Documentaries

[The Rogerer]

Have been watching Bitter Lake by Adam Curtis, it's on iPlayer at the moment. It's mostly a history of Afghanistan and it's relationship with the west. Although he's always been excellent of simplifying stories, this is over 2 hours long as he has deliberately used dredged up archive footage to capture little moments of life and the war there. Obviously some might be annoyed that there's seemingly pointless footage inflating the show, but I think it works very well and captures a lot of a down to earth mundane sense of the war.

[Clive Plasma]

Sounds good. I'll check that out.

I watched this last week - 'The Rise & Demise of Steve-O';



I had absolutely no idea he got this bad.

[MikeHunt]

i read in the paper he's shagging stacy soloman (x factor/iceland advert/moron). i say read, saw a headline and moved on. what an odd odd odd odd couple.

[Clive Plasma]

I don't blame you. Is that because they were doing that stupid channel 4 skiing show together?

[MikeHunt]

yeah i think so.

[Clive Plasma]

Watching this on US Netflix at the moment. It's fucking excellent.

[Clive Plasma]

Just watched this one last night;



It's on Netflix at the moment, and won Special Jury Prize at Sundance. Well worth a watch.

[Ringo]

Saw a pretty good one called Rich Hill the other day. Follows three boys of different ages in poverty in this absolutely shit town in Missouri. One of their stories is particularly upsetting.

[Clive Plasma]

i read in the paper he's shagging stacy soloman (x factor/iceland advert/moron). i say read, saw a headline and moved on. what an odd odd odd odd couple.

This is official now.

Saw a pretty good one called Rich Hill the other day. Follows three boys of different ages in poverty in this absolutely shit town in Missouri. One of their stories is particularly upsetting.

This had been suggested to me before - need to get round to watching it.

I watched this one last week;



Interesting, but extremely one-sided. There is no towing the line on this one, it's a completely Pro-Pamela Smart documentary. Kind of ruined it a bit for me, it did feel like half the story was missing.

[Ringo]

Also watched "Nobody's Business" from 1996. It's just an hour of the filmmaker talking to his cynical Dad about his life. The father is hilarious, completely insistent that there's nothing remotely interesting about him and agitated by all the questions. It's on youtube, I recommend it.

[Alf]

All This Mayhem is bloody excellent.

Mik, show your students. It's a superb example of a contemporary doc made with talking heads and archive footage.

[Stocky]

I just got netflix here in Australia and I've been on a bit of a tear with documentaries.

Billion dollar hippy, Indie Games: The movie, The Internets own Boy, Craiglist joe. All interesting watches would recommend.

[Clive Plasma]

Probably worth reposting this here too; http://movieblort.com/2015/04/13/mov...etflix-part-1/

Stuck up a list of some of my favourites on UK Netflix. Any suggestions for part 2 welcome.

[Clive Plasma]

Watched this over the weekend. Really interesting, worth a watch for sure.

[Hero!]

Definitely gonna give this a watch

[Nash Diesel]

Definitely gonna give this a watch

Yep, HBO rarely fails to deliver with documentaries and I don't see this one being anything less than incredible. Cobain's daughter gave a great interview with Rolling Stone as well.

[VHS]

I've rewatched Room 237 and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite doc of all time.

[Nash Diesel]

I've rewatched Room 237 and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite doc of all time.

It's on my Instant Watch list on Netflix. That good huH?

[VHS]

It's on my Instant Watch list on Netflix. That good huH?

Man, it goes deep... DEEP... and some of it is a little far-fetched, and the way it's made makes sure the crazy stuff is acknowledged. It's brilliant.

[Clive Plasma]

Definitely gonna give this a watch

Going to see this at the cinema on Saturday night before the boxing. Looking forward to it.

[Morrison]

Man, it goes deep... DEEP... and some of it is a little far-fetched, and the way it's made makes sure the crazy stuff is acknowledged. It's brilliant.

just to put up the polar opposite opinion, for the sake of balance; i hated this documentary. love the shining, thought the concept was great and was looking forward to watching. i couldn't have been more bored and uninterested. kept waiting for it to finally click over and give me something, and it just never happened. it felt like it was actively trolling me.

