Help- what are your favorite documentaries?

[Liberty Belle]

My two favorites are My Brother's Keeper, and The Straight Story. Ok, forget about The Straight Story. It's based on a true story, but not a documentary. I remembered it wrong. Still, a good movie.

 

[Liberty Belle]

"Southern Comfort" broke my heart. It's about Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual. I challenge anyone to watch it without crying.

"American Hollow" by Rory Kennedy was great. The film focuses on an Appalachian family and it's really fascinating.

Oh boy. I remember that. Through most of it I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[loopymommy]

Oh boy. I remember that. Through most of it I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

I know. I remember that poor teenage boy who was planning to move away with his girlfriend from the "good" side of town. So heartwrenching. Then you see his uncles who were thrilled to just sit on the porch drinking moonshine and eating squirrel. The family matriarch was really inspiring.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

After watching it, you won't feel the same when (or if) you walk into their stores.

I was glued to that documentary!

I'm a documentary junkie. The 9-11 documentary with the 2 brothers who happened to be doing a documentary about fire fighters and ended up filming 9-11 is heart-wrenching to watch. Does anyone remember that one? It showed on CBS. I cried the entire time.

 

[EMom]

There is one called "hands on the hardbody" about a contest where the last one standing with their hand on the truck wins......very interesting.Browse the docus on netflix for ideas.

My cousin came in second place either the year before or after they made this documentary. This contest is WILD.

One of my fav documentaries is actually a series known as the Up Series. In was made in Britain and followed several people from age 7 to now. It's based on the saying, "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." It was meant to illustrate how the British class structure virtually predetermines the outcome of a child's adult life. If you start working class, you'll end up working class. Start upper class and you'll wind up there, etc. Not a lot of mobility. They follow the children every 7 years, so the documentaries are called Seven Up!, Seven Plus 7, 21 Up, 28 Up, etc. The first was in 1964, so you do the math. The lastest one was 49 Up in 2005. I haven't watched all of them, but it really was amazing just how rigid the class structure was compared to the US. I seem to remember one girl who came from a well-to-do background, but didn't even complete college or anything, yet managed to marry a very upper class solicitor and remained very upper class herself. I thought that the odds of a girl who perhaps just finished high school snagging a wealthy attorney in the US wouldn't have been that great. But those two were of the same "class" in the UK, so they were a good match. And some of the working class kids seemed to have so much potential, and perhaps would have moved into the US version of upper class had they been Americans, but they remained working class throughout their lives. It's a fascinating series.

I watched a documentary on Bonnie and Clyde recently that I enjoyed since it relates to a childhood experience my father had. When he was 10-11 or so, he lived in East Texas, which was an area B&C frequented. One day he was walking alone and a car pulled up and asked if he'd like a ride. He accepted and got in the car with a man and a woman. He said when he got in, he saw more guns that he'd ever seen in his life. He grew up hunting, but these were NOT hunting guns. He said he'd never even seen guns like these, let alone in that huge quantity. But he didn't ask any questions. He said they were very nice to him and let him out where he needed to be. A day or two later, word got out that B&C had been through the area on that day and that's when he realized whose car he had been in. In this documentary, it explained that B&C had robbed an army arsenal or something like that and so they had a massive supply of repeating guns....rifles, I think....that overpowered any police they ever met up with. I believe they would fire 16 times without reloading, and both in semi-authomatic and automatic mode. Clearly, those guns would have been of a type my father would have never have laid eyes on at that time. It explained a little more of his story.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I was glued to that documentary!

I'm a documentary junkie. The 9-11 documentary with the 2 brothers who happened to be doing a documentary about fire fighters and ended up filming 9-11 is heart-wrenching to watch. Does anyone remember that one? It showed on CBS. I cried the entire time.

Yep, that documentary was amazing. And also contains the only footage of the first plane hitting. They just happened to be out on the street investigating a gas line and the one brother was recording the firemen when they heard the plane flying over and he lifted his camera up and caught it on film.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Nursery University, about the competitive admissions process for elite private preschools in Manhattan. It's completely surreal to the rest of the world.

That sounds really interesting. I'm gonna have to search for that one on Netflix. Thanks!

 

[scottishduffy]

Born into Brothels was very good! I enjoyed it immensely.

Into the Arms of Strangers: about the Kindertansport from WWII.

Jesus Camp: About super-christains in the midwest and a very religious camp their children went to. This film got a lot of attention.

Spellbound- Cute and enjoyable.

The King of Kong- a guy trying to get the world record at Donkey Kong

Wordplay- similar to spellbound but for crossword puzzles

Paperclips was awesome!

Invisible Children- a very sad movie about witch children in Africa. Good, but prepare to be horrified.

My fake Baby- have you seen those "Reborn" baby dolls? Yeah, this film follows fans of those.

Murderall- really interesting about handicapped sports players.

Sound and Fury- A film that follows two deaf children and basically examines deaf culture as parents struggle with whether or not to give the kids cochlear implants.

 

[DawnCt1]

The Life and Legacy of Ronald Reagan.

 

[Patch'sD]

Fahrenhype 9/11 Comes to mind.

