Good Documentaries

[reign 0]

Having seen Spellbound, Winged Migration and Farenheit 9/11 this week I'm in the mood for more good documentaries. It doesn't matter from where or when ..just some suggestions for good films and where to possibly find them. Thanks.

[Downhome 0]

Night & Fog

 

Hearts & Minds

 

Lost In La Mancha

 

Spellbound

 

American Movie

 

Capturing the Friedmans

[NoCalMike 0]

The Corporation (should be making rounds at arthouses right now)

 

The Hunting of a President

 

Orwell Rolls in his grave

 

OutFoxed

[spman 0]

Farenheit 9/11 is more fantasy / science fiction then documentary, and Outfoxed falls out of the box of good documentaries, but hey, to each his own. ANywyas, rent Beyond the Mat.

[Zorin Industries 0]

One Day in September, about the kidnapping and murder of members of the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 games is very good, I recommend it.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

American Pimp isn't too shabby. Also, if you want to get real in-depth with some particular subjects, you simply cannot go wrong with Ken Burns. His documentaries are massive, hence the DVD sets available are quite costly. But still, you may be able to track down VHS copies to rent or whatever. Very worthwhile. The Baseball and Civil War series are especially good, if you ask me.

[Guest JMA]

Farenheit 9/11 is more fantasy / science fiction then documentary, and Outfoxed falls out of the box of good documentaries, but hey, to each his own. ANywyas, rent Beyond the Mat.

I haven't seen "Farenheit 9/11" (and I probably won't) but "Outfoxed" does look really good. I agree with you on "Beyond The Mat," though. That's one documentry EVERY wrestling fan should watch.

[Henry Spencer 0]

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

[Special K 0]

Hoop Dreams and Crumb

[Guest MRK]

Black Tar Heroin (1999)

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'm seconding Paradise Lost. Free the WM3.

 

Also, if you really like Metallica's music, check out Paradise Lost 2 after seeing Paradise Lost. It's about the WM3 primarily, focusing on the mistrials and biases towards the accused as opposed to the murders themselves. Also talks about how the stepfather of one of the murdered kids is suspected in the death of his wife, and he hams it up for the camera so much that you'll start to believe he's guilty as shit.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Aileen: The Selling of a Serial Killer

Aileen: The Death of a Serial Killer

[Boner Kawanger 0]

The Fight Over Citizen Kane, aka disc 2 of the Citizen Kane DVD.

[Dangerous A 0]

Trekkies is one of the funniest documentaries I've ever seen. Highly entertaining stuff there.

[AmericanDragon 0]

The Smashing Machine

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Night & Fog

Right on the money...if you only watch one documentary in your entire life, watch this one. Or Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

[Guest acnx]

Paradise Lost is incredible.

 

Also, if you are into music, any kind, grab I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, a Film about Wilco by Sam Jones. Even if you hate Wilco, it's very interesting.

[Guest Mikey2Dope]

The Fog Of War

[Brush with Greatness 0]

A few have already been said, but I'll mention them anyways...

 

(most of these are sports related somehow)

 

Life

 

Capturing the Friedmans - really good doc on a Long Island family torn apart because of a sexual scandal

 

Bowling for Columbine - Interesting movie about America's fascination with guns.

 

Also, haven't seen, but have heard that Michael Moore's Roger and Me is pretty good.

 

Sports

 

One Day in September - Awesome doc about the 72 Olympic terrorist attack

 

Hoop Dreams - Can't believe this isn't on DVD. Really good doc on the whole growing up with basketball aspirations thing.

 

Beyond the Mat - Should know this

 

Wrestling with Shadows - Even better than beyond the mat, imo. Basically turned out being about the Bret Hart Survivor Series incident.

 

The Smashing Machine - reallly good doc about ultimate fighting

 

When We Were Kings - excellent documentary on the Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle

 

 

Music

 

Welcome to Death Row - interesting documentary on the formation and background dealings of Death Row record.

 

Also Tupac Resurrection, Tupac and Biggie, and Some Kind of Monster (about Metallica) are all supposed to be good but I haven't seen them yet.

 

Also This is Spinal Tap - a really funny documentary about this aging band, I haven't really heard of them, they must be British or something.

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Also This is Spinal Tap - a really funny documentary about this aging band, I haven't really heard of them, they must be British or something.

Dude, I saw their comeback concert on TV...they suck.

[DMann2003 0]

Also  This is Spinal Tap - a really funny documentary about this aging band, I haven't really heard of them, they must be British or something.

Dude, I saw their comeback concert on TV...they suck.

Do not see "This is Spinal Tap". That film is a hatchet job by Marty DiBergi and does not represent the great mark the Tap have left on the music scene.

 

Thank God the band gets to set the record straight on the MGM DVD commentary!

[Guest Evolution]

I have to second Hearts & Minds. Good documentary on the Vietnam war. I haven't seen a lot of the others that people have listed with the exception of Beyond The Mat and Wrestling With Shadows...I'll have to check out some more.

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

Hoop Dreams - 10 years later, this still hasn't been released on DVD. Why?

[King Kamala 0]

I'd check out Roger&Me, not as well made as Moore's later films but just as, if not more compelling then his later films.

 

I'd also check out something so rare that I don't think it was even produced on video. A wrestling documentary produced by C movie shlockmaster and part time wrestler Fred Olen Ray, called Southern Discomfort. It aired on Showtime three or four years back. It's about an indy promotion somewhere in the deep south. If you like gawking at rednecks, it's the movie for you. Seriously, it's pretty decent. It's no Beyond the Mat or Wrestling With Shadows, but it's good waste of 90 minutes.

[godthedog 0]

if you're starting out, 'roger and me' is probably the way to go. it only lasts 90 minutes, never drags, and once you get past moore's EXTREMELY nerdy and nasal voice it goes down real easy.

[HurriShane 0]

Comedian

Hoop Dreams

Blair Witch Project

Beyond the Mat

[Anakin Flair 0]

One Day in September, about the kidnapping and murder of members of the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 games is very good, I recommend it.

I bought the book and enjoyed it- real interesting stuff. I didn't realize they also made a movie.

 

Outfoxed is decent, but I wasn't fond of all of the cutting in the interviews. I'd rent it.

Farenheit 9/11 was awsome, but even I could tell how slanted and biased it was. But as long as you can spot it, and make your own oppinions on the matter, I think everybody should see it.

[edotherocket 0]

Control Room is an excellent documentary about Al Jazeera.

 

Touching the Void is pretty good documentary about a mountain climbing expedition gone wrong.

[Chuck Woolery 0]

The lack of love for Spellbound is... well, spellbinding. It takes a very boring subject (a spelling bee? come on) and makes it both engaging and entertaining. Seriously, that is probably my example of THE perfect documentary, and one that everyone should definitely check out.

 

EDIT: Yeah, so he said it in the first post. It's really worth repeating.

Edited August 9, 2004 by Chuck Woolery

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Hoop Dreams - 10 years later, this still hasn't been released on DVD. Why?

Actually, there are rumors floating around of a Criterion special edition.

 

As for Spellbound...I wasn't impressed with how they attempted to delay suspense near the end. They had built up the main kids to the point where simply watching the rest of the bee untouched is suspenseful enough (but then, maybe that's just my past filling in the blanks because I was in their position once), yet the cutting back and forth to other footage was rather unnecessary, and relieved all the dramatic tension rather than furthering it.