Time for another voting thread, this round we are doing documentaries.
Let's see what you have!
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The Fog of War is a documentary by master documentarian Errol Morris. It's an interview with living history, Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense during the War in Vietnam, years later, about lessons learned and motivations for this decision or that. If you've ever read about the war, or know anything about the surrounding controversy, this documentary will greatly interest you.
Both are great documentaries and both make you want to punch a politician in the face. I had a friend named Ralph that was a bomber in WW2. Ralph hated the Fog of War because it made McNamara seem somewhat a sympathetic character. Ralph was a pacifist and loathed the idea of forgiving someone that caused so much pain and death.
I never felt sympathy for Rumsfeld during that movie. That was my problem. Every time he opened his mouth I wanted to waterboard that piece of shit. It's like spending two hours watching a man justify murder with the slick, evasive vocabulary and rhetoric tactics of a career politician. I can't believe I finished it.
neither did I. But Fog of War presents McNamara in a very different light. He's at a point in his life where he is definitely questioning his decisions and seems to have regret. Rumsfeld IS NOT at that point and all indications are that he will never be. The guy is most certainly smug and extremely full of himself.
By the time Errol Morris did Fog of War, McNamara had Mea Culpa'd the fuck out of Vietnam.
That was a good read, thanks. No such mea culpability from Donald Rumsfeld and I wouldn't expect one any time soon.
I'm not nominating this as I just watched it, but if anyone wants an interesting, jawdropping documentary rather than a tearful, heartwrenching documentary, I recommend HBO's new documentary on Scientology: Going Clear I'm seconding iammyownrushmore nominations of How to Survive a Plague & Paris is Burning as both have been on my list to watch. Also, The Invisible War (2012) because I really want to see it but I really, really don't want to see it. I know I'm going to be so angry after watching it. I'd honestly be happy with just about any of these recommendations.
The Invisible War caused a buddy of mine to reach and then rashly lash out to a few of his military buddies, calling their ignorance an enabling indifference. He was estranged with a very close friend for a few months because of it. It's a chilling, wholly necessary documentary.
We recently started watching "Going Clear" and it's pretty interesting. After watching the footage of L Ron Hubbard, I have an even greater appreciation for the work of Philip Seymour Hoffman as "him" in "the Master."
I'm going to recommend Generation Iron. The sport of Bodybuilding goes in line with my hobby, powerlifting, so I really enjoyed this. Another thing I appreciated about this documentary is that it dives into the use of steroids in the sport and even touches upon use in other, more popular ones.
You can split hairs about what punk sounds like, but three black brothers from Detroit