Author Topic: It's Real to Me - The Documentary Thread (Read 8072 times)

Teenage Mutant King Kamala · « **Reply #50 on:** June 01, 2013, 03:28:53 PM »

I just watched the documentary on the x-rated, '70s and '80s novelty artist, Blowfly. It was wildly entertaining if not a bit too fawning. I knew a little bit but his work but had no idea how prominent of a legit, mainstream R&B songwriter he was in the late '60s and early '70s before he decided out of nowhere to record exclusively dirty records. Anyway, I think it's up there with Anvil: The Story of Anvil for great documentaries about oft-prime acts (who were never that big to begin with) still trying to hack it in today's world. Also I laughed at Norwood from Fishbone being in his backing band at the beginning because Fishbone had a documentary like that themselves around the same time the Blowfly doc was released.

Most shocking thing though was seeing that Blowfly hated his own race.

Brodypedia · « **Reply #51 on:** June 01, 2013, 08:35:01 PM »

VICE on HBO has been a real interesting show. Only 1 out of the 8 episodes so far fell flat for me.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #52 on:** June 15, 2013, 03:22:45 AM »

Showtime aired Knuckleball! following Tim Wakefield & R.A. Dickey mainly during the 2011 Season (but also touching on their growing up, Wakefield's 2003 ALCS, etc.) Really fascinating stuff on the pitch itself, the mechanics, and especially the character studies of Wakefield & Dickey. If you are a baseball fan, it's worth checking out. Apparently it's also available on Netflix.

Jingus · « **Reply #53 on:** June 15, 2013, 07:06:05 PM »

I'm about 2/3rds through The Captains right now, Shatner's documentary about the various actors who've been the leads of Star Trek franchises. It's got a lot of neat moments, but other weirdly-edited comedic bits almost seem like Space Ghost outtakes. Shatner's name gets him a lot of leeway: he uses all the Star Trek footage that he wants, from every era. And he gets a weird assortment of people to show up for extended cameo interviews (Christopher Plummer, for one). But it's got an awfully slow, pokey tone and wanders rather slowly back and forth between vaguely connected topics. Kate Mulgrew still looks pissed off and unhappy to be there, too.

KingPK · « **Reply #54 on:** April 30, 2014, 11:58:19 AM »

I watched Let the Fire Burn on Netflix last night. It's about a 1985 standoff in a Philadelphia neighborhood between police and a leftist group called MOVE that ended with something like 61 homes destroyed and 11 MOVE members killed after the house they were holed up in had a literal bomb dropped on it by police. It doesn't have any narration or talking heads, just news footage of the group and their problems with their neighbors and police along with footage of the public hearings held after the event. It's very effective in just giving you as much of the story as possible and letting you draw your own conclusions about what went wrong.

KingPK · « **Reply #55 on:** May 10, 2014, 03:56:52 PM »

Netflix put up a new extended version of Cocaine Cowboys that adds another hour of footage that goes further into the backgrounds of all the main players.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #56 on:** February 15, 2015, 12:43:17 AM »

Currently watching The Last One (2014) directed by Nadine Licostie covering the creation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. No matter which documentary I watch, it never fails to not boggle my mind how Reagan and that presidency handled the entire AIDS epidemic during the 1980's.

Teenage Mutant King Kamala · « **Reply #57 on:** March 08, 2015, 03:14:06 PM »

Watched the Quiet Riot documentary on Showtime on Demand. I really, really enjoyed it and was genuinely kind of moved by it. I won't make fun of bands touring without any original members for at least a week.

I think documentaries about oft prime bands going on failing comeback tours is my new favorite subgenre of movie (Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Last Days Here, the Fishbone and Blowfly documentaries)

Venkman · « **Reply #58 on:** December 02, 2015, 06:25:32 AM »

The documentary on Cannon Films, "Electric Boogaloo" (not to be confused with a more 'official' documentary called The Go-Go Boys) is on Netflix and an entertaining way to spend an hour and 45.

NoCalMike · « **Reply #59 on:** December 02, 2015, 03:38:48 PM »

I recently watched WHY HORROR? It was decent enough.

DMann1979 · « **Reply #60 on:** December 02, 2015, 11:07:32 PM »

Quote from: Merry Venkmas on December 02, 2015, 06:25:32 AM

The documentary on Cannon Films, "Electric Boogaloo" (not to be confused with a more 'official' documentary called The Go-Go Boys) is on Netflix and an entertaining way to spend an hour and 45.

