighters and politicians, Monseñor: The Last Journey of Óscar Romero is a timely portrait of one individual’s quest to speak truth to the rich and powerful forces which dominated his government."

All five were fantastic, although Cocalero was a bit slow. Monseñor really hit home and had me in tears. I plan on re-watching it with my mom sometime next week.

[elevenism]

Hell yes, i'm a documentary whore. Here are a few stand outs off the top of the noggin.

Ethos is must see tv, presenting facts about corporate interests and government.
Patriocracy is a good one about the intense polarization of our political views..
Loose Change: An American Coup...i think EVERYONE should watch this one. i don't care how stupid you think conspiracy theories are, the questions raised here are certainly worth examination.

Selling God is kind of a black comedy about the marketing of religion.
The God Who Wasn't There is a good skeptical look at Christianity
Expelled i also like. i'm a theology nut so i like all of it..for, against, and everything in between.


Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Revenge: i just watched this one last night, and it's pretty amazing. this guy might have been the meanest sonofabitch to ever live, but there is a certain purity about it that is just fucking GRIPPING.

Antics Roadshow is another Banksy movie that's well worth the hour of time.
Vigilante Vigilante is about these crazy ass graffiti buffers who are wilder than the writers themselves.
Bomb It is a must see for any graf writer or fan.

S&Man is about the seedy world of snuff films. i made a thread for it but thought i'd mention it here. it is BRILLIANT...but i can't explain it without ruining it...watch it if you were able to handle 8mm and/or the broken movie

i also second The Yes Men Fix The World and Pearl Jam 20 The pearl jam movie is SO well done, and anyone who is part of the "grunge" generation...wait...anyone part of that generation who liked ​grunge, i believe, will fucking ADORE it.

Edit: SOMEBODY please watch S&Man and tell me what you thought of it!

[sa_nick]

Pearl Jam 20 The pearl jam movie is SO well done, and anyone who is part of the "grunge" generation...wait...anyone part of that generation who liked ​grunge, i believe, will fucking ADORE it.

I saw PJ20 a while back and thought it was cool. Recently I watch Hit So Hard (the story of Hole's drummer) and Foo Fighters Back and Forth though, and i thought both were more engaging, well made, and had that special quality that kinda bring you back to that time and place.

Not sure if anyone's posted about Undefeated yet, but I watched it last night and loved it. From what I understand, a lot of people in the US bagged it when it won the oscar for best doco, some people because they thought Paradise Lost pt 3 should have won and some because they think it's just another football doco that doesn't stand out from the crowd. Living in australia it's not often I see football doco's, I don't think I've seen any before actually and my film experience doesn't reach any further than Any Given Sunday, Remember the Titans and my favourite or the three, Rudy.

Undefeated was just awesome though. The film makers took a chance documenting this school's football team's season and man did it pay off big time. The whole thing plays out like a mashup of the above mentioned scripted films but is all totally real. The coach is one hell of a cool guy, surprisingly emotional and well spoken and even a few of the kids come outta their shell and give some (occasionally not so eloquent) inspirational and just very touching/human speeches.



Back to music doco's for a sec... Justice: A Cross the Universe... HOLY SHIT! Just watch the fucking trailer, download this asap and get ready for a whole hour of the crazy you see below....



Still keeping with the music . theme... Sound City. Directed by Sir David Grohl himself, this doco is about a recording studio used by bands like Cheap Trick, Chilli Peppers, Tom Petty, Metallica, Neil Young, Guns n Roses, Johnny Cash, Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Rick Springfield, Rage Against the Machine and NINE INCH NAILS (trent is interviewed in the doco and there's even a NIN song in the trailer). I guess it's mostly about the lost art of analogue recording/mixing. I dug it...



Finally, a hidden gem I found after watching the feature film Little Birds starring Juno Temple and set in a place I didn't even know existed until I saw it beatifully captured in this film... The Salton Sea in CA. The doco is simply called Bombay Beach and it follows a few of the towns inhabbitants around their everyday lives... that's its really... Cool stuff though, definitely worth a watch.

[Findus]

[Jinsai]

I'm watching this doc called Mitt on Netflix, which followed Romney and clan around during his runs for president. It's occasionally cringe worthy, but really, he and his family are even more insufferably saccharine when they aren't wearing their robotic political faces. They're like egomaniacal Care Bears.

[Dra508]

. They're like egomaniacal Care Bears.

it's not an act. They are so sheltered in their wealthy world.

[Deepvoid]

Any recommendations of documentaries about serial killers and/or their trials?

The likes of Paradise Lost, Manson, Central Park Five, Cropsey.

[Baphomette]

Any recommendations of documentaries about serial killers and/or their trials?

The likes of Paradise Lost, Manson, Central Park Five, Cropsey.

Central Park Five weren't serial killers.

[Jinsai]

Any recommendations of documentaries about serial killers and/or their trials?

[Deepvoid]

Central Park Five weren't serial killers.

I know. I'm gonna try to be more specific for you.

