Best Documentaries

[Lukus Alderman]

Recently I've been on a small kick where I've become somewhat interested in documentaries. On the week of President's Day, I showed my 30 minute classes a documentary on the White House. By the end of the day, I was so interested in the doc (which was a Nat Geo doc from the Clinton years covering the history of the WH) that I stayed after and finished it off. It wasn't fascinating, but it was very good and pushed me into the documentary kick.

After that, I watched a decent one on Arlington Cemetary and then went the Crime Doc route and watched two very interesting docs that I'm going to recommend:

1. The Imposter - This documentary covers a 20+ year old Spanish man's successful impersonation of a kidnapped 13 year old (who would have been 16 at the time) boy from San Antonio that fooled the boy's family and even the FBI.

2. Dear Zachary - A sad true story about the murder of a man from Northern US and how it eventually changed the Canadian legal system.

I highly recommend both of those docs that I found on Netflix.

Anyone have any other recs?

 

[Hiphopopotamos]

Recently I've been on a small kick where I've become somewhat interested in documentaries. On the week of President's Day, I showed my 30 minute classes a documentary on the White House. By the end of the day, I was so interested in the doc (which was a Nat Geo doc from the Clinton years covering the history of the WH) that I stayed after and finished it off. It wasn't fascinating, but it was very good and pushed me into the documentary kick.
After that, I watched a decent one on Arlington Cemetary and then went the Crime Doc route and watched two very interesting docs that I'm going to recommend:

1. The Imposter - This documentary covers a 20+ year old Spanish man's successful impersonation of a kidnapped 13 year old (who would have been 16 at the time) boy from San Antonio that fooled the boy's family and even the FBI.

2. Dear Zachary - A sad true story about the murder of a man from Northern US and how it eventually changed the Canadian legal system.

I highly recommend both of those docs that I found on Netflix.

Anyone have any other recs?

As the father of a young boy (and two little girls) I curse myself nearly everyday for watching it - but I'm also very thankful I did. What an incredibly sad/uplifting film. Just a devastating film.

 

[Hiphopopotamos]

Some of my favorites -

Anything from Werner Herzog. Just a fantastic filmmaker.

Hoop Dreams

The Cove

Murderball

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

The Lottery

Restrepo

The Thin Blue Line

 

[Jettrink]

If you have the time, anything by Ken Burns, but especially:

The Civil War

The West

Baseball

All 3 of these are a significant investment in time - as much as 14-18 hours, but the history is who we are, and the images and music contribute greatly to the story telling.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Some of my favorites -
Anything from Werner Herzog. Just a fantastic filmmaker.

Hoop Dreams

 

The Cove

Murderball

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

The Lottery

Restrepo

The Thin Blue Line

Love those docs. Haven't tried but a disciple of Jiro opened a restaurant in NYC called http://sushinakazawa.com/

 

[dcbc]

Man on a Wire

 

[Juan]

My 2 favs are ...

Step Into Liquid, and

The Endless Summer.

I also have a fond memory of Hoops Dreams and Gimme Shelter.

 

[jrcruz1026]

My favorite Sports Doc is: Legendary Fights- The Tale of Gatti Ward

http://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=OfBpL3WLg4A&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUViOdXG7eGc%26feature%3Dshare

 

[jrcruz1026]

30 for 30 "The U" is also a favorite of mine

 

[armadillo slim]

If you have the time, anything by Ken Burns, but especially:
The Civil War

The West

Baseball

All 3 of these are a significant investment in time - as much as 14-18 hours, but the history is who we are, and the images and music contribute greatly to the story telling.

that's pretty much the top of the heap. years ago there was a wonderful series called The Voyages of the HMS Beagle about Charles Darwins trip to the Galapagos and the inspiration for The Origin of Species that was incredible.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Do they have documentaries of Army vs Navy football series in the 90s? I read Civil War: Army vs Navy. Absolutely must read. I cried. John Feinstein is such a wonderful writer.

 

[Sejjr]

Recently I've been on a small kick where I've become somewhat interested in documentaries. On the week of President's Day, I showed my 30 minute classes a documentary on the White House. By the end of the day, I was so interested in the doc (which was a Nat Geo doc from the Clinton years covering the history of the WH) that I stayed after and finished it off. It wasn't fascinating, but it was very good and pushed me into the documentary kick.
After that, I watched a decent one on Arlington Cemetary and then went the Crime Doc route and watched two very interesting docs that I'm going to recommend:

1. The Imposter - This documentary covers a 20+ year old Spanish man's successful impersonation of a kidnapped 13 year old (who would have been 16 at the time) boy from San Antonio that fooled the boy's family and even the FBI.

2. Dear Zachary - A sad true story about the murder of a man from Northern US and how it eventually changed the Canadian legal system.

I highly recommend both of those docs that I found on Netflix.

Anyone have any other recs?

"The Imposter" was pretty mind-blowing. There are so many good docs out there now, and Netflix has a lot of them. Check out "Deep Water." It's the story of Donald Crowhurst, a former engineer whose bravado outweighed his sailing expertise, who entered a London Times-sponsored yacht race around the world. Pretty fascinating and very well crafted.

There are many excellent 30 for 30 films. I worked on both "Pony Excess" and "The Marinovich Project." Check them both out if you haven't seen them!

 

[Brasky]

The Wild and Wonderful White's of West Virginia.

I liked Pulling John, I think that's what it was called - the arm wrestling one.

Like most of the religious docs.

Kurt & Courtney from back in the day

Hiroshima was good

 

[Chris Flanagan]

The Central Park 5 is really good. 30 for 30s are always good. The Code of the West. Lots of good documentaries on Netflix

 

[Juan]

30 for 30 "The U" is also a favorite of mine

This is a good point. Most of these are well done.

I have watched the one on the 1983 draft ("Elway to Marino") five times. That was a great draft, perhaps the greatest of all time, with several HOF players going in the first. But the stories of Elway (and his dad) refusing to play for the Colts and then Marino sliding almost out of the 1st round is compelling. Seems like I pick up one more little nugget each time.

 

[PeteA422]

Restrepo

 

[BevoBlake]

I strongly recommend the 'Paradise Lost' HBO Series. It covers the Memphis Three case from West Memphis, AK. It holds no punches and even shows live footage from the crime scene. I will warn you though, it can make you a little obsessed with the case. I watched the documentaries around 4-5 years ago and I still track the case on a monthly basis. Another interesting bit of info related to the series is the fact that it's a major part of the reason why cameras aren't allowed inside the court room anymore.

 

[Hiphopopotamos]

I strongly recommend the 'Paradise Lost' HBO Series. It covers the Memphis Three case from West Memphis, AK. It holds no punches and even shows live footage from the crime scene. I will warn you though, it can make you a little obsessed with the case. I watched the documentaries around 4-5 years ago and I still track the case on a monthly basis. Another interesting bit of info related to the series is the fact that it's a major part of the reason why cameras aren't allowed inside the court room anymore.

I can't believe I forgot about those - great films. The first one got Peter Jackson (Director of Lord of the Rings) so interested in the case that he and his partner filmed their own documentary on the case called 'West of Memphis'. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2130321/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_6

 

[BevoBlake]

I can't believe I forgot about those - great films. The first one got Peter Jackson (Director of Lord of the Rings) so interested in the case that he and his partner filmed their own documentary on the case called 'West of Memphis'. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2130321/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_6

It's definitely one of the best I've ever seen. And it's a case that seems to leave many people split in their feelings.