# Documentary fans: What documentaries do you recommend
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 20, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843 "2010-06-20T04:47:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/101 "2010-07-01T02:50:13Z")
I can’t say I recommend it exactly, but [Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120126/) (1997) is worth maybe a look once. It’s different anyway.
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### Author:  [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/102 "2010-07-01T03:09:19Z")
You may still be able to catch this on ESPN as part of their 30 at 30 celebration, but either way I’d recommend you track down [The Two Escobars](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1522863/), which tells the stories of infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar, soccer player Andres Escobar (who was murdered in his home town after scoring the own goal that knocked Colombia out of World Cup '94) and the hold that the drug lords had over Colombia during the 80’s and 90’s. It’s really powerful stuff, to which a brief description on a message board cannot do justice
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### Author:  [@shamblesmaybe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamblesmaybe)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/103 "2010-07-01T03:12:34Z")
This documentary cost me about a small fortune in books as I’d never heard of this lady before I saw it.
> **[BBC One - imagine..., Summer 2010, Growing Old Disgracefully](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sz455)**
>
> Alan Yentob meets Diana Athill, whose memoirs chart a life less ordinary.
Watch it before they take it off the sight. Diana Athill shows what a good education and amazing insight can do.
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### Author:  [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/104 "2010-07-02T14:57:25Z")
Heres a great follow up on the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed into the Andes. In order to survive they are forced to eat their dead teammates.
[**Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157720/)
“For the first time ever, survivors of the famous 1972 Andes plane crash tell in their own words their harrowing story of survival”
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### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/105 "2010-07-02T15:56:31Z")
I love documentaries so all of my favorites have already been posted.
But I stumbled across an interesting one on the Doc channel. It was called The Last Supper and it was about the last meal of inmates on death row. But what I liked most about the film was the production. Or the way the film was put together, all the little touches, the music, the visuals, the little scenes between segments. Also, the little trivia about the last meals of certain famous killers. It was a pretty good film.
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### Author:  [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/106 "2010-07-02T19:00:46Z")
I am looking for good docs dealing with religion in America
Here is a couple that I have seen (most of them already mentioned)
\*\*Deliver us from Evil
PBS: the mormons
The root of all Evil (richard dawkins)
Hell House
For the Bible Says so (dealing with homosexuality)
\*\*
any other good ones?
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### Author:  [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/107 "2010-07-02T19:22:43Z")
_[Standing in the Shadows of Motown](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314725/)_ is kind something of a hybrid documentary. It’s about the Funk Brothers, the backing band that played on Motown’s hits of the 1960s and '70s, and the documentary is interspersed with a current-day Funk Brothers concert. It’s very interesting; if you watch it, do so loudly.
**scamartistry** – as far as religion-themed docs, the aforementioned _Jesus Camp_ is very good; Bill Maher’s \*[Religulous](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/)\*is pretty interesting as well.
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### Author:  [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/108 "2010-07-02T19:44:06Z")
I really liked [The Bridge](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/) (about suicides off the Golden Gate Bridge in California), [The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/) (about one man’s attempt to break the world record top score on Donkey Kong), and [Slasher](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375073/) (a weekend in the life of specialist used car salesman).
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### Author:  [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/109 "2010-07-03T18:53:50Z")
Inside Deep Throat is fascinating. ([Youtube Trailer](http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDAQtwIwBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds2cNTQMAtCM&ei=pIYvTPXCKorw0gT5uqiYAw&usg=AFQjCNF8FjtmJTvQQEWRySkiZ2buv4VMiQ&sig2=kEnwXcryGJlfWTgi1yrFxQ))
[Starsuckers.](http://www.starsuckersmovie.com/)
Requiem for Detroit.
SPIN, by Brian Springer, which is on Google Video.
Bush Family Fortunes, which is a Greg Palast one, also on t’internet somewhere.
Crazy Rulers of the World, the accompanying book of which is the basis for The Men Who Stare At Goats movie.
Adam Curtis’s Power of Nightmares.
Allan Francovic’s Operation Gladio.
Who Killed The Electric Car.
My Kid Could Paint That.
Evidence of Revision.
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### Author:  [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/110 "2010-07-10T13:44:40Z")
Slight bump for this thread because I just saw Anvil on BBC iPlayer (it’s still on there I believe) and it’s really amazing…if you have access to iPlayer, watch it now. Amazing depiction of friendship, and tragicomic determination.
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### Author:  [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/111 "2010-07-10T16:25:01Z")
The original version of _The World At War_ (1973), not the diced up version currently sold by Time-Life, and surely not the version shown on Military Channel, where there have been cuts in favour of adding more commercials.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/112 "2010-07-10T16:41:50Z")
Recently saw **The Celluloid Closet** , recommended by another Doper in CS, and loved it. It is about the portrayal of homosexuals in cinema stretching back from the beginning. It is highly informative and if you have a soul it will break your heart.
