I've posted this before, but check out the PBS documentary series Frontline[/b]. You can watch 64 full-length one-hour episodes online here, including:
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, was good a rerally good music doc.
One I've been really impressed by recently was 'The Tower', which is on BBC1 at the moment (may appear on a torrent somewhere). Its was filmed over 3 years on the troubled Pepys Estate in South London. Where the local council, had sold off one of the estate's tower blocks to an upmarket property developer. The film swaps between the story of the developement, and the ongoing lives of the original occupants of the area, who include a heroin addict and his best friend, an alcoholic. The juxtaposition between the glitzy corporate bullshit of the developers and the tragic downward spiral of some of the locals is heartbreaking. But it's a very powerfull film. Here's a better review.
Dream Deceivers http://video.google.com/url?docid=-56369...rKNVyllOmadAu2g The film follows the trial and accounts of events when two troubled teens in Reno decided to commit suicide. One succeeded, the other failed and was horribly disfigured. The family of the disfigured boy decide to sue Judas Priest but their case doesn't hold together. It amazes me that the case even went to trial. A sad story of the breakdown of family life. This film raises many questions about life in the modern age. Every youth interviewed seemed to come from a similar type of family with religious working-class parents who have been through a divorce or two.
Happened on it on tv, could not stop watching. Totally creepy and compelling, dream-like quality.
One doc filmmaker goes looking for his friend, also a filmmaker, who has gone missing and the search gets progressively more confusing and more creepy.
I'll cosign on Frederick Wiseman. "Juvenile Court" (shot in Memphis in the early 70s) and "Law and Order" (no relation) have a flavor that most people here will really respond to.
ha! i tried to rent titticut follies for a class i was teaching and his distribution co. wanted like a few thousand dollars just to rent it! luckily i knew a old dude that taped it off pbs in like the mid 80s or something when the ban was lifted.
was watching frontline the other night and there was one on dr suess that was pretty interesting, also rented one recently on the pro scrabble tour which was cool too
DID anyone mention the daniel johnston documentary?
I love this documentary so much that its become an obsession. this mans life is incredibly fascinating and the footage and tapes make it so fucking personal it literally hurts
I've bought 2 copies of this documentary over the last 2 months
cant believe no one is giving this a anyway, if retards are your thing, try ' best boy '.
others not mentioned: burden of dreams jazz on a summers day hearts and minds tokyo olympiad dark days the up series monterey pop in the year of the pig dig brothers keeper hearts of darkness for all mankind phantom india
Yeah, American Movie is definitely one of my favoritest movies ever.
I actually bought a movie they did (because it was cheaper than actually renting it) called "Britney Baby, One More Time" about a transvestite posing as britney spears that the media thinks is actually her. The best part about the movie is when she gets kidnapped by goth kids and gives them a change of heart about britney music... The movie was awful, but at the same time pretty awesome.
I just watched Scratch for the first time all the way through. I know --
I wasn't really impressed with that movie at all. Maybe if I had seen it 10 years ago I would probably be really into it but it just wasn't that interesting at all except for the scene with DJ Shadow in the basement of that record store and the scene with Mix Master Mike cuttin up that blues song.
I know I might get some heat off these couple of recommendations but I really enjoyed the following:
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491536/]Concentric Beats - Another Drum n Bass documentary but this one is focused on the whole American DnB movement as opposed to Talking Headz which focused on a record label. This documentary follows the same format as Talking Headz with Producer and DJ interviews, "Junglist" (I hate that word but I thought it appropriate for the movie) interviews, studio scenes. It is a pretty decent history of US DnB of course it skips over quite a bit of stuff such as popular scenes and DJs/Producers who were missed. I have showed this doc to quite a few people who cannot stand DnB or just can't get into it and they said they really liked it and put it up there in their top 10 documentaries.
