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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 12:31 pm 
I saw it in 2000, so I don't remember much about it. It's an Errol Morris film -- he usually always does fascinating films, interesting subject. Roger Ebert always talks about his films. I gave it 3 out of 4 stars.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 7:49 pm
I just went and looked in Ebert's archives, and wow, he really loved that documentary. He gave it 4 stars. I usually agree with Ebert, so it was fun coming here posting about something out of the blue I knew nothing about and finding out later he raved about it.
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Jezzedout
Member
09-07-2006
| Monday, March 08, 2010 - 3:08 am
My favorite documentary of the past several years was Man On Wire. It won best documentary feature at the 2009 Oscars. About Philipe Petit, a Frenchman who in 1974 walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers. Fascinating story of his life leading up to the event, the planning (which took a few years), the execution, and the aftermath. It was captivating and inspiring. Beautifully told, using a combination of archive footage with reenactments. I highly recommend it. The DVD is excellent as it includes footage from several of his other walks, which included the Sydney bridge and the cathedral at Notre Dame.
The other two documentaries I recommend are both music docs.
The first is Heima, which chronicles the Icelandic musical group Sigur Ros as they performed a series of free concerts in remote locations around Iceland in 2006. Great music by Sigur Ros combined with unbelievably beautiful footage of Iceland and candid comments by the band members. Anyone interested in either Iceland or Sigur Ros should not miss this.
The other is Running Down a Dream about music legend Tom Petty. For Petty fans, this is a must see film, combining live concert footage, interviews, press footage, and music videos. Running more than four hours in length, it's a slice of heaven for anyone who's into Tom Petty. Directed by Peter Bogdonavich, the doc features Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison and the Traveling Wilburys, a fantastic interview and performance by Eddie Veder (sp?), Bob Dylan and others. Completely engrossing.
Enjoy!!
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 11:33 pm
Man on Wire is Tres Magnifique!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Sunday, March 14, 2010 - 12:34 am
I saw Man On Wire too. It was good. I'm scared of heights -- even looking at a film like that gives me weak knees and sweaty palms.
I also recommend Every LIttle Step-- about the original production and revival of the play A Chorus Line.
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Monday, May 10, 2010 - 6:37 pm
Rivers and Tides is worth a look imo.
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Spelll
Member
09-16-2005
| Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 5:28 pm
I watched this doc a few days ago and was riveted for 2 hours!
Drain the Ocean
http://www.discoverychannel.ca/Article.aspx?aid=20504
I don't know if you can watch it on the Internet but it was so fascinating!
"Discovery Channel presents DRAIN THE OCEAN, a new landmark two-hour special premiering Sunday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ET/ 9 p.m. PT, which reveals the longest mountain range (65,000 kilometres!); the deepest point on Earth; the largest stretch of flat plains; and psychedelic bioluminescent life forms that look like Hollywood aliens."
"Deep water corals that rival an urban skyline in size, a submerged canyon that is bigger than the Grand Canyon, a mountain range that runs for 65,000km - all these features have only been known in recent decades and while exploring these fascinating landscapes, scientists have discovered life forms that they had no idea existed - or could exist - in these bizarre, hostile environments."
Absolutely fascinating!
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Spelll
Member
09-16-2005
| Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 5:42 pm
Actually I've found it on Youtube. 
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 3:32 pm
Fifteen Finalists for Best Documentary Oscar:
”Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” Alex Gibney, director (ES Productions LLC)
”Enemies of the People,” Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)
”Exit through the Gift Shop,” Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
”Gasland,” Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
”Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould,” Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors (White Pine Pictures)
”Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
”The Lottery,” Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)
”Precious Life,” Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions)
”Quest for Honor,” Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)
”Restrepo,” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
”This Way of Life,” Thomas Burstyn, director (Cloud South Films)
”The Tillman Story,” Amir Bar-Lev, director (Passion Pictures/Axis Films)
”Waiting for ‘Superman’”, Davis Guggenheim, director (Electric Kinney Films)
”Waste Land,” Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)
”William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe,” Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler, directors (Disturbing the Universe LLC)
I've only seen 4 of these. Need to figure out a way to catch up before it's reduced to the 5 finalists.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
07-31-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 7:10 pm
Tish, is there a theater in LA that tends to show high profile documentaries? It seems like there would be... I know the Royal on Santa Monica Blvd. does but not consistently...