Available on Netflix.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/113 "2010-07-13T08:58:02Z")
> [@scamartistry](#):
>
> **Talhotblond** (sic!) True story of a love triangle that takes place entirely online. Lies lead to murder in real life. INSANE
Bumping this thread because I just watched \*Talhotblond \*last night and holy cow! It’s amazing that situation escalated to the degree it did. It seemed like the participants (at least two of them) had multiple chances to stop things, but they continued their destructive behavior. And just when you think the story is winding down, it gets even stranger and more tragic. The internet is a dangerous place, folks!
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/114 "2010-07-13T09:32:54Z")
Terry Jones’s **The Crusades** isn’t, strictly speaking, a documentary–it’s mostly re-creations, with many distortions made for satire’s sake–but it gets my highest recommendation.
Erroll Morris’s **Dr. Death** has been recommended a few times. I want to throw out a quote from Morris from an interview around the time of its release. Asked about **Schindler’s List** and how it compares to his own film, Morris–and I’m paraphrasing here–replied “Spielberg has what I think is a very interesting idea, which is that anybody can be a hero. I have what I think is an even more interesting idea, which is that anybody can _think_ he’s a hero.”
Despite Michael Moore’s minor involvement, I’m going to recommend **Blood in the Face** , a swell documentary about neo-Nazis. One scene in particular, where a pair of skinheads set up a soapbox in a Black neighborhood to preach race separatism, challenged a lot of assumptions I had about these people. Whatever you can legitimately say against them, these guys really did have the courage of their (admittedly worthless) convictions. A lesser filmmaker would have focused instead on, I dunno, their bad grammar or something.
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### Author:  [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/115 "2010-07-17T01:32:20Z")
This is something special, people getting in trouble smuggling illegal goods into random countries. This is the real deal -Can not recommend enough!
**[Banged up abroad](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020109/)**
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### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/116 "2010-07-17T01:59:37Z")
I see most of my documentaries at events like the Taos Mountain Film Festival and the Banff Mountain Film Festival, so these might be a bit difficult to obtain commercially:
[Skiing Everest](http://www.skiingeverest.net/), about, yes, climbing Mt. Everest and this skiing down the thing. It’s Roger Marolt’s sons and a friend of theirs. They all grew up in the mountains of CO climbing up mountains and then skiing down them, so they started doing it bigger and bigger. It’s crazy.
Along the same lines: [Mt. St. Elias](http://www.mountstelias.com/en/), a documentary about climbing the entire 18,000 feet of Mt. St. Elias in Alaska, and then skiing all 18,000 feet. The mountain adjoins a bay, so it starts at sea level. That makes its vertical rise the whole 18,000 - base camp to top of Mt. Everest is only a 12,000 foot rise. The film includes footage of a similar attempt by an American team a couple of years before, in which two members of the team slipped and fell to their deaths. They include that footage. I don’t think I took a single breath the entire 2 hours I watched it. It won Best Film at Taos last year.
[Red Gold](http://www.redgoldfilm.com/), a film which won Audience Choice at Banff and Directors AND Audience Choice at Telluride Mountain Film Festival. It’s a look at the people whose lives and livelihoods are bound up with the sockeye salmon runs in Alaska, and how those lives will be affected by the copper mines that are starting to open at the headwaters of the two rivers that lead to Bristol Bay and that are home to the sockeye salmon.
I cannot recommend these three films enough.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/117 "2010-07-17T02:20:28Z")
I am shocked that **Dig!** hasn’t been mentioned; one of my favorite docs ever, it chronicles the careers of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols.
Also, **End of the Century** , about The Ramones.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/118 "2010-07-18T03:09:13Z")
Another good one is [The Year of the Yao](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360216/) (2004) about Chinese basketball star Ming Yao’s rise to fame in the NBA. I’m not a basketball fan, and it’s still good.
[Dark Days](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235327/) (2000), about the homeless who live beneath the streets of New York City, is also good.
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/119 "2010-07-18T03:40:57Z")
Anyone who liked The Fog of War would probably like this. A very, very close brush with nuclear war with the Soviet Union that few people are aware of.
**1983: The Brink Of Apocalypse**
[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1630001170436508560#](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1630001170436508560#)
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-fans-what-documentaries-do-you-recommend/543843/120 "2010-07-18T04:05:29Z")
_Hearts of Darkness_, about the making of _Apocalypse Now_. Many rate it as entertaining as the latter.
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