Yeah I loved watching that. Being a child of the 80's I am very familiar with the ouvre of Golan-Globus

Gary · « **Reply #61 on:** December 03, 2015, 12:25:01 AM »

Quote from: Merry Venkmas on December 02, 2015, 06:25:32 AM

The documentary on Cannon Films, "Electric Boogaloo" (not to be confused with a more 'official' documentary called The Go-Go Boys) is on Netflix and an entertaining way to spend an hour and 45.

I had a few problems (I would have liked a little more focus on the pre Golan and Globus era of Cannon. Also, no mention of "Cobra"?) but yeah, great stuff. Love that they gave "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" a little love.

I watched "Amy" last night. Great movie, but damn, it's an emotional kick in the gut.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #62 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:54:08 AM »

Watched Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Decent stuff overall. Best stuff is seeing the outtakes of Kurt and Nirvana with their interview segments and such.

CletusVanDamme · « **Reply #63 on:** December 24, 2015, 04:12:33 AM »

Anyone else watching this Making a Murderer series on netflix? I'm 4 eps in and this is gotta be on par with West Memphis 3 in just sheer fuckery by law enforcement.

AA484 · « **Reply #64 on:** December 24, 2015, 05:49:49 AM »

Read a little bit about that and I heard that the doc really plays up the guys innocence. Basically trying to make another WM3 situation out of it by selective editing and such. Guess I'd have to see for myself.

NoCalMike · « **Reply #65 on:** December 24, 2015, 07:37:48 AM »

I am going to be watching it or at least starting it sometime this evening once I finish marathoning out S2 of Fargo. I was researching that doc and someone mentioned another similar one called "The Staircase" which is about the situation surrounding a woman found dead at the bottom of the staircase in her home, the husband being charged, the defense etc etc etc

Shooting Star · « **Reply #66 on:** January 21, 2016, 04:50:52 AM »

I highly recommend the documentary "Democrats" about when dictator Mugabe of Zimbabwe lost the parliamentary election and had to agree to constitutional reform. The film shows the negotiations by the government and opposition during this period

Former Faithless Fool · « **Reply #67 on:** January 22, 2016, 03:13:04 PM »

this is highly interesting

Brodypedia · « **Reply #68 on:** January 24, 2016, 02:04:31 AM »

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nintendoquest

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #69 on:** February 13, 2016, 06:14:30 AM »

Watched Don't Ask, Don't Tell from 2011 (updated I think for the repeal) and it's just so mind boggling seeing how it all came into effect. I also found the information that anti-gay sentiment in the military starting with WWII which caused the influx into San Francisco/NYC was most interesting.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #70 on:** August 02, 2016, 07:33:33 AM »

Finished up The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain, decent documentary about a guy who was a very heralded high school quarterback coming out. If you're into sports documentaries and/or are a fan of college football history, it's worth checking out.

There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane is a very dark and sad documentary about an accident involving a car going the wrong way that killed 8 people in total. The driver was largely driving drunk but there's some exploration of whether she was suicidal at some point and/or had something medically happen to her. Depressing yet understandable to see her husband clinging to any other scenario despite the obvious facts that she was drunk/had drinks in her.

Baby Shoes · « **Reply #71 on:** August 02, 2016, 07:46:19 AM »

Someone at work won't stop talking about Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and apparently they are getting everyone they know to cleanse like this.

Reading about it, one of the reviews say "yeah, this is really more of an infomercial than a documentary".

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #72 on:** August 08, 2016, 09:00:31 AM »

Hawk got me into Last Chance U on Netflix, a 6 ep series about East Mississippi Community College. It's basically Hard Knocks meets Hoop Dreams and is a fascinating look at the world of Junior Colleges, the players who transfer down to them (largely for academic reasons), and the academic advisor(s) that deal with those players knowing they want to go back to DI ball in a year or two. PRETTY GIRL WAGNER DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER!

The HC is a total dick at times and we (Hawk, AHM, and I) compared him to BUD KILMER from Varsity Blues. The QB who transferred from Florida State, John Franklin III (who will likely start for Auburn this season), came off as the ultimate prima donna highly hyped QB full of himself and all about himself. Yet he couldn't even beat out Wyatt who didn't even get to walk on at Mississippi State (they refused to even let him) because Franklin can't throw the ball accurately despite a cannon. JF3 = The athletic insanely fast QB with a cannon and shitty accuracy.

Also Clint Trickett, the QB from West Virginia who retired due to concussions, is an assistant coach there.

Finally, fuck that dude, Ronald Ollie. But just for SFH if he reads this post, Ollie and teammate Marcel Andry will be attending Nicholls State.

