Documentary you would recommend?

[CYMBOL]

Hello all,

Recently got Netfilx, and it's been fun to stream movies that I wouldn't necessarily be upset if I didn't have on blu-ray - mainly, documentaries, which often have poor PQ/AQ anyway.

My wife and I have watched three documentaries over the last couple of days and have found it a lot of fun.

So, are there any documentaries you've seen and would recommend?

The three we've seen that I would HIGHLY recommend.

Exit through the Gift Shop:
What happens when a man with an OCD like compulsion to film everything all the time points his camera's at Street Artists? He decides rather randomly, that he will make a documentary about it. But the documentary takes a wild turn and ends up being about him. The ending will having you sitting like this - .

King of Kong:
Who knew that a documentary about a man trying to break the world record for the arcade game, Donkey Kong, could be so intriguing. What makes it so moving is that you have the nicest guy in the world going up against one of the biggest @-Holes around. Who will win?

Dear Zachary:
A man is murdered - his best friend decides to make a documentary about all the people who cared about him. As he does, a woman is brought to trial for his murder and claims she is pregnant with his child. The documentary is aimed to be a tribute for the child about he father he lost.

Two words, "Heart-Wrenching". Don't watch if you don't like crying. Highly recommended.

So, any recommendations? (Please leave a brief description of the movie)

[DSM Cinema]

I recently watched "The Cove" and "Restrepo". I really enjoyed both! I would also recommend "Man on Wire". I have seen "Exit through the Gift Shop" and King of Kong" and loved both of those. "Dear Zachary" is in my queue, but i haven't had a chance to view it yet.

[Momscameltoe]

Personally, I enjoy documentaries. Some are are difficult to watch due to subject matter, but they are still intriguing. I'd recommend "Thin Blue Line", "28 up", "Spiral Staircase"' and "My Brother's Keeper".

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by DSM Cinema

"Restrepo".

Epic Documentary A must see.

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price I liked it

[CZAR]

Bowling for Columbine is excellent. Got Em!!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by DSM Cinema

I recently watched "The Cove" and "Restrepo". I really enjoyed both! I would also recommend "Man on Wire". I have seen "Exit through the Gift Shop" and King of Kong" and loved both of those. "Dear Zachary" is in my queue, but i haven't had a chance to view it yet.

Dear Zachary will rip you to shreds. Its a fantastic story, but emotionally brutal.

Man on Wire is excellent, I second that!

I will recommend...

King Corn

2007 NR 90 minutes

In Aaron Woolf's thought-provoking documentary, friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis move back to America's Corn Belt to plant an acre of the nation's most-grown and most-subsidized grain and follow their crop into the U.S. food supply. What they learn about genetically modified seeds, powerful herbicides and the realities of modern farming calls into question government subsidies, the fast-food lifestyle and the quality of what we eat.

And...

Countdown to Zero

2009 PG 91 minutes

Since the first atomic bomb exploded in 1945, scientists and world leaders have grappled with the apocalyptic dangers and paradoxes posed by nuclear weapons. Lucy Walker's documentary presents an unblinking look at humanity's lethal predicament. The film outlines current threats posed by a growing list of nuclear-armed states and weighs the prospects for global disarmament, soliciting insights from a gallery of world leaders and policy experts

And....

Tapped

2009 NR 76 minutes

The high cost -- to both the environment and our health -- of bottled water is the subject of this documentary that enlists activists, environmentalists, community leaders and others to expose the dark side of the bottled water industry. Americans may rethink their obsession with bottled H20 when they learn of the unregulated industry's willingness to ignore environmental and health concerns, and the problems that arise as a result.

[Another_Dude]

+1 for "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage"

[CYMBOL]

Thanks for the recommendations guys - when you post a recommendation, could you give a sentence or two of what it's about?

Thanks guys - yeah, next in my que is Man on a Wire - nice to see people are recommending it.

[Zero_Cool]

Confessions of a super hero.

[a clockwork orange]

i recently watched Winnebago Man -
This entertaining documentary explores the phenomenon of Jack Rebney, who became an Internet sensation after a grainy, nearly 20-year-old video of him furiously swearing up a storm while filming a Winnebago sales video made the rounds online. Traveling to a mountaintop, filmmaker Ben Steinbauer tracks down Rebney -- who's become known in underground circles as the "Angriest Man in the World" -- and tries to discover what makes the loner tick.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by CYMBOL

Thanks for the recommendations guys - when you post a recommendation, could you give a sentence or two of what it's about?

