# Netflix streaming documentary suggestions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318 "2012-01-31T17:32:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/1 "2012-01-31T17:32:45Z")
I’ve about exhausted the documentaries I have in my Netflix Instant queue. I’ve watched **Jazz** , **Baseball** , **The War** , **The Civil War** , **The Last Days of WWII** , and probably every other History Channel WWII special Any other suggestions? Any subject is fine. I do find that I have to really enjoy the subject if it is a Ken Burns documentary, I can only take so much of the, “From Akron to Augusta, from Beaumont to Baton Rouge…” dialogue that is ever present in his documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/2 "2012-01-31T17:58:47Z")
Between the Folds The King of Kong The Best Worst Movie When We Left Earth Blue Planet Except for King of Kong I’m sure all of them are streaming. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/3 "2012-01-31T18:01:36Z")
Blue Planet Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/4 "2012-01-31T18:13:31Z")
Netflix streaming documentaries I have watched and enjoyed: - Ken Burns’ America: Empire of the Air - Bill Evans Trio: The Oslo Concerts - Imaginary Witness - Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 - A Great Day in Harlem There are some others I started but didn’t finish, for one reason or another. If any of these seem like your thing, perhaps I could recommend others. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/5 "2012-01-31T18:26:52Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Between the Folds I enjoyed this one very much. > [@](#): > > The King of Kong I didn’t even notice that was on Netflix streaming. Will have to cue that up! I’m a bit of a typographical nerd, so I also enjoyed Helvetica. Word Wars is fun if you’re a Scrabble fan (although the book Word Freaks is much better, IMHO), and Page One: Inside the New York Times (although I may have found this more interesting as I used to be work in newspapers and one of my old colleagues is in that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/6 "2012-01-31T18:31:28Z")
+1 The King of Kong, not streaming however. **The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia** : very Jerry Springer, but poignant. **I Like Killing Flies** Seinfeld didn’t invent the Soup Nazi, some New York restaurant owners are like that. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/7 "2012-01-31T18:45:24Z")
Tabloid (think it just went off streaming) Buck The Eyes of Tammy Faye Behind the Burly Q ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/8 "2012-01-31T18:48:53Z")
**Hoop Dreams** is something everyone seems to rave about, but I didn’t particularly like it. Working at basketball skills to make it as an NBA star or at least get a foot in the door for an educational opportunity is great, but that was neither. Studying was the answer for those kids’ problems. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/9 "2012-01-31T18:52:35Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas I thought Lions and Hyenas was fascinating. I never realized that hyenas were in the cat family as well. Another documentary that I found very interesting was one about squid. It was a multiparter that talked about the colossal squid in one episode and the invasion of Humboldt squid in the second. It’s in Netflix if you search for squid. Did you know that the colossal squid has a donut shaped brain and can get brain damage if it swallows something too large? Now you know… and that’s one to grow on. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/10 "2012-01-31T18:56:47Z")
Revenge of the Electric Car Wonderful doc about getting EVC’s to the market. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/11 "2012-01-31T18:58:52Z")
I watched [Cave of Forgotten Dreams](http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Cave_of_Forgotten_Dreams/70145740) last night and enjoyed it very much. Werner Herzog can lay it on a little thick at times though. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/12 "2012-01-31T19:00:09Z")
The Queen and I Superb doc about the wife of the shah of Iran in exile. Interesting and moving. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/13 "2012-01-31T19:01:13Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Between the Folds > . . . I’ll add my recomendation to this one. It’s worth a re-watch, too. There are some good ones that come up with the keyword search ‘museum.’ ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/14 "2012-01-31T19:20:32Z")
Dear Zachary was good. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/15 "2012-01-31T20:12:41Z")
Anything by Errol Morris: The Thin Blue Line Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. Vernon, Florida Fast, Cheap and Out of Control Also, This Film is Not Yet Rated ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/16 "2012-01-31T21:08:30Z")
A State of Mind is about North Korea and focusing around the Mass Games. It really fits nicely with the images coming out of N.K. the last few months. This one is really interesting as the families that are followed are clearly the best and finest examples of N.K. and as such the N.K. clearly still can’t understand the horror at the conditions that are presented to the world in what is shown. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/17 "2012-01-31T21:52:01Z")
Second the Errol Morris recommendations. I found [Touching the Void](http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Touching_the_Void/60033287?trkid=2361637) fascinating: > [@](#): > > Mixing interviews with dramatic re-enactments of the event, this gripping docudrama retells the mountaineering trek gone awry of Simon Yates (Nicholas Aaron) and Joe Simpson (Brendan Mackey), who falls and breaks his leg while climbing in the Andes. Yates, who’s tethered to him, attempts to lower him to safety but fails, forcing him to make a pivotal decision that may or may not save both of their lives. The question is, was it the right one? ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/18 "2012-01-31T21:56:18Z")
These are two I’ve seen recently on Netflix streaming: Living Goddess Protagonist I really want to see Jessica Yu’s other documentary In the Realms of the Unreal…, about Henry Darger, but it’s not on streaming and apparently its OOP too… ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/19 "2012-02-01T05:41:07Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > A State of Mind is about North Korea and focusing around the Mass Games. It really fits nicely with the images coming out of N.K. the last few months. > > This one is really interesting as the families that are followed are clearly the best and finest examples of N.K. and as such the N.K. clearly still can’t understand the horror at the conditions that are presented to the world in what is shown. Afterwards, watch [Vice Guide to Travel: North Korea](http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/vice_guide_to_north_korea_episode_1_of_3)…used to be on Watch Instantly, but I think this link has all of it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318/20 "2012-02-01T10:56:27Z")
I’ve always liked Trinity and Beyond. Lots of atomic explosions and William Shatner narrating–what’s not to love? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netflix-streaming-documentary-suggestions/611318.md?page=2)