documentaries-recomendations/favs.?

[wilder]

Rick Kirkham has uploaded TV Junkie (2006), of which he's the subject, to .

I haven't seen this since that initial release but remember it seeming groundbreaking at the time, Rick's personal vlogs, taped over the course of more than a decade, feeling especially intimate in that they occurred before the idea of a vlog was really a thing, and also for the fact that he even had the presence of mind to record in spite of a drug addiction that cost him everything.

Didn't even recognize him as the "Inside Edition" producer in Tiger King until I came across an article linking it all together.

The story of Rick Kirkham, as told by his own video diaries and broadcast video from his 30 years in Television News.

[wilder]

David Van Taylor's Dream Deceivers (1992). The doc is available to watch on Amazon Prime and is also on



Two young men shoot themselves in a churchyard. Ray Belknap dies; James Vance - severely disfigured - survives. Their parents take heavy-metal icons Judas Priest to court, claiming the band "mesmerized" their sons. The unprecedented trial is the framework for this one-of-a-kind, Emmy-nominated documentary.

...a heartbreaking case, but a fascinating film. It is a great look back at mid-1980's american culture, and should be compared to the fictional "Gummo."

[WorldForgot]

Sherman's March (1985) Linking letterboxd becuz its "Where to Watch" function saves my skin.

Deadpan, personal, and depicts the libido of a south many Americans recognize, and perhaps, one that doesn't get enough angles. Here the angles are plenty, and they're all women - the doc works best away from Ross and letting these truly passionate women rope him around, badgering flavors of southern identity into the dweeb. Maybe through desire, maybe through innate storytelling, we've all had to burn down parts of our history to move on.

[Alethia]

I watched that a few years ago on Filmstruck! Really fascinating.

[jenkins]

i once typed this out:

So then. . .I figure this will be the beginning of my screenplay. So that's the first - scene in my screenplay. Just me and Granny Smith - I have braids on, plaid shirt, the whole thing. ('You have to give me a compressed version because I'll never...') (She laughs). So that's how it starts out.

Then I turn into the best actress in the world. Probably with some huge love scene, comparable to Romeo and Juliet. Something that captivates the whole world - the heart of the world. Now by the fact that I'm such a famous actress I'm a multi-millionaire, and move to an island in the South Seas, with my lover who's going to be Tarzan to me. And we just play Jane and Tarzan.

And then about three years later we build a center - which will have seven or eight centers coming out from - we'll have another island with a center. And this will be the most intellectual island in the world, full of the top scientists, we'll cure cancer, et cetera.

And I come back, and I've found all these scientific things - possibly cured cancer myelf. Come back - -

Now wait a minute, while I'm on the island though, my Tarzan lover, whose name is Will, he has a fit because he no longer has me to himself, so he goes into a fit and burns down the island that's totally built on, you know, all the scientific research.

And at this point in the movie I want it to be total fantasy. Just, like, tropical, huge, huge plants. Huge animals. The music will be, just, unbelievable. Probably Stevie Wonder's type of music. 'The Secret Life of Plants.'

('How old are you at this point?')

(She sighs). At this point, pretty much ageless. Because I've been an astronaut. So I haven't really aged. And this is another thing that overwhelms people, is that I'm this person who's really never really aged.

And so we go to Venus. And - we start coming back and forth to Earth and we start teaching people flying lessons, 'cause the gravity's different, so, therefore we can build our muscles up like breaststroke (she demonstrates). And we come back and forth.

Well I get in a huge fight with Will in Venus and he takes a sword and cuts my head off and my head floats back to Malibu Mountain, in California. And I give this speech - and at this point I'm a female prophet - and I give this speech to the whole world who's lined up on fences, beaches, all along the mountaintops.

And all they see is my head floating. And it's just totally....gets to the whole world.

And my message is one of love.

[wilder]

Frank Henenlotter's Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana (2018)

Florida, 1994. Underground artist Mike Diana is the first, and only, cartoonist to be convicted of artistic obscenity in the USA. This alarming doc reveals how Diana crashed against the boundaries of free speech with his graphic portrayals of sex, violence, religion and abuse. A horrifying look at how easily the law can cast aside the first amendment to take down a transgressor of good taste.

Streaming on Amazon Prime

[jenkins]

and you know it's wild to see now because immediately you're like wait hold on what

and this angle today does mostly come from the alt-right who call themselves the punk rock of now; the whole problem of why does being bad feel so good

[polkablues]

I'm a few years behind the curve on this, but the first season of Last Chance U is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. And I've seen some good fucking documentaries, you guys. Hoop Dreams tier.

[OstrichRidingCowboy]

I personally believe it's always time to revisit The Century of the Self and The Trap.

https://thoughtmaybe.com/by/adam-curtis/

[DGG]

Dear Zachary. It's on Amazon and it's devastating.

[WorldForgot]

Dear Zachary. It's on Amazon and it's devastating.

This one's heavy, heartbreaking. Its craft feels personal but the story does overlap into a justice system failing.

[WorldForgot]

I recommend everyone check out TIME by Garrett Bradley, currently streaming in the US on Amazon Prime Video:



Beautifully rendered portrait of years lost and battles fought for prison abolitionist and entrepreneur Fox Rich - a family's love and perspective persevering against the criminal justice system's cruelty, our infrastructure cementing indifference and antipathy.

[wilberfan]

Well, Marty's staying busy. 

Haven't seen it, but will. I remember Fran mostly from the Letterman show back in the day.  Always enjoyed her spots.

https://youtu.be/MClMxqD-HNA

[WorldForgot]

[WorldForgot]

An essential document of what is at stake for journalism and free speech in a globalized era of sous-surveillance.

Heartbreaking and disturbing in equal spades - the documentary is made with adoration for a murdered man and the principles that he championed. Jamal Khashoggi's assassination is detailed through security camera footage and transcripts, with interlacing levels of text messages that reached Bezos (ultimately Khashoggi's employer and a sieve in the Washington Post) thru Pegasus spyware -- of course the 45th president of the United States denied it all and veto'd bipartisan sanctions against the culprit state of Saudi Arabia.

By weaving Omar Abdelaziz's cooperation into the narrative, the documentary aims to instill some sort of hope that freedom of expression can prevail. Our governments, worldwide, do not respect us. At some point a stranglehold of capital may render us speechless.