[MikeHunt]

Montage of heck. Anyone seen it? I loved it. Very different look at cobain and his genius. The portrayal of his mental health and drug use is very good and frankly very honest from those close to him. Excellent stuff would recommend. 4:5

[Jimmy Zero]

I thought it was very very good. Definitely one of the most honest, non-hero worshippy Cobain movie I've ever seen. Lost interest once Courtney Love showed up.

[MikeHunt]

She still looks ridiculously good for a woman who basically ate heroin for a while. I think it really captured the mood on how influential and massive they were.

i encourage anyone to check out the reading festival headline performance if they haven't before. It's magnificent.

Does e's anyone know why butch vig and Dave grohl aren't in this?

[Morrison]

She still looks ridiculously good for a woman who basically ate heroin for a while. I think it really captured the mood on how influential and massive they were.

i encourage anyone to check out the reading festival headline performance if they haven't before. It's magnificent.

Does e's anyone know why butch vig and Dave grohl aren't in this?

grohl was interviewed, but was only available weeks after the film was done and sent in. beyond that, the director really did want to focus more on kurt and aspects of him you weren't gonna see in other rock docs. i don't know if grohl could provide anything new in that regard.

[MikeHunt]

How could he not? He spent a hell of a lot of time with him as part of his band.

[LOCONUT]

I just listened to an interview with Grohl where he said he was never asked to be a part of it.

[MikeHunt]

I wonder why? Seems a bit silly to bang on about this being the definitive doc and not have one of the major players on it at all, very strange.

[Percussion]

Not a full length documentary per se, but a kind of docu-short anyway that was on HBO a couple months ago. And a great one.

Got a tumor? Here, let's shove it full of AIDS ...

[Clive Plasma]

New doc on Netflix; 'Dawg Fight'.

[Donald]

I was talking about astrological signs with my physician the other day. He said his favorite was Sagitarius, I said "Doc, you meant Aries?"

[Percussion]

Only the best sushi restaurant in the world run by the world's greatest sushi chef

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

[Clive Plasma]

BBC Horizon Documentary - Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05wdfhk

[Clive Plasma]

Anyone seen many of these? Capturing the Friedmans and Dear Zachary are horrible.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/str...0150611?page=1

[Beer-Belly]

Really? I've heard great things about both.

[Donald]

Reading the descriptions, I'm thinking he means horrible as in they are horrible stories.

[Percussion]

Watched Grizzly Man, and eehhhh. With all the respect in the world for loss of life it's just really, really hard to sympathize with this guy. Fucking bears, man. Plus, and some may think it awful, but I wanted to hear the footage recorded from the actual attack. I mean, I'm invested in this story, the guy's already out there in every imaginable way, I wanted to go there. It was like getting on some ridiculous roller coaster and at the top of the holy-shit-drop-off-a-cliff moment the ride was just shut down. Like I said, eh.

[Ringo]

Seen most of those. Grey Gardens is probably my favourite. Remarkable.

[Beer-Belly]

Watched Grizzly Man, and eehhhh. With all the respect in the world for loss of life it's just really, really hard to sympathize with this guy. Fucking bears, man. Plus, and some may think it awful, but I wanted to hear the footage recorded from the actual attack. I mean, I'm invested in this story, the guy's already out there in every imaginable way, I wanted to go there. It was like getting on some ridiculous roller coaster and at the top of the holy-shit-drop-off-a-cliff moment the ride was just shut down. Like I said, eh.

Grizzly Man is one of my favorite movies. With that said, Timothy Treadwell was a delusional idiot and I had very little sympathy for him. I felt bad for his "girlfriend", though. She likely had no idea what she was getting into.

It's for the best that the tape was destroyed. I hear people say that they were bummed about not hearing the recording, but I'm pretty sure most would regret listening to something so heinous. Werner Herzog is a bleak mother fucker and it even shook him to his core.

[Percussion]

Grizzly Man is one of my favorite movies. With that said, Timothy Treadwell was a delusional idiot and I had very little sympathy for him. I felt bad for his "girlfriend", though. She likely had no idea what she was getting into.

It's for the best that the tape was destroyed. I hear people say that they were bummed about not hearing the recording, but I'm pretty sure most would regret listening to something so heinous. Werner Herzog is a bleak mother fucker and it even shook him to his core.

