Favourite Documentaries?

Mojo · 02-07-2016, 03:31 AM

Far too many to mention really but a few come to mind:

FROZEN PLANET
I love all of this "little" BBC series. The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Frozen Planet. Some incredible shots, and just about anything David Attenborough touches is gold.

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING
A group of muslim comedians travel around the US offering little more than humour and interaction to challenge stereotypes and prejudice. I really loved this. It's open and honest and at times quite heart warming.

LAST DAYS HERE
So when I sat down and started to watch this I was concerned. Mostly due to the feeling I had that there were many ways in which to tell or spin the story of Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling, and that after 20 or 30 minutes I feared I had a pretty good feeling which route they had taken; the old, washed up, reclusive, socially inept man desperately clinging on to days of former semi-glory and reasonable successes. Thankfully however this was ultimately proven somewhat inaccurate.

It is arguably unbiased (only to a point, of course) in its presentation. It depicts Bobby at his weakest, his saddest, his most vulnerable. However this wasnt the story of a washed up old man who never made it but desperately clings to the old days. It is the story of a man who learns lessons, grows as a man, rebuilds, reinvents and has the courage aswell as the confidence, convinction and belief in Pentagram, what Pentagram was and a vision of what Pentagram could still be, to put himself back in the spotlight on the road to making the current version of Pentagram the most commercially successfully version to date. As a fan this makes me very happy.

STEPHEN FRY: SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE
As a man living with bipolar disorder, who has on numerous occasions attempted to take his own life, who has the platform on which to be heard, and also happens to make cracking documentaries, this was a no brainer but was without doubt also pretty courageous. Through opening up publicly about his own experiences, struggles and feelings while also inviting other people with the condition to do the same, including a few celebrities such as Carrie Fisher, Robbie Williams and Richard Dreyfuss, he succeeds in shining a little bit of a light on what manic depression is, through not only a medical definition of a complex condition but through the sharing of experiences and accounts from many people who all feel slightly different in their attitude towards their condition. Some are intensely suicidal, some are taking medication, some refuse medication, and some love their condition, for all the highest highs make the lowest lows worth enduring.

MusicMakesLifeLivable · 03-15-2016, 08:12 AM

'I Am Secretly an Important Man' is a portrait of writer and poet Steven J. Bernstein (aka Jesse Bernstein), one of Seattle's most celebrated and troubled voices.

JGuy Grungeman · 05-02-2016, 12:16 PM

Koyaanisqatsi is my favorite, followwe by Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

JGuy Grungeman · 05-03-2016, 11:48 AM

Watching Muscle Shoals right now. Five minutes in and Keith Richard's and that Grateful Dead woman's casual interview clothing either denotes they can do whatever they want or they feel washed up.

Tristan_Geoff · 05-03-2016, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JGuy Grungeman

Watching Muscle Shoals right now. Five minutes in and Keith Richard's and that Grateful Dead woman's casual interview clothing either denotes they can do whatever they want or they feel washed up.

Great flick.

**Frownland** · 05-03-2016, 08:10 PM

The Nightmare

Documentary on sleep paralysis by the guy who did Room 237 (another intriguing doc). It's made up of interviews and dramatizations of these people's horrific experiences involving SP. It's not scientific in the slightest and imo operates more as horror film than an informative documentary. Still a great film though.

grindy · 05-04-2016, 02:09 PM

^
I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" which, among other things, explores the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in connection with alleged demonic and alien abductions. Pretty interesting stuff.

**Frownland** · 05-04-2016, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grindy

^
I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" which, among other things, explores the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in connection with alleged demonic and alien abductions. Pretty interesting stuff.

I'll have to check that out. They mention both of those things in the film.

~~ChelseaDagger~~ · 05-04-2016, 02:34 PM

I probably stand alone here... but does anyone else love Disney Nature documentaries? The visuals on Wings of Life are an absolute feast for the eyes, even if the narration is geared toward a younger audience.

