Check out Hulu.com. They have several of Criterion’s documentaries online: The Beales of Grey Gardens, Burden of Dreams, For All Mankind, General Idi Amin Dada, Harlan County USA, and Salesman.
Helvetica, about the font, is surprisingly good considering how dry you’d expect the material to be. It’s got a lot of information about general principles and history of graphic design. It’s surprising how… intense people can get about the shape of a few letters.
The Making of Steinway L1037 follows the construction of a Steinway grand piano from start to finish. The level of craftsmanship involved is fascinating, but the film itself feels slightly superficial. Still a damned good movie, though.
Step into Liquid - an excellent surfing doc from the son of Bruce Brown who directed the Endless Summer films. There’s a spectacular scene towards the end of open-ocean tow-in surfing with these crazy foilboards that *has *to be seen.
The bbc classics:
The Ascent of Man
Civilisation: A personal view
Connections
It Might Get Loud: Jimmy and Jack White, it’s wonderul. Edge is there too, but…meh.
Drakon: LARP at it’s finest.
Dungeon Masters: Similar to Drakon, but somehow a little more depressing.
How this guy does it I don’t know but over the years I have found lots of good stuff at Top Documentary Films. Good reviews and a chance to see if you are interested in hundreds of documentaries.