I couldn't sympathize with the girlfriend either. It's not like he told her he was taking her to the botanical gardens and all of a sudden turned left and set up shop at a wild grizzly habitat. If I asked any woman I've ever been that personal with to accompany me to live with some bears for a bit absolutely every one of them would have told me to take a flying leap, and with perfect reason. She didn't, and so goes it.

You're right, there are certainly people who would regret hearing the tape of what happened, but I can only speak for myself, I wanted to hear it. Boils down to a judgment call for each person individually. I know for myself that tape wasn't going to rock my sensibilities. And from a narrative perspective within the film it really appeared to be building to that. From the woman's point of view who is in custody of the tape though, I wouldn't let the world hear it either, but I also wouldn't have been accomplice to a documentary that showed off what a bone head my good friend was.

All that said though it was an interesting documentary. The bears, their environment, the fact that a person would even dare, and certainly the outcome made for a very unique and thought provoking story.

[Clive Plasma]

Reading the descriptions, I'm thinking he means horrible as in they are horrible stories.

Boom. They're mortifying then. Different word.

[Clive Plasma]

Watched this the other day, think it's seeing a VOD release this week. Worth checking out for sure. It doesn't got into all that much detail really or offer any real revelations, but it's nice to hear Gazzas side in what seems to be quite an honest and well thought out presentation of the facts.

[Percussion]

This one, Baraka, isn't new but I just came across it again and it's pretty fuckin great. A non-narrative look around the globe at people and culture and some pretty incredible imagery.

[Canuck]

The Friedmans were a very dysfunctional family.

The imposter is very disturbing.

Loving this list so far.

[Clive Plasma]

Was lucky enough to see 'Amy' on Thursday at the UK Premiere.



Really touching documentary, you don't really need to even be a fan of hers to enjoy it.

[Clive Plasma]

This was fucking brilliant.

[MikeHunt]

BBC Horizon Documentary - Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05wdfhk

I missed this post Clive. What were their findings? Is it worth seeking out online?

[Clive Plasma]

I missed this post Clive. What were their findings? Is it worth seeking out online?

It was a strange one. You had one guy that drank his daily allowance every single day for a month, and another that drank his weekly allowance once a week for a month.

They both did the same type of drinks, and the results were that the guy who drank every day was worse off, but not by much.

The guy who binged was still pretty fucked, and his liver had shown early signs of deterioration.

Both of them had the diagnosis from the doctor that they would need at least 2 or 3 months for their liver to get back to 100%, and then they talked about some of the regenerative qualities of the liver itself.

They did a few other things too; Why can some people drink but not get drunk? Why do I not get hangovers? Does being hydrated actually help you out when you're boozing, and does it reduce a hangover? Why do people go red when they drink? Why do some people get pissed quickly?

The conclusion was essentially that the drinking allowances are too high, but we as a country and society have it so heavily ingrained that we won't do anything to stop it.

Worth watching, but it won't change your life.

[mth]

'An Honest Liar' is on Netflix now. Documentary on the life and work of The Amazing Randi. It's great. Dude is my hero.

[McBain]

I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Baraka recently. Really enjoyed both in different ways.

Baraka would be great for getting high and watching alone I reckon.

[Clive Plasma]

Anyone watch any of the Vice documentaries they put out on HBO? I can't tell if they're scaremongering or if what they go on about are genuine possibilities?

The latest one was about the threat of a second Cold War coming to fruition. Seemed like quite a convincing argument.

[Percussion]

VIce is probably my favorite show on all of tv at the moment. I posted a clip a page or so ago about the first special they aired called "Killing Cancer". Just tremendous. The cold war one had me feeling the same way, like are tensions quite that high? I'm clearly aware of the Ukraine mess, but wasn't so about the nationally controlled media in Russia framing their version of events to their people and so on. Had me going watching it all though.

[MikeHunt]

storyville magicians psychics and frauds is a fantastic doc, I recommend anyone with a slight interest in magic to watch the first half at least the second half the tone totally changes as does the subject matter.

[Percussion]

Free Ross Ulbricht.

[Clive Plasma]

[MikeHunt]

Precinct 75 is outstanding. I'm not going to say much about it apart from the story is mental and just go watch it.

[Clive Plasma]

Watching this today;



Some truly horrible images on it so far. Nothing new, and clearly designed for shock value, but it's interesting so far.

[MikeHunt]

Anyone seen Wolfpack?

