Top 5ish Documentaries

[His Dudeness]

Best documentary I've ever seen is called District 9 set in South Africa. Some crazy shit. I admit I had no ides they were going through that with all those "prawns". Makes me happy to live in Vancouver.

[The Bottlenecker]

I don't watch a lot of documentaries, but I really liked "The March of the Penguins".

I also watched the "King of Kong" because I am almost positive that my brother could have been that guy. He never gave up on video games as a kid, but the guy from the film took it to a whole new level.

Call me obsessed, but I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, and recently watched a doc called "How Sherlock Changed the World". It explored how the fictional detective's methods influenced and changed forensic science and how crime is studied and investigated in the 21st century. Keep in mind that Holmes was a make believe character but his influence on real forensics is incalculable. Really cool documentary by the BBC.

[Mr. Guru]

Im a big documentary fan.

I'll add to the list:

The Clove - Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.

Jiro dreams of Sushi - A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his business in the Ginza Tokio Subway station, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.

Into the Abyss - Conversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.

Blackfish - A documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.

The Imposter (mentioned already) was another great one.

Thats all I can think of on the top of my head at 4am in the morning.

[Dobber]

I grabbed two of these last night and I'll watch. Great thread

The Bridge and Food Inc

[LordoftheRinks]

The War by Ken Burns - focuses on a number of participants across several towns across the US over the course of WW2. Powerful.

Cold War on Ice - the documentary on the '72 NHL vs USSR series.

Miracle on Ice - HBO documentary on the US 1980 Olympic Team.

Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser's indictment on the fast food industry.

Grizzly Man - by Werner Herzog. Very strange but entertaining film about the life and death of a self-proclaimed grizzly bear expert.

[Pengwin7]

Documentaries.... hmm... this must be the smart persons thread.
I've never been able to get into Documentaries.
The last three I watched all bored me into sleep (Babies, Something about Superman & Schools, That space/galaxy thing on Fox recently)

[doulos]

Documentaries.... hmm... this must be the smart persons thread.
I've never been able to get into Documentaries.
The last three I watched all bored me into sleep (Babies, Something about Superman & Schools, That space/galaxy thing on Fox recently)

That last one was likely Cosmos. I'm actually pretty surprised that you're not a documentary guy as you're pretty analytical. Maybe you need to find the right one.

[Pengwin7]

That last one was likely Cosmos. I'm actually pretty surprised that you're not a documentary guy as you're pretty analytical. Maybe you need to find the right one.

In truth, at this point in my life... I'm dedicated to having an "all" or "nothing" knowledge on most subjects.
Being "well-rounded" intellectually is good socially - but, since I'm anti-social... I'll just let others carry those conversations when they arise.

Sadly, I've given up on increasing my knowledge-base (i.e. documentary viewing) in some fields such as politics, or world events, or nature.

[doulos]

There's nothing wrong with that. I generally only watch documentaries on things that I already have an interest in. So anything politically related, or a lot of the 'issues' based documentatries (Food Inc, Blackfish etc) I just pass right over.

However, I am fascinated by science and the world/nature, so those usually get my time.

[Canucks_fan18]

Zeitgeist- Very Political/conspiracy theory driven but gets you thinking no matter what you truly believe.
Earthlings- Just about how humanity in general treats other life on this planet in various different applications/industries (Food, Pets, Testing, Clothing). It’s really graphic and a must see.

[gainerama]

Somewhere Between - follows 4 Chinese teenage girls adopted by American families, and they seek out their true parents in China to understand why they were abandoned at birth.

[Dutch]

My favorites:

Planet Earth: Beautiful stuff, but I get tired watching this cause its a bit slow for me
Blue Planet: Little below Planet Earth IMO, not much of a seacreature fan, altho it's amazing to see creatures I've never seen before


Super Size Me: about the good old mickey d's

Baraka: a collection of pictures about human life and religion and other interesting things. No words spoken in this movie, and it's SUPER powerful

9/11: this version http://tinyurl.com/q2ea9f6 absolutely incredible, with footage taken inside the towers as well.

Bowling for Columbine: This movie was super powerful to me. Watched this around age 20 and I couldn't believe it.

Koyaanisqatsi: Similar to Baraka, different theme. Incredible

The Universe: If you love anything space, this will interest you, educate you, and make you think different. Supernova's are no joke

Bang Bang you're dead: Not a documentary, but this movie needs to be shown to EVERY teenager in high school IMO. Great acting by Ben Foster (one of my fav. actors) and it's about school shootings.

Grizzly Man: As mentioned above, about a guy who lives with Grizzly Bears. Unbelievable stuff.

Into the Wild: Not a true documentary, it's a film but it's got a documentary feel to it. Loved it, and Emile Hirsch is fantastic.

I'm sure there are a few more powerful ones I've watched over the years, but these ones are superb.

[newfcollins]

Has anyone ever seen Bully? My wife and I wanted to see it when it released, but it didn't seem like it ever came to our city or to DVD.

[His Dudeness]

ok I gave my fake answer and now I'll give my real answer. A couple that nobody has mentioned yet which are both excellent:

- Searching for Sugar Man - about the search for an American rock star who hit it big in 1970s in South Africa, except he didn't ever know (don't look it up before watching - better to watch without knowing how it turns out).

- Marwencol - bizarre tale about a prick who gets in a serious accident and after that is "different" and very artistic, including building his own WW2 circa Belgian town in his back yard and taking amazing photos of the WW2 dolls he puts in there - as I say, bizarre, but also really good.

[The Bottlenecker]

Has anyone ever seen Bully? My wife and I wanted to see it when it released, but it didn't seem like it ever came to our city or to DVD.

I actually caught the end of it a couple of weeks ago. It was on HBO Canada, I think. I liked what I saw, but felt some of the bullying looked staged. I am not trying to be insensitive here, but I wondered about how some of the bullies didn't realize they were on camera in what seemed like a isolated or noticeably quiet area. I know there are such things as hidden cameras, but it sometimes felt staged. And then you have the parents who ask their kid everyday if every thing was good at school, the kid says "yes", but then the next day, they ask again. Maybe I am too cynical, but the point it was trying to make was good.