"Decent Documentary Recommendations"

citizen!snips! wrote:

_Price_ wrote:
There was a really good documentry on BBC2 years ago that explained, or at least tried to explain, quantum and string theories. It was utterly facinating but I've never seen it repeated since.

Was it the one where the guy demonstrates with a pizza?
And another scientist is driving around in a drop top talking about how common sense isn't really a good thing for progressing scientifically, or something

It was Horizon's Fermat's Theorem show

Anything by Adam Curtis.

Especially 'The Power of Nightmares", which is available freely at certain sites I think.

Roger & Me (michael moores first film)

The Bridge (a documentary on google vids about suicide jumpers on the golden gate bridge)

BBC Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life in the Undergrowth (essential attenborough)

Every Louis Theroux (torrents are out there, dont think you can get them on DVD)

Beyond The Mat (even if you're not into wrestling)

sirtacos wrote:
Apparently Man on Wire is good.
Ecounters at the End of the World as well

These. Man On Wire is awesome in so many ways. Also Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog.

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures by Chris Waitt is very funny. Unfortunately you laugh at him rather than with him but a laugh's a laugh

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is available to watch on the iPlayer.

Not seen it before but heard good things about it. Not sure if it counts as a documentary though.

EddieBear wrote:
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is available to watch on the iPlayer.

Not seen it before but heard good things about it. Not sure if it counts as a documentary though.

it has an outstanding soundtrack by Mogwai. also there is some football bloke in it

Up the Yangtze was the best documentary I saw last year, closely followed by Bigger Stronger Faster, and No End in Sight which is the fullstop on Bush's ineptitude

I liked Adam Curtis' Century of the Self.

"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." Didn't know he started his career by recording some village dogs :D

Edit: Just reading the critique of his work at wiki article about the series, pretty interesting, especially Curtis' replies.

Edited by ray at 09:25:44 27-02-2009

I watched Overnight (2003) a few days ago. It definitely needs adding to this thread.

It's a film about Troy Duffy, writer/director of The Boondock Saints, and how during the process of making that film he burnt every bridge he ever crossed, made enemies with Harvey Weinstein, and alienated everyone around him. His new found fame makes him self-implodes gloriously. He antagonises everyone he interacts with, and comes across as completely toxic. It's insane.

The Coconut revolution
The amazing story about the uprising on Bougainville. The native Bouganvillians fight back against a mining corporation. Their ingenuity is nothing but astonishing. A must see.

See it here

richardiox wrote:
Roger & Me (michael moores first film)

The one where he lies about everything?

(Wait. I think I need to be more specific :P.)

esctasy rising is really good and an interesting look at how MDMA was discovered and legal in the states for 10 or so years. Very interesting and worth a watch.

Edited by Adam_T at 10:17:31 27-02-2009

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/

Religulous.

This is quite an amusing film. Bill Maher takes an unashamedly sensationalist look at religion around the world, interviewing Muslims, Mormons, Anti-Zionist Jews, Christians, a man who believes he's the second coming of Christ, Geert Wilders, Fatima Elatik etc etc.

It's got some interesting bits (especially the section about Horus, which pretty much articulates why the Bible and the story of Jesus is so ludicrous), but first and foremost it's really funny. Don't take it too seriously, and it's great.

RedPanda wrote:

EddieBear wrote:
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is available to watch on the iPlayer.

Not seen it before but heard good things about it. Not sure if it counts as a documentary though.

it has an outstanding soundtrack by Mogwai. also there is some football bloke in it

It’s an arthouse film really. I suppose it’s a documentary technically speaking, but it’s not like any documentary I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty hard to watch and very arty and trippy.

Watching this. It's pretty amusing. Bill is quite direct (and funny) with his approach. Well worth it.

When the Levees Broke by Spike Lee. All about hurricane Katrina. Great film.

More 4 now. Should be good.

Much as I find Horizon's new pop-culture approach hard to accept at times, I did like most of the How Long Is A Piece of String doc with Alan Davies tonight. I learned new stuff. Although the quantum physicist at the end had an appalling laugh and the worls stupidest comb-over.

Edited by localnotail at 22:32:17 17-11-2009

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Stunning photography and decent depth have made me think that maybe America can do documentaries after all.

Yanks have always been able to do docus. Just got to shift through all the shit.

