Documentaries?

When I signed up for Netflix several years ago, I never thought I would be "wasting" queue slots with documentaries. I've recently seen several that were excellent, and I wanted to share them with you:

Word Wars: A long time ago a co-worker recommended a book about the people that compete in Scrabble tournaments. I don't play the game, but I liked the story.

Dark Days: I work in New York City, and I've read about the people that live under the city. This movie is the story about one group that lived in the subway tunnels.

Gotham Fish Tales: I'm an avid fisherman, and I still can't believe what people are catching in the East River (and eating!)

Born into Brothels: I have two small children, and I was horrified by this documentary. We've come so far as a society, but we have a long way to go.

Do you rent documentaries? Do you have any that you'd recommend?

Thanks to Brent at AboutTheImage for recommending many excellent documentaries.

Comments

[Rachel in Tulsa, OK]

I loved The Corporation. It's a little on the long side, but it was very informative and made me think twice about the way things are run in America.

[Nick]

Hi,

Thanks for the recommendations! I have also been watching documentaries this year, which I have been finding fascinating!

A series of documentaries I really recommend are the UP Series.

It is a sort of "social experiment" that was started in Brittain in 1963, where a TV news program interviewed 14 7-year olds. The director has since gone back every seven years (hence the names: "7up", "14 up","21 up", "28 up"... and so on) to interview the subjects. It is really fascinating and I think it's one thing that makes me really happy to have Netflix: None of the local video shops I frequent carry these DVDs, so I would not have been easy for me to get a hold of them had it not been for Netflix.

[Mike]

Some of the best documentaries I've seen are:

One day in September, Capturing the Friedmans, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Spellbound, Waco: Rules of Engagement, and The Thin Blue Line.

Hey, that reminds me of a PBS (or maybe BBC) documentary series called Connections with James Burke.

I just checked, and NetFlix has it - well, the second and third seasons anyway. I only saw one season, and it might have been the first year. Anyway, if the one I saw is anything to go on, I can't recommend these highly enough. The historical connections between seemingly unrelated events is fascinating.

Nick, I am interested in the series you described but was unable to find it on NF. Can you give me more info please?

[Scott Elkin]

Spellbound and Trekkies :)

[Jeff]

The Corporation is largely worthless.

The best documentary I've seen recently was "Control Room." That should be required watching for anyone making a documentary, and required watching for anyone who wants to watch one, just to see how it should be done.

[Ira Schneider]

Hi Nick,

We just watched Alaska which was narrated by Charlton Heston and is 40 minutes in length and well worth watching. This is the best Alaska program I have ever watched.

[William Mize]

Go to Ask MetaFilter (http://ask.metafilter.com) and do a search on 'documentaries' there are some threads there that are remarkable in the breadth and scope of the documentaries out there. Great recommendations. Great website.

[Tim]

Some of my favs: Startup.com (2001); War Room (1993), Overnight (2003), Gunner Palace (2005), Dogtown and Z boys (2002) For All Mankind (1989). Spellbound and Trekkies already mentioned above were great.

[PlungeBob]

I just watched "The Z Channel" docu and it was great.

Does anyone else recall a channel from the
late 70's-early 80's called "Showbiz"?

It was like the Z Channel and we got it for a
few years.

I also loved watching the gun grabbing Michael Moore
get his own in "Michael and me".

(I know, that was a minor troll...sorry!)

[thattherepaul]

"The Weather Underground" (2002): the story of the 60s revolutionary group as told by the protagonists themselves, complete with contemporary and oddly hypnotic background music. Its Netflix listing also includes several good customer lists including "Documentaries That Aren't Dull."

I'll second the 7 Up series. It's phenomenal.

Also: The Fog of War, Comedian, The Endurance, Hoop Dreams, Riding Giants

[Catana]

I stayed away from documentaries for quite a while. After all, that's what PBS is for, right? But I've started adding a few. So far, In the Realms of the Unreal (outsider artist), Manufacturing Consent, The Fog of War (read the book and liked it very much), Resident Alien (Quentin Crisp bio), No Maps for these Territories (William Gibson trip).

[Matt]

Heh, I recommended to Netflix that they get a copy of Connections a few years back. I'm glad to see they listened :) Or maybe they just ignored the email it and bought it anyway. Anyway I recommend that series too.

I got my Netflix account so I could watch documentaries.

I'll very much put in a second for Weather Underground, The Fog of War, and Control Room.

Other documentaries I've enjoyed are:

The Agronomist - Jonathan Demme's documentary about the Haitian journalist/political agitator Jean Dominique.

A Certain Kind of Death - A movie about what happens to the unclaimed dead.

The Atomic Cafe - A fascinating look into Cold War culture.

Yes Men - Hilarious documentary about the antics of anti-globalization satirists who infiltrate WTO meetings.

How to Draw a Bunny - Very well done look at the creativity of Ray Johnson, whose death might have been a staged creative act.

Deadline - About Republican Illinois Governor George Ryan's decision to commute the death sentances of the entirety of Illinois's death row after discovering the inadquacies of the system.