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 7:20 pm
There's a Documentary festival every year in LA--it was this past August: http://www.documentary.org/docuweeks2010
But Royal is a great place to catch them, and sometimes Arclight and that place at Sunset and Crescent Heights has very limited showings of docs too. I catch some at UCLA, too.
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Friend
Member
05-21-2008
| Friday, November 19, 2010 - 5:50 pm
Thanks for the list, Tishala. I ordered the ones available on Netflix and saved the rest. A couple others I had seen. How could anyone see Gasland and not be called to do something?
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Saturday, November 20, 2010 - 5:19 am
I don't know why I never saw this thread before! I love documentaries and found this site a long time ago. I think there will be things here that most of you will enjoy!
http://documentaryheaven.com/
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Monday, November 22, 2010 - 9:16 am
Dear Zachary - wonderful film.
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Jezzedout
Member
09-07-2006
| Monday, November 22, 2010 - 3:48 pm
I recently signed up for a Netflix trial (online only) and had an opportunity to revisit a documentary I enjoyed as a kid called Seven Up!, the first in the "Up Series."
If you aren't familiar with the Up Series... in 1964, a British film maker gathered together a group of 7 year olds who were supposed to represent a cross section of British society, from wealthy upper crust prep school kids to a boy who was living in an orphanage, and everything in between. The original 1964 doc, in black and white if I recall, featured the kids on an outing to the London Zoo, playing together on a playground and in interviews, some individually and others in groups of three. The idea that the film maker was exploring by looking at this group of children was that the socioeconomic class of one's birth would fairly much determine the socioeconomic trajectory of one's life, based on a quote (can't remember now who they attribute it to) that I will paraphrase as, show me a child of seven and I will show you the man, in other words meaning what a child is at seven is what they will be.
I remember seeing the original Seven Up twice when I was a kid. Living in Arizona in the '70s, I was fascinated by how proper most of the English kids seemed and how much I liked their accents. Some of the kids were very cute and amusing and others seemed well spoken beyond their years.
Since the original Seven Up in 1964, the film makers have revisited the same group of kids at seven year intervals, resulting in the Up Series which includes 7 Plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up. Until now I'd only seen the original, but thanks to Netflix I had an opportunity to catch up on the series. As a cumulative whole, the Up Series is a fascinating documentation of this group of people, culture and the times. Watching the progression of each of the kids, from seven year old to teenager to twenties, thirties and finally forties -- marrying, divorcing, having their own kids, going through life's ups and downs is surprisingly interesting. It's also interesting to note the cultural differences between the US and England, not to mention all that changes visually as the series progresses in terms of style of dress, decor and even the visual quality of the films themselves.
As an FYI, while Netflix offers all of the films in the series, the only offer 21, 28, 42 and 49 Up as online viewing choices. That said, you don't have to have watched the earlier films to enjoy the later ones as each one refers back to clips from the earlier films to provide context for where each particular subject is at that point in the series. So if you have the online viewing only plan, you'll do fine to start with 21 Up as it will provide back clips from the first two films to bring you current.
This really is a well done, interesting series. Michael Apted, the noted British director was a researcher on the first two films and has directed every episode from 21 Up on.
Particularly interesting is Neil, whose mental illness and homeless lifestyle are documented during several of the episodes. As proof that life does indeed have it's ups and downs, Neil makes an incredible comeback that I won't spoil for you here.
