I need some documentaries to watch!

[Zhade]

I'm going to be home the next couple of days, nothing much to do, so I'm thinking about watching some documentaries.

Any suggestions? I'm not just asking about political ones, but all kinds - whatever cool or nifty or (more importantly) informative and enjoyable docs you've seen, be it on geopolitics or ancient Babylonian history or ______.

All recommendations are appreciated!

[kid a]

1. spinal tap, waiting for guffman, best in show, and mighty winds

those four ought to keep you busy

[Zhade]

2. Nice try.

;)

I've already seen all those "docs". :evilgrin:

[unhappycamper]

3. Try "The Power of Nightmares."

It's a three part BBC series. Links:
http://www.filehash.com/search/power+of+nightmares/::ad:video

[cire4]

4. Control Room!!! - Documentary about Al-Jazeera

Very eye-opening....Highly recommended

[Shoeempress]

5. Unprecedented, about 2000 election, Outfoxed, about Faux News

both by Greenwald. Supersize me by Morgan Spurlock.

[Clintmax]

6. "Building An Empire: Rome"

This was a fantastic documentary on The History Channel, all last week. I loved it!

[Shell Beau]

18. I watched some of it and it was fascinating!

[JohnnyBoots]

32. I was hooked for the whole series inside of 5 minutes!

[ihaveaquestion]

7. Check out Information Clearing House

It's all political, though.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/index.html

They have lots of things for free - scroll down, left side of the page.

My own recent favorite from Netflix: "The Corporation"

[bicentennial_baby]

8. The Corporation

[ghostsofgiants]

14. Drat, you beat me to it!

Damn good documentary.

[swag]

9. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

or if you want something on a downright weird, more personal level:

Brother's Keeper
or
Grey Gardens

[JimmyJazz]

10. Well of course, I'm going to recommend "Westway to the World"

What can I say? I love Don Letts :)

[ghostsofgiants]

15. I was going to buy that the other day but didn't have enough cash on me

x(

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. If you remember or have some knowledge of

the Chinese Cultural Revolution, "Morning Sun" consists of interviews with former Red Guards and their victims, telling what was going through their minds as they rampaged through China in the 1960s.

Otherwise, I recommend "Winged Migration" as a nature documentary, "Harvest of Shame" as a 1960 Edward R. Murrow documentary on migrant workers (see how little has changed in 45 years), "Latcho Drom" as an unnarrated musical documentary about the remarkable similarities and differences in Romany (Gypsy) music moving west from India to Spain, and "The Sorrow and the Pity," the film that shattered the French self-image as a nation of resistance fighters and showed that there were freeper-equivalents (fripeurs?) who actively supported the Nazis.

[seemunkee]

12. Bus 174

Documentary about a hostage taking in Brazil.

Battle of Algiers, not a true documentary but very interesting.

Riding Giants and Step into Liquid - Both are awesome surfing movies. I liked SiL better

The Globe Trekker series are light and fun

When We Were Kings - Documentary on the Rumble in the Jungle fight between Ali and Foreman

[seemunkee]

13. More recommendations

Looking at Netflix for movies I've watched
Capturing the Friedmans - A family in crisis is "captured" through real home video. The Friedmans, an average upper-middle-class Jewish family in Great Neck, NY, found their world turned upside down when the father and son were charged with child molestation in 1987

Crumb - An illuminating portrait of an improbable heretic: gangly, bespectacled Robert Crumb. Director Terry Zwigoff spent six years compiling this startling documentary about the counterculture artist, who's been using cartoons to lambaste hypocrisy since the 1960s. Via candid interviews with Crumb, his spouses, offspring, siblings, cronies, contemporaries and detractors, Zwigoff constructs a blistering profile of a man consumed by inner demons.

Dark Days - I haven't watched this but it was recommended to me by my son. Documentarian Marc Singer focuses his camera on a group of homeless people who live deep underground in an abandoned New York City railroad tunnel. By day, they scavenge for food on the mean streets of Manhattan. At night, they retreat to the tunnel, where they've built huts out of scrap metal, plastic and plywood. Amazingly, they have electricity, furniture, working kitchens and a sense of community many surface dwellers would envy.

