let us talk documentaries

My favorite documentaries are Catching Out (about trainhoppers) and The Decline of Western Civilization III (about lame 'gutter punx').

Plenty of good recommendations in this thread. I'll try to track down the ones I haven't seen.

A good spot to check for documentaries online is the quicksilver forum.

Some psuedo-docs are really good. Man Bites Dog comes to mind.

How to Draw a Bunny is a must see. For real, check it out, and tell me what you think. It's about a very strange pop artist, Ray Johnson, and it follows his weird ass shenanigans (example: dropping hundreds of foot long hot dogs on a beach during some get together). Check it out.

Two words:

David Attenborough

oh yes, mr. guest does some great movies.
man bites god is pretty sweet.
if i can find how to draw a bunny i will check it out.

"Zoo" is a documentary about a man named Kenneth Pinyan. He is known as the guy who went out one night (actually several nights prior to the catalyst for the doc.) and sought out anal intercourse with a horse. He died from internal bleeding after hesitating to see a doctor out of reluctance to explain his cause of injury. I haven't seen it but.... He's what caused the criminalization of beastiality in Washington state.

omg, i totally thought you were joking, i just watched the trailer on imdb, wow is all i can say.

I taped this and finally started to watch it but had to stop after 20 minutes, I found it unbelievably sad. Which reminds me, every time I go to my favourite restraunt I have to sit at the last table facing the kitchen, if I see a man eating on his own I start to get teary eyed. When I worked in a bar in Holland guys coul drink on there own no problem but if they wanted to eat I made them sit at the bar. Writing this makes me realise I really am damaged goods.

super canti:How to Draw a Bunny is a must see. For real, check it out, and tell me what you think. It's about a very strange pop artist, Ray Johnson, and it follows his weird ass shenanigans (example: dropping hundreds of foot long hot dogs on a beach during some get together). Check it out.

just got done watching it, actually the hot dog thing was only 60, one foot long hot dogs, but it's really not so much his craziness as it is that nobody really knew him and his bizarre death, and it was fantastic though thx for the recommend, i'm sure alot of people haven't heard of him (i hadn't) and the guy does some amazing work, if you like art and weird kind of art like crumb, jackson pollock, Jean-Michel Basquiat, check it, for sure.

I loved How to Draw a Bunny, it was absolutely fascinating, and I'm always envious/awed by people like that.

I saw Paradise Lost and was convinced those kids were innocent...then I looked online and realized the docu was bullshit and they were very likely the killers. It's like the Kennedy assassination, so much info you could frame daffy duck for it and seem convincing. Though in real life, it was Oswald.

I heard Paradise Lost 2 was boring as hell anyways.

Also, Zeitgeist has good stuff in it, Zeitgeist Addendum is great in the first half, and absolute suck in the second half. So many blatant economic falsehoods and utopian visions expressed as simple truth...crazy old men, all I gotta say. Stefan Molyneux has a great critique of Addendum on youtube, search 'stefbot zeitgeist' and it should pop up.

Other docus:

'Anarchism in America' is a good one from the 80s, up on youtube. Karl Hess is in it, and he's awesome. Good history of anarchism, its origins and offshoots, and it is non-denominational as well.

'IOUSA'-There's a short version on youtube. I heard the ong version is too long, and I thought the short version was over condensed. It's pretty good, but really oversimplifies the issue.

The Dawkins has a docu, "The Root of all Evil", on DTube, which is really good, if you're into that sorta thing, the aytheism.

"Zizek!" - A docu about Zizek, what a character.

Also, it's good to just peruse DTube for docus on ppl from BBC and discovery and such. There's two BBC docus I enjoyed on Sartre and Nietzsche, just basically biographies.

Oh yeah, and I consider a must see, "Waco: the Rules of Engagement". It should be on google video, about how the gov't royally fucked up, then killed a bunch of kids.

And "The Journey of Man" is a good one as well, origins of man as he left africa and such, traces everything genetically.

i guess i'll have to write these down now cuz i have about 10 movies i have to watch before i go back to docs, however tonight i had to check out
HAPPY VALLEY : i have seen plenty of programs on drug addiction so there's not a whole lot new here but the thing that's different is this is drug abuse in utah county where i live and how much denial we have here, alot of mormons poppin pills because they think, well it's not alchol, i'm not smokin or injecting, it's just a pill i take with water, so what. the statistics is what's really crazy though, i don't want to get them wrong so lets just say we have a higher suicide rate, anti-depressant, and abuse of painkillers then most of the country.
watch the trailer if you want, it has the stats.
http://happyvalleythemovie.com/Trailer.html

How did you gather that it was bullshit? There is not a doubt in mind that they are all innocent. I find this case very eye opening to the legal system.
but none the less, I am curious as to why you think that...

Paradise Lost 2 wasn't necessarily as boring as much as it was pointing fingers. It spends too much time with the evidence pointing towards John Mark Byers.
Which I do think is very intriguing (and I definitely think he had something to do with it)but I expected something a little different than what it was. Obviously the man is crazy and there are certain things that really make you question his innocence. like him having all of his teeth pulled when they questioned the bite mark found on one of the bodies? How is that not suspicious??

Being from Arkansas myself, I spend a decent amount of time spreading the world of this case. The circumstances of the trial are extremely interesting and almost immediately draws people in who have never heard about it before. Anyone who doesn't know about it should definitely visit www.wm3.org

I wrote a paper right after seeing the thing saying they were innocent and should be released. It as years ago, but afterwards I was directed to sites which didn't make their innocence look so obvious.