I also found it interesting to listen to one of the subjects, who is a cabbie who dropped out of school at fifteen, speak in 1998 about how the economy could not hold up and how he saw it all collapsing within five years, while predicting a harsh backlash against Tony Blair. And speaking of this particular subject, it's interesting to compare England to the US as this cab driver in England earns enough to own a nice home in England as well as a vacation home in Spain, and in London, cab drivers have to study to take what they call The Knowledge exam which they study for for years. I had never heard of this before so looked it up on Wiki. Fascinating stuff.
Anyway, I highly, highly recommend this series. The last one, 49 Up was released in 2005 so I'm hearing 56 Up will be out in early 2012.
Enjoy!
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
07-31-2000
| Monday, November 22, 2010 - 4:37 pm
I'm a long time devotee of the Up series.
Neil, in particular, just broke my heart. Just thinking about him gives me tears. As a boy in the first 7 Up doc, how beautiful he was...
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Legalboxer
Member
11-17-2003
| Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - 7:24 am
i raved here about Touching the Void when it came out several years ago - i think its one of the best, if not the best, documentaries ever made.... its like titantic in the manner that it doesnt matter that the two men are narrating the story so you know they survive, you still are on your seat of your pants the whole time and at the end, you cant help but feel like "never give up" has a whole new meaning....
the other documentary that i think is worth watching is One Day in September which is about the Munich Olympics and hostage taking.... it has all the real footage but more importantly it even has the one surviving hostage taker who is in hiding....its as intense as you can get but boy is it an eye opening history lesson.
Story of the weeping camel is a great documentary too - you get this whole new insight on mongolia - and the clash in modern day vs old ways of living
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Jezzedout
Member
09-07-2006
| Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - 5:55 pm
Hey Legalboxer... glad you mentioned Touching the Void. You're right, it's an excellent doc. It had been on my "must see" list for ages when I finally got to see it on Netflix a few weeks ago. I was not disappointed. Fascinating story, excellent film.
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Vsmart
Member
02-10-2003
| Wednesday, December 01, 2010 - 7:46 am
I loved Touching the Void, but climbing without backup is crazy.
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Zgoodgirl
Member
08-22-2003
| Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 11:07 am
Saw an old one the other day called 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters' It's about this man who was recently laid off from Boeing and always came up short in everything he did. He decided to try to go for the world's top score on Donkey Kong. It shows some shady, underhanded conspiracies throughout the movie regarding the association who actually keeps the scores. When you think our hero would get to the top, some crazy thing would happen to knock him down. Very good movie where you are rooting for the underdog thru the whole thing. Even though it's a movie about Donkey Kong, I actually shed a tear or two.
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Darrellh
Member
07-21-2004
| Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 11:14 am
Zgood, I loved that one! I even bought the DVD. My favorite documentary is Mad Hot Ballroom.
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Jezzedout
Member
09-07-2006
| Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - 11:13 pm
Just watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop", one of the oscar nominated docs for this year. Really excellent doc. Thought provoking, unpredictable, interesting characters. The last ten mins I was still trying to figure out where it was heading and how it was going to end, and when it got there I found myself both intrigued and amused. At only 86 mins the film moves along at a nice clip. The subject is laid out in an unconventional way that kept it interesting; the music choices were spot on. Overall quite entertaining. Not gonna tell you what it's about -- just watch it!
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Mictay
Member
09-29-2006
| Wednesday, May 04, 2011 - 5:59 pm
Not sure if it has ever been discussed but just watched Loose Change 9/11 twice, I an so conflicted,everything makes so much sense but could the goverment really be responsible for 9/11? Has anyone seen this doc.?
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Pippin04
Member
10-26-2007
| Wednesday, May 04, 2011 - 7:26 pm
Yes I saw it and it is very confusing. I am not sure wht to believe.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
07-31-2000
| Wednesday, May 04, 2011 - 9:34 pm
I just watched Marwencol last night. Anyone else seen it?
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