[Hero!]

Watching this today;


Some truly horrible images on it so far. Nothing new, and clearly designed for shock value, but it's interesting so far.

I watched that a couple of years ago and did the vegetarian thing for a month after. I missed eating animals.

[Clive Plasma]

I watched that a couple of years ago and did the vegetarian thing for a month after. I missed eating animals.

I've been going Veggie for the last week just because it's making me feel better, not out of any moral obligation to not eat animals.

Meat is too delicious to give it up full time, but I am watching what I'm eating a lot more even before this documentary, which just too obviously went straight for the shock value rather than the health benefits of being vegan.

[Mark Hammer]

'Fed Up' is a great documentary on the evils of the food industry and the average American's complete and utter ignorance as to what is good or bad for them.

'Black Fish' is a good but troubling documentary revolving around Tilikum the captured killer whale at Seaworld and the three people he's killed since being in captivity.

Both on Netflix.

[Clive Plasma]

'Fed Up' is a great documentary on the evils of the food industry and the average American's complete and utter ignorance as to what is good or bad for them.

'Black Fish' is a good but troubling documentary revolving around Tilikum the captured killer whale at Seaworld and the three people he's killed since being in captivity.

Both on Netflix.

Both of those are decent. Fed Up is again a bit one sided though, but it's great general knowledge for people that don't know any better. Things like why "a calorie is a calorie" is nonsense, and why "zero calorie options" are just as bad as full-fat options, it's definitely thought provoking for those that need it.

A good follow up doc to that is "A Place At The Table", which highlights the growing poverty in the US and why healthy foods really might not be available for some areas;

[Mark Hammer]

I did catch a bit of bias from 'Fed Up', my biggest qualm with it was the message it portrayed that it's not fat people's fault they're fat and instead it's the evil corporations for tricking them. At what point do people start thinking for themselves? In the age of Google there's really no excuse to be "fooled" by marketers trying to sell their product at all costs.

There was one point where the (fat) mother of the 220 lb 12 year old girl said she didn't need outside help as they had all the tools she needed to lose weight. Then she pulls out the freaking spaghetti noodles and goes on about how healthy they are. Later the enormous child is shown eating "reduced fat" nutella. Honest-to-God shake my head material.

I will be watching A Place at the Table. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Donald]

Nah, it's a little bit of both. Eating is an addiction. And sometimes addictions are hard to break. It's like telling an alcoholic to quit drinking, or someone to give up cigarettes. It's really hard.

I used to eat a lot of fast food, and before I'd get it, I'd say to myself "I shouldn't get this stuff" but I the addiction took over and got it. Yeah I know it's unhealthy but it tasted so damn good. Past few weeks I've cut back and I do feel a little bit better. Hoping I can stay on this no fast food kick.

Corporations are too blame a little bit, as they add things to the food to make you addicted. That's why healthy stuff tastes boring. People just need support from others and they'll be alright.

[Mark Hammer]

Is it not the alcoholic's fault that he's an alcoholic? Or the smoker's fault that he's a smoker?

I'm not looking down my nose, I have no room to being an alcoholic and former drug addict myself. But blaming others for something you did/do to yourself is a cop-out and is less respectable than simply owning up to it.

[Percussion]

It's not an alcoholic's fault that they're an alcoholic. It is ultimately their choice to stop, though.

Those two statements both being true is the most difficult thing to grasp about addiction for any non-addict.

[Mark Hammer]

It is my own fault that I like to drink... I could choose not to I just don't.

I don't buy "genetic predisposition" either because my mother doesn't drink at all and my father only does on occasion but I've never seen him drunk.

[Percussion]

How is someone liking something their fault?

And your genes are brought to you by more than just your mother and father.

[Mark Hammer]

Everybody on this planet likes to eat. Not everybody on this planet is a glutton.

[Percussion]

That would be the "ultimately their choice to stop" part of it.

[Mark Hammer]

So it is their fault.

[Percussion]

I wouldn't assign blame to an addict for having a susceptibility to addiction.

[Mark Hammer]

Cop-out. There is no such thing as someone with a susceptibility to enjoy food.

[Percussion]

Sure there is. But you probably also think that you have complete and utter free will in everything that you do in your life.

[Mark Hammer]

Yes, I do.

[Percussion]

How did I see that coming.

