BS: seen any good documentaries lately

Subject: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: number 6
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 08:46 AM

Has anyone seen any good documentaries lately.

2 that I think worth mentioning are:

"Dogtown and Z-boys" by Stacey Peralta
Though skateboarding is as far from my point of interest as can be, I thoroughly enjoyed this doc. The subject of this film explains how in 1972 a surf shop was opened in Dogtown called Jeff Ho and Zephyr Surfboards. Dogtown btw is an area of Venice Beach California were this takes place. It would be the surf team from this shop that would transition its aggressive surfing style to skateboarding, and change things forever. The film also includes a brief history of skate boarding itself. I came away from this with an appreciation of the sport.

"Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus" by Andrew Douglas
This is an incredible, intriguing documentary. It certainly is one of the most impressive I have seen in a long while. My hat also goes off to Jim White, a songwriter, and musician who is probably one of the most prolific of current new comers. I'll let David Byrnes comment of this movie speak for it .. "An amazing piece of work. This film essentially follows one man, Jim White, as he deals with both his own, and the South's demons and in the process we are given a musical tour of another planet. Beautiful, dark and weird stuff."

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: rich-joy
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 09:10 AM

THE CORPORATION
and
WHAT THE &^$%&^BLEEP!%^^% DO WE KNOW
and
SIR! NO SIR! (david zeiger)

plus
SCARED SACRED looks like it'll be good ...
and
CULTURE JAMMING ditto ...



Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:02 AM

Journey of Man

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: MAG
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 10:47 AM

Murderball has lots of good moments.

What the Bleep is a good movie; i think it's a hybrid of fiction and documentary.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:32 AM

I'm taping the lengthy Hallmark Channel (US) documovie about Karol Wojtylwa's early years. As good as the bio. Wonderful juxtapositions between Nazi/Communist evil, and inner goodness. Quite a human story.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: alanabit
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:37 AM

I saw a documentary about a month ago, which showed how major building contracts are carved up among a clique of thugs in Cologne. It is humiliating and insulting to have this scum held up to us as our "betters". They are essentially above the law, which made me understand why some people believe that terrorism is an option.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: JennyO
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:51 AM

Been watching an interesting documentary on the History Channel about organised crime in India and the Thugs.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: freda underhill
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 11:55 AM

saw one tonight on near death experiences - velly intellestink!

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 12:04 PM

So far as Cinema documentaries go, the most memorable I've seen for years was Winged Migration, or, with its French (Canadian) title, "Peuple Migrateur", which came out in 2003. A lovely film.

One with a kind of family relationship to that, which I haven't seen yet, is March of the Penguins

Both are the kind of films which most of us never get a chance to see the way the should be seem, in cinemas. (Seing stuff on TV bears the same kind of relationship to actually seeing a filmm as listening on headphones does to going to a live concert.)

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 02:52 PM

I've just watched a wonderful programme on BBC1 about Johann Strauss senior and junior and the waltz!

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 03:09 PM

This Machine Kills Fascists.   Could have used some editing to tighten it up, but it was very interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 03:20 PM

Saw a fascinating one a while ago, about the attitude of the general public to the Hells Angels and other biker gangs. Seems 99% of the population see them as vandals, thugs, vicious hooligans and complete bastards. Can't even accept that they have a strict social structure and raise thousands of pounds every year for various charities.

As an aside, the HA chapter I used to ride with, won an award last year for raising half a million in total for Cancer Research.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Janie
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 04:04 PM

Saw "March of the Penquins" last evening. Excellent cinematography. Would really be interested in the story of the filming itself under such harsh conditions.

Yeh, "What the *Bleep* Do We Know" ain't quite documentary and it ain't quite drama--but it was facinating, and one of the best explanations of why cognitive-behavioral therapy works that I have seen. Much food for thought in that one. I would be curious to know (but not curious enough to research it) if the quantum theorists who were interviewed are "mainstream" in their thinking about quantum mechanics, or if they are outliers in the field who were selected because their opinions were generally in agreement with the film makers.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: GUEST,Peter Woodruff
Date: 21 Aug 05 - 04:45 PM

I viewed a bootlegged copy of the documentary "Operation Iraqi Freedom," a slideshow of brutal images and footage captured by American soldiers doing time in Iraq. The music is reminicent of Vietnam era tunes..."We gotta get of of this place," etc. This documentary is not for the faint of heart. I wonder how many other Mudcatters have seen this one.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 08:04 AM

Last week in the UK we had " e = mc squared ", a sort of history of atomic physics for idiots like me.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: rich-joy
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 08:35 AM

I am soon to see :

