Topic: Your Top 3 favourite documentaries:

[Plastique]

#1:Dear Zachary: A man makes a documentary to show his friends infant boy what his dad was like when he was growing up. The documentary quickly takes a evil, twisted, heartbreaking turn.

#2:I want to look like that guy: An average Joe decides he wants to compete in a bodybuilding contest, and look like "that guy" in the fitness model ads

#3:Catfish: A seemingly uninteresting subject, an emerging long distance relationship, takes a turn for the dark and creepy. One of the most beautifully executed docs ive seen.




*Be sure to add short descriptions, so other forum members can easily see docs they might be into*

Just watched #2 based on your recommendation, not bad. I wonder if it ends up having the effect of encouraging or discouraging most people.

It go me into it, to a much lesser degree of course.

Into bodybuilding?

[341gerbig]

#1:Dear Zachary: A man makes a documentary to show his friends infant boy what his dad was like when he was growing up. The documentary quickly takes a evil, twisted, heartbreaking turn.

#2:I want to look like that guy: An average Joe decides he wants to compete in a bodybuilding contest, and look like "that guy" in the fitness model ads

#3:Catfish: A seemingly uninteresting subject, an emerging long distance relationship, takes a turn for the dark and creepy. One of the most beautifully executed docs ive seen.




*Be sure to add short descriptions, so other forum members can easily see docs they might be into*

Just watched #2 based on your recommendation, not bad. I wonder if it ends up having the effect of encouraging or discouraging most people.

It go me into it, to a much lesser degree of course.

Into bodybuilding?

Eh, I wouldn't call what I am doing "body building".

Just losing fat and gaining muscle

[Plastique]

#1:Dear Zachary: A man makes a documentary to show his friends infant boy what his dad was like when he was growing up. The documentary quickly takes a evil, twisted, heartbreaking turn.

#2:I want to look like that guy: An average Joe decides he wants to compete in a bodybuilding contest, and look like "that guy" in the fitness model ads

#3:Catfish: A seemingly uninteresting subject, an emerging long distance relationship, takes a turn for the dark and creepy. One of the most beautifully executed docs ive seen.




*Be sure to add short descriptions, so other forum members can easily see docs they might be into*

Just watched #2 based on your recommendation, not bad. I wonder if it ends up having the effect of encouraging or discouraging most people.

It go me into it, to a much lesser degree of course.

Into bodybuilding?

Eh, I wouldn't call what I am doing "body building".

Just losing fat and gaining muscle

That's pretty much the definition! I know what you mean, though—saying I'm into "bodybuilding" seems slightly off somehow. Good for you, man.

[341gerbig]

#1:Dear Zachary: A man makes a documentary to show his friends infant boy what his dad was like when he was growing up. The documentary quickly takes a evil, twisted, heartbreaking turn.

#2:I want to look like that guy: An average Joe decides he wants to compete in a bodybuilding contest, and look like "that guy" in the fitness model ads

#3:Catfish: A seemingly uninteresting subject, an emerging long distance relationship, takes a turn for the dark and creepy. One of the most beautifully executed docs ive seen.




*Be sure to add short descriptions, so other forum members can easily see docs they might be into*

Just watched #2 based on your recommendation, not bad. I wonder if it ends up having the effect of encouraging or discouraging most people.

It go me into it, to a much lesser degree of course.

Into bodybuilding?

Eh, I wouldn't call what I am doing "body building".

Just losing fat and gaining muscle

That's pretty much the definition! I know what you mean, though—saying I'm into "bodybuilding" seems slightly off somehow. Good for you, man.

Lol, yea, i figure that if I say im "into bodybuilding" , then I am planning to enter a contest later on.

And i am not, otherwise, what I am doing is pretty much the same

[Ajzzz]

BBC's Nature's Great Events (US Title: Nature's Most Amazing Events):  Narrated by David Attenborough (or Hasani Issa in the US), takes a look at the grand scale events like thaw of sea ice in the Arctic, the salmon run, migration in the rainy season in Africa, ocean currents driving the sardine run, Kalahari floods, and the plankton bloom, with snapshots of how it effects individual species and animals. It's my favourite because it's not an account of specific animals lives, but it's telling a story of larger events. (also see: BBC's Life, Yellowstone, South Pacific, Frozen Planet, Galapagos, Human Planet, Planet Earth, Madagascar).

BBC's The Incredible Human Journey: Presented by Professor Alice Roberts, is an amazing show about early human migrations and the evidence behind the leading theories, also talking about alternative theories. I love it when scientists present shows out of love for a subject, and they treat the subject with respect and acknowledgement that what makes the scientific endeavour worthwhile at all is the honesty and logic that goes into the pursuit of supporting hypotheses. (also see: BBC's Origin of Us, The Ascent of Man)

I can't decide a third, so many good documentaries. I feel like picking COSMOS or The Ascent of Man is cheating because they're so long and cover so much, and I can think of over 30 great documentaries that are equally deserving as my favourite two.

[341gerbig]

Hot Coffee: A deeper look into the "seemingly ridiculous lawsuits" that populate common media

The most hated family on earth: Louis Theroux emerses himself in the lives of members of the Westboro Baptist Church
+
The most hated family on earth in crisis: Louis visits the members he met the first time 5 years later

Paper Clips: A community tries to collect one paper clip for every person that died in the holocaust

[azinyk]

There are some great ones already mentioned, like Cosmos and The Corporation, but here are some good ones I would add:

Evolution (PBS series 2001): An 8-part series on various aspects of biological evolution, starting with a 2-episode dramatization of the life of Charles Darwin which I think is better than the Paul Bettany or Henry Ian Cusick stories.

