Interesting documentaries
 

I recently watched "Coffee and Cigarettes", a documentary by Jim Jarmush, and I thought it was really great! THis is the first documentary i've ever seen, and I want to get more into this stuff.
I was hoping some of the members here could give me a few titles that you enjoyed, or maybe give me a brief overview of major titles in the documentary world. I Googled for it, but i'm not getting very good results.

I've been wanting to see Coffee and Cigarettes, but haven't made the time to do so yet.

Here are a couple documentaries that I've enjoyed watching:

Spellbound - Follows a groupd of kids as they prepare for and compete in a spelling bee.

Capturing the Friedman's - How the Friedman family deals with some child molestation charges against the father/son.

Stevie - Director Steve James returned to rural Southern Illinois to reconnect with Stevie Fielding, a troubled young boy he had been an 'Advocate Big Brother' to ten years earlier.

American Movie - An amateur film maker is obsessed with making a movie.

Dark Days - Director follows a group of street people and they show him this underground community where they live. The commentary is worth checking out as well.

War Photographer - Film crew follows James Nachtwey as he photographs war scenes. A movie camera is attached to his camera for shots that are too dangerous for a film crew.

Devil's Playground - Follows a group of Amish children during the Amish rite of passage known as Rumspringa.

Cinemania - A documentary about five obsessive film buffs living in NYC. (And I thought I was bad.)

That's all I can think of right now. Most of these can be rented from Netflix.

EDIT: Hell House and Fog of War are also very good.

I got a kick out of American Movie, myself. Also springing to mind are:

Vernon, Florida- mostly slice-of-life stuff with old people and country folks. I've got relatives like some of these people though, so I got more entertainment out of it than others might.

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills- I don't remember if this was bankrolled by HBO, or just run as part of America Undercover (speaking of which, almost every documentary they produce under that title is worth watching) but it's about three trailer-park boys who are killed, and the blame falls on a couple of guys who supposedly dabbled in the dark arts. The most compelling thing about it is it's not really clear where the blame belongs even after the trial's over- one of the kids' stepfather manages to look pretty guilty at one point.

You should watch the second movie too. Damien Echols is still appealing, I feel so sorry for him. Follow this case (and review the evidence) at www.wm3.org

I thought Coffe and Cigarettes was scripted?

That's what I was wondering. What was the movie about?

It's a bunch of conversations that take place in coffee shops and such. The people are real celebrities playing themselves, but i'm pretty sure it's scripted.

From Rolling Stone Magazine:

The fine, funky cool of Jim Jarmusch permeates this lyrically funny cluster of eleven stories that Jarmusch began filming in 1986. Sure, it's just two or three people bonding over the twin addictions of the title. But Jarmusch makes it a feast that plays like a haunting concept album. I liked some tracks more than others. Bill Murray is hilarious serving java to RZA and GZA; Cate Blanchett scores a tour de force playing herself and her black-sheep cousin; Tom Waits memorably encounters Iggy Pop. Best of all is a chat between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan that slyly sticks it to Hollywood. Jarmusch is still the indie soul incarnate.

Thanks everyone for your replies, 'specially K1NG. hehe I guess this is a hobby you gotta pay for to enjoy. my regular sources for bootleg entertainment turned up zilch. Ah well. I hope this doesn't become an obsession, some of these videos are really expensive!

I can't wait to see "Super-size" or whatever it's called where the guy ate McDonald's for a month. It hurt just reading about it.

Definitely not a Documentary

Check out "Whole" by Melody Gilbert. Utterly fascinating. Seems there are people who do not feel complete until they have had a limb amputated. It's a real psychological disorder, not just a bunch of whackos. I'd never heard of this issue before I saw the doc - very eye opening!

For something more lighthearted, she also did "Married at the Mall," where she got the story on a bunch of people getting married at the Chapel of Love in the Mall of America. Funny film!

Touching the Void is a documentary/reconstruction about two mountaineers scaling an ice covered mountain, only to have one of them break his leg. It is the incredible story of one mans struggle for life in his attempt to deal with this impossible situation. Absolutely incredible.

Netflix is your best friend. You can find most/all the films I mentioned through Netflix. Last time I checked, you even get 2 free weeks of netflix.

I'm glad you mentioned this! I remember wanting to see this a while ago and I guess it just slipped my mind. I will definately try to check this out soon.


I just watched that the other day. More of a docu-drama than a documentary. Makes my "bad days" seem like a birthday party compared to what they went through.

When oh when is somone wonderful entrepreneur going to set up a net flix in Ireland?

I have to stick with crappy video stores!
:mad:

You should go for it! You'll have access to all the DVDs you want and make some money too. :)

I guess I will put out the bait...

Bowling for Columbine - Michael Moore

The Madgalene Sisters I've heard to be an interesting story about the nuns in Ireland and England. I haven't seen it, but plan on watching it this weekend after reviews from friends.

Capturing the Friedmans (already explained) and The Fog Of War - an interview/doco with Robert Mcnamara who was the secretary of defense during the cold war and vietnam. Looks at some of the lessons he learned about modern warfare.

Cool, i forgot about this. Also, they used Aphex Twin for most of the film's score :)

Super Size Me was entertaining, but had a few flaws in it... i guess it may have gotten some relevant points across to some people, but it could easily misinform a lot of other people. Anyway it was good entertainment i guess? :hmm:

Although i saw a promo of "Touching The Void" and it was intiguing. I'll have to see that, sounds fascinating :)