Informative Documentaries

[Dunder74]

Every one of Louis Theroux's documentaries are so great.

Try the meth in Fresno one or the pedophile prison.

[ShogunRua]

Every one of Louis Theroux's documentaries are so great.

Try the meth in Fresno one or the pedophile prison.

I've seen a few of Theroux's documentaries, with my mileage varying based on the subject. They're very well-done, and he's a great host, but he also pushes a very simplistic view of the subject, as well as an obvious agenda, all without providing substantial facts.

Haven't seen the two particular ones you mentioned, but both beg the question; what is there to learn about pedophiles and meth that we either don't already know or even want to know?

[Bojangles]

Steve James' latest documentary is on Netflix Instant. Head Games. On the sports-related concussions issue. It might possibly fall into the "I'd rather just read 5-10 minutes of articles" category depending how interesting you find the subject matter.

And even though I see you've already trashed an Adam Curtis documentary, it might be worth trying another one out. They're nothing if not informative.

[ShogunRua]

Steve James' latest documentary is on Netflix Instant. Head Games. On the sports-related concussions issue. It might possibly fall into the "I'd rather just read 5-10 minutes of articles" category depending how interesting you find the subject matter.

I sincerely appreciate the recommendation, but yeah, you guessed my feelings correctly. To me, the concussion issue in sports, especially in American football, makes me roll my eyes and say "Well no shit, Sherlock...". I'm not even sure what there is to discuss; yes, American football is an incredibly violent sport which is awful for the health of one's brain. What else?

[autopoiesis]

+1 for BBC's Planet Earth and Life if you like nature documentaries. Attenborough also did Africa and Kingdom of Plants, both of which were very good also. I think his Flying Monsters won an award or something. I've seen it too and it was good, but I'm not really into dinosaurs. In a couple days the first installment of Micro Monsters will be out.

The Cove was interesting, though it was more like a thriller with a spectacularly horrifying finish. Speaking of Japan, I really enjoyed Jiro Dreams of Sushi and I don't even like sushi. Though, to be fair, it wasn't so much about food as it was about mastery, about aiming for perfection with the expectation that one can never reach it. The dynamic with his successor sons was also interesting.

Gary Hustwit has a series of stylish documentaries: Objectified, Helvetica and Urbanized. I liked the last two. Helvetica because how many documentaries are there about typefaces? Urbanized because I loved seeing the late Oscar Niemeyer talk about how beautiful Brasília is even though it must be hell getting around for the people actually living there.

Ones I've seen most recently: Kochuu, a Scandinavian documentary about Japanese architecture (and way of thought); My Architect, directed by the illegitimate son of the late Louis Kahn and about his father's quest for permanence by way of some really ugly buildings; Let the Wind Carry Me, on renowned cinematographer Ping Bin "Mark" Lee (In the Mood for Love, Air Doll, Renoir); and Call Me Kuchu, on how most of Uganda unfortunately thinks the existence of gays will mean the end of civilization.

I'll post again if and when I remember any others. Cheers.

[CMonster]

The Day After Trinity is a very informative doc about Oppenheimer and the building of the first nuclear bomb. It's shockingly low on political bias. It's not an astounding film or anything, but its pure info. You'll get a little more insight into the whole event and who Oppenheimer is than you would if you read the wiki page. Not sure where you would find it. I watched it in a class a couple years ago and kinda wanted to rewatch it but its not on netflix or anything like that.

[gheul]

Bigger, Faster, Stronger (2008) is a documentary about steroid use. It gives a fantastic insight into people who use steroids regularly, and all the politics that come with the drug. It's very well done and, at the very least, interesting.

[ShogunRua]

The Day After Trinity

I sincerely thank you for the recommendation, but unfortunately, this is a doc that overlaps heavily with my reading and interests. That is, I have already read hundreds of pages about Oppenheimer, Teller, the Manhattan Project, the atomic, hydrogen, and neutron bombs, etc.

That's an amusing trait of documentaries; you want them to cover a subject is interesting, but not too interesting, or else the information will likely be known already.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger (2008) is a documentary about steroid use. It gives a fantastic insight into people who use steroids regularly, and all the politics that come with the drug. It's very well done and, at the very least, interesting.

I've heard a lot of good things about this documentary, even if it covers another subject I have exhaustively read and spoken to people about.

Will check it out, thanks.

[mattorama12]

I just watched The House I Live In and it's an excellent entry for this topic. It's also available on Netflix Instant!

My studies in college were heavily focused on drug policy, so this is a subject I'm quite familiar with. The documentary does an excellent job of presenting factual information as well as anecdotal stories to give context to the information. It really covers almost every major point I'd want to make in a discussion about the war on drugs (the one major exception is the extreme cost America's drug war has on foreign supplier and trafficking countries, particularly Latin America).

[Ag0stoMesmer]

Now, if only they had a good show about military weapons and armor... (And no, "Deadliest Warrior" doesn't count)

Unfortunately neither are on disc but if you can find them, TV series Decisisve weapons
and Weapons that made Britain were quite good for their mixture of theory and 'hands on' testing.

There's a real gap in the market for a good history of weaponry documentary.

PBS Doc The Persuaders was full of interesting ideas.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) - We've all read about this stuff in the papers but seeing just how widespread and how far 'up' it went was stomach churning.

You won't learn allot about Aspergers syndrome but Billy The Kid (2007) was a moving little doc.