I enjoy most World War II, Kennedy Assassination, Documentries. Also not a Documentry but based it's story on a Famous Documentarian, An American Carol.

 

[PrincessShea]

White Light/Black Rain is the best WWII documentary I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot. The first 25 minutes you might be a little bored, but once the middle starts, you will be able to hear pins drop.

 

[Costumesaremylife]

Not exactly a documentary but, Spaulding Grays, "Swimming to Cambodia." It is a one man show dealing with his trip to Southeast Asia to be in the film, "The Killing Fields."

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Nursery University, about the competitive admissions process for elite private preschools in Manhattan. It's completely surreal to the rest of the world.

Ok, I just finished watching this movie on Showtime On Demand because of your recommendation. WOW. How in the world do people afford to live in NYC. I had no idea what people had to go through to get their kids into these fancy schmancy schools. I could not STAND the woman who mentioned that even Kate Winslet couldn't get her kid into that one school. This was a really good movie...thanks

 

[starrzone]

OP here...thank you to everyone for their great suggestions!!! There are some really thought-provoking documentaries out there, that's for sure. Keep them coming!

 

[starrzone]

I know it's been exactly 5 months today since I last updated this thread, but I wanted to give some feedback on the documentaries you wonderful Disers recommended to me

There is one called "hands on the hardbody" about a contest where the last one standing with their hand on the truck wins......very interesting.Browse the docus on netflix for ideas.

I really, really like this one! It was neat to listen to the peoples' reasons for participating in the contest, and why they did/ didn't give up.

I watched Born into Brothels not too long ago and it was really interesting--they gave kids in Calcutta, India cameras to film their lives and what it was like to be a child living in the brothels there. Our school also did a screening of Invisible Children a coupld of years ago and it was very moving. Its about children being recruited/forced to serve in armies in Uganda. I also enjoyed Grizzly Man about Timothy Treadwell a guy who lived (and died) with bears in Alaska--interesting also but somewhat frustating.

This one broke my heart...those poor kids who wanted a better life, but whose guardians screamed at them, called them names and refused to let them go to a boarding school where they could get an education...makes me feel extra lucky I grew up here in North America.

Lake of Fire
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841119/

Wow...this one had a big effect on me. It didn't change my opinion on the subject, but it was an enormous eye-opener. I thought it was very well done.

One of my favorite documentaries is "Paperclips".

http://www.paperclipsmovie.com/synopsis.php

Some others that were very good:

Spellbound
An Inconvenient Truth
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

I saw every one of these . I actually saw a showing of "Paperclips" that was put on by my city's Jewish community (which is very small). I had been to Auschwitz the year before when I was in Poland, and the tears were streaming down my face when the survivors were talking.

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

After watching it, you won't feel the same when (or if) you walk into their stores.

This was a good one; my SO and I watched it together and had some good discussions.

"Southern Comfort" broke my heart. It's about Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual. I challenge anyone to watch it without crying.

"American Hollow" by Rory Kennedy was great. The film focuses on an Appalachian family and it's really fascinating.

Oooh, both of these were VERY well-done. They were both subjects that I am extremely far-removed from where I live, but they were both fascinating to me. Southern Comfort was especially touching because I have friends who are discovering alternative paths in life.

PBS runs a show called "Frontline" and does a number of topics.

Thank you SO much for letting me know about this show! I had never seen or heard of it, but checked it out. They have a LOT of good stuff on there!

Grey Gardens! Hands down my new fave documentary. Saw some of it on a special on PBS. Had never heard of it before. Found it on Amazon.com, bought it, and have introduced many, many people to it.

Excellent!!

Oooh, this one was good. I watched the version with Drew Barrymore and thought her performance was entirely realistic.

Jesus Camp: About super-christains in the midwest and a very religious camp their children went to. This film got a lot of attention.

Religious opinions aside, I thought this was a very good, albeit disturbing at times, documentary.

If anyone has any other suggestions, keep them coming! Thanks so much to everyone who responded already

 

[lovesmurfs]

It's a little dated now, and more a travelog or video diary than a documentary, but Pole to Pole with Michael Palin is really good -- he travels from the north pole to the south pole.

 

[ogreenlee]

AWESOME THREAD!!

If you're a fan of music then this is a must see: Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
It is so good.

I second Baraka - this is just an interesting film. very well made and very, very good.

Religulous - not the best documentary, but definitely thought-provoking.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth

The Fishing with John series

I'll try to post more as I remember them. Lots of my recommendations have been posted already.

 

[mrsklamc]

I have "National Parks: America's Best Idea" on hold at the library. I'll report back but I can't imagine with the raw material it's less than amazing unless the filmmaker is terrible.

 

[LoraJ]

Mad Hot Ballroom - about a dance competition for kids in NYC.

Super Size Me - actually made me crave a Big Mac.

Maxed Out - About predatory lending.

I'll try and think of some more and get back to you.

 

[Chuck S]

There is an interesting series of documentary shorts on Hulu.com called Vanguard. I may not agree with some of them, but they do what a documentary should do, IMO...make you think about the subject.