Way OT - Best documentaries to watch
Sound City.
It's about the studio where a bunch of great albums were produced. Rumors all the way through Nevermind.
but not exactly a documentary
Two great music documentaries:
"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" - about the Funk Brothers
"20 Feet from Stardom" - about backup singers
Both are well worth watching.
When tape was $$$ and you didn’t have time to screw around you brought in guys like the Funk bro’s. Serious tradesmen.
American Vandal...brought back high school memories
Religulous
Blackfish
Searching for Sugar Man
Going Clear
The Wolfpack
has one of the alltime best twists I've ever seen in the middle of a doc.
7 Up - British documentary. Fascinating and the follow-ups are great, 14 Up, 21 Up, etc.
The 7-Up series follows a group of kids starting when they were 7, then 14, etc. into adulthood.
Posted this on the other thread but "Long Strange Trip" is an excellent four-part documentary on the rise and fall of the Grateful Dead.
I liked Beware the Slenderman doc on hbo
Correct regarding what the Keepers is about. Even though it's real clique at this point, I am assuming you've probably seen A Making of a Murderer ? . But anyway, if you liked that , you'd like The Keepers. It has that "WTF!?" moments like it.
No but I am glad you reminded me of it, as I have heard it's awesome and will have to check it very soon.
for the history buff. Really humanizes some of the great conflicts in our history.
This is a good one but Ken Burns' best is "Street Signs" but you need to see the first three episodes.
completely amazing, second only to the Civil War in my opinion. I never genuinely felt I understood the Vietnam War from both sides until watching it.
That was a good one.
I really enjoyed "Baseball" too, and I actually just rewatched "The Civil War" after not having seen or thought much about that one for years. I remember my family being glued to the TV for several nights when it premiered on PBS in August 1990 though.
If you have Prime there is a series called America(I believe) made from Burns' shorter docs. Subjects include Mark Twain, Lewis and Clark, Cady Standon and many others. Must viewing for Ken Burns fans.
Ric Burns' "New York" is also fascinating and on Amazon Prime for free.
Some of my other favorie docs:
Biographical: 42 grams, The Last Magnificent, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Somm
Music: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Foo Fighters docuseries: Sonic Highways, Score: A Film Music Documentary
Most ESPN 30 for 30 films (Especially The Brady 6).
Then watch The Known Unknown also by Errol Morris, but this time sitting down with Donald Rumsfeld. The compare and contrast is fascinating.
Any of the documentaries in the "Documentary Now!" series are pretty good. Helen Mirren hosts.
It's her best work since Caligula.
The Hunt for El Chingon is amazing and The Eye Doesn't Lie is my favorite.
Especially if you are a Fred Armisen fan! "Juan Loves Rice and Chicken" LOL!
Jiro dreams of Sushi
Muscle Shoals
Murderball
Andre the Giant (recent HBO)
Icarus
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Anything by Errol Morris. Wormwood is his most recent documentary project, and I thought it was really fantastic. Morris is extraordinarily good at dealing with narrative uncertainty and people's responses to uncertainty -- he's got this really weird pre-film background as a student of the history and philosophy of science and as a private investigator, and both skillsets are on display in a lot of his work.
Also, Hoop Dreams and The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (I'm serious)
Prescription Thugs is a great look into how big pharma is essentially intentionally making addictive drugs and pushing doctors to prescribe addictive drugs.
Also some good ones out there that expose the US govts absolutely asinine stance on cannabis. One is 420: The Documentary. It is very good and so is the 3 part series called Weed that originally aired on CNN from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.