High Tech Soul - HIGH TECH SOUL is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of Detroit, its birthplace. From the race riots of 1967 to the underground party scene of the late 1980s, Detroit's economic downturn didn't stop the invention of a new kind of music that brought international attention to its producers and their hometown. Featuring in-depth interviews with many of the world's best exponents of the artform, High Tech Soul focuses on the creators of the genre -- Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson -- and looks at the relationships and personal struggles behind the music. Artists like Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Eddie Fowlkes and a host of others explain why techno, with its abrasive tones and resonating basslines, could not have come from anywhere but Detroit. [This text description for the movie was cut from the first two paragraphs of the description on the website linked at the title.]I haven't scene High Tech Soul but I really want to. The trailers on youtube and other places look like it might be a really good movie. I am probably going to order it for myself on my birthday so I hope I see it soon.
Born into Brothels - This doc is about a photographer from America who visited India and stumbled upon these kids of prostitute mothers and w figured out a way to set up an after school class that teaches them how to do photography. She works with them on getting their pictures sold, marketing them and their cause and trying to get them away from their prostitute mothers into schools that will give them a good environment to learn in and also help them out with food and other stuff. I haven't seen the movie for awhile but I remember it being a really good movie and the kids actually having skills in their new hobbie / career. Don't get rent or buy this movie thinking you are going to see some hot indian mothers serving up Johns. They are quite beat up. Great movie.
As far as docs go those are a couple of my favorite -- outside of High Tech Soul. People have already touched on others, I'd recommend, in this thread and did a great job of describing them so I am going to skip those.
Comments
I agree. It's a hell of film, and it'll definitely funk your head in good ways and bad ways after you're done watching it.
Spying on The Home Front
The Dark Side (about Dick Cheney)
The Meth Epidemic
Karl Rove: The Architect
The Way The Music Died
American Porn
and
The Merchants of Cool
One I've been really impressed by recently was 'The Tower', which is on BBC1 at the moment (may appear on a torrent somewhere).
Its was filmed over 3 years on the troubled Pepys Estate in South London. Where the local council, had sold off one of the estate's tower blocks to an upmarket property developer. The film swaps between the story of the developement, and the ongoing lives of the original occupants of the area, who include a heroin addict and his best friend, an alcoholic. The juxtaposition between the glitzy corporate bullshit of the developers and the tragic downward spiral of some of the locals is heartbreaking. But it's a very powerfull film. Here's a better review.
Some of this takes place in my home town.
There was a meth house/lab next to my home for like two years, pretty crazy. I always thought it was going to blow up until they got caught.
Pronouncer: "Your word is 'mayonnaise.'"
Speller: "Mayonnaise. A..."
HAHAHA! best part of the whole movie.
Docu's to recommend...
Dream Deceivers
http://video.google.com/url?docid=-56369...rKNVyllOmadAu2g
The film follows the trial and accounts of events when two troubled teens in Reno decided to commit suicide. One succeeded, the other failed and was horribly disfigured. The family of the disfigured boy decide to sue Judas Priest but their case doesn't hold together. It amazes me that the case even went to trial. A sad story of the breakdown of family life. This film raises many questions about life in the modern age. Every youth interviewed seemed to come from a similar type of family with religious working-class parents who have been through a divorce or two.
Black Tar Heroin
http://video.google.com/url?docid=746695...PEALo0FqIKGndzA
Insane docu about SF.
Decline of the Western Civilization I, II & even III
somewhere on google video
Clasic docu from the crazy 80's!
Tons more I just can't think of any at the moment...
Happened on it on tv, could not stop watching. Totally creepy and compelling, dream-like quality.
One doc filmmaker goes looking for his friend, also a filmmaker, who has gone missing and the search gets progressively more confusing and more creepy.
Now if he'll only have the hindsight to put his films out on DVD...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...earch&plindex=0
It's called Zeitgeist ,kind of long but very fascinating.