The one on M4 atm on migration along the Mexican/US border is an HBO production.

localnotail wrote:
Much as I find Horizon's new pop-culture approach hard to accept at times, I did like most of the How Long Is A Piece of String doc with Alan Davies tonight. I learned new stuff. Although the quantum physicist at the end had an appalling laugh and the worls stupidest comb-over.

I too dislike Horizon's new approach and found this docu possibly the shittest i've watched in a while. The 'experts' oversimplifed everything to the point of it meaning fuck all - to me anyway.

I've been to a lecture by Prof. Du Sautoy (the white haired guy at the start, my claim to fame?) he's really not helping his cause of 'promoting' mathematics to the public with these shit programmes.

The documentaries I think called "BBC: Islam and Science/Mathematics" one of them are much much better.

The National Parks was done by Ken Burns who, in the US at least, is regarded as one of if not the greatest large-scale documentary film-maker still drawing breath. PBS do a lot of good docs in general, but his series of films are awesome. Literally. His series on the US Civil War is considered the defining documentary of that topic. He's done loads, check some of his other stuff out.

I saw a doc called D-Tour on telly the other night. If you can stomach the slightly over powering hipster flavouring it's an incredibly uplifting and inspiring movie about a drummer who insists on touring with his band even though he has to go through dialysis every single day. There's enough drama in there to make you think the film-makers scripted much of it, but the stuff that happens cannot be faked. It's a film about the positive power of the human being and about love and I cannot recommend it enough.

heyyo! wrote:
I too dislike Horizon's new approach and found this docu possibly the shittest i've watched in a while. The 'experts' oversimplifed everything to the point of it meaning fuck all - to me anyway.

It was a weird one - I've got a physics A level, but my bf is strictly arts-based, so there was a lot more for him there than me. For the first 3/4 I was just having a nice wander through stuff I already knew and enjoying the ambient techno and weird camera angles in my painkillered-up state... until they got to the point I usually find myself at with quantum mechanics - Yeah okay, wave-particle dynmanics, tiny essential things are in many places at once until they are observed etc... but so what?

From that point, they told me new things - about chlorophyll's near-lossless energy trnasmission, and how we smell stuff and quantum tunnelling. Not enough information, but enough to make me wander off on the internet and go "oooh", a fair bit. I would have liked a documentary with 3/4 of an hour of scientists telling me all teh places where quantum physics has been discovered to explain mechanisms in nature.

It's 20 years since I studied Physics and pure Chemistry though. It's not fun being reminded that they see some things slightly differently now and that my knowledge needs updating (e.g. atomic model stuff). I really need a subscription to New Scientist again.

My un-godfather used to make documentaries for the BBC that were on in the early hours. He's a great front person. I wish they would give him a series. He's a supercool polymath with crazy hair.

Three Miles North of Molkom ... although it doesn't have the greatest message or educational impact, it is an entertaining film.

So no one watching More 4? (Last pimp)

They really need to more on this regarding the European borders. Obviously not easy when you're looking at the Med.

Edited by FWB at 23:06:30 17-11-2009

the Anish Kapoor documentary on BBC at the moment is really good. He's a really challenging artist. I saw a piece of his called Memory at the Guggenheim that was really interesting. You could never see all of it at once - there were 3 places you could view it from. And it was a different experience from each angle.

Last week's Horizon was epic, this one was... a bit shit. Seems one of their producers has watched QI and thought "ooh, we'll use the thick one as a kind of 'everyman' representing the viewer" - resulting in a patronising simplified load of bollocks. And how annoying was that pigtail yank's laugh??

I wonder if last week's is still about? What was it on? And yes, I already acknowledged the infinite irritation of that dudes laugh. Poor bastard. I have a friend with a terrible laugh. But it's his laugh. What do you do?

FWB wrote:
So no one watching More 4? (Last pimp)

Do you mean the child migrant thing? I looked at it but I'm supposed to be in the bath but got distracted by Anish Kapoor. I'm quite sad today too, so I was worried it would be a bad way to end the day.

Edited by localnotail at 23:09:04 17-11-2009

Yeah. Pretty depressing, but interesting anyway. I didn't actually know that Mexico has migrant support teams offering medical assistance and advice (and not enforce the law) to those trying to jump the border. Still doesn't stop the deaths.

As I said, I'd like to see more coverage on the European borders, difficult as it is.

Edited by FWB at 23:08:55 17-11-2009