For example, Damien was housed in some jail a while ago and bit some dude, drinking the blood, and wrote or said something on how there was purity in a child's blood and shit like that. Lots of little things that are a little more than coincidental.

understandable. I mean he definitely has issues but i still don't think he is guilty. I think it boils down to shitty police work. the crime scene was basically destroyed and so many pieces of very important evidence were "lost". a confession from a person who is mentally retarded who they questioned for 14 hours and only taped less than 2 hours of it. a 911 call the night of the murders talking about a man who went into a restaurant within miles of the scene covered in blood. the cops pulled through the drive thru - never went inside. i mean how lazy and just terrible are you at your job if you can't even go into the place that called 911.

Either way, it's very sad that 3 young boys were murdered in such a gruesome manner.

i can't imagine a 3rd film. nothing has changed in years. all of the appeals have been denied.

I enjoyed the book much more than the documentaries on this case. Mara Leveritt - Devil's Knot. I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A with her about 5 years ago. I think the book was biased but not to the extent the movies were. Its easily my favorite crime book.

anyone see 'darkon'? it's about these role-players and they play this really elaborate game and it looks at their day-to-day lives, which aren't surprising. one lives in her parent's basement, one works at starbucks and doesn't talk to girls, one is fat, etc etc...

anyway, it's really good.

interesting, good idea for a doc, i'll reserve it at the li-barry

I'd play Darkon...

Grey Gardens: About Big Edie and Little Edie Buell. They are ompletely nuts, but also perfectly riveting ...they live in a dilapidated country estate overrun with feral cats and wild raccoons, and they eat food from cans and dress in odd raiment...it's really hard to explain.

Did i say Trekkies yet? If not, that.

Glad you enjoyed it, man.
Ray Johnson shortly became one of my favorite pop artists after my first viewing.

Aliens

Anyone see 'The Bridge'?

These filmmakers watched the Golden Gate bridge (The world's most popular suicide venue) over the course of a year and film people actually jumping off.

THEN - They track down that person's identity and do interviews with that person's family and friends. Really, really engrossing. Must rent.

P.S. - This trailer doesn't show the actual footage of people jumping off, but I assure you they do in the movie.

I've been trying to find where I can watch that online...

EDIT: DTube, FTW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N9dsxYgF7c

Does anybody know if there are documentaries about poltergeists? Or perhaps something else that has to do with ghosts and creepy things?

Such a great documentary. Riveting is the word. It's been made into a movie now with Drew Barrymore, which seems a little odd but kinda interesting.

Oh and I saw The Bridge too. Compelling, very sad.

I watched half of The Bridge this morning and felt like I wanted to jump off myself.

Edit: Because it was depressing, not because it was bad or anything.

It's coming up soon on my netflix queue. I'm looking forward to it.

I just watched Confessions of a Superhero and wanted to cry from almost 30 minutes in until the ending. It was so depressing.

First The Bridge, now this, I think my foray into documentaries was very short lived.

I can't find a torrent for The Bridge. Going to see if I can find How To Draw A Bunny.

It's on youtube, Alexa.

I'm watching Religulous. Enjoying it.

omg, that was such a great movie, i laughed and loved it so much.

I have started watching King Corn on my 360. I've got Sick lined up, along with Dark Days, about a group of homeless people that set up shop in an abandoned subway tunnel in New York.

It really is funny, wasn't sure what to expect.

Watched Religulous as well the other night. Better than I expected. I'm thinking I may have to visit the Jesus amusement park if I'm in Orlando. As long as it's not too expensive.

My favorite part was when that senator said, "Well, the scientific community is a little divided on the issue (creationism vs. evolution)..." and the Maher just looks at him and says, 'No, they're not divided at all". So many religious people are mad ignorant (as in, they are unaware of facts).

Hah, yeah, that was kind of sad, Giggan.

I also like it when they show Bill doing stand up comedy and he starts about Scientology. The fact that people start laughing. "And you're like oh yeah, THAT's some crazy shit. Jesus with the virgin birth and the dove and the snake who talks in the garden, that's cool. But the scientologists, THEY're the crazy ones."

NO DIRECTION HOME
SUPERSIZE ME
THE WEATHERMAN UNDERGROUND
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE
LETTERS FROM A PORCUPINE
MAN ON A WIRE
GIMME SHELTER

saw man on wire last night, wow, fasinating.
also saw where in da world is osama bin laden, meh.
and, i can't wait to see this, it's getting great reviews.

I just can't believe most of the documentaries mentioned in here that I want to see are not avaliable on my online rental...

A lot of these were already mentioned:

Grey Gardens
The Bridge
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Sick (Flanagan)
Crumb
Grizzly Man
Project Grizzly
Salesman
Lost in La Mancha
Century of the Self

I just found this one today. Not exactly a documentary but I learned a shitload about electric eels:

i CANNOT WAIT to see this!!

also, i watched a documentary a LONG time ago (8-10 yrs maybe?) about this guy in a smalltown, in his 30's, living with his mom, had a couple of kids - he was trying to make a horror film, and it was the story of this. it was called "American Movie" or something generic like that, which is why i can't seem to find it, i guess. anyway, it was really sad and great, if anyone knows what i'm talking about and where i could find it, i'd greatly appreciate it.

OH! and the name of the movie he was making was "Coven", if that helps jog anyone's memory.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

nevermind, it's on the first frickin page. zoth mentions it in the opening post.

where the hell did you find that??

Very. Such an incredible story and I loved how it was told with all the amazing old footage plus interviews today.

Gunnin For That #1 Spot is streaming on hulu. http://www.hulu.com/watch/79440/gunnin-for-that-1-spot

Also, good luck to the director & Beastie Boy Adam Yauch in his cancer treatment.

Watching this now...really haunting. The opening is pretty unexpected, and since that moment, it's like a frickin' Hitchcock nailbiter. Every long shot, every moment of stillness, I keep looking at the water, expecting someone to hit...