# Documentary Recommendations
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 10, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365 "2012-10-10T23:26:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/41 "2012-10-13T06:43:13Z")
Fog of War - Fantastic, just fantastic.
Confessions of a Superhero - Sad but not depressing
Vice Guide to North Korea - the only documentary I’ve ever seen that does a good job of investigating North Korea
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virgina - a bizarre Jerry Springer like train wreck
Paris is Burning - transgender vogueing community in New York in the 80’s, far better than I expected.
Dark Days - people living in a New York subway, how and why.
Gasland
Word Wars
Anti-recommendations you didn’t ask for:
Man on Wire - dull dream and his wife is pathetic
Restrepo - Interesting for it’s transient depiction of American power, but the futility of war doesn’t seem to require a futily recorded haphazard documentary.
Hoop Dreams - really long and I think convinced me of the opposite conclusion the film drew, basketball offers no educational advantage to even those lucky and skilled.
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### Author:  [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/42 "2012-10-13T08:39:28Z")
You can watch old episodes of PBS’s \*Frontline \*on their website. There’s around 130 full episodes there for free.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/43 "2012-10-13T10:38:03Z")
This one is spectacular:
> **[Independent Lens | PBS](https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/)**
>
> America's home for independent documentary film
It’s about garbage pickers in the world’s largest dump in Brazil. One of the most moving films I’ve ever seen. It’s not about their “plight,” but about an art project.
I think I watched it on amazon streaming.
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### Author:  [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/44 "2012-10-13T13:20:24Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> Just watched this the other day.
>
> More on outsider artists:
>
> _Marwencol_, about a guy who suffers permanent mental and physical damage after a beating one night coming out of the bar, and goes on to create an entire WWII village, with mythology, as self therapy (he’s uninsured). Sounds weird, but it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, and I watched it three times before finally writing an essay on it.
>
> _In a Dream_, about a mosaic artist here in Philly, by his son.
>
> _In the Realms of the Unreal_, about an outsider artist who died in 1974; more about his work than his life.
I can heartily second _Marwencol_. Caught it on PBS one night and really liked it.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/45 "2012-10-13T14:39:26Z")
Two documentaries about the whys and wherefores of war:
[Why We Fight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/)
[The Fog of War](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/)
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/46 "2012-10-14T00:31:27Z")
> [@birdbrain](#):
>
> [Catfish](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1584016/)
Watched it and it was definitely fascinating. I believe it was real, but I do think they recreated some of the early scenes later, which is what they are accused of doing.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/47 "2012-10-14T01:23:34Z")
Clay, Wood, Fire, Spirit: The Pottery of Richard Bresnahan.
It’s about the building and use of a very large wood-fired kiln in Minnesota. I just like watching people build stuff.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/48 "2012-10-14T01:46:56Z")
A couple of fun ones: [Winnebago Man](http://www.amazon.com/Winnebago-Man-Jack-Rebney/dp/B0041518C4) and [Best Worst Movie](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Worst-Movie-George-Hardy/dp/B003X3BYHE)
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### Author:  [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/49 "2012-10-14T02:13:20Z")
Thank you **hamwater** and **StGermain**. I finally watched it.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/50 "2012-10-14T20:31:56Z")
_The Kid Stays in the Picture_
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#):
>
> I agree, and maybe the only autobiography I know of where the author paints himself as a total dick.
>
> Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that.
No, I’m sure Evans knows he’s a dick. But he is such a compelling and _charismatic_ dick that you wind up forgiving him.
