# 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:** 4
### Author:  [@Jimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimi)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/61 "2013-01-28T18:06:54Z")
> [@JpnDude](#):
>
> In five parts, still available on YouTube: [The Incredible Human Journey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Human_Journey)
Saw it when it was first broadcast,brill doc.
---
### Author:  [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/62 "2013-01-28T18:25:51Z")
A few recent ones:
[The House I Live In](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - a look at what the War on Drugs has done to America. Watch it and weep.
[The Queen of Versailles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125666/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - even being wealthy doesn’t make you immune to money problems. And just what IS “The American Dream,” anyway? More importantly, what should it be?
[Chasing Ice](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1579361/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - a photographer uses time-lapse photography over the course of years to document the retreat of glaciers worldwide. Unbelievably gorgeous, as well as frightening.
[Brooklyn Castle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800266/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - a look at a school where the chess club (increasingly threatened by budget cuts), not the football team, is the idol of the school.
---
### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/63 "2013-01-29T00:53:52Z")
I’m a big fan of The Cove.
And that’s only a small bit because I hang out with one of the main divers.
---
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/64 "2013-01-29T03:59:08Z")
> [@artemis](#):
>
> [The Queen of Versailles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125666/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - even being wealthy doesn’t make you immune to money problems. And just what IS “The American Dream,” anyway? More importantly, what should it be?
I just saw this over the weekend. It was good. I felt like the “Queen” came off OK, while the husband(David Siegel or something) came off poorly. His son who works for the company comes off badly…like someone who is the son of a timeshare guy. A bit sleazy and not the kind of guy I’d like.
It was definitely watchable and streams on Netflix.
---
### Author:  [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/65 "2013-01-29T07:12:08Z")
Well, I’ll recommend _DerrickJ’s Victimless Crime Spree_–since I wrote the song parodies featured in it. You can watch it _gratis_ here:
[http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/derrick-js-victimless-crime-spree-video\_b7d28eacf.html](http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/derrick-js-victimless-crime-spree-video_b7d28eacf.html)
---
### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/66 "2013-01-29T19:17:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I just saw this over the weekend. It was good. I felt like the “Queen” came off OK, while the husband(David Siegel or something) came off poorly. His son who works for the company comes off badly…like someone who is the son of a timeshare guy. A bit sleazy and not the kind of guy I’d like.
>
> It was definitely watchable and streams on Netflix.
Many businesses leverage their assets to invest in future projects, there’s a point though that it becomes a house of cards. Even without the housing bust Siegel’s timeshare empire would eat itself in a Denny Heckeresque ponzi/fraud clusterfuck.
If that movie is a good example of anything it’s that money can buy anything but class, everything about those two screams trailer park lotto winner.
---
### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/67 "2013-01-29T19:40:25Z")
I got a kick out of **Inhaling the Spore: A Journey Through the Museum of Jurassic Technology**. If you like your quirky to be purposeful, this is your quirky.
---
### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/68 "2013-01-29T19:44:23Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> I’m a big fan of The Cove.
>
> And that’s only a small bit because I hang out with one of the main divers.
I would also recommend _The Cove_, but be careful. I absolutely will not let my wife watch it. I know how that sounds, but trust me, she would be unable to handle the end of it.
Even if you don’t like sports, the 30 for 30 series by ESPN has several excellent documentaries that sports are just the vehicle. Especially _The Two Escobars_.
---
### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/69 "2013-01-30T01:07:23Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#):
>
> I would also recommend _The Cove_, but be careful. I absolutely will not let my wife watch it. I know how that sounds, but trust me, she would be unable to handle the end of it.
Good point. There is a bit of a squeamish scene. I told my sister not to watch it, for that reason.
They (the people who made the movie..not my sister..) actually thought it should be..more squeamish. I haven’t seen the extra footage that was removed, but I think they hit a good balance.
For those curious:
There is a scene with Dolphins being stabbed, and red bloody water.
---
### Author:  [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/70 "2013-01-31T08:31:12Z")
Woodstock
Roy Orbison’s Black and White Nights
Harlan County U.S.A.
The Thin Blue Line
Roger & Me
The Fog of War
Why We Fight
The Weather Underground
Inside Job
---
### Author:  [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/71 "2013-01-31T09:09:37Z")
Light and adorable, but still insightful: [Spellbound](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0334405/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2). Follows a group of kids trying to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
---
### Author:  [@Jimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimi)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/72 "2013-02-14T18:02:06Z")
Gun crazy USA.
