Recommend Some Good Documentaries

I found american movie pretty good. It's about a independent film maker. The movie he ends up making though is really crappy but the documentary i thought was well done.
 
I second BEYOND THE MAT :)
here's some other good ones-

*THE SMASHING MACHINE (The Mark Kerr story)
*MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
*GUNNER PALACE
*MICROCOSMOS
 
The Highlander, it's a documentary and the events happen in real time :) Seriously I think Chronos is good so is The Atomic Cafe
 
Well, if you liked those Michael Moore docs, you should also check out his other ones... The Big One... Roger & Me... and his TV show, The Awful Truth.
 
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(For those curious, this is the french brothers film where they were making a documentary on the firefighter. They actually go inside the towers as they fall.)
 
Those Michael Moore movies arent real documentaries so you know. Filled with lies and half truths. He even says they arent meant to be taking as facts. Just so you know though.
 
Pretty much anything by the bbc :p
IF you are into biology, look for the one that was the live autopsy on bbc. It's the creepy German plasticsine doctor and he uses the donated corpses and disects them and you get to see Everything. Fricken incredibly interesting, but not if you get sick at looking at dead bodies.

My all time favorite is the boy with the incredible brain. Youll have to find it on bit torrent since it was on uk tv.
Its about this kid who had a accident when he was young and now he can remember anything. Hes like rain man X1 billion. He can compute incredibly long difficult equations in his head in a few seconds. I honestly think that if he were trained in the right fields he would come up with cures for everything. You will definitely change your mind on the limits of the human mind after you see this. Truly incredible!
I hate to recommend bit torrents, but that is the only way you can see all the really good current docs coming out lately.
 
[quote name='Noodle Pirate!']Pretty much anything by the bbc :p
IF you are into biology, look for the one that was the live autopsy on bbc. It's the creepy German plasticsine doctor and he uses the donated corpses and disects them and you get to see Everything. Fricken incredibly interesting, but not if you get sick at looking at dead bodies.
[/QUOTE]

I like watching the HBO Autopsy specials with Dr. Baden. It's amazing how they are able to solve those murders.
 
Also if you like wierd or funny docs, check out anything by Louis Theroux.
I think they use to show some of his stuff on A&E or something. He has a bunch more that arent in that series that were shown in the u.k. He checks out all sorts of differnt stuff.
White supremicists, porn movies, street preachers,black racists, alien abductees, demolition derby etc... All pretty unique topics.
 
[quote name='musha666']Those Michael Moore movies arent real documentaries so you know. Filled with lies and half truths. He even says they arent meant to be taking as facts. Just so you know though.[/QUOTE]

:) someone with sense
 
Hoop Dreams
Hearts and Minds

Definitely check out those two, the two best documentaries I've seen. Some other good ones also worth checking out:

Control Room
Winged Migration
The Weather Underground
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
 
Grizzly Man - Probably the best movie this year. An amazing look into the mind and life of Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers living with wild grizzlies in Alaska and was subsequently killed by them. Stunning movie.

Hearts & Minds - Great documentary about the Vietnam War, very gut-wrenching stuff.

Hoop Dreams - It sounds like it'd be cheesy, but it's a fantastic look into the struggles of two inner city youths, not only on the courts, but in life as well.

Scratch - Awesome documentary on the history of turntablism. A must-see for any hip-hop fan and anyone looking to see what true skill some people have.

The Up Series (Seven Up, Seven Plus Seven Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up) - Great series of documentaries profiling the lives of a group of 7-year olds. They went back every 7 years to check up on them, and it's great to look into peoples' lives and see how they change and what they've accomplished.

The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter - Even if you don't like the Stones, it's a great documentary on the infamous Altamont Concert and the tragedy that ensued.

Lost in La Mancha - Documentary on Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote movie that never got finished. Great look into the inner workings of a modern motion picture and the mind of a genius straining to work against adverse conditions.

Anything by Errol Morris, notably Gates of Heaven - Great thought-provoking film about a California pet semetary. For further reading, look at Ebert's Great Movies article. Although I prefer The Thin Blue Line, Gates of Heaven is amazing as well. Also, see Fast Cheap and Out of Control, The Fog of War and Vernon, Florida.
 
[quote name='trytej']Tupac Ressurection is a good one.[/QUOTE]

Ah, forgot to put that one on my list, it is pretty good, definitely worth seeing if you're into 2pac at all.
 
[quote name='Zman310']Ah, forgot to put that one on my list, it is pretty good, definitely worth seeing if you're into 2pac at all.[/QUOTE]

Even if you don't like 2Pac, it's still a great documentary. :)

If you want a bit of comedy with a documentary feel, check out some mockumentaries, such as the Christopher Guest movies (This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, etc.).
 
- A huge vote goes for the 9/11 doc recc'd in the first page.

- Koyaanisqatsi (1983) - a fantastic doc, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, that is full of breathtaking landscapes and scenes of nature in order to show how technology and modernity pose a threat to it. There is no dialogue, no narration, nothing like that. Just beautiful music coupled with incredible natural scenes.