Mr. Death - An Errol Morris documentary about the execution machine designer/Holocaust denier Fred Leuchter

[Gerard]

One of the greatest documentaries ever is KEN BURN'S CIVIL WAR. It's long and multi-part, but not a minute goes by that you are not anxiously awaiting the next. You don't really even need a passing interest in the Civil War to get get sucked into this excellent piece of filmmaking. No kidding - it's the gold standard of documentaries.

[washburn]

Surprised that no one's metioned the beautiful techo-philosophical "Fast, Cheap, and out of Control," or the disturbing "Life and Debt" on the economic destruction of Jamacia. If you can find it, the PBS investigation of class, "People Like Us" is also fantastic. And Sorious Samora's "Cry Freetown" (hard to find, predictably) is a brutal and difficult to forget introduction to the violence of contemporary Africa.

[ramses]

Crumb is the best documentary I've ever seen. It easily beats the others mentioned here. It is totally original, unique, dark, candid, and unpredictable. I've never read a Crumb comic. I saw Ralph Bakshi's XXX-rated cartoon of Fritz The Cat, which is not known for being faithful. But the documentary was utterly fascinating. Crumb's family gives a new meaning to the word dysfunctional. Great debut by the director of Ghost World and Bad Santa. Loved Crumb's take on advertising.

Affluenza is also good. It's a PBS DVD, but you can't get it on Netflix or the other big services. You can order it online, though...

[BBV Employee]

I watch A LOT of documentaries. Here are some that I think are great:

Times of Harvey Milk, Roger and Me, Mad Hot Ballroom, My Architect, Death by Design, Hell House, Keep the River on Your Right, Go Tigers!, Hearts and Minds, American Movie, Sound and Fury, Into the Arms of Strangers, The Last Days, Brother's Keeper, Blue Vinyl, Grey Matter, Lost Boys of Sudan, Rivers and Tides, The Architecture of Doom, Bonhoeffer, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, One Nation Under God, Stone Reader, Tarnation, Friends Forever, ABC Africa, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator, The Five Obstructions, Touching the Void, and more...

Anything from Errol Morris: Fog of War, Mr. Death, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, A Brief History of Time, The Thin Blue Line, Vernon, Florida, and Gates of Heaven

Connections is a fantastic show.

I second Paradise Lost (1 & 2), In the Realms of the Unreal, One Day in September, Capturing the Friendmans, Waco: Rules of Engagement, Dogtown and Z Boys, The Up Series, Z Channel, Control Room, The Endurance, Gunner Palace, Trekkies, The Yes Men, Hoop Dreams, The Corporation, Crumb, Deadline, Ken Burns' Civil War, The Agronomist, Startup.com, The War Room, Spellbound, Weather Underground, Comedian, and on and on...

[BBV Employee]

I watch A LOT of documentaries. Here are some that I think are great:

Times of Harvey Milk, Roger and Me, Mad Hot Ballroom, My Architect, Death by Design, Hell House, Keep the River on Your Right, Go Tigers!, Hearts and Minds, American Movie, Sound and Fury, Into the Arms of Strangers, The Last Days, Brother's Keeper, Blue Vinyl, Grey Matter, Lost Boys of Sudan, Rivers and Tides, The Architecture of Doom, Bonhoeffer, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, One Nation Under God, Stone Reader, Tarnation, Friends Forever, ABC Africa, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator, The Five Obstructions, Touching the Void, and more...

Anything from Errol Morris: Fog of War, Mr. Death, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, A Brief History of Time, The Thin Blue Line, Vernon, Florida, and Gates of Heaven

Connections is a fantastic show.

I second Paradise Lost (1 & 2), In the Realms of the Unreal, One Day in September, Capturing the Friendmans, Waco: Rules of Engagement, Dogtown and Z Boys, The Up Series, Z Channel, Control Room, The Endurance, Gunner Palace, Trekkies, The Yes Men, Hoop Dreams, The Corporation, Crumb, Deadline, Ken Burns' Civil War, The Agronomist, Startup.com, The War Room, Spellbound, Weather Underground, Comedian, and on and on...

[BBV Employee]

I watch A LOT of documentaries. Here are some that I think are great:

Times of Harvey Milk, Roger and Me, Mad Hot Ballroom, My Architect, Death by Design, Hell House, Keep the River on Your Right, Go Tigers!, Hearts and Minds, American Movie, Sound and Fury, Into the Arms of Strangers, The Last Days, Brother's Keeper, Blue Vinyl, Grey Matter, Lost Boys of Sudan, Rivers and Tides, The Architecture of Doom, Bonhoeffer, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, One Nation Under God, Stone Reader, Tarnation, Friends Forever, ABC Africa, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator, The Five Obstructions, Touching the Void, and more...

Anything from Errol Morris: Fog of War, Mr. Death, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, A Brief History of Time, The Thin Blue Line, Vernon, Florida, and Gates of Heaven

Connections is a fantastic show.

