I know I’m dense. I’m still not seeing a nice list of the documentaries. I thought he went to Pakistan and Sudan, but I don’t see those listed.
Is there a good list of VICE guide episodes?
2nd this and umpteenth King of Kong. Although I believe even Wiebe has said that Mitchell wasn’t as bad of a guy as the film portrays. Whether that’s the truth, or he is just trying to bury the hatchet I don’t know. I believe From Mao to Mozart is also streaming at the moment.
There’s one called Living Goddess about an odd (from an western point of view) practice of bestowing goddess-hood on a small child in Nepal…I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my queue.
Vice Guide to Travel, some are much better than others, the North Korean one is great.
The Wild and Wonderful Whites - about the hick White family from West Virginia. Really scratches that Jerry Springer train wreak itch. I was watching it with my brother and there was a point he yelled out, “oh hell no she isn’t snorting her postnatal pain meds in the hospital!”
About Confessions of a Superhero, I saw it years ago but I still think about the Hulk, and hope he’s doing well.
What’s interesting about that (to me anyways) is that the Wild and Wonderful Whites was essentially a follow-up to Dancing Outlaw, which was by the guy who went on to do such heavy documentaries as Born into Brothels. What’s wierd about it is that the original, by the Born into Brothels guy, seems far more like a “huh huh, look at these hillbillies” movie than the recent one that was underwritten by freakin’ Johnny Knoxville of all people. I get the impression that Wild and Wonderful was originally supposed to be even more of a hillbilly exploitation film, but then as they actually started following these people around, turned into the far less sympathetic and genuinely depressing film it is. The original Dancing Outlaw isn’t even in the Netflix system, but can be found on Amazon and I’d recommend watching it before the Wild and Wonderful Whites.
It is depressing but still sympathetic to the subjects. They’re the cause of their own misery but they grew up in a household of hopelessness.
One of my favorite moments in the movie is where the mayor of the town the Whites live in is asked about them. He replys, “There was a young man who grew up here who went on to MIT and now builds stuff on the Space Station. Why don’t you guys make a film about* that* guy?” Why indeed. And why wouldn’t we rather watch that film.
I watched this yesterday. It was good, but nearly as good as Darkon. For one thing the people in Darkon really have their stuff together in running that game. The Monster Camp crew looked kind of pathetic in comparison. The big reason that Darkon was better though was that it developed a great narrative - weaving together the in-game betrayal story line with that main guy’s personal story. Film makers makers need to understand that documentaries need to tell a story. The stronger the story the better the documentary. Monster Camp was more of the album of snapshots variety.
I watched this today. I’m not into metal at all, but I found this very interesting. The film was well made.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about the guys in that band. On the one hand I feel sorry for them as so many bands they played with went on to mega-stardom while they languished in obscurity. On the other hand they had good jobs and nice families and they got to travel the world and play music to adoring fans. A lot of their failure was of their own making and they seemed ignorant of this. Yeah, their European tour was kind of a disaster, but it was set up by some random fan they met on the internet. Lips talked about never getting paid by any of his record labels. So why didn’t he hire a lawyer? Why did he keep signing on with different labels without representation?
I mean these guys were in the music business for more than 30 years, some of that time at a very high stakes level, and they seemed to have learned absolutely nothing about to operate in the music business. They acted more like a high school garage band than a team of seasoned professionals. Nevertheless their triumph at that Japanese concert was sweet, and I’m glad they have met with some measure of success.
Capturing the Friedmans, a story of molestation, family dysfunction, intrigue, and unbridled creepiness.
I just finished watching this. Very good. Heartbreaking. The pain every member of that family suffers. I’m convinced the father deserved what he got, but the son . . . not so sure. The rest of the family were victims too. So human.
I felt bad for them, too. The mom, Elaine, too. A lot of people on threads I’ve read on the subject seem to really hate her, but I felt bad for her. It also seemed like the Perfect Storm of situations–fascinating crime and a great deal of scenes filmed on those home movies.
All of my suggestions have been suggested so let me second (or whatever)
Nerdcore Rising
The Parking Lot Movie
Exit Through the Gift Shop
King of Kong
Man on Wire
and Anvil:The Story of Anvil
in that order. Not that there is a bad one in the bunch. They are all awesome.
I just saw For the Bible Tells Me So, it was good.
Since this thread is drifting away from the OP and into the realm of “Let’s list really good documentaries” I’ll go ahead and toss in one of the usual suspects. Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. I have no problem whatsoever with ginormous corporations, but this documentary really gives you a good idea of what they can do when no one’s looking. And even if we ignore the parts about them deceiving the stockholders and American public, it gives you a better understanding of some of the things these giant corporations do to shuffle money (and debt) around to make their bottom line look better. It’s really good and if you have a passing interest in accounting, the bits about Mark to Market accounting are really interesting. It also goes into explaining what was going on with the rolling blackouts in California back in the 90’s.
A few more I enjoyed which I haven’t seen mentioned here yet are “Wordplay”, “Trekkies”, and “Mad Hot Ballroom”.
Well then, in that case I see your Enron and raise you a Food Inc, King Corn, and ****WalMart the High Cost of Low Prices.
Food Inc in particular is very good.
Also recommending Parking Lot Movie- that was unexpectedly great.
There’s also one on Netflix instant for sure called Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness. It’s about people who explore abandoned buildings and underground tunnels. It was especially of interest to me because some of it is filmed in Minneapolis, but they also go to an asylum in Ireland and I think Detroit. It’s pretty neat.
Someone in another thread mentioned WWII in HD. It streams beautifully.
But don’t start it unless you have some serious hours to kill because it’s really difficult to turn off.
Restrepo. It is on Netflix.