(Btw,since the Newtown school massacre there has been 1.189 fatalities gun wise,do Americans never learn anything !!!)
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZO30lPGm4)
---
### Author:  [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/73 "2013-04-20T18:39:59Z")
> [@Sitnam](#):
>
> > [@Mahaloth](#):
> >
> > > [@artemis](#):
> > >
> > > A few recent ones:
> > > [The Queen of Versailles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125666/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - even being wealthy doesn’t make you immune to money problems. And just what IS “The American Dream,” anyway? More importantly, what should it be?
> >
> > I just saw this over the weekend. It was good. I felt like the “Queen” came off OK, while the husband(David Siegel or something) came off poorly. His son who works for the company comes off badly…like someone who is the son of a timeshare guy. A bit sleazy and not the kind of guy I’d like.
> >
> > It was definitely watchable and streams on Netflix.
>
> Many businesses leverage their assets to invest in future projects, there’s a point though that it becomes a house of cards. Even without the housing bust Siegel’s timeshare empire would eat itself in a Denny Heckeresque ponzi/fraud clusterfuck.
>
> If that movie is a good example of anything it’s that money can buy anything but class, everything about those two screams trailer park lotto winner.
I watched this documentary last night; my in-laws live in the Orlando area and had at one time mentioned the Siegels and their antics over the years covered. David Siegel and his clan are generally disliked in the area, especially by their neighbors. I think that, in many ways, all the parties were portrayed somewhat fairly. You’ve got a lot of really complex personality interactions going on-- it’s not just David and Jacqueline, but the one nanny they features and the niece [Jonquil] providing a lot of context to their lives. The nanny moved from the Philippines to work for the Siegels and gave up raising her own kids so she could send money back to her family; she once had dreams of being able to move back to the Philippines and build a large family home in concrete, but it looks like those dreams may have died along the way. We see a scene where she shows us that she’s recently moved into the kids’ abandoned playhouse. Though it’s incredibly cramped, she’s able to get some peace and quiet in her downtime hours. In contrast, we have Jonquil, a teenager who was disowned (?) by her parents. Jonquil was living as a “dirt poor” person in a literal sense-- her bedroom was in the basement and had a dirt floor; she didn’t have much, and when she came to live with the Siegels, she had a small suitcase mostly packed with dirty underwear and a few stuffed animals. In the documentary, we hear from her how she feels about living on opposite ends of the income scale. She does mention that her currently lifestyle is _very_ strange, but that she’s become accustomed to the trappings of being part of a wealthy family living in excess. At the very least, she has mixed feelings about it, and her coming to live with the Siegels has had an effect on the Siegel kids living with David and Jacqueline.
Also, what is it with excessively wealthy folks and having dogs that are so poorly trained that there’s dog shit everywhere in the house? It’s pretty disgusting, and I really don’t understand it; between that and the massive amounts of stuff, it has some visual similarities to folks in the earlier stages of hoarding.
---
### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/74 "2013-04-20T22:01:08Z")
Kumare: Filmmaker Vikram Gandhi puts an unexpected twist on this sobering documentary about spirituality and the power of suggestion when he poses as a prophet named Kumaré and develops a sizable following in the American Southwest.
This one has got it all. Something for both Atheist and Theist. Some parts are laugh out loud funny and some parts are just hard to watch.
Also, I get the distinct impression if you’re a Guru getting laid is not a problem for you.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/75 "2013-04-20T22:12:15Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> 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.
Trivia note: Randall Adams, the subject of _The Thin Blue Line_, subsequently sued Morris after he was released from prison.
---
### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/76 "2013-04-30T20:27:52Z")
Another recommendation for The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia.
Also visit [vice.com](http://vice.com), they have some unusual documentaries. Be warned they lean toward the prurient side of things but they still show interesting places and people.
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/77 "2013-05-01T02:54:44Z")
I recently saw a delightful doc called “Thunder Soul”. It’s about the Thunder Soul Stage Band from Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas, which won numerous awards both in the U.S. and overseas in the 1970s. In addition, this band was made up mostly of black kids from a low-income neighborhood, and had a black director which was definitely unusual at that time. In 2008, some of these people, now in their 50s, had a reunion concert in honor of the director, who was 92 years old and died two days after that concert.
