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Documentaries

Watching documentaries is my second hobby after golf. So I'm loving this thread.

I can't believe no one has mentioned a few of the below as they steadily show up in Top 20 lists and such. I've listed them in the order I prefer them. Also, if you like Ken Burns, you have to check out Errol Morris. Same style but he tackles very different material and in a more engaging, suspenseful way.


  1. The Fog of War
  2. The Thin Blue Line (the first movie to ever get a court case reopened and ultimately overturned)
  3. The Staircase (actually a min-series but too good to omit)
  4. The Corporation
  5. The Up Series
  6. Street Fight
  7. Food, Inc.
  8. Raw Deal: A Question of Consent (the director from Cocaine Cowboys first movie, riveting and disturbing)
  9. Gimme Shelter
  10. The Last Waltz (if you like rock concerts this is the grand-daddy of them all)
  11. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
  12. Inside Job
  13. Jesus Camp (will blow your mind)
  14. Gonzo
  15. The Cove
  16. Religulous
  17. Capturing the Freidmans
  18. SuperSize Me
  19. This Film Is Not Yet Rated
  20. Dig!

I've seen most of the other documentary movies listed except "Hot Coffee", so I'll be checking that out ASAP.

Keep 'em coming!
 
I actually did watch The Thin Blue Line. That was a good one!
 
Add "Searching for Sugarman" to the list. Watched it during the flight to Tampa today and it is excellent.
 
I thought Restrepo was one of the best military documentaries I'd ever seen. Knowing the bigger story of Salvatore Giunta receiving the Medal of Honor just a hill over. And now knowing that the filmmaker, Tim Hetherington, was killed covering the war in Libya.

I watched a good one the other day. The Bones Brigade, about the rise of skateboarding's best team. Also, not sure if Art of Flight should be included as a documentary but watch it anyways, the scenery will blow you away.
 
My wife and I watched The Queen of Versailles on Netflix last week; nothing like watching people trying to justify building a 90,000 sq. ft. house! My favorite documentary is Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room - it still amazes me how Enron management got away with screwing over customers and its employees alike!
 
Watched a Nat Geo Documentary on the Bismarck last night. Crazy to think that it's entire battle life lasted less than 1 week.
 
JRod said:
Watched a Nat Geo Documentary on the Bismarck last night. Crazy to think that it's entire battle life lasted less than 1 week.
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Sunk the Hood in one shot.
 
I watched the old Frontline episode on Rwanda over the last two nights. What a downer that thing was. People suck.
 
Been watching alot of the Vice documentaries lately. The ones on Liberia and the Congo were just downright depressing. They now have a show on HBO Friday nights but there are tons more videos on their site and youtube.
 
I'm going to watch Liberia again. North Korea was very good too.
 
Hawk said:
I'm going to watch Liberia again. North Korea was very good too.
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S**T Beach is literally the worst thing I have ever seen.
 
I see something like that and then literally read every single thing I can find about the subject. I'm a huge dork.
 
Just showed Nat Geo's "Inside North Korea" w/ Lisa Ling in my World Geography class. Blew their minds.
 
Jman said:
Just showed Nat Geo's "Inside North Korea" w/ Lisa Ling in my World Geography class. Blew their minds.
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Showing movies...huh, trying to win teacher of the year...HEHE
 
Hawk said:
I see something like that and then literally read every single thing I can find about the subject. I'm a huge dork.
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One of the guys from Vice was interviewed on Opie and Anthony recently and he said that S**T Beach was the worst place he has ever been. The mounds that you see are not sand from the beach, it is mounds 10-15 feet high of feces. He said the weirdest thing is that the beach itself is in a picturesque tropical place.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
Showing movies...huh, trying to win teacher of the year...HEHE
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We are covering North Korea and this is World Geography. Documentaries are different than movies.
 
I saw the Nat Geo one a while back. Good one.

The beach sounds pretty bad. I don't like to think about it lol.
 
Hawk said:
I saw the Nat Geo one a while back. Good one.

The beach sounds pretty bad. I don't like to think about it lol.
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How is the VICE North Korea one Hawk?
 
Jman said:
We are covering North Korea and this is World Geography. Documentaries are different than movies.
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I know bro, I was just giving you grief!
 
Hawk said:
Better than Nat Geo, but not suitable for youngsters.
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To expand on that a bit - VICE really captures the absolute weirdness of being in NK. Showed the isolation and curious way that outsiders are treated quite well.
 
Hawk said:
Better than Nat Geo, but not suitable for youngsters.
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I just want to watch it at home, I love this stuff.
 
Just watched Lewis and Clark last night again.

Ken Burns is simply amazing.
 
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