Whats the last great documentary you saw?

style over substance

03-01-13

I've been re-watching The Decade of Destruction (Adrian Cowell, 1990), an epic five-episode Frontline documentary about land disputes and the environment in Brazil in the '80s. Before that I saw De Artificicalia Perspectiva (1993), a short study of optical illusions in art by Stephen and Timothy Quay.

Gabrielle947

Registered User

03-01-13

Started The World At War,looks good!

FilmBuffDave

Registered User

03-01-13

I'm not a huge documentary fan but I really liked The Imposter.

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honeykid

MoFo Whisperer

03-01-13

The World At War is brilliant. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Good Itay, Bad Italy: Girlfriend In A Coma

I have to admit to finding "Bad Italy" more interesting than "Good Italy", but the second half, Good Italy, it's quite touching, at times.

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bighuey

Registered User

03-02-13

Hiroshima. Its a Canadian Semi-Documentary about Harry Truman and the development of the first atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

04-06-13

Maybe not great, but enlightening and fun is Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies, a film by Arne Glimcher. The effect of pre-1913 cinema on these two Cubist giants and friends is discussed by modern filmmakers, artists and critics, and that part is OK. But the highlights are some mind-blowing clips which show how sophisticated many filmmakers were in the 1907-1912 period, especially in the use of seamless color tinting, visionary photography and special effects which put CGI to shame. Some films made 100 years ago are most definitely not primitive and may have influenced another important art movement.

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DexterRiley

Keep on Rockin in the Free World

04-06-13

Watched The Secret of Calabria on the documentary channel last night.

Promo:

which was a short whose footage was used to flesh out The Mystery of San Nicandro

THE MYSTERY OF SAN NICANDRO tells the story of a mass conversion to Judaism in the village of San Nicandro, in Puglia, Italy. It threads this historical conversion and the tale of its mystical leader, Donato Manduzio, with contemporary stories of converts in Calabria, Sicily, Israel and even Canada -- all of whom trace their religious roots to the once secret Jews of Southern Italy.

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CelluloidChild

Registered User

04-06-13

More than a Game (2008). About LeBron James and his high school buddies. And how, coming from their generally low-income backgrounds and a school that was hitherto not on the basketball map, they.....well, I won't give any spoilers....but I'll just say that it's an inspiring story and a well-put together documentary with lots of great footage.

RJMacReady

Registered User

04-06-13

I hate documentaries for the most part, they are always pushing some kind of agenda, especially nowadays. There are a few I do enjoy though.

Dark Days- Fascinating documentary detailing homeless people living in an abandoned Amtrak tunnel underneath New York City.

Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa- Another curiosity, documenting a group of people living "off the grid" in the desert.

Some Kind of Monster

Anvil! The Story of Anvil- Detailing a forgotten down-and-out metal band from the 80s.

Not Quite Hollywood

fuze931

Give me all of your candy!

04-08-13

Exit Through the Gift Shop. I have seen that movie probably 20 times. Love it.

foster

Diet Doughnuts

04-11-13

I saw Undefeated which won best documentary last year and it was awesome!
Main character (coach) is immediately gripping with his speech to his team

JayDee

Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave

04-13-13

Seen a couple fairly recently that I thought were great - When We Were Kings (
) and Searching for Sugar Man (
+).

Here's what I had to write about When We Were Kings

As a huge Muhammad Ali fan this one already had a lot going for it coming in. And the film is successful on a number of fronts. It works as an examination of why Muhammad Ali is such a famous and beloved figure; showing him as the fascinating, charismatic, poetic and hilarious man that he was. It shows him as the boxer, as the activist, as the political leader and as the out and out entertainer. It also works as a behind the scenes look at one of the biggest, if not the biggest fight of all time - the Rumble in the Jungle battle between Ali and George Foreman, who up to this point had been deemed unstoppable. It's great just to see the build-up and all the hype that went into the event. And the moment where Ali pops off the ropes to put Foreman on the mat has got to be one of the greatest moments in sporting history. The film also provides a political and social view of life in Zaire at the time, but also back at home in America, and how powerfully Ali felt about these issues and the plans he had to try and combat them. The film has a terrific amount of fantastic archive footage, combined with great interviews with the likes of Norman Mailer and George Plimpton, two respected journalists and great storytellers. When We Were Kings also features a pretty cool soundtrack which captures the spirit of the time, featuring artists who performed at the music festival Don King organised as part of the huge event that was going on in Zaire around the fight; the likes of James Brown, B.B. King and the Spinners amongst others. The film is just a great snapshot of both sporting and cultural history.

If you would like full thoughts on Searching for Sugar Man you can find them here

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FUTUREMattie

Registered User

04-13-13

A harrowing and painfully candid documenary which i re-watched last night "Black Tar heroin; The Dark End of the Street"

Its not really available to buy or download anywhere but the full documantary is up on youtube in good quality. I highly reccomend watching this but do be warned, its a real glimpse in to the life of some extremely troubled individuals. Graphic drug use and scenes which are really upsetting. On the other hand, its the most hard hitting and important documentary ive ever seen.

nebbit

Registered User

04-13-13

Just watched Searching for Sugar Man

What a lovely humble man

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Harry Lime

BANNED FROM VIENNA

04-18-13

Ken Burns' The Central Park Five was pretty good.

Here's a link if anyone wants to watch it: http://video.pbs.org/video/2364990501

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donniedarko

Survivor 3 Champ

04-18-13

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Ken Burns' The Central Park Five was pretty good.

Here's a link if anyone wants to watch it: http://video.pbs.org/video/2364990501

Saw the trailer for this and thought it looked intense, forgot about it though. Thanks for the link, will be watching

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Originally Posted by mark f

Yeah, there's no body mutilation in it

Brother Blue

pure ideology

04-27-13

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

04-27-13

Just saw Cowsills, Rise and Fall about the family pop band, the Cowsills that was the inspiration for the TV series The Partdrige Family. Rather touching documentary

Harry Lime