Favorite documentary

[MarciaBrady]

I love watching documentaries, especially ones that are about history. And I'm looking for some new suggestions. What is your favorite documentary?

 

My favorite is Not For Ourselves Alone. It's about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and their contributions to the suffrage movement.

[contrary]

Spellbound, about the National Spelling Bee.

seriously, i laughed, i cried, i recommended to everyone i knew...

[2xx1xy1JD]

Supersize Me.

Anything from Simcha Jacobovici.

[keen23]

Food and cooking documentaries are my favorites. I really liked Pressure Cooker, about students in a poor community with a high rate of drop outs, and how a culinary arts program in this school was actually the bright spot in the school.

But Gasland was also incredible- it's about the natural gas industry in America, and the damage it can cause.

Baseball, done by Ken Burns is also a good one.

[Deleted02]

I liked The Lincoln Assassination and The 12 Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer. I'm a Lincoln geek. :)

[canela]

I was mesmerized by Mad Hot Ballroom when it came out a few years ago. It follows elementary school children from three or four New York City Public Schools as they compete in a citywide Ballroom dancing competition. The children come from very different socioeconomic groups. It was very touching to watch them all grow in confidence through the process. The students were probably between 10-12 years old. They innocence with which they discuss their hopes for the competition and their dreams for life was so charming, although some of their life experiences were tough to hear. The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't have the ending I wanted. I wish they all could have won!

[Seven Severn]

Spellbound, about the National Spelling Bee.

seriously, i laughed, i cried, i recommended to everyone i knew...

In a similar vein, I recommend Word Wars. It's about the national Scrabble championship. http://www.amazon.com/Word-Wars-Tribula ... B0007LPSG8 There are some very odd people who are completely obsessed with Scrabble.

[Kitty]

I really liked Jesus Camp, as much as anyone can really 'like' Jesus Camp :?

I also saw Not For Ourselves Alone and really liked it. One of my favorites. Also, is it me, or did the music they used for that film sound suspiciously similar to the music in Jurassic Park?

As much as everyone hates Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine was good too.

[Witsec7]

Anything by Louis Theroux.

[Terrie]

Bowling for Columbine was actually one of my least favorite of Moore's films (I did like Sicko), mainly because I couldn't figure out what point he was trying to make. It was all over the place.

A recent favorite is "This Film Not Yet Rated" which looks at how the ratings commission works (or doesn't as the case may be).

[TheJewAmongUs]

Bowling for Columbine was actually one of my least favorite of Moore's films (I did like Sicko), mainly because I couldn't figure out what point he was trying to make. It was all over the place.

A recent favorite is "This Film Not Yet Rated" which looks at how the ratings commission works (or doesn't as the case may be).

The thing I liked about Bowling for Columbine (besides the awesome animation by Trey Parker and Matt Stone) was that after watching 2 seasons of The Awful Truth where Michael Moore staged all these stunts and basically got nowhere...

KMART STOPPED SELLING BULLETS FOR HANDGUNS! I don't know if it would hold up if I watched it again, but I remember grinning over that in the theater.

While I wanted to like This Film is Not Yet Rated, my final reaction when it was over was just meh. To me there was about 25 minutes of interesting points, and then it was otherwise an excuse to show a bunch of dirty video clips.

There was a special on CurrentTV called 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die. From that list, the ones I've seen and really liked that haven't been mentioned are:

The Thin Blue Line and The War Room (you have to like James Carville for this one.) And if you like history, The Fog of War is interesting.

Also, the one that won the Oscar the year Hoop Dreams came out, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision is really good.

I'll stop, but let's just say, I watch a lot of documentaries.

[FireIsCatching89]

Anything by Louis Theroux.

I have a giant nerd boner for than man, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

My fave doc though, is "Jig" by Sue Bourne, about several children competing in the 40th annual Irish Step World Championships. I've seen it three times and I always cry at the end. The kids in it are so smart and precious, too. I used to dance (not Irish, tap and jazz, mostly), so I think that's why I really appreciate all the work that the kids do to get where they are.

"Babies" is a close second favorite, but I try not to watch it too often, since it makes my ovaries 'splode from wanting a baby RIGHT THIS SECOND. God, they're cute!