Control Room - This documentary peers into the controversial and often dangerous operations of the 7-year-old Al Jazeera news network. Although it often enrages its own people, the news outlet has become the most accepted informational resource in the Arab community.

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones - Variously dubbed "A punk Last Waltz" and "One headbangin' helluva good time," this incisive documentary about the Ramones by Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields traces the seminal punk band's trajectory from obscurity to fame to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's an insider look at the rockers -- blemishes and all -- that will probably make your head spin.

[jane_pippin]

16. See if you can find "How's Your News"

It's a great doc. about a group of developmentally/physically disabled people who write, produce, and host a news show. They set out to take a trip across the country in their news van and they interview all kinds of people along the way. It's quite funny/sweet/uplifting.

Also some other good titles are:

American Movie--a down on his luck Milwaukee guy tries to make a movie while dealing with family, friends, no money, etc.

Home Movie--(by the same people who made American Movie) vingettes of people in unusual homes. One is a couple with a cat-house, another lives in an abandonned missile silo, an old lady lives in a tree, etc.

Spellbound--about the national spelling bee. See it if you haven't already.

Wonderland--about Levittown with a cameo by Eddie Money.

Some music docs:

Bob Dylan--Don't Look Back--great footage of him in the UK around 1967. Hands down a classic.

MC5--A True Testimonial--interviews with band members, old live footage, and even some FBI footage of the MC5 playing the '68 convention. Even if you don't like the band, this is an interesting film. (If you like them, it's even better).

[GOPisEvil]

17. Okie Noodlin'

Or all about catching catfish with your arm.

[terrya]

19. If you haven't seen "The Fog of War", please do so.

It's basically former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara expounding on the Vietnam War and war itself. Very timely today...he makes some excellent comparisons to Vietnam and Iraq.

Directed by Errol Morris.

Do see it if you get a chance.

[WeRQ4U]

20. Spelbound, Trekkies.

Both were pretty funny stuff. NO offense to trekkies either.

[jane_pippin]

21. OH! And I forgot to add "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" to my

other post.

Love her or hate her, you've got to see this documentary. First of all, RuPaul narrates it. Puppets introduce segments and say naughty words. You get to see Tammy just be Tammy (including Tammy on 'scripts back in the day), and I have to say it does lay out the whole PTL scandal pretty nicely. Plus, it made me want to just give her a hug. (I know, freaky, but I bet you will too at the end of the film)

I can't believe I forgot this one before--it's one of my favorites.

[kittykitty]

30. I'll second that recommendation!

[auntAgonist]

22. the hunting of the President.

I enjoyed it.

[deadparrot]

23. 16 free political (liberal) documentaries available for download:

http://www.freedocumentaries.org/

I know you said you weren't necessary looking for political, but if you are, there are some great options here...

[LynneSin]

24. "Fog of War"

Now more than ever. Robert McNamera looks back on the mistakes he made while Secretary of Defense during Kennedy & Johnson administration. Decisions which of course, help to lead us into Vietnam.

He comes off as this old fool who realizes his life is full of regrets that have killed thousands. And yet the documentary is mesmerizing and informative. VEry well done and it won an Oscar!

[tanyev]

25. Hemp Revolution

This documentary explores the plant's fascinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition, and its modern potential to solve major environmental problems.


Available at Netflix.

[PublicWrath]

26. "The Rise of Dominionism" Must see this!!!

Go to theocracywatch.org and play it online. Joan Bokaer. Produced through Cornell University.

About the background and agenda of the new Fundamentalist Christian politics. It will make your hair stand on end.

[enigmatic]

27. I strongly suggest "Gates Of Heaven"

Errol Morris' first film, and one of the greatest ever made:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19971109/REVIEWS08/401010320/1023

[Orsino]

28. The Real Eve

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0373595/

Fascinating. Few technical details from the book survived the translation, but the sweep of the story is awesome.

[Squatch]

29. Born into Brothels

[Zhade]

31. Lots of great suggestions, I really appreciate it!

NT!