- Capturing the Friedman's (2003) - an incredibly disturbing look at a family torn apart by the discovery of a father's secret. You WILL walk out of this film feeling just wrong but you can't deny the incredible filmmaking and storytelling.

- Nanook of the North (1922) - widely considered to be the first documentary film, this doc chronicles an Eskimo tribe in the Arctic as they fight against nature to survive. The film is in black and white and is a great chance to see one of the defining docs in film history.

I'll put more as I think of em (and trust me, there are MANY MANY more)
 
I didn't watch it when it came out because i thought it would be retarted, but Some Kind of Monster was actually really interesting. I recommend at least renting it to check it out if you're into Metallica at all (that is if you don't see it on VH1 first).
 
[quote name='musha666']Those Michael Moore movies arent real documentaries so you know. Filled with lies and half truths. He even says they arent meant to be taking as facts. Just so you know though.[/QUOTE]

michael moore uses the cinema verite style for his docs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_verite nanook of the north, often credited with being the first doc, used this style as well. doc doesn't mean truth, it means doc. do you believe there is any doc out there that is completely truthful?

as for my recommendation,
nobody's business (1996)
great film by alan berliner...probably my favorite of the docs we had to screen for school. hard to find and only available on vhs as far as i know, but worth it.
 
Nanook of the North
Weather Underground
The Blues
Tupac Ressurection
Fog of War
Hoop Dreams
Murderball
Beyond the Math
Grisslyman
Capturing the Friedman's
Cinerama
Overnight
Full Tilt Boggie
Dogtown and Zboys
Some Kind of Monster
Lost in La Mancha
Scratch
Freestyle

That's all I got right now
 
2nd to Fear of a Black Hat

also the HBO documentaries are cool...

the Pimps/Hos ones are funny
there is one on some Kentucky Backwoods Family = Hilarious
Black Tar Heroin (BEST)
 
[quote name='989boi']Anything besides Bowing For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, or Super Size Me...I already know about those[/QUOTE]

Those were all Biased crap. Catered to people who already hated the subjects.
 
[quote name='danny-o']Those were all Biased crap. Catered to people who already hated the subjects.[/QUOTE]

So you mean eating McD's for a month straight wont make me fat or screw up my system :whistle2:k
 
I want to get a hold of some of those "Sex Ed" reel films that I had to watch in 6th grade. You know, they had one series for boys and one for girls. They seperated us (boys & girls) & the girls were wisked away into some kind of secret lab/brainwashing facility to watch their films.

Hmmmmmmm. I always wondered what their films were like.

... I have a feeling it was called "How to end up with more than half." ;)
 
[quote name='musha666']Those Michael Moore movies arent real documentaries so you know. Filled with lies and half truths. He even says they arent meant to be taking as facts. Just so you know though.[/QUOTE]
QFT, well said.
 
Can't believe only one person mentioned Hoop Dreams. I don't know if anyone Touching the Void, Into the Arms of Strangers, Ken Burns' Jazz, The Civil War, Blue Planet, When we were Kings, Everst, Winged Migration, Scared Straight, etc. All very good, actual documentries.
 
Also worth checking out some music docs. To start,

The Filth and the Fury (Sex Pistols)
Westway to the World (The Clash)
Dig! (Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols)
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']Can't believe only one person mentioned Hoop Dreams. [/QUOTE]Dude, you're the fifth to mention it.
 
[quote name='darkmere']michael moore uses the cinema verite style for his docs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_verite nanook of the north, often credited with being the first doc, used this style as well. doc doesn't mean truth, it means doc. do you believe there is any doc out there that is completely truthful?

as for my recommendation,
nobody's business (1996)
great film by alan berliner...probably my favorite of the docs we had to screen for school. hard to find and only available on vhs as far as i know, but worth it.[/QUOTE]

Well said. People keep thinking that documentaries are, by definition, something that has to be truthful and objective but they keep forgetting that docs are made for a reason. Someone somewhere wants to make some sort of a point. Like Darkmere pointed out, Moore is no less of a documentarian than anyone else just because some of his footage is scripted.

Even Nanook of the North was accused of being untruthful. The tribe chronicled in the film didn't really live their lives as shown on the footage (i.e. battling sea lions with spears and using NO modern ways to survive) because they often used rifles during battles as well.

Now on to more recommendations:

Spellbound (2002) - While Capturing the Friedman's will leave you feeling just wrong after the film, this doc really celebrates the tenacity, spirit, and family of eight teenagers who are in the running to win the National Spelling Bee. With each child we learn about their different studying habits and we really get to see how they became who they are by looking at the parents. The children range from all types of ethnic backgrounds and each family is incredibly compelling to watch. This is a beautiful movie that definately needs to be seen.

Sound and Fury (2000) - This doc follows two different families with deaf children as they deal with the idea of getting their kids cohlear implants - a device that basically enables them to hear again to a limited extent. While it would seem like a no-brainer to give your kids this implant if they were deaf, the movie shows that there is an entire deaf community that treasures their "disability" and considers this surgery a threat to the beauty of sign language and their deaf culture. This is a great film that really educated me about deaf life.
 
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