Good Read When Finish the Series: http://247sports.com/Article/Last-Chance-U-Where-are-they-now-46592820

Baby Shoes · « **Reply #73 on:** August 08, 2016, 09:22:50 AM »

Someone was just telling me about that Last Chance U a few minutes ago... guess I am going to have to check it out.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #74 on:** September 23, 2016, 07:57:05 AM »

If you're into crazy cult documentaries, Holy Hell (on Netflix) is a great one about this Buddhafield cult/group that started in 1984 under an ex-actor named Jamie Gomez.

The film premiered on January 25, 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival saw a limited theatrical release in May 2016. It was picked up for broadcast by CNN and aired on September 1, 2016.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #75 on:** January 03, 2017, 10:15:18 AM »

Meru covering 3 Alpinists attempting to conquer the unclimbed Shark's Fin of Mount Meru is a fascinating watch. Great story of the physical climb but also the personal tribulations experienced before and during the climb.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #76 on:** January 09, 2017, 06:14:21 AM »

If you liked Super Size Me then you must watch That Sugar Film. Kind of insane that this Australian was virtually eating the same amount of calories, wasn't drinking any Sodas/eating any Candies (a lot of the stuff was low-fat yogurts, juice drinks, etc.), and was gaining so much weight anyway. He was eating the equivalent of 40 teaspoons of sugar a day (average intake) for 60 days.

The Results/Findings after 60 Days

Spoiler: show

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #77 on:** June 26, 2017, 01:01:08 AM »

Just finished The Red Pill about a woman going into the Men's Rights groups and studying them/their beliefs. Very interesting documentary, definitely worth a watch as the Father's Rights/Parental Fraud stuff was incredibly visceral and engaging in particular.

Fan of Sports with Integrity · « **Reply #78 on:** June 26, 2017, 05:46:47 AM »

Documentary about Mark 'Gator' Rogowski. I watched this recently, if you don't know who he is I wouldn't google him as the movie would be more intense without knowing what he eventually does.

He was a highly reputable skateboarder, bigger than Hawk in the 80s. As you can tell by the title, he fell out of the limelight and well I won't spoil it.

If you like documentaries, this one is worth watching. They have lots of great footage that sets the tone of the skate scene and lifestyles of these guys in the 80s that sets a great backdrop for the story, you really feel the era. That footage along with the in-depth interviews creates a gripping narrative that outlines who Gator was as a person, the environment his lifestyle was created in, and all the events that led to his 'fall'.

The whole thing is up on Youtube, less than 90 minutes. Trust me, this is good.

Brooklyn Zoo · « **Reply #79 on:** July 21, 2017, 01:52:34 AM »

Quote from: The New Breed on June 26, 2017, 05:46:47 AM

Documentary about Mark 'Gator' Rogowski. I watched this recently, if you don't know who he is I wouldn't google him as the movie would be more intense without knowing what he eventually does.

He was a highly reputable skateboarder, bigger than Hawk in the 80s. As you can tell by the title, he fell out of the limelight and well I won't spoil it.

If you like documentaries, this one is worth watching. They have lots of great footage that sets the tone of the skate scene and lifestyles of these guys in the 80s that sets a great backdrop for the story, you really feel the era. That footage along with the in-depth interviews creates a gripping narrative that outlines who Gator was as a person, the environment his lifestyle was created in, and all the events that led to his 'fall'.

The whole thing is up on Youtube, less than 90 minutes. Trust me, this is good.

Just saw it. Appreciate the rec! Had no idea about this dude. Don't wanna spoil either but thought "isolated in avocado fields" was funny. But yeah, definitely worth the watch.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #80 on:** July 30, 2017, 04:43:59 AM »

I saw this on Netflix from the director who did the fantastic Ginger Baker documentary I mentioned earlier in this thread. Counter Punch follows 3 boxers including Christopher Colbert in NY. Fascinating watch for anybody into boxing documentaries.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #81 on:** December 11, 2017, 05:19:14 AM »

Watched a couple Netflix documentaries. One on side session musicians called Hired Gun which wasn't bad but felt a little modern with no real history/weight behind it all.

