Documentaries and Documentary Filmmakers

[turtlex]

I love Documentaries and I've been seeing more and more of them mentioned in the Rate The Last Movie You Saw thread so I thought I'd start a discussion topic on them. If it doesn't take off, we can merge this with the General Movie Discussion thread.

I have more than a few favorite documentaries, so I'll list a bunch of them here to give you an idea :

B3773R Living Through Circuitry
The Last Waltz
Brothers Keeper
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Bowling For Columbine
Capturing the Friedmans
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Murderball
Project Greenlight
Edgeplay : A Film About The Runaways
Found On Everest : detectives on the roof of the world
Game Over: Kasparov and The Machine
Grizzly Man
Stoked: The Rise And Fall Of Gator
Metallica : Some Kind Of Monster
Red Light Go : Alley Cat Racing In New York City
Paradise Lost : The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
Super Size Me
Party Monster: The Shockumentary
The Search For Robert Johnson
Spellbound
Trembling Before G-d
The Celluloid Closet
What Happened To KEROUAC

Basically, the ones listed above are in my personal DVD collection.

Quick mention here - for me, personally, the films of Michael Moore tend to be more an Editorial than a Documentary, but I've included them... because they do document his editorializing.

So ... what are you favorite documentaries and why?

[Still Servant]

It's is my great honor to be the first person to discuss a film in this thread.

And there is no better documentary I could possibly talk about than The Cove, which won the Academy Award last year for best documentary.

I've had a day to think about it. There were just so many emotions that were stirred up after watching that movie, I couldn't possibly put it into a coherent statement.

First let me say that The Cove is a lot more than a movie about mean old Japanese people killing cute, innocent dolphins. Don't get me wrong, it's the part of the film that will tug at your heartstrings the most.

The Cove is about government cover-ups, greed, and the future of our ecosystem. What many people don't know is that a lot of the dolphins are killed for their meat. The Japanese government says it's for food (just like we eat cows) yet the people they talked to in Japan didn't even know about dolphins being killed and eaten.

The other thing is that dolphin meat has high traces of mercury in it and can pose very serious health risks. The Japanese government is also trying to get a law that prohibits them for fishing for whales overturned. To do this they need a certain amount of votes. In order to get those votes, they go to poverty stricken countries (mainly in the Caribbean) and give them money for their vote. It's disgusting.

I've been on a lot of cruises and everywhere we go you see "swim with the dolphins" excursions. Although I've never been on one, my friend has. They are a huge business and I will never look at them the same. By the way, an average dolphin excursion can cost up to $175.

I think the heart of the film is Richard Barry, the one time dolphin trainer from the hit TV show Flipper, who has now become an activist. Barry carries a personal sense of guilt and responsibility that can literally be seen on every line of his face.

The other cool thing about the film is that it almost unfolds like a spy/heist film. In order to film inside the cove, they need to secretly get cameras inside there. In order to do this, Barry assembles a team of the best people in the business.

I'm not quite sure why you shouldn't watch this film. It made me want to become an activist. I feel like I should be doing more and it really bugs me.

[Odetta]

I really enjoyed Super Size Me...

I wasn't overly surprised by its results, but some of the facts were quite interesting and surprising to me.

[TLC]

I am an Eco-nut, and I loved the COVE....so much so that it's inspired me to start my own campaign against the dolphin slaughter and captivity. I may even be going to Taiji soon!
On that note, I also like Sharkwater, The End of the Line, Tar Sands: The selling of Alberta,
Saving Luna, and (not for the faint of heart) Earthlings.

[candy]

there is a wonderful selection of documentary series and made for Tv documentaries that are shown on over here so i was a little pressed as to choose my favourites

when i review my favourites I seem to prefer the nature documentaries
The Blue Planet series was wonderful and beautiful to view

I also love a good sci fi documentary
The Truth about Time Travel was very interesting
and a brief History of Time was fabulous

In regards to series i love Louis Theroux series i find them enthralling

and the first Ross Kemp series (in afganistan), unfortunaltey i have not been able to keep on top of them

These are just the ones off the top of my head, i shall have a think and return

[turtlex]

SS - thanks so much for the details.

The Cove has been on my to-watch list since it was nominated for an Oscar and I just never got around to seeing it. I'm going to make a point to catch it the first chance I can.