Longitude (A&E/Channel 4 2000): 4-hour dramatization of the making of John Harrison's marine chronometers and the quest to determine a ship's longitude at sea.

Alone in the Wilderness (PBS): One man's life exploring the Alaskan wilds cut off from modern civilization.

Fog of War (2003): Former defense secretary Robert McNamara's thoughts on multiple wars.  Directed by Errol Morris.

Why We Fight (2006): Documentary about the military-industrial complex, justifications for war, propaganda, and more.

Sicko (2007): Michael Moore's other movies are of variable quality, but I like this one quite a bit.  It's biased, obviously.

[Zytheran]

Life after People (History Channel 2008) Life After People is a television documentary series where scientists, structural engineers and other experts speculate with the thought experiment about what the Earth might be like if humanity instantly disappeared, as well as the impact humanity's disappearance might have on the environment and the artificial aspects of civilization. The series' episodes thematically offer examples of structural and biological decay focusing on specific locations (such as religious icons, bridges and dams, and government buildings), and the fate of certain related objects (such as artifacts, documents and human bodies). The fate of specific kinds of flora and fauna are covered as well. [Wikipedia]

[azinyk]

Life after People (History Channel 2008)

I've only seen "Life after People" once, and it was several years ago, but it seemed like an excuse to show computer animations of iconic buildings collapsing (like every other disaster movie after Independence Day) without as much substance as I would like.  I preferred the book "The World Without Us", which goes into a lot of detail about how different things will survive, like aluminum, stainless steel, plastics, radioactive waste, space probes, and so on.

Edit: After reading the Wikipedia page, it turns out that I haven't actually seen this one.  I saw the two-hour special, but I didn't realize that they had spun off another 20 episodes under the same name.

[azinyk]

If we're doing series, I'm going to add:

Industrial Revelations, a British documentary series on the development of technology and engineering feats mostly during the industrial revolution.  It has brilliant explanations of how machines work, social factors at work, and why people made the decisions they did.

I also like the British series Time Team, about modern archaeology, and The Worst Jobs in History, where the host re-enacts a lot of miserable historical occupations like collecting leeches and tanning leather, but Industrial Revelations gets my top recommendation.

There was a PBS series in the '90s (I think) where "experimental archaeologists" tried to recreate certain things like raising megaliths and building small pyramids using only ancient technology, but I don't remember the name of the show.  It could have been on NOVA.

[Lukas]

I don't really have a Top 3, or it constantly changing, but here are three good classic ones:

Woodstock - Really, I don't think an explanation is necessary. The best concert documentary ever.

The Thin Blue Line - An Errol Morris documentary about a man sentenced to life in prison for murder on extremely questionable evidence. The guy was released a year after the release of the film. If you have confidence in our justice system, reliability of eyewitness evidence, fairness of prosecutors etc., watch this to have your confidence shattered. (Really, any Errol Morris documentary could be on this list, they are all worth watching.)

Salesman - A Maysles brothers documentary about a group of four door-to-door Bible salesmen, trying to pitch super-expensive luxury Bibles to poor people in Chicago. This is both hilarious and tragic, as you can see both the salesmen and their customers getting screwed and breaking down in a business that is as brutal and cut-throat as it gets. (And of course the Maysles brothers also made the great documentaries "Gimme Shelter" and "Grey Gardens", which everyone should watch...)

[MisterMarc]

No one has mentioned Orwell Rolls in his Grave yet. Just putting it out there.

Orwell Rolls in his Grave (Full 3HR Documentary)

[Zytheran]

Life after People (History Channel 2008)

I've only seen "Life after People" once, and it was several years ago, but it seemed like an excuse to show computer animations of iconic buildings collapsing (like every other disaster movie after Independence Day) without as much substance as I would like.  I preferred the book "The World Without Us", which goes into a lot of detail about how different things will survive, like aluminum, stainless steel, plastics, radioactive waste, space probes, and so on.

Edit: After reading the Wikipedia page, it turns out that I haven't actually seen this one.  I saw the two-hour special, but I didn't realize that they had spun off another 20 episodes under the same name.

I was refering to the 2 hour special, I didn't realise there was a separate series (which hasn't been shown in Australia    ,so I've just now gone and bought).
I agree about the lack of substance however with a background in engineering it was nice to see a program about all the infrastructure everyone takes for granted... and how rapidly it falls apart without us. And I like *seeing* big shit fall down, being able to do the math and engineering behind all this is one thing but watching it is cool. (I also love to see huge spacecraft de-orbit  )

[stonesean]

Brothers Keeper 

Tabloid

King Of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters

Not my "top" 3, because that changes from time to time, but 3 absolutely worth seeing.

[Neutral Milk]

Brothers Keeper 

Tabloid

King Of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters

Not my "top" 3, because that changes from time to time, but 3 absolutely worth seeing.

I love Brother's Keeper and King of Kong.

Just watched Catfish finally.. wow.. I've never felt so anxious watching a film.

I did read on the wiki page that many doubt the authenticity of the documentary, and once it's pointed out it all does seem pretty well laid out (mainly that the story worked out in such a perfect fashion for story telling, and that all the major moments were caught on film). If it is fake the acting is superb. I don't know what to think.

Other documentaries I watched that I'll second: Exit Through The Gift Shop, Hot Coffee, any Louis Theroux documentary (his latest two are on Autism and dementia, and they're both excellent).

Another one that hasn't been mentioned:

HBO's There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane - Not sure how to give a synopsis of this documentary without giving away too much. A woman drives into oncoming traffic on a highway and kills herself and 7 other people including her daughter and two nieces. The documentary creates a timeline of events leading up to the crash.