Documentary Films

[JamboMikey]

Vice's channel has some really excellent documentaries. Quite gonzo inspired stuff and a lot of dark subject matter

Watched this 3 part North Korea one last night:

This one is really interesting too:

[RayBees]

Just remembered one now. Bobby Fischer Against The World from 2011 is a tremendous profile of a genuinely troubled genius.

I concur with this statement.

[Mr Sugden]

Just watched Project Nim on BBC iplayer. Really quite sad but extremely interesting - 70s fashion was great, unless its on chimps.

[roverthemoon]

Just watched Project Nim on BBC iplayer. Really quite sad but extremely interesting - 70s fashion was great, unless its on chimps.

Watched that when it was on. Interesting story

[W S]

Searching for Sugarman is excellent as is The Imposter. Both should be watched without any research.

Edited April 2, 2013 by W S

[Cityfan]

Oscar winning documentary "Undefeated" is on Film 4 on Monday night:

http://youtu.be/dUt349BSxZk

[Supras]

Undefeated was fantastic.

A guy who gives a f**k is my synopsis.

[GypsyTillIDie]

Already watched Dear Zachary when it was on BBC3 years ago, pretty sure there was a thread on GN a while ago on it. Great documentary.

Watched Once Brothers (great watch without knowing any of the story before it) and Hoop Dreams and they were both good, watching Control Room right now and it's really interesting. I'll tape Undefeated when it's on Monday as I couldn't find that on YouTube.

I watched The Impostor at the cinema last year and it's similar to Dear Zachary in the sense that the less you know about it before the better watch it is. Twist near the end had every in the cinema gasping.

Think I'll give those 30 for 30 ESPN films a watch next. I've watched every Louis Theroux documentary and I've loved them all.

[Cityfan]

Once Brothers is part of the 30 for 30 series, it is good.

What channel is Undefeated on?

Film 4

[Supras]

Not a nice story by any means, but compelling nonetheless.

[ELFC 7]

March of the penguins, is brilliant

I seen this first hand at Philip island in Australia and it is truly a magnificent thing to see..

[untitled00]

I've been watching a few of the ESPN 30 for 30 films recently. Pretty hit or miss tbh but the 'Pony Express' one on SMU getting the death penalty is well worth a watch.

[BradHorse]

Just remembered one now. Bobby Fischer Against The World from 2011 is a tremendous profile of a genuinely troubled genius.

Was watching the Dortmund - Malaga game, which by all accounts appears to be a belter... Have spent the last hour on wikipedia reading about Fischer and his various rivals and missed pretty much most of the match.

Thanks for that!

[Nick_BCFC]

I watched Zero Hour last night. It's based on Columbine, around the hour from when Harris and Klebold get to the school to when they die. The actors they got in to play the two weren't brilliant but it shows what their movements were around the school etc.

*Not to be confused with Zero Day, a film based on Columbine.

Available on YouTube.

[saint dave]

Watched The Two Escobar's on Netflix. Showed the rise and fall of football in Columbia and it's link to the various cartels. It also follows the story of Pablo and Andres Escobar , the drug lord and the footballer from childhood to both assassinations.

When the drug cartels were rolled up , the money for players and foreign coaches disappeared , leading to a downturn in the national team too.

8/10

[Mackie The Staggie]

Senna was quality. Very enjoyable and as pointed out, you don't have to like F1 to like the film, which is just as well as I find F1 exceptionally tedious. As soon as the film started to cover San Marino 94, I felt a little weird, as you knew what was coming. It was sort of like a small sense of dread.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but every time I see Senna's crash at Imola I still hope to see him move after the impact......my inner 10 year old, still tears up at the scenes every time.

Recently I watched a documentary called Dark Days, its about the homeless in New York who take up shelter inside the subway systems. A bit sugar coated if I'm being honest but still a fascinating insight into the lives of those who live within the tunnels. It's well shot and structured which comes as more of a surprise considering it was Singer's first film and he had little to no idea of what to do, other than the story he wanted to tell.

[mrcat1990]

Into the Abyss by Werner Herzog is very very good. On lovefilm. About a few fellas on death row. Can't really do it justice with words.

Biggie and Tupac by Nick Broomfield. Rap fan or not this is excellent viewing as per Broomfield. Kurt and Courtney and Aileen : Portrait of a Serial Killer are also part of his great output.

[Savage Henry]

Fire in Babylon (2010) is well worth watching if you have the slightest interest in the social aspect of sport. It's about the role of cricket in the West Indies and how it all came together in the 1980s with the fastest bowling attack the game had ever seen.

[NorthAyrshireKillie]

"This is what winning looks like" was amazing, you'll get it on the Vice channel on YouTube. It's essentially about the Afghan National Army and their unbelievable incompetence. I also really enjoyed "Crack House". Police in America hooked up a rundown crack house with hidden cameras all over it, very entertaining.

[Euan_M]

I recently watched the feature documentary 'McCullin', about the british 'war' photographer Donald McCullin CBE. It tells the story of how he escaped from the estates of Finsbury Park, to becoming The Sunday Times Magazine photographer, and travelled to the most horrendous scenes of conflict in the 60's-80's, covering the civil wars in Cyprus, Nigeria, and other wars in Vietnam, Congo, Beirut.

He speaks of his duties in taking the pictures and trying to shock people in this country and open their eyes to the suffering, but also of the morality of the people in the situation and how he wants to stop what is going on. Although he starts off focusing on the soldiers with their guns, after his experiences in Biafra he turns his photographic focus onto the human price of war, and how it's always the innocent poor who suffer the most during any conflict.

Interestingly, his work became more scarce in the 1980's, when Rupert Murdoch and Andrew Neil took over The Sunday Times, and the media coverage of wars became more 'managed'. There was no place for his honest and realist portrayal of the war zones and he was rejected from going to cover the Falklands War, for example. Plus, those two wanted the Magazine to be more appealing to advertisers, so they didn't want brutal images of warfare, and instead wanted a lifestyle magazine for the readers.

I would really recommend anyone to watch this, although there are some truely horrific sections of footage. Anyone who can watch the chapter about Biafra / Nigeria and not get a lump in the throat at what you see and hear is really not human.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Euan_M