---
### Author:  [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/51 "2012-10-14T22:02:21Z")
\*Men of the Tall Ships \*- documents the transAtlantic “race” of the tall ships, ending with the 7/4/76 transit of the Hudson River at NYC. (aired most recently yesterday-10/13/12)
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/52 "2012-10-14T22:05:36Z")
> [@Ignatz](#):
>
> \*Men of the Tall Ships \*- documents the transAtlantic “race” of the tall ships, ending with the 7/4/76 transit of the Hudson River at NYC. (aired most recently yesterday-10/13/12)
Wait a minute! You’re telling me that mankind has finally succeeded in crossing the Hudson River?! 😛
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/53 "2012-11-02T16:36:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#):
>
> - [Tom Dowd: The Language of Music](http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Dowd-Language-Music-Charles/dp/B00011ZBOS) (all links are Amazon listings) - Dowd was the guy at the recording desk for everything from Ray Charles, to Aretha, to John Coltrane, to Cream to the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Oh, and before that, he was a junior mathematician on the Manhattan Project. One of the best music doc’s I have ever seen. Essential viewing.
Seconded on this one. A brilliant engineer who worked with the greats, and also a really sweet guy.
> [@ecoaster](#):
>
> [Searching For Sugar Man](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/searching_for_sugar_man/)
Yes, a thousand times YES. Don’t read anything about it, just _go see it_. Amazing documentary. Saw it last night and loved it.
> [@](#):
>
> [King of Kong](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/king_of_kong/)
>
> Bill Cunningham New York
>
> My general rule about docs is, the less I know about the film, the better. If it gets high praise, or someone recommends it, I’ll watch it. Reading about movies or even knowing much about the plot or content beforehand waters down the experience for me. If you know next to nothing you have no expectations and therefore take in the story in more open way, IMHO.
What **ecoaster** said. These three films have topics that, just reading about them, you wouldn’t necessarily thing “I gotta see that”, but they are all great stories, well told, as entertaining as any Hollywood movie.
> [@Labdad](#):
>
> Some oldies but goodies:
>
> [_Crumb_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumb_(film)) (1994) Amazing documentary about the noted underground cartoonist R Crumb.
One of my all-time favorite documentaries.
---
### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/54 "2013-01-23T20:35:13Z")
I watched **Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of The Toynbee Tiles** the other night.
> **[Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787791/)**
>
> Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles: Directed by Jon Foy. With Justin Duerr, Marc Duerr, Kevin Riley, Abby Miller. An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have...
I first read about Toynbee Tiles several years ago, but if you don’t know what they are here’s the wiki page.
> **[Toynbee tiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toynbee_tiles)**
>
> The Toynbee tiles, also called Toynbee plaques, are messages of unknown origin found embedded in asphalt of streets in about two dozen major cities in the United States and four South American cities. Since the 1980s, several hundred tiles have been discovered. They are generally about the size of an American license plate (roughly 30 by 15 cm or 12 by 6 in), but sometimes considerably larger. They contain some variation of the following inscription:
> TOYNBEE IDEA
> IN MOViE '2001
> RESURRECT DEAD
> ...
Warning: the Wikipedia page has information about the documentary so skip that section if you want to watch it and avoid spoilers.
I thought the documentary was pretty well done and definitely worth watching. The ending may not be 100% satisfying, but I would still recommend it.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/55 "2013-01-23T20:59:34Z")
The greatest crime documentary ever (it’s taught in film schools).
[The Thin Blue Line](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096257/) by Errol Morris.
It successfully freed a man wrongly accused of murdering a police officer. A gripping piece of film from start to finish.
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### Author:  [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/56 "2013-01-23T21:40:17Z")
[The Saint of 9/11.](http://www.amazon.com/Saint-11-Story-Father-Mychal/dp/B000ION2IU)
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### Author:  [@Jimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimi)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/57 "2013-01-27T23:11:18Z")
Harrowing story about Gaza.
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohSO_MGNw1Q)
Finding life beyond earth.
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfU0CFSL7fw)
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### Author:  [@Jimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimi)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/58 "2013-01-27T23:29:55Z")
The Jonestown Massacre.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/D7IxGGfpSWk?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PL5DD76E31358D8882
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### Author:  [@Jimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimi)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/59 "2013-01-27T23:36:57Z")
Encounters at the end of the world.
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ldWPopPzs)
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### Author:  [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/60 "2013-01-28T02:25:39Z")
In five parts, still available on YouTube: [The Incredible Human Journey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Human_Journey)
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