If you watch it on DVD, be sure to listen to the commentary track and watch the extras too.
These people are simply amazing. The movie had a brief theatrical run and is rated PG for “historical smoking”.
And there’s always “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”, which was their very own feature-length “Behind The Music”. 🆒
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/78 "2013-05-01T02:57:40Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#):
>
> I watched this documentary last night; my in-laws live in the Orlando area and had at one time mentioned the Siegels and their antics over the years covered. David Siegel and his clan are generally disliked in the area, especially by their neighbors. I think that, in many ways, all the parties were portrayed somewhat fairly. You’ve got a lot of really complex personality interactions going on-- it’s not just David and Jacqueline, but the one nanny they features and the niece [Jonquil] providing a lot of context to their lives. The nanny moved from the Philippines to work for the Siegels and gave up raising her own kids so she could send money back to her family; she once had dreams of being able to move back to the Philippines and build a large family home in concrete, but it looks like those dreams may have died along the way. We see a scene where she shows us that she’s recently moved into the kids’ abandoned playhouse. Though it’s incredibly cramped, she’s able to get some peace and quiet in her downtime hours. In contrast, we have Jonquil, a teenager who was disowned (?) by her parents. Jonquil was living as a “dirt poor” person in a literal sense-- her bedroom was in the basement and had a dirt floor; she didn’t have much, and when she came to live with the Siegels, she had a small suitcase mostly packed with dirty underwear and a few stuffed animals. In the documentary, we hear from her how she feels about living on opposite ends of the income scale. She does mention that her currently lifestyle is _very_ strange, but that she’s become accustomed to the trappings of being part of a wealthy family living in excess. At the very least, she has mixed feelings about it, and her coming to live with the Siegels has had an effect on the Siegel kids living with David and Jacqueline.
>
> Also, what is it with excessively wealthy folks and having dogs that are so poorly trained that there’s dog shit everywhere in the house? It’s pretty disgusting, and I really don’t understand it; between that and the massive amounts of stuff, it has some visual similarities to folks in the earlier stages of hoarding.
The DVD extras include an outtake featuring Jonquil with the aunt and uncle who raised her for a while after her mother died. They are both profoundly deaf, and Jonquil is fluent in ASL.
And remember the black couple who took the time-share tour? Also in the extras is the couple, with two black salespeople trying to talk them into purchasing one, and when one of them gets the price down to $31 a month, they realize the whole thing is nothing but a scam, and get up and walk away.
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/79 "2013-05-01T03:00:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Trivia note: Randall Adams, the subject of _The Thin Blue Line_, subsequently sued Morris after he was released from prison.
Didn’t he also die a few years ago?
When “Tabloid” had its theatrical run, it was playing at an art house theater in a city 50 miles from where I was living at the time, and it looked interesting to me, until the theater’s website said, “We are not giving refunds for ‘Tabloid’”. So, I didn’t see it in the theater but did watch it on DVD, and it was…strange.
“Senna”, about the late racecar driver Ayrton Senna, was highly praised but I thought it was boring.
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365/80 "2013-05-01T05:42:26Z")
Ooh! Here’s another one. “Best Worst Movie”, which is about “Troll 2”, an ultra low-budget horror movie parody that has a cult following rivaling that of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and has been deliberately rated as low as possible on websites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. It’s great, and also prompted me to see “Troll 2”. That movie honestly wasn’t THAT bad - it actually had a plot, and the acting was reasonably good - but I could see where they were coming from. Both movies are unrated, but are PG-13 class for language and campy fake violence.
The scene in “BWM” where the star, who was and is a practicing dentist, comments on the poor dental hygiene of the attendees at a horror movie convention is by itself worth seeing the movie.
Another movie about a movie is “Audience of One”, although there’s nothing funny or amusing about this. It’s about a man who pastors a former megachurch, and he’s determined to make a high-budget epic about the Biblical story of Joseph. This man is clearly delusional, and he reminded me of a pastor I read about in the newspaper who self-published the story of his faith journey, and he told the story about when he was in college and he would watch TBN while high, and also while not high, and thinking, “I grew up in the church, and I have never met people this weird.” I’m not trying to make fun of people with mental health issues, but the man is indeed that weird.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365.md?page=3)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-recommendations/637365.md?page=5)