re: Need Documentary Recommendations

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King of Kong – Watch it immediately. It’s awesome. I won’t explain it since you already seem to be familiar with it, but email me after you watch it and I’ll explain how it’s a little misleading. Still a great, great watch though.

Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals – Great doc about the two and how they were the fiercest of competitors and eventually it led to them being the best of friends. Really good doc if you like bball, or either of the two guys (which I’m sure you do).

Tyson – Solid doc about Mike and basically how fascinating he is. Not a whole lot of new information that you don’t already know, but sometimes I can’t get enough Tyson, so I really liked it.

I.O.U.S.A. – about the national debt, and how it keeps getting out of control.

The Art of the Steal – this one is cool. It’s about the Barnes Foundation, which is basically one of the greatest (and most valued) art collections in the history of the world, and about how when Barnes died, he left in his will that his collection can NEVER be displayed or used in any way other than as a tool to learn in his art school that he created…and about how the government of Philadelphia basically shits all over his will and tries to get it on display at the Philadelphia museums.

Cocaine Cowboys – awesome doc about the illegal cocaine trade in Miami in the 70s and 80s. Some of the stories are likely a bit exaggerated, but all in all it’s really fascinating to see and hear some of the things that were going on in that culture.

The Rape of Europa – I’m watching this one now, bout halfway through. It’s about WWII and all of the art that got stolen/moved during the raids on cities and countries, and about how they’re trying to locate original owners and get things returned. I’ve only watched about half so far, but it’s pretty interesting, and a side of the war that I never really thought about before.

Restrepo – about a camp in Afghanistan that was set up in one of the most dangerous parts of the country, and was named after one of their fallen soldiers (Restrepo). It’s pretty good…lots of people LOVE it, but I thought it was just pretty good.

Darkon – about LARPers (Live Action Role Playing). It was pretty interesting seeing the dynamics of that. if you don’t know what LARP is, it’s the thing from Role Models where they are all battling in make believe land. Also the infamous Lightning Bolt video.

Dear Zachary – This one may be difficult to watch, especially for you since you have kids. But it’s a great, great doc about this dude who has a kid with this crazy bitch and she kills the father and all kinds of bad things happen, and the filmmaker is making the movie to the son about his father (the son is Zachary). I’d definitely recommend it as one of the better ones on this list, but be ready to cry a little (in both a sad way and an awesome way).

The Bridge – interesting doc about the GG Bridge in SanFran and how many people kill themselves a year by jumping off of it (they do show some jumpers, so be prepared for that).

Jesus Camp – interesting, and truly scary to be honest. It’s about religious fanatics and how they’re raising their kids to be SUPER radical religious people and what. Think the Westboro Church in Kansas type stuff.

There was a Dream Team doc on the NBA channel a month or two ago that was fantastic. Not sure if you can find it, but it was great.

HH Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer – about HH Holmes and how fricked up he was.

The Cove – about mass dolphin killings in Japan. Really cool/interesting doc.

Night and Fog – short doc (about 30 minutes) about the Holocaust.

102 Minutes that Changed America – about 9/11.

Waking Sleeping Beauty – about the rebound of Disney’s Animation Studio in the late 80s and 90s. Awesome, awesome doc.

The Boys: Sherman Brothers’s Story – about the Sherman Brothers, who basially wrote every famous Disney song ever.

Watched one on Liberia last week, and how frickED the frick UP things are over there. Seriously, it’s hard to believe that places like that exist in this day in age. Talk about civil unrest and poverty, and it’s on a fast track to not improve at all. That one is online: https://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/the-vice-guide-to-liberia-full-length It’s really interesting though.



Some that I own, but haven’t watched yet:

Bigger, Faster, Stronger* – about steroids in sports.
This Film is Not Yet Rated – about the MPAA and some of the ridiculousness behind how movies are rated.
Touching the Void – about climbers that got stranded on an icy mountain, and tried climbing down and one fell and hanged there for like two days. Both survive but this movie is about them going back to the spots where they were and recounting what happened.




TD also has some good threads on these.

Here’s a thread on music-related ones: LINK
Another good one: LINK
Sports ones: LINK

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Undefeated
Searching for Sugarman
Restrepo

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Zeitgeist if you like that sorta thing (conspiricys).

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HH Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer – about HH Holmes and how fricked up he was.

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