I second Paradise Lost (1 & 2), In the Realms of the Unreal, One Day in September, Capturing the Friendmans, Waco: Rules of Engagement, Dogtown and Z Boys, The Up Series, Z Channel, Control Room, The Endurance, Gunner Palace, Trekkies, The Yes Men, Hoop Dreams, The Corporation, Crumb, Deadline, Ken Burns' Civil War, The Agronomist, Startup.com, The War Room, Spellbound, Weather Underground, Comedian, and on and on...

[Mr. Bad Guy]

When We Were Kings!!! :)

[BBV Employee]

I watch A LOT of documentaries. Here are some that I think are great:

Times of Harvey Milk, Roger and Me, Mad Hot Ballroom, My Architect, Death by Design, Hell House, Keep the River on Your Right, Go Tigers!, Hearts and Minds, American Movie, Sound and Fury, Into the Arms of Strangers, The Last Days, Brother's Keeper, Blue Vinyl, Grey Matter, Lost Boys of Sudan, Rivers and Tides, The Architecture of Doom, Bonhoeffer, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, One Nation Under God, Stone Reader, Tarnation, Friends Forever, ABC Africa, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator, The Five Obstructions, Touching the Void, and more...

Anything from Errol Morris: Fog of War, Mr. Death, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, A Brief History of Time, The Thin Blue Line, Vernon, Florida, and Gates of Heaven

Connections is a fantastic show.

I second Paradise Lost (1 & 2), In the Realms of the Unreal, One Day in September, Capturing the Friendmans, Waco: Rules of Engagement, Dogtown and Z Boys, The Up Series, Z Channel, Control Room, The Endurance, Gunner Palace, Trekkies, The Yes Men, Hoop Dreams, The Corporation, Crumb, Deadline, Ken Burns' Civil War, The Agronomist, Startup.com, The War Room, Spellbound, Weather Underground, Comedian, and on and on...

[steve]

Thank you BBV employee.

Thank you BBV employee.

Thank you BBV employee.

Thank you BBV employee.

:-|

[Tim]

BBV employee is learning how to use the "internets". Now I remember why I didn't like going to BBV.

[The Recommendee]

I gotta recommend the "War Photographer" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0309061/). Cheers!

[documental]

"Cinemania" is fascinating. It's about 5 people in New York, each of whom watches multiple movies per day, every day. They watch them in theaters, not on DVD. NY has festivals, revival houses, art houses, etc that make this possible with adroit scheduling.

I saw this on Trio, not on DVD. Since Trio repeats pretty much everything eventually, you may be able to watch it for free if you keep an eye on the TV listings.

[documental]

"e-dreams" is an interesting movie about the internet bubble. It's about the founders of Kozmo.com. You could order a video from Kozmo.com and a bike messenger would bring it to you within an hour with no delivery charge. You could order a candy bar from Kozmo.com and a bike messenger would bring it to you within an hour with no delivery charge. Lots of investors thought this was a viable business model.

[documental]

"Revolution OS" is about the history of the open source software movement. If you are not intersted in computing, you will not like this movie. If you are a Windows lover, you will not like this movie. Everyone else will enjoy seeing the faces and hearing the voices of the open source leaders they've read about, and will enjoy watching the story of a ragtag and diverse bunch sticking it to The Man.

[Nick]

To the poster that posted yesterday at 12:30PM:

The Up Series is available on Netflix on 5 discs ("Seven/Seven plus Seven", "21 Up", "28 Up", "35 up" and "42 up").

You can find the first two films on one DVD at this link:
http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70012577&trkid=189530

Hope you find it, if you want to see a trailer for the series, the page for 42 Up has one.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone and thanks Mike for starting the discussion! My que has grown by a few titles just now!

[Trish]

Try Spellbound, Rabit-Proof Fence and Bowling for Columbine. Three of my faves.

[bbz]

I'm surprised that Children Underground hasn't been mentioned. It much more poignant and real than Born Into Brothels and about the children instead of about the filmmaker. I call Brothels an 'interventionary.'

I couldn't watch Children Underground. I popped it in, and after 30 minutes of watching the kids inhale paint, I was so sickened that I returned the movie to Netflix unwatched.

And yes, a second to War Photographer, Life and Debt, and all things Errol Morris, including his documentary TV series First Person.

[deej]

Here's a couple that haven't been mentioned yet:

Hated - G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies
Crazy stuff. Lots of feces flinging, heroin, and beatdowns.

Slasher
A traveling car supersalesman and all of his little tricks.

[GaryS]

I too have found documentaries to be a sort of "guiltless pleasure" when there's nothing better out there.

"The Life of Birds" and "The Life of Mammals" are both excellent. The Corporation was ok (disturbing, but not much we can do about it). "Rivers and Tides" (about Andy Goldsworthy's art) is very different and slow moving, but strangely captivating.

[fuck]

FUCK YOU!

[Kevin O]

I like the documentaries as well. Just got done watching "life of birds". I was haunted by Dark Days. I liked the 49UP and "following Sean" as followups to how people are doing years later. I loved the show Connections. Trekkies was hillarious. I saw one documentary on PBS about creationism which I thought was well rounded and haven't seen it on NetFlix. I really liked one documentary about how the Nazis came to power, " a lesson in history" or something like that.