Kevin Miller's superbly done documentary "We Become Silent" which exposes the immense dangers of so called "Free Trade" and CODEX.
"We Become Silent" is outstandingly narrated by Dame Judi Dench and features a Mel Gibson cameo and has been favourably compared to Mark Achbar's "The Corporation".
It has interviews with many numerous health freedom activists including Julian Whitaker, MD; Scott Tips, JD; Carolyn Dean, MD; Joe Bassett, John Hammell and many others. There is footage from health freedom demonstrations all over the world beginning with Dr Matthias Rath's demonstrations in Germany. Kevin Miller has produced a very good documentary which is in the same genre as the movie "The Corporation" except with regards to vitamins, minerals and supplements.
This vital video (76MB suitable for broadband only)is available at : welltv.com Kevin Miller's site (high bandwidth)
If you have trouble viewing it there then it is also available at :
Alliance for Health Freedom Australia (high bandwidth)
Coalition for Health Freedom's website (high bandwidth)
Alliance for Natural Health website
Eve Hillary's website
International Advocates for Health Freedom
herballure.com


"Koyaaniqatsi" which is a Hopi Indian word for "Life Out of Balance".
Created between 1975 and 1982, the film is an apocalyptic vision of the collision of two different worlds -- urban life and technology versus the environment. The musical score was composed by Philip Glass. for further information : http://wwwkoyaanisqatsi.org/films/koyaanisqatsi.phpn



They both sound good.
Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: PoppaGator
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 04:45 PM

Like McGrath, I'm looking forward to seeing "March of the Penguins."

Seems like all the best recent documentaries fall into either of two categories: political expose/diatribe or nature film. I'd prefer to escape from politics these days.

I read an interesting story recently about "Penguins." It was made and initially released by French filmmakers, who created a soundtrack consisting of French pop music and the anthropomorphic "voices" of various penguin "characters" (momma, poppa, and baby penguin).

The American group set up to release the film in English-speaking countries felt that this approach just wouldn't work outside of France, and not only commissioned a new score, but also wrote a more serious type of narration and hired Morgan Freeman to do the voiceover.

By all accounts, they made the right decision.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Wesley S
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 04:53 PM

"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" about the Funk Brothers. The band that performed on all of the old Motown hits. Great stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Frankham
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 06:33 PM

Sort of a documentary.

Motorcycle Diaries: The early days of Che Guevara.

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: number 6
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 10:26 PM

Wesley ... "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" ... certainly was "Great stuff" ... I thouroughly enjoyed it.

Frankham ... Motorcycle Diaries (though not really a docmentary) was a well done movie ... slightly rushed near the end ... but for a historical movie based on an icon of a human being such a Che it was good. Outstanding cinematography.

Poppa ... I'm with you regarding current political documenataries ... I try to stay away from them ... they get me upset and leave me in my 'grouch' persona for a couple of days afterwards.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Janie
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 10:34 PM

Recently I watched a low-budget dramatized history of The Temptations, based on Williams book. Probably a bit of a whitewash, but I really enjoyed the music.

Re: Penguins--I didn't know the classical score was an Americanized version---but it worked really, really well.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: PoppaGator
Date: 22 Aug 05 - 10:39 PM

It's been a good long while since I watched "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," a truly moving experience ~ thanks for reminding me about it again!

Seeing a movie on the big screen, with big sound, in a theater with other people ~ that's usualy a big plus. On the other hand, most contemporary DVDs include lots of extra stuff that is really worthwhile. The Funk Brothers' DVD certainly included plenty of wonderful "extras" beyond what's in the movie, so anyone who saw in in the theater and loved it, you really ought to rent or buy the DVD, if only to see even more terrific music and storytelling.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: GUEST,fretless
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 02:38 PM

Gotham Fish Tales, about fishing in New York City's harbor and rivers, with sound track of Rev. Gary Davis which, surprisingly, works wonderfully with the film.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Claymore
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 05:54 PM

I recently saw "March of the Penguins": Excellent. Incidently it appears to have been shot by a French crew and there is a short out-takes section during the closing credits, showing some of the difficulties they faced while shooting it. Well done by all concerned.

I also just finished the National Geographic TV special on 9/11, which was also well done. As it moves to the conclusion over two nights, it clearly showed why the changes contained in the Patriot Act were so necessary, including the use of libraries and their computer access, which allowed the terrorists to pass messages, keyed on the books they took out, as well as claiming lost Passports to cleanse the passholder of previous visa stamps indicating prior entry into countries supporting terrorism. It also indicated how people could abuse the US system of asylum-seeking (which we have now tightened up on).

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: open mike
Date: 23 Aug 05 - 10:03 PM

Parrots of Telegraph Hill--about birds that get loose and find each other and form colonies in the city..san francisco.

also i have watched a few sweden travel flicks...lately.

Subject: RE: BS: seen any good documentaries lately
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 04:23 AM

It was made and initially released by French filmmakers, who created a soundtrack consisting of French pop music and the anthropomorphic "voices" of various penguin "characters" (momma, poppa, and baby penguin).

Wouldn't that be Pingu?

LTS - who got driven mad by that bloody penguin when Limpit was a baby and learned to drive the video... 8 times in one sodding day!!!