YPOV watched Icarus about the doping (and Russian doping) in athletics and it's truly fascinating stuff. After 5-6 months of 'doping', this bicyclist gains 20% more power than the year(?) before. Largely follows the 2015-2016 Russian Doping story that broke. Worth watching and might be a good companion piece to the book Spitting In the Soup about the history of doping.

cobainwasmurdered · « **Reply #82 on:** December 11, 2017, 07:03:17 AM »

I watched Icarus, maybe ypov did too but I even looked it up and I was the one who told you about it a week ago and even linked you to the IMDB. SMH I never get credit.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #83 on:** May 25, 2018, 03:47:28 AM »

Just saw Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer on Amazon having known a little about the background mostly thanks to Filter's song. A really solid, interesting look especially at his background as State Treasurer and everything which led up to his suicide and the aftermath.

KingPK · « **Reply #84 on:** May 27, 2018, 01:42:08 PM »

I'm in the middle of Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist on Netflix. It's about that bizzare 2003 bank robbery where a pizza guy had a bomb strapped around his neck and he was forced to rob a bank as part of a scavenger hunt to find keys to free the bomb (which ended up killing him). That's just first part of a bunch of crazy shit involving some "interesting" people.

The Valeyard · « **Reply #85 on:** May 27, 2018, 01:51:29 PM »

It isn't as funny without Danny McBride and Jesse Eisenberg though.

KingPK · « **Reply #86 on:** January 23, 2019, 09:54:15 AM »

I watched the Netflix documentary about the Fyre Festival debacle (I understand Hulu has one too). Obviously Billy McFarland is fucking scum and the fact that he just went to another scam after being released on bail is hilarious in the saddest way....but I can't feel too bad about the people that unloaded thousands of dollars for something because of a cool video ad and "influencers" posting about it. Maybe it's just me, but if they won't even tell me which airport to go to to get to this thing, I'm cancelling two seconds later. I feel the worst for the people working this thing that knew it was a shitshow but stuck it out to try and salvage the unsalvageable. And then Billy tells them they aren't getting paid but not fired so they can't get unemployment.

cobainwasmurdered · « **Reply #87 on:** January 23, 2019, 11:04:19 AM »

I felt bad for the hundreds of poor people on the island that got fucked out of pay especially.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #88 on:** February 08, 2019, 05:28:49 AM »

For anybody who missed it in theaters, PBS is premiering the Mister Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? tomorrow night at 8 PM/5 PM.

BorneAgain · « **Reply #89 on:** February 08, 2019, 07:21:17 AM »

They Shall Not Grow Old was fantastic, and my only regret was watching it online and not in the theater.

Detective Ventriloquist · « **Reply #90 on:** February 08, 2019, 10:31:46 AM »

Quote from: Harley Quinn on February 08, 2019, 05:28:49 AM

For anybody who missed it in theaters, PBS is premiering the Mister Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? tomorrow night at 8 PM/5 PM.

I don't know if I could get through it a second time. I was a blubbering mess only a few minutes into it. It was so good.

Saints_Fan_H · « **Reply #91 on:** February 08, 2019, 10:39:59 AM »

Abducted in Plain Sight is another shit show. I watched it in disbelief and posted about it on Facebook. 5 people now have hit me up at 7 min 30 secs - 8 min saying, "what the fuck?" and it only spirals from there.

It tells the story of a young girl that was brainwashed & kidnapped in the 70s, twice, by the same creep. Creep was a family friend which allowed him easy access and he was a master manipulator. Also, the parents were about as naive as the child, so it did not make his efforts too difficult.

I won't expound too much, as horrible as it is, the shock value of some of the revelations are worth finding out on viewing and not from a spoiler here.

The Valeyard · « **Reply #92 on:** February 08, 2019, 10:53:51 AM »

I watched that the other day. The parents were fascinatingly dumb. I don't care what era it was.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #93 on:** February 08, 2019, 09:56:38 PM »

Quote from: Saints_Fan_H on February 08, 2019, 10:39:59 AM

Abducted in Plain Sight is another shit show. I watched it in disbelief and posted about it on Facebook. 5 people now have hit me up at 7 min 30 secs - 8 min saying, "what the fuck?" and it only spirals from there.

It tells the story of a young girl that was brainwashed & kidnapped in the 70s, twice, by the same creep. Creep was a family friend which allowed him easy access and he was a master manipulator. Also, the parents were about as naive as the child, so it did not make his efforts too difficult.

I won't expound too much, as horrible as it is, the shock value of some of the revelations are worth finding out on viewing and not from a spoiler here.

Also saw this and it's astonishing how naive the parents were, even given that it was the 1970s, and how crazy the entire scenario was. IIRC the guy basically told the girl, who was like 10 or 11 at the time initially, that aliens wanted them to mate (after abducting her in an RV and driving them elsewhere) and if she didn't that one of her sisters would be abducted next. It spiraled into her falling in love with him, etc. Really tragic yet almost incomprehensible from a logical point of view.