Bowling For Columbine - A documentary about the shooting that took place at Columbine High School. Michael shows what he feels are the causes of it and other violent acts due to guns. He focuses on the environment within Columbine and public opinions etc...

Its very good if u havnt seen it yet. Got Em!!

[s-ray]

Deep Water- about the first around-the-world solo yacht race. Don't read about it before renting because the spoilers will kill the story.

[slaughinghouse]

If you're interested in nature documentaries, check out Relentless Enemies. Probably the best Derek and Beverly Joubert have made.

[Lacit170]

if you are into ghost stories and such...

A Haunting in Connecticut (2002)

The documentary which the 2009 movie is based on... the Documentary is 100 times better than the movie and is pretty creepy

Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

This penetrating documentary from director Billy Corben pulls out all the stops to explore the many dimensions of Miami's cocaine-trafficking boom of the 1980s, as told by the smugglers, cops and average citizens who were there. The film is an unflinching study of Miami's most notorious and lethal vice -- from how the drug was moved and its financial impact on the city to the havoc and violence that followed in its wake.

[Atreyu]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Bowling For Columbine - A documentary about the shooting that took place at Columbine High School. Michael shows what he feels are the causes of it and other violent acts due to guns. He focuses on the environment within Columbine and public opinions etc...

Its very good if u havnt seen it yet. Got Em!!

Excellent choice!

[BLUEGRASS]

Long Way Around is excellent. I've watched it several times

Long Way Round is a documentary television series, DVD set and book documenting the 19,000-mile (31,000 km) journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York on motorcycles. They travelled eastwards through Europe and Asia, flew to Alaska and continued by road from there to New York.

I also enjoyed Running the Sahara. I was fortunate enough to attending a screening of this movie hosted by one of the runners (Charlie Engle).

In 2006, an international expedition team of three men - Charlie Engle (USA), Ray Zahab (Canada) and Kevin Lin (Taiwan) undertook a quest that no human being has ever fulfilled. They ran across the Sahara Desert. Along with the runners, we cross six countries: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Egypt. The team accomplished running for 111 days and over 4800 miles. This is the story of what happened along the way.

And saving the best for last....This Movie Is Not Yet Rated is a documetary that every movie fan should see. It really exposes how ridiculous the MPAA rating system is.

Documents a history of the MPAA ratings board. Talks to numerous directors and actors about the censorship of their movies before they could be released. Includes directors Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, John Waters, Darren Aronosfsky, Maria Bello, Atom Egoyan. Director Kirby Dick hires private investigators to find out the names of the MPAA ratings board and see if the raters are actually parents of children 5-17 like the MPAA tells American parents they are.

[EricJ]

Assume we're talking about movie documentaries, and not good PBS/Ken Burns documentaries on Instant Netflix, wherein we'd be here all week.

But might try going through anything Errol Morris directed--
Of which the only (good) ones on Instant are
- The Thin Blue Line, the movie that helped "invent" the documentary's mainstream popularity, about a murder CSI case gone wrong,
and
- Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, about four experts in their fields (lion taming, topiaries, nanobots and molerats), and the one philosophy that drives them.
(Unfortunately, The Fog of War, Mr. Death, and Standard Operating Procedure are still disk-only.)

For other Instant Netflix, there's
- Roger & Me, the movie that invented Michael Moore back when we still liked him (and it was his good one, just before his ego kicked in after the Fox series),
- Rembrandt's J'Accuse, Peter Greenaway's art conspiracy-nut theory that Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" points clues to a murder,
and
- Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, a thorough pop look at just who got California into that deep a mess.

...And, okay, I'll still mention PBS if it's an excuse to recommend:
- Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (about the first cross-country auto race, with no maps...because there were no roads to map...because nobody thought the first cars could go more than twenty miles)
- In Search of Shakespeare (if you thought Shakespeare "couldn't have written" his plays, you're forgetting the dark days of the Elizabethan Catholic vs. Protestant wars)

[master_8ball]

The Cove (2009)
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.

Gasland (2010)
It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas." Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground-a hydraulic drilling process called "fracking"-and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.

I will add that I watched this not knowing what it was about, the above description is one I took from imdb but doesn't really cut it. This film talks a lot about government/corporate deals in the industry and how certain corporations are exempt from environmental protection laws and why, and also looks at the serious heath implications for people near these wells.

Plus if you ever wanted to see someone's tap water light on fire I suggest this one.

[LordCrumb]

Touching the Void

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

Excellent choice!

Yea I dont watch to many documentaries but I have to say that is the best one Ive seen yet. Very touching and great information from Michael Moore. Got Em!!