Best documentaries

[Ricey]

Oof, paranoid nonsense.

Catfish (if plausable) is a good one.

But believable and makes you wonder.

 

[MK Shrimper]

But believable and makes you wonder.

Been debunked many times over mate.

 

[Ricey]

Been debunked many times over mate.

Do you have any links to that as I have not seen it.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Do you have any links to that as I have not seen it.

Look it up on Wikipedia, plenty of links to critical sites. Here's one: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/06/comment.film

 

[Beefy]

Obviously there's 8,400 9/11 documentaries out there but 102 Minutes That Changed America has stuck with me ever since I watched it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/102_Minutes_That_Changed_America

 

[Ricey]

The lost hero of 9/11 was also very good.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

There have been a couple of top documentaries on /with the troops in Afghan, the series on RM training was also top stuff, and years ago Sailor about the RN and HMS Ark Royal was very good.

 

[MrB]

Always enjoyed Louis Theroux's docs.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

'The Paras' and 'Behind the Lines' are both worth watching if you enjoy military training documentaries. They were broadcast in the 80s and are available on the BBC iPlayer. 'Behind the Lines' is about a specialist RM unit.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

The Devil vs Daniel Johnston is a great watch as he obsessively records himself as part of his bipolar disorder and gives a good insight into that.

Indeed that is a brilliant documentary. I'll add a few I've seen recently 'Seperado!' (Gruff Rhys of SFA) and 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi' about an 85 year old sushi chef in Tokyo, 'The Winter of the Beard' (9 men across America grow a beard for 6 months) which is available to watch here http://vimeo.com/32092307. 'Room 237' about Kubrick's 'The Shining' is a decent watch but some of the theories are a bit of a stretch.

 

[Smudger]

Searching for Sugar Man is well worth a watch.

I just saw "Made of Stone" the new Shane Meadows Stone Roses documentary which was good but I thought it could have been so much better....

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Searching for Sugar Man is well worth a watch.

I just saw "Made of Stone" the new Shane Meadows Stone Roses documentary which was good but I thought it could have been so much better....

Good call.I enjoyed it too.:thumbsup:

 

[Rayleigh Weir]

Next time you read a newspaper article or see a TV News report I suggest you ask yourself what the journalist's political point of view is.

Everything and everyone is political.Fact.

I ask myself that very question every time I see a Guardian link on here...

But, we were talking about documentaries - in my opinion, the best documentaries are those that attempt to portray their subject in as impartial a manner as possible. Whereas, those that wear their politics on their sleeve and use sound-bites and stage management as evidence for their own agenda are little better than propaganda - in which case whether you enjoy it or not will probably depend on your own politics...

 

[maninasuitcase]

As previously mentioned, The World at War really is essential viewing.

I loved Oil City Confidential. I just didn't realise how good DF were in those days having only come across them when they released Milk and Alcohol.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I ask myself that very question every time I see a Guardian link on here...

But, we were talking about documentaries - in my opinion, the best documentaries are those that attempt to portray their subject in as impartial a manner as possible. Whereas, those that wear their politics on their sleeve and use sound-bites and stage management as evidence for their own agenda are little better than propaganda - in which case whether you enjoy it or not will probably depend on your own politics...

That's why (in an earlier post) I quoted the famous example of Robert Flaherty coaching the Arran Islanders and fiming a whale fishing scene (something the Islanders actually hadn't done for generations, if ever).

That didn 't stop his documentary Man of Arran from being an absolute masterpiece.It's not (overtly) political at all.

Granted that Michael Moore's films are highy polemical but they're also extremely well made.(A shout here for Sicko btw,which has been a big factor in controversial health reforms in the US).


Would you deny that Truimph of the Will is a masterpiece, just because it was made in the Nazi era?

 

[prawntobewild]

"High on Crack Street" - still crops up on the Community Channel - this always makes me feel sad for these people & wonder how on earth they got into this mess - really desperate stuff. One of the subjects was a top boxer who fought Sugar Ray Leonard & his brother had a film based on his life .

 

[united we stand]

As previously mentioned, The World at War really is essential viewing.

Another vote here for 'The World at War ' (must have the best ever theme music to a series as well in terms of amtching the subject brilliantly).
'Conspiracy theory-did we land on the moon' Yes I know its all xxxxxxxx, but it was very interesting seeing what at first glance looks like 'good science' and 'good facts' with a masterstroke of then linking to 'Capricorn one' (great film) . It really made me think , which then meant google searches which gave explanations for everything (shadows wrong way, flag waving, extra astronaut in picture , oxygen system would never have worked' etc . To me it was a good education in how a show can come through as having 'scientific facts' which make sense to the man in the street but actually are complete crap.

'The Cove' very thought provoking and ultimatedly depressing

 

[Mad Cyril]

Another vote here for 'The World at War ' (must have the best ever theme music to a series as well in terms of amtching the subject brilliantly).
'Conspiracy theory-did we land on the moon' Yes I know its all xxxxxxxx, but it was very interesting seeing what at first glance looks like 'good science' and 'good facts' with a masterstroke of then linking to 'Capricorn one' (great film) . It really made me think , which then meant google searches which gave explanations for everything (shadows wrong way, flag waving, extra astronaut in picture , oxygen system would never have worked' etc . To me it was a good education in how a show can come through as having 'scientific facts' which make sense to the man in the street but actually are complete crap.

'The Cove' very thought provoking and ultimatedly depressing

The last face in The World at War's opening montage used to really scare me as a kid.

 

[Mad Cyril]

That's why (in an earlier post) I quoted the famous example of Robert Flaherty coaching the Arran Islanders and fiming a whale fishing scene (something the Islanders actually hadn't done for generations, if ever).

That didn 't stop his documentary Man of Arran from being an absolute masterpiece.It's not (overtly) political at all.

Granted that Michael Moore's films are highy polemical but they're also extremely well made.(A shout here for Sicko btw,which has been a big factor in controversial health reforms in the US).


Would you deny that Truimph of the Will is a masterpiece, just because it was made in the Nazi era?

I would have had you down as more of a Birth of a nation fan.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I would have had you down as more of a Birth of a nation fan.

Personally,I've always thought it was a deeply flawed film though I very much enjoyed an early D. W. Griffith short, The Train Robbery,which I first saw in the 6th form at WHS.