Has anyone seen and good documentaries recently i need to feed my brain. Any subject.. thanks in advance

My favorite is "When You're Strange," a documentary on the Doors. But then again I'm a huge Doors fan .

Haven't seen it yet, but at the Toronto International Film Fest this week a new 15-hour-long documentary on the history of cinema is screening. It's called The Story of Film: An Odyssey, showcases more than 1,000 films from the last 11 decades, and it's created notable buzz.

I may check out a couple hours of it later this week. (It's screening for free. ) You'll probably be able to find a box set of it sometime through the next year or so.

[Edited 9/11/11 6:42am]

Born Into Brothels

Mad Hot Ballroom

Valentino: The Last Emperor, The September Issue, L'Amour Fou, 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris (all fashion related)

Frank Lloyd Wright (local interest for me - he lived in this area)

I'm a huge fan of The American Experience on PBS.

There's also...

*Baraka -- Not so much a documentary (not in a scripted sense, anyway) as a motion picture montage of life on earth. It's beautiful.

* Paris is Burning -- Chronicles the gay Black/Latin ballroom scene of Uptown New York through the '80s.

* If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise -- Spike Lee's look at New Orleans since Katrina, a followup to his earlier When the Levee Broke.

Everything by Frederick Wiseman is worth watching.

Behind the Shimmy

Just watched it last nite... Its not a thought provoking docu but it was intersting to me because I love the dance, the music, the outfits and these girls went on tour with lalapalooza which was why the whole docu was made because they arent a rock band... They were a sweet bunch of fun girls with tremendous talent!

Lammastide said:

Haven't seen it yet, but at the Toronto International Film Fest this week a new 15-hour-long documentary on the history of cinema is screening. It's called The Story of Film: An Odyssey, showcases more than 1,000 films from the last 11 decades, and it's created notable buzz.

I may check out a couple hours of it later this week. (It's screening for free. ) You'll probably be able to find a box set of it sometime through the next year or so.

[Edited 9/11/11 6:42am]

it's actually a 15 part tv series. they are obviously playing all the episodes back to back

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/4od

watch it legally and free at that link

and more details below

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/episode-guide/series-1

OMG - I forgot my all-time favorite (because it's about what I do). I saw a screening at a film festival - and my brain was on fire for a week. Any time I need a little validation, professionally - I pop in the DVD. It's the only documentary I actually own.

unique said:

Lammastide said:

Haven't seen it yet, but at the Toronto International Film Fest this week a new 15-hour-long documentary on the history of cinema is screening. It's called The Story of Film: An Odyssey, showcases more than 1,000 films from the last 11 decades, and it's created notable buzz.

I may check out a couple hours of it later this week. (It's screening for free. ) You'll probably be able to find a box set of it sometime through the next year or so.

[Edited 9/11/11 6:42am]

it's actually a 15 part tv series. they are obviously playing all the episodes back to back

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/4od

watch it legally and free at that link

and more details below

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/episode-guide/series-1

Very cool. Thanks for this.

Looks like the episodes are being broadcast over time via UK television and online. So, yes, apparently TIFF is screening all forthcoming episodes back-to-back for the dieharders who can take it.

I'll check out an hour or two for free this week. But it would be nice to know if, in fact, there will be some DVD or alternate release to catch the balance after the festival is over. I don't get UK channels, and the sites you've linked don't seem to stream in Canada.

[Edited 9/11/11 9:02am]

well, they were finally freed via a technicality 2 weeks ago, but "paradise lost: the child murders at robin hood hills" and it's sequel "paradise lost 2: revelations" are an amazing doc series about 3 innocent teen boys who became scapegoats based on ridiculous propaganda and spent almost 20 years in prison for it.

a third was was finished just before they were released, and i am very excited to see it

Current TV had a special on the 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die, and while I agree with a lot of the selections on this list, they ignore all the documentaries made before 1985, which leaves out Grey Gardens and Woodstock, and they didn't include the Up series (7up, 14up. 21up) or Spike Lee's awesome Four Little Girls. Here's the list counting down from 50 to 1.

50. Spellbound (2002)
49. Truth or Dare (1991)
48. The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
47. One Day in September (1999)
46. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
45. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
44. Burma VJ (2008)
43. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
42. Catfish (2010)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
39. Biggie & Tupac (2002)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
37. Inside Job (2010)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
34. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
30. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
29. Man on Wire (2008)
28. Gasland (2010)
27. Tarnation (2003)
26. Murderball (2005)
25. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
24. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
23. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
22. Shut Up & Sing (2006)
21. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
20. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
19. Touching the Void (2003)
18. Food, Inc. (2008)
17. Street Fight (2005)
16. Bus 174 (2002)
15. Crumb (1994)
14. Dark Days (2000)
13. The Fog of War (2003)
12. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
11. Paris Is Burning (1991)
10. Grizzly Man (2005)
9. Trouble the Water (2008)
8. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
7. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
6. The War Room (1993)
5. Supersize Me (2004)
4. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
3. Roger & Me (1989)
2. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
1. Hoop Dreams (1994)

[Edited 9/11/11 9:50am]

728huey said:

Current TV had a special on the 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die, and while I agree with a lot of the selections on this list, they ignore all the documentaries made before 1985, which leaves out Grey Gardens and Woodstock, and they didn't include the Up series (7up, 14up. 21up) or Spike Lee's awesome Four Little Girls. Here's the list counting down from 50 to 1.

1. Hoop Dreams (1994)

trust a documentary that has prince related artists such as the wonderful wrapper tony m to be number 1

Lammastide said:

unique said:

it's actually a 15 part tv series. they are obviously playing all the episodes back to back

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/4od

watch it legally and free at that link

and more details below

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey/episode-guide/series-1

Very cool. Thanks for this.

Looks like the episodes are being broadcast over time via UK television and online. So, yes, apparently TIFF is screening all forthcoming episodes back-to-back for the dieharders who can take it.

I'll check out an hour or two for free this week. But it would be nice to know if, in fact, there will be some DVD or alternate release to catch the balance after the festival is over. I don't get UK channels, and the sites you've linked don't seem to stream in Canada.

[Edited 9/11/11 9:02am]

there are various ways to watch it online. just use google. you can watch via that stream if you know what you are doing, or look at the bad sites on the internets where you can download it and watch when you want

Genesia said:

Born Into Brothels

Mad Hot Ballroom

Valentino: The Last Emperor, The September Issue, L'Amour Fou, 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris (all fashion related)

Frank Lloyd Wright (local interest for me - he lived in this area)

I'm a huge fan of The American Experience on PBS.

LOVE LOVE LOVED

Born Into Brothels & Mad Hot Ballroom!!!!

And Lammastide. PARIS IS BURNING is engraved in my brain. BARAKA is beautiful. I wish I would've waited to buy it on BLU RAY.

Dogtown & Z-Boys is SOOO great. Really happy to see that it made that list. Its unfortunate that it now gets confused with the feature film that was based on it, because that film is nowhere near as interesting.

I just watched Microcosmos this last weekend. Can't recommend it highly enough, especially if you have a blu-ray player and/or hdtv. It has about 30 seconds of dialogue, the rest is just bugs filmed with incredible macro lenses. Looks like the entire thing is on YouTube, too. But it doesn't look nearly as beautiful as it did on my tv.

The Parking Lot Movie. Shouldn't be interesting, but it is.

Exit Through The Gift Shop, definitely.

Baraka has a great soundtrack, too. Probably in my top 20 favorites of all-time.

Nat Geo's Great Migrations

I know I'm forgetting a bunch - some I've even watched recently. I'll come back to this...