good documentaries

[Joe826]

i watched word wars last night and it was suprisingly good. does anyone know if they've made one of these on professional chess players? seems like it could be as good or even much better.

i also watched capturing the friedman's the other night which i rather enjoyed, but it was pretty depressing.

does anyone else know of any really good documentaries?

oh yeah, hoop dreams is probably my favorite documentary (i think it could legitimately be in contention for the best documentary of all time).

[tbach24]

Fog of War

[Rhone]

[ QUOTE ]
Fog of War

[/ QUOTE ]

2nd this.

and Spellbound.

[ripdog]

The War Room

[BreakfastBurrito]

I'm From Hollywood

[scream1158]

Grass

About how marijuana became illegal in the US and basically how it is all BS.

[SmileyEH]

I saw Control Room the other day. Interesting film about Al Jezeerah (sp?), and its coverage of the Iraq invasion.

-SmileyEH

[samjjones]

Dogtown and Z-Boys.

[plaster8]

One Day In September
Mr. Death

[samjjones]

Also, most of the Ken Burns documentaries are very well done.

[Redmen62]

The Corporation (http://www.thecorporation.com/index.php?page_id=2)

[Isura]

Ken Burns Baseball is excellent.

[Somekid]

"The Smashing Machine"

It's an HBO documentary about the career of ultimate fighter Mark Kerr. Fascinating.

[MyMindIsGoing]

[ QUOTE ]
Dogtown and Z-Boys.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very good movie, the "follow up" about big wave surfing was very good too I can say. There is also a non documentary movie about z-boys out now as well.

[Blarg]

Les Blank's movie, Burden of Dreams.

And Scorcese's documentary on the history of cinema.

Vietnam: A Television History.

Gimme Shelter.

Night and Fog, by Resnais.

[Paluka]

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Spellbound

[Sporky]

i watched Tarnation last night. it was pretty interesting. kinda slow, but interesting.

[stankybank]

The Best Ever (http://www.hookmitchell.com/)

[Six_of_One]

Check out Paradise Lost.

[phage]

Hands on a Hard Body
Dark Days

[DeezNuts]

[ QUOTE ]
Hands on a Hard Body

[/ QUOTE ]

End of story.

DN

[Aces McGee]

"When We Were Kings" is excellent.

-McGee

[-Skeme-]

The Smashing Machine
Style Wars
Best Boy

Can't remember the name, but it documented some teenager's who went to prison to see what it's like. MTV remade it I think. It was pretty cool.

[Uston]

I'll also recommend The Fog Of War, which I just finished watching 20 minutes ago.

Also, Dogtown & Z-Boys, Riding Giants, Crumb, and Spellbound.

[bernie]

Dogtown and Z Boys

Smash machine

An older one, not sure if it's on DVD: Decline of western civilization part 2 : the metal years. A great look at rock in the 80s.

Streetwise : about seattle homeless kids.

Wasn't there a doc on 2 basketball players trying to make the NBA? I can't remember the name of it.

b

[whiskeytown]

I am trying to break your heart - a documentary about the band Wilco -

what was gonna be just a movie about making an album became a commentary on the entire "commerce vs. art" dynamic that is in the music business these days (with commerce usually winning)

RB

[NoTalent]

I'm gonna have to watch some of these suggestions.

I saw "American Pimp" and it was somewhat interesting. Shows how real life pimps operate.

[-Skeme-]

[ QUOTE ]
Wasn't there a doc on 2 basketball players trying to make the NBA? I can't remember the name of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hoop Dreams. Not sure how I forgot it, but it's one of the best. Arthur Agee and William Gates I believe.

[Benal]

Tokyo Girls.. it's not what you think /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Uston]

You inspired me to change avatars.

[Somekid]

Great choice. I love that documentary.

[-Skeme-]

Awesome. Maybe change the location to Moscow, too? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[gvibes]

Unearable Blackness (I think that's what it's called)

[NotMitch]

Hated

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
"When We Were Kings" is excellent.

-McGee

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah that was very good. Documentary about Ali, centering around the fight with Foreman. Lots of stuff I hadn't seen before.

Some very silly voodoo stuff rubbed in more than a little too hard, but otherwise very cool.

[Anders_G]

Any "spoken word" by Jello Biafra.

Basically this isn't documentary, quite the contrary. They are (more or less) political speeches but it's fun to listen to. Basically he talks about how fcked up the us is in a humerous way. Almost michael moore-style.

Also, these aren't movies - they're cd:s.

[KJS]

Hands on a Hard Body
Decline of Western Civilization
Decline II: The Metal Years

KJS

[man]

highlander

[Joe826]

thanks for the recommendations. i'm excited about alot of these. poor netflix queue /images/graemlins/crazy.gif.

[captZEEbo1]

Touching the Void

[YourFoxyGrandma]

Baraka. Awesome. Sortof a documentary on life and the planet Earth. Fricke presents some very interesting paralells and juxtapositions. Hit it.

Linky. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baraka/)

[whiskeytown]

also, I think the Corporation is out on DVD -

that's a great one -

RB

[blatz]

The Cruise Tough to find, but one of the most odd biographies you can come across. Really Funny.

Trekkies Same thing, I'm easily impressed by the insane.

[plaster8]

[ QUOTE ]
An older one, not sure if it's on DVD: Decline of western civilization part 2 : the metal years. A great look at rock in the 80s.

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember a very disturbing scene with some guy from WASP (I think) when he was in his swimming pool, chugging vodka from the bottle, with his mother looking on in obvious emotional agony at seeing her son this way.

[thewarden]

That's my favorite comedy of all time. Absolutely hilarious!
"I hate you, motherf*ck*r. I hate you, motherf*ck*r. I hate you, motherf*ck*r..."

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember a very disturbing scene with some guy from WASP (I think) when he was in his swimming pool, chugging vodka from the bottle, with his mother looking on in obvious emotional agony at seeing her son this way.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. It was Chris Holmes. Let's not forget Ozzy making breakfast.

b

[Senor Cardgage]

The Blair Witch Project

[theghost]

Crumb
Paradise Lost
Spellbound

[Rhone]

one more suggestion: Winged Migration. It wasn't great, and is boring in parts, but it had it's moments. One great scene: two eggs in a nest. One begins to hatch, and the very first thing this little wet baby bird does with its new life is to put its back up against the other egg, and push it out of the nest so it falls onto the forest floor below. That was pretty amazing.

[wall_st]

There was an incredibly interesting HBO special about the Amish. I cannot recall the name but basically around the time the amish turn 18 they are allowed freedom to explore do whatever etc, before they devote their lives to church and community. It was really interesting/almost humorous to see the amish having these ragers and smoking crack.

Also good call by whiskey town on I am trying to break your heart.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
Spellbound

[/ QUOTE ]

Just finished it. Awesome movie. A lot of funny parts and some nice stories.