[Mark Hammer]

Well it wasn't exactly a curve ball.

[OD50]

My grandfather hit the bottle a little too often and died in a motor cycle accident (most likely DWI) when my dad was 5. Pops himself was an "on and off" drunk for 30 years or so. Me, I pretty much never drink, a beer a couple of times/year with some friends. I guess that's one case for predisposition and one against, all within three generations.

Who knows..

[OD50]

I do however believe that some people are more prepositioned (?) to form bad habits. Some people quit smoking, start to eat junk food, quit junk food, start gambling, quit gambling, start smoking, and so on...They just exchange one bad habit for another.

Some call that predisposition, others it's being weak-minded.

[OD50]

'Fed Up' is a great documentary on the evils of the food industry and the average American's complete and utter ignorance as to what is good or bad for them.

Love that kind of documentary. Will check out.

[Hero!]

Home sick today so I checked out the Mystery of Eastee Island doc on Netflix and it was wonderful. We all know the Eastee Island heads, but I don't think many people know much about the people who once lived there.

Also, searching for General Tso also on Netflix. If you're like me, you love General Tso chicken, but have no clue who the real life General was. This takes a fascinating look into the myth of General Tso and where the dish comes from.

[MikeHunt]

go watch wolfpack.

thats all.

bye

xx

[SheltonLondon]

Would definitely recommend An Honest Liar - a really interesting documentary about James Randi, a very famous magician and debunker of psychics/faith healers etc. Such an incredible story that I imagine many of you will already be partly aware of, but well worth a watch!

Also caught one on US Netflix the other day called Winnebago Man - and I thought it was really captivating. The subject character of the film is a really interesting guy, and it's got plenty of humour in it. Easy watch, enjoyed it quite a lot!

[McBain]

My friend has recommended me 2 I will probably check out this weekend:
McCullin
Next Goal Wins

First is about a war photographer, second about the American Samoan football team. Will report back.

[MikeHunt]

Next goal wins is good.

The doc about the football refs on Amazon prime is good too, Colina is one of the focus point.

Watch the wolfpack.

[McBain]

Just watched Next Goal Wins. Absolutely incredible film. Watch it!

[Clive Plasma]

This is doing the rounds soon, and was out a while ago in the US and the festival circuit, but looks to be pretty good.

Also, for anyone in the London area, there is a cinema screen at the Curzon in Bloomsbury that shows only documentaries for a pretty reasonable price; http://www.dochouse.org/

[Percussion]

Looking forward to Obama going to prison.

Knowing VICE this should be great.

[Nash Diesel]

Do any of you remember the HBO special "Ganbangin' In Little Rock"? I think it aired back in the early 90's. After the show aired I swear to God about 200 new gangs showed up in my little ass city alone. But that was probably my favorite documentary HBO has done. Saw it on Amazon at a good price, couldn't believe they put it on DVD.

[Percussion]

This is brutal and frightening and insane and powerful.

[Clive Plasma]

A few of the highlights of the year.

[MikeHunt]

I really liked best of enemies. Went in not knowing anything came out googling everything!

[Clive Plasma]

FYI, Cartel Land is on iPlayer for one more day; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...-9-cartel-land

It's easily the best doc I've seen this year.

[MikeHunt]

ohhh! i never knew that was on there. watch it tonight! cheers for the heads up!

[Clive Plasma]

Also, this one about Wilko Johnson is available until Friday. Well worth a watch too; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...-wilko-johnson

[MikeHunt]

well that was spectacular. best documentary ive seen this year.

[Clive Plasma]

well that was spectacular. best documentary ive seen this year.

It's pretty spectacular isn't it? It's been a great year for documentaries.

I'm about to start this one now;

[Mik]

Anyone seen Wolfpack?

go watch wolfpack.

thats all.

bye

xx

Next goal wins is good.

The doc about the football refs on Amazon prime is good too, Colina is one of the focus point.

Watch the wolfpack.

Jesus Mike, I saw it on the plane the other day just so that you'd have someone to talk to about it.

[MikeHunt]

its brilliant eh?

i have a syrian love story recorded on my box, still need to get round to it.

it has been a bloody brilliant years for docs.

[Clive Plasma]

Just finished "The Look of Silence" too. Great follow up from "The Act of Killing". Horrible horrible people.