I'm looking for documentaries about murders that had significant impact on society and or documentaries about major trial involving murderers that had significant media coverage.

Thanks in advance.

[Deepvoid]

Just watched "Capturing the Friedmans". Disturbing but interesting trial (or lack thereof) case.

[elevenism]

The Impostor was fucking riveting.

The Big Fix is great too...it's about the BP oil spill. I suspected some fucked up things were going on in this case, and this doc exposes those things. My fears, and worse, are true.

Blackfish is great too..it's about how at seaworld, the people have abused the animals and the animals have gored and eaten the people all along.

Oh yeah, Smash and Grab is a trip...it's about an international ring of diamond thieves...and what's great about this one is that many of the interviews are with group members who have yet to be caught! Their voices and faces are hidden.

All of these are available on netflix.

[caca]

Dear Zachary is streaming on Netflix. I just watched it for the first time. Holy shit!!! I was straight up sobbing towards the end. As others have stated earlier in this thread, don't google anything about it if you haven't seen it. Just watch it and let it all unfold. There is an epilogue to it on YouTube (but DO NOT watch it until you've seen the original doc).

I'd also recommend these:
Blackfish
The Cove
The King of Kong
Jesus Camp
Food Inc.

[sa_nick]

2014 was a great year for docos about people in the film/tv/music industry...

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness - This is for any Miyazaki/Ghibli/anime fan. Miyazaki's insights and philosophies are pretty great and often bittersweet. There's one particularly heartbreaking moment that's followed up with typical Miyazaki poignancy...


20,000 Days on Earth - A Nick Cave doco that's just as intimate, cool, unique, moody and fresh as you'd hope.


Life Itself - If you're a cinephile at all this is a must see. "In the past 25 years I have probably seen 10,000 movies and reviewed 6,000 of them. I have forgotten most of them, I hope, but I remember those worth remembering, and they are all on the same shelf in my mind" - Roger Ebert


Harmontown - Because it's always fun seeing how messed-up people are. It's also sorta inspiring watching obviously messed up people trying to figure out how to be better. The side story of the random Dungeon Master who joined the podcast really adds to this as well.

[elevenism]

I would like for this thread to come back to life.

Amy (the end all, be all Amy Winehouse doc) is fucking AMAZING, and heart wrenching.)
They got access to her family, her boyfriends, her friends, her home videos, videos from the studio...pretty much EVERYONE and EVERYTHING.
So this is the one to see.
The poor dear.
I remember when the talkshow hosts made fun of her and people said she shouldn't be allowed to receive music awards because she had a substance abuse problem. It made my fucking blood boil. People fail to realize (as they often do) that she was SICK and was desperately trying to get better. I was going through the same shit at the same time, but i got quite a bit better.
(gets off soapbox.)

But yeah, it's fucking great, if a little overly sad. I'm not gonna lie, it made me tear up, no doubt.

[allegro]

The Doors: .

Holy crap. That's all I gotta say.

[elevenism]

The Doors: .

Holy crap. That's all I gotta say.

i loved that one too but the wifey hasn't seen it.

Good form, thanks for the link.

[allegro]

I saw it on Paladium, but it's streaming there on Vimeo. I could have done without the footage of the coyote hit by a car, ugh. I still can't get that out of my head.

Edit: although that streaming version has Spanish subtitles

The BEST thing about this doc is that it wiped that Oliver Stone flick out of my memory banks.

[elevenism]

It's funny how we can watch EXTREMELY realistic simulations of people being killed, but bring in an animal and most of us are like "aww, HELL no!"

I had to take a break from criminal minds because of this episode where the killer was murdering whole families including little kids.
But that's not what fucked my head up. He also murdered a cat.
Go figure.

Speaking of which, if you can handle this one...
But holy mary mother of God it's ROUGH.
( i can't find the full thing streaming for free)
i cried my animal loving liberal little heart out, for real.

For those of you who haven't seen it, there's no "no animals were harmed" line in the credits for this.
Lots and lots of animals are killed in a cruel and brutal fashion, and the animals happen to be dolphins. which SOME scientists are starting to think have intellects that may come close to OURS.

[allegro]

I can't watch that shit. No way. I can't make it through those ASPCA commercials without getting upset. I know those Japanese fisherman assholes are doing that deplorable shit, I'm glad for films or anything that brings attention to it to try to stop it, but I can't see it. I'm too highly sensitive and emotional, especially with animals.

[Pillfred]

Meru- Mountain Climbing Doc. I may have mentioned this before its pretty good. All three of these guys have balls of fucking steel.

[BRoswell]

[ldopa]

i've still yet to see criterion's william s. burroughs doc. next on my list.

good docs:

grey gardens
the world according to monsanto
devil's playground
i'm still here (fucking HILARIOUS)

sadly, those are the only ones that stick out right now. i love me some docs.

[ldopa]

czech dream (cesky sen) great commentary on consumerism and advertising
the smartest guys in the room (being from cali, i'm still mad)
BOMB IT!
the Z channel, a magnificent obsession