I'm watching the second half of 'Jesus Camp' tonight...first part was
I love this documentary so much that its become an obsession. this mans life is incredibly fascinating and the footage and tapes make it so fucking personal it literally hurts
I've bought 2 copies of this documentary over the last 2 months
cant believe no one is giving this a
anyway, if retards are your thing, try ' best boy '.
others not mentioned:
burden of dreams
jazz on a summers day
hearts and minds
tokyo olympiad
dark days
the up series
monterey pop
in the year of the pig
dig
brothers keeper
hearts of darkness
for all mankind
phantom india
also, if you like or hate his writing, this one is pretty good-
I actually bought a movie they did (because it was cheaper than actually renting it) called "Britney Baby, One More Time" about a transvestite posing as britney spears that the media thinks is actually her. The best part about the movie is when she gets kidnapped by goth kids and gives them a change of heart about britney music... The movie was awful, but at the same time pretty awesome.
Cosign.
I just watched Scratch for the first time all the way through. I know --
I wasn't really impressed with that movie at all. Maybe if I had seen it 10 years ago I would probably be really into it but it just wasn't that interesting at all except for the scene with DJ Shadow in the basement of that record store and the scene with Mix Master Mike cuttin up that blues song.
I know I might get some heat off these couple of recommendations but I really enjoyed the following:
Talking Heads - This documentary is a look at the legendary Drum and Bass label fronted by Goldie. There are numerous interviews with artists such as:Opticla, Ed Rush, Matrix, Digital, Adam F, J Magik, Dillinja and countless others who have releases on the label. The video also features scenes of artists in their studios showing you how certain things were done -- most notably Dillinja showing how he gets his bass sounds, Ed Rush and Optical talking about their Wormhole album and Lemon D explaining how he uses synths to make sounds and also control programs on his computer through MIDI. Alongside the studio footage their are countless club scenes, interviews with punters to go with producer interviews and some funny footage of them go kart racing against one another. It really is one of my favorite documentaries based on modern day music scene.
[url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491536/]Concentric Beats - Another Drum n Bass documentary but this one is focused on the whole American DnB movement as opposed to Talking Headz which focused on a record label. This documentary follows the same format as Talking Headz with Producer and DJ interviews, "Junglist" (I hate that word but I thought it appropriate for the movie) interviews, studio scenes. It is a pretty decent history of US DnB of course it skips over quite a bit of stuff such as popular scenes and DJs/Producers who were missed. I have showed this doc to quite a few people who cannot stand DnB or just can't get into it and they said they really liked it and put it up there in their top 10 documentaries.
High Tech Soul - HIGH TECH SOUL is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of Detroit, its birthplace. From the race riots of 1967 to the underground party scene of the late 1980s, Detroit's economic downturn didn't stop the invention of a new kind of music that brought international attention to its producers and their hometown. Featuring in-depth interviews with many of the world's best exponents of the artform, High Tech Soul focuses on the creators of the genre -- Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson -- and looks at the relationships and personal struggles behind the music. Artists like Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Eddie Fowlkes and a host of others explain why techno, with its abrasive tones and resonating basslines, could not have come from anywhere but Detroit. [This text description for the movie was cut from the first two paragraphs of the description on the website linked at the title.]I haven't scene High Tech Soul but I really want to. The trailers on youtube and other places look like it might be a really good movie. I am probably going to order it for myself on my birthday so I hope I see it soon.
Born into Brothels - This doc is about a photographer from America who visited India and stumbled upon these kids of prostitute mothers and w figured out a way to set up an after school class that teaches them how to do photography. She works with them on getting their pictures sold, marketing them and their cause and trying to get them away from their prostitute mothers into schools that will give them a good environment to learn in and also help them out with food and other stuff. I haven't seen the movie for awhile but I remember it being a really good movie and the kids actually having skills in their new hobbie / career. Don't get rent or buy this movie thinking you are going to see some hot indian mothers serving up Johns. They are quite beat up. Great movie.
As far as docs go those are a couple of my favorite -- outside of High Tech Soul. People have already touched on others, I'd recommend, in this thread and did a great job of describing them so I am going to skip those.
It's a great movie, but you guys do realize it's not a real documentary, right?