Recommend Some Good Documentaries

I belong to Netflix, and I'm really enjoying seeing films, especially documentaries, that I'm not likely to find in a local or chain rental store. I just finished watching DOCTOR DEATH, about the self-instructed execution expert who became a Holocaust denier -- very good film. I've got THE FOG OF WAR next on my rental queue, and I already watched the Michael Moore films. THIN BLUE LINE may be the best I've seen. Any other documentaries I should put on my list?

 

Someone at work was singing the praises of Spellbound, a documetary about spelling bees. Supposedly these kids go thru hell!

 

One definite classic is SALESMEN by the Maysles Brothers.

 

Also from the Maysles Brothers: Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter

All the classics from Errol Morris: Gates of Heaven, Vernon Florida, The Thin Blue Line, Fast Cheap & Out of Control, Mr. Death, The Fog of War

And I really like Michael Apted's Up series. Starting with 1963's 7 Up, he interviewed a group of what at the time were seven-year-old kids from assorted social backgrounds; every seven years he revisits the same group, charting the progress of their lives. The most recent entry was 42 Up, which came out in 1999 and finds the "kids" coping with early middle age. Fascinating stuff.

 

Crumb
Hoop Dreams
Endless Summer

 

I saw CRUMB (and AMERICAN SPLENDOR). CRUMB was depressing. Then I looked at the book that went along with it, and realized the filmmaker kind of sugar-coated things a bit, by glossing over some things that would have made at least one of the subjects unwatchable, or at least unpitiable.

AMERICAN SPLENDOR was enjoyable, although having followed Harvey Pekar's comics since the early eighties, I kinda knew everything that was going to happen.

 

Spellbound is a lot of fun. I haven't seen it yet, but Winged Migration has been getting raves.

 

Caturing the Friedman's. Regardless of your opinion of the Friedman family or their case it's gripping stuff....

Chris

 

You must rent Brothers Keeper, a story about 4 bachelor brothers who live on a farm in upstate NY. When one of the brothers die, a debate about mercy killing evolves.

You'll feel like a million bucks at the end of this movie!

 

Jazz by Ken Burns
Baseball by Ken Burns

 

Definitely. Great flick.

American Movie
Hands on a Hard Body

Both of those are great.

 

Winged Migration

 

Shoah. Great documentary, but not exactly uplifting stuff.

 

Be Good, Smile Pretty

 

Excellent recommendation..simply amazing cinematography on this ..

 

The "War Room"....then for fun watch Primary Colors the movie afterward....

 

LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY by Werner Herzog

 

I loved "Hell House." Another must see is "Paradise Lost." I just watched "Capturing the Friedmans" this weekend and really enjoyed it. The filmmaker seemed to borrow heavilly from Erol Morris, which I don't think is a bad thing. I also enjoyed the Vietnam doc "Hearts and Minds."

 

Don't Look Back
The Marx Brothers In A Nutshell

 

I see a lot of docs at work, and also recommend Capturing the Friedmans. I also liked Blue Vinyl.

 

Thanks, guys! These are all going on my Netflix queue.

 

I loved Crumb, a doc about the life of underground cartoonist R. Crumb, as well as American Splendour, which is part documentary, part movie. The truth is stranger than fiction in both cases.

I also loved American Movie, a film about two knuckleheads in Wisconsin and their adventures in making the "great American movie." Hilarious but also uplifting in the sense that these guys have absolutely no talent but never lose sight of their dream.

I also recommend Michael Moore's first film Roger and Me, a much better film than Bowling for Columbine IMO.

 

From A&E Home Video, the TV documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy. Makes a lot of great points about it(definitely)being a conspiracy, with shocking details about who might have been involved.

Evan

 

Ken Burns - Brooklyn Bridge. I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Amazing the effort and lives it took to build this bridge.