[pastaswife]

My two favorites are the Woodstock documentary, and World At War, which is a 30-odd episode series about the second world war.

I'm on the waiting list for "Babies" at my library :)

[JesusFightClub]

Jesus Camp. I'm with Kitty on this.

I have ADD and struggle to make it through films without getting distracted. If stuff doesn't blow up it doesn't keep my attention normally. Jesus Camp was fascinating and haunting and I didn't lose attention the whole way through even though nothing exploded. I watched it four times now and am still taken aback.

[FireIsCatching89]

Jesus Camp. I'm with Kitty on this.

I have ADD and struggle to make it through films without getting distracted. If stuff doesn't blow up it doesn't keep my attention normally. Jesus Camp was fascinating and haunting and I didn't lose attention the whole way through even though nothing exploded. I watched it four times now and am still taken aback.

One of the girls featured in that movie is from a suburb of the metropolitan area around the city where I grew up. Hitting close to home, literally! When I'm there, I could reach her house within a 35 minute drive. There are so many people like that where I'm from. Thank the Powers That Be that I got out!

[MalibusLove]

I'm a fan of Fast Food Nation, Supersize Me, and King Corn, to name a few. I also like The Business of Being Born. Food Inc was pretty epic as well. Food and babies, lol, and my world is set.

[Lillian]

I was mesmerized by Mad Hot Ballroom when it came out a few years ago. It follows elementary school children from three or four New York City Public Schools as they compete in a citywide Ballroom dancing competition. The children come from very different socioeconomic groups. It was very touching to watch them all grow in confidence through the process. The students were probably between 10-12 years old. They innocence with which they discuss their hopes for the competition and their dreams for life was so charming, although some of their life experiences were tough to hear. The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't have the ending I wanted. I wish they all could have won!

I watched that about a year ago, at like 2am when I couldn't sleep, I had no idea what it was called. It was excellent.

I agree, anything by Louis Theroux is fantastic. I also love John Safran vs God (more like a documentary-series), most things by Cherry Healy, and there was a really good documentary about the children of the Japanese tsunami on the other night. Also, Living with the Amish, and World's Squarest Teens. There was another really good one about the British tradition of sending children off to boarding school (called 'The Making of Them') on youtube.

I don't know, I'm bad at picking favorites. When it comes to documentaries, if it explores an issue totally alien to me, or very familiar to me, if I loathe the subject matter (Westboro Baptist Church :twisted: ) or if I love it, I will most likely watch it. I much prefer documentaries to dramas and the like.

[Shirley MacLaine]

Man on Wire (about the man who walked a tightrope between the twin towers in 1974)

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (about a guy trying to wrest the world high score for Donkey Kong away from this other guy)

The Devil & Daniel Johnston (chronicle of musician Daniel Johnston's life and his bipolar disorder and belief in demons and whatnot)

these are all much, much, much more interesting than I am making them sound I PROMISE

[1004srs]

I liked Babies.

[MadameX]

The Paradise Lost trilogy (about the West Memphis Three).

[Guest Anonymous]

I looked around a little bit and could only find some YouTube clips of Louis Theroux, and DVDs for sale on Amazon. Are his documentaries available as streaming video anywhere?

[Witsec7]

I looked around a little bit and could only find some YouTube clips of Louis Theroux, and DVDs for sale on Amazon. Are his documentaries available as streaming video anywhere?

I've watched most of Louis stuff in segments off You Tube its a PIA but my love for Louis knows no bounds.

[Guest Anonymous]

I've watched most of Louis stuff in segments off You Tube its a PIA but my love for Louis knows no bounds.

Thanks, I looked at a clip from one of his WBC videos and I'll try to find some more.

[ItISjustme]

I thought Food Inc was great. Deeply disturbing but still great.

This will probably mean nothing to most FJers but for the older Brits amongst us you may remember Cathy Come Home about homelessness in the UK. I saw it when I was a teenager and I can still remember the impact it had on me.

[Witsec7]

I've been glued to the small screen today and saw two great Docs. Both worthy docs, both move well and don't drag, and each about marginalized people.

My Brothers Keeper

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103888/

Jupiters Wife

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110217/