Super-Size Me really freaked me out. I mean, even when you expect the results of someting, seeing it and watching it happen, day after day ... it was very disconcerting.

[turtlex]

Hey All - I was watching the BIO ( biography ) channel yesterday and I caught an excellent behind-the-scene documentary on the making of Silence of the Lambs. Interviews with the J. Demme and the majority of the cast ( everyone except Scott Glenn and Ted Levine ) and I mean, just about everyone else.

Lots of really good conversation on everything from casting choices ( they weren't sure Hopkins would work ), director questions ( Jodie was worried Demme was a "comedy" director ) to moth-wrangling ( don't ask, but it was very interesting ).

If you like the movie, or are interested in film - really, a fun two-hours of viewing, lots of insight on technique and the craft.

( I believe the title was : Inside Story: The Making of Silence Of The Lambs )

[Darkthoughts]

Does anyone know the name of the documentary the couple who filmed the great white footage for Jaws made? They too have become activists after the negative attention Jaws gave great whites. I've seen it twice, but cannot remember the name of it, it's very much worth checking out.

[turtlex]

Lisa - Ron and Valerie Taylor did the underwater photography on Jaws.

I just checked IMDB, and they only have one documentary listed there and it's from 1971 called Blue Water/White Death.

Is that the one you're talking about? Did they do the documentary, or are they just featured? I recall seeing an hour special on their underwater work on the Discovery Channel once - it was originally a special produced in Australia.

At Wiki and Their Official Website

[Darkthoughts]

Cool, I'm just about to have a look - but it probably is the one, it's not recent by any means. They narrated the one I saw and it was lots of personal footage, so I presumed they made it.

[Darkthoughts]

Nope! Found it!! Shadow Of The Shark

[turtlex]

I'll have to look for it. I don't see an IMDB entry, but I can find it on .uk sites - weird!

[cozener]

SS - thanks so much for the details.

The Cove has been on my to-watch list since it was nominated for an Oscar and I just never got around to seeing it. I'm going to make a point to catch it the first chance I can.

Super-Size Me really freaked me out. I mean, even when you expect the results of someting, seeing it and watching it happen, day after day ... it was very disconcerting.

The Cove is on Neflix instant play. I was planning on watching that soon. Supersize me was kinda freaky...again...not surprised by the results the guy had but still he proved that McDonald's is pretty much slow poison. Sure, you can say, "hey you're not supposed to eat it EVERYDAY...DUH) but the thing is this. What they're peddling is supposed to be FOOD. Food is something you're supposed to eat every day, several times a day. So someone should be able to eat at McDonald's everyday, 3 meals a day and not suffer these effects.

[Mattrick]

The Union
What Are Dreams?:Nova
Supersize Me
Super High Me
Auschwitz
The F-Bomb
The End of America
Walking With Dinosaurs (series)
The Corporation



My list to watch. Any comments on them would be appreciated.

[pathoftheturtle]

The Corporation

No one's mentioned Ken Burns. What do you think of his stuff?

[turtlex]

The Union
What Are Dreams?:Nova
Supersize Me
Super High Me
Auschwitz
The F-Bomb
The End of America
Walking With Dinosaurs (series)
The Corporation

My list to watch. Any comments on them would be appreciated.

Mattrick - Supersize Me was excellent ... and it's funny, so it's a real enjoyable watch.

Path - I love Ken Burns' stuff. He's excellent and an amazing storyteller. I will say, though, that his National Parks series was kind of a disappointment to me. I found it slightly disconnected, and maybe a little rushed. The Civil War, though, and Baseball are classics!

[turtlex]

I caught a pretty good documentary on Planet Green ( cable channel ) the other day called No Impact Man. Basically, it follows writer Colin Beaven as he tries to live a year making no negative impact on the enviroment. I think the teaser basically says it all - A guilty New York Liberal decides to practice what he preaches for one year... turns off the electricity, stops making garbage, gives up tv, taxis & take out and becomes a walking, bicycling, composting, tree-hugging, polar bear saving, local food-eating citizen, all while taking his baby daugher and caffeine loving retail-obsessed television-addicted wife along with him.

It's actually a pretty good film, funny and thought provoking - I'd give it a 8/10.

No Impact Man Blog and Info