Brodypedia · « **Reply #94 on:** February 09, 2019, 12:16:02 AM »

Quote from: Detective Ventriloquist on February 08, 2019, 10:31:46 AM

Quote from: Harley Quinn on February 08, 2019, 05:28:49 AM
For anybody who missed it in theaters, PBS is premiering the Mister Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? tomorrow night at 8 PM/5 PM.

I don't know if I could get through it a second time. I was a blubbering mess only a few minutes into it. It was so good.

HBO's movie of the week tonight!

Saints_Fan_H · « **Reply #95 on:** February 09, 2019, 07:46:18 PM »

Quote from: Harley Quinn on February 08, 2019, 09:56:38 PM

Quote from: Saints_Fan_H on February 08, 2019, 10:39:59 AM
Abducted in Plain Sight is another shit show. I watched it in disbelief and posted about it on Facebook. 5 people now have hit me up at 7 min 30 secs - 8 min saying, "what the fuck?" and it only spirals from there.

It tells the story of a young girl that was brainwashed & kidnapped in the 70s, twice, by the same creep. Creep was a family friend which allowed him easy access and he was a master manipulator. Also, the parents were about as naive as the child, so it did not make his efforts too difficult.

I won't expound too much, as horrible as it is, the shock value of some of the revelations are worth finding out on viewing and not from a spoiler here.

Also saw this and it's astonishing how naive the parents were, even given that it was the 1970s, and how crazy the entire scenario was. IIRC the guy basically told the girl, who was like 10 or 11 at the time initially, that aliens wanted them to mate (after abducting her in an RV and driving them elsewhere) and if she didn't that one of her sisters would be abducted next. It spiraled into her falling in love with him, etc. Really tragic yet almost incomprehensible from a logical point of view.

I'm not trying to be all *boo* *hiss* religion here, but considering how devout people get to some pretty silly belief systems (scientology, objectively speaking Catholicism) I can't fault the kid for believing the alien stuff.

The parents believing his "therapy" procedure, I fault, hard.

Harley Quinn · « **Reply #96 on:** February 10, 2019, 08:24:01 AM »

Quote from: Detective Ventriloquist on February 08, 2019, 10:31:46 AM

Quote from: Harley Quinn on February 08, 2019, 05:28:49 AM
For anybody who missed it in theaters, PBS is premiering the Mister Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? tomorrow night at 8 PM/5 PM.

I don't know if I could get through it a second time. I was a blubbering mess only a few minutes into it. It was so good.

Fantastic documentary. Was definitely crying at many points throughout.

Firmino of the 909 · « **Reply #97 on:** February 10, 2019, 02:43:59 PM »

Quote from: BorneAgain on February 08, 2019, 07:21:17 AM

They Shall Not Grow Old was fantastic, and my only regret was watching it online and not in the theater.

The Peter Jackson explanation of how they made it was the best part.

RedJed · « **Reply #98 on:** February 12, 2019, 09:14:12 AM »

Quote from: Firmino of the 909 on February 10, 2019, 02:43:59 PM

Quote from: BorneAgain on February 08, 2019, 07:21:17 AM
They Shall Not Grow Old was fantastic, and my only regret was watching it online and not in the theater.

The Peter Jackson explanation of how they made it was the best part.

Yes, that was certainly a really awesome extra to the whole thing. A half hour doc after the film itself. Loved it. The 3D was unexpectedly decent when I saw it too....well in parts. It was amazing how much post-conversion success they got with that old footage.

How did this not get an Oscar nom by the way? Or was it released too late to qualify? If so, they are a shoe-in for next years nominations.

RedJed · « **Reply #99 on:** February 12, 2019, 09:20:53 AM »

Any love for Free Solo in here? I had been waiting to see this for months after failed attempts at its initial release run last year, but fortunately the AMC had it back in IMAX recently for a week run.

If there ever was a doc to see in the IMAX format, wow this would be it. Really incredible presentation from a cinematography level on many facets in that format.

The introspection it provided on the climber in question was pretty incredible too. There was a peeling of layers type of a thing going on that was coinciding with all of the events leading up to the big finale of what he inevitably ends up doing fantastically.

I have yet to see all of the rest of the Oscar nominated docs, but I'd venture to say this should take it. It was certainly better than the already strong RBG doc and probably was the best time I've ever had watching a doc in a theater before.

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Author Topic: It's Real to Me - The Documentary Thread (Read 8072 times)