**Goofle** · 02-10-2017, 09:54 AM

Brilliant doc about French street football.

02-07-2016, 03:31 AM	#121 (permalink)
Mojo Melancholia Eternally Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: England Posts: 5,018	Far too many to mention really but a few come to mind: FROZEN PLANET I love all of this "little" BBC series. The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Frozen Planet. Some incredible shots, and just about anything David Attenborough touches is gold. THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING A group of muslim comedians travel around the US offering little more than humour and interaction to challenge stereotypes and prejudice. I really loved this. It's open and honest and at times quite heart warming. LAST DAYS HERE So when I sat down and started to watch this I was concerned. Mostly due to the feeling I had that there were many ways in which to tell or spin the story of Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling, and that after 20 or 30 minutes I feared I had a pretty good feeling which route they had taken; the old, washed up, reclusive, socially inept man desperately clinging on to days of former semi-glory and reasonable successes. Thankfully however this was ultimately proven somewhat inaccurate. It is arguably unbiased (only to a point, of course) in its presentation. It depicts Bobby at his weakest, his saddest, his most vulnerable. However this wasnt the story of a washed up old man who never made it but desperately clings to the old days. It is the story of a man who learns lessons, grows as a man, rebuilds, reinvents and has the courage aswell as the confidence, convinction and belief in Pentagram, what Pentagram was and a vision of what Pentagram could still be, to put himself back in the spotlight on the road to making the current version of Pentagram the most commercially successfully version to date. As a fan this makes me very happy. STEPHEN FRY: SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE As a man living with bipolar disorder, who has on numerous occasions attempted to take his own life, who has the platform on which to be heard, and also happens to make cracking documentaries, this was a no brainer but was without doubt also pretty courageous. Through opening up publicly about his own experiences, struggles and feelings while also inviting other people with the condition to do the same, including a few celebrities such as Carrie Fisher, Robbie Williams and Richard Dreyfuss, he succeeds in shining a little bit of a light on what manic depression is, through not only a medical definition of a complex condition but through the sharing of experiences and accounts from many people who all feel slightly different in their attitude towards their condition. Some are intensely suicidal, some are taking medication, some refuse medication, and some love their condition, for all the highest highs make the lowest lows worth enduring. __________________ Last.FM \| Echoes and Dust

05-02-2016, 12:16 PM	#123 (permalink)
JGuy Grungeman Primo Celebate Sexiness Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 2,662	Koyaanisqatsi is my favorite, followwe by Beyond the Gates of Splendor. __________________ I'm a pretty nice troll if you ask me.

05-03-2016, 11:48 AM	#124 (permalink)
JGuy Grungeman Primo Celebate Sexiness Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 2,662	Watching Muscle Shoals right now. Five minutes in and Keith Richard's and that Grateful Dead woman's casual interview clothing either denotes they can do whatever they want or they feel washed up. __________________ I'm a pretty nice troll if you ask me.

05-03-2016, 08:10 PM	#126 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,548	The Nightmare Documentary on sleep paralysis by the guy who did Room 237 (another intriguing doc). It's made up of interviews and dramatizations of these people's horrific experiences involving SP. It's not scientific in the slightest and imo operates more as horror film than an informative documentary. Still a great film though. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

05-04-2016, 02:09 PM	#127 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	^ I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" which, among other things, explores the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in connection with alleged demonic and alien abductions. Pretty interesting stuff. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*

03-15-2016, 08:12 AM	#122 (permalink)
MusicMakesLifeLivable Groupie Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 45	'I Am Secretly an Important Man' is a portrait of writer and poet Steven J. Bernstein (aka Jesse Bernstein), one of Seattle's most celebrated and troubled voices.

05-04-2016, 02:34 PM	#129 (permalink)
~~ChelseaDagger~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: In the fires of your own disillusion Posts: 684	I probably stand alone here... but does anyone else love Disney Nature documentaries? The visuals on Wings of Life are an absolute feast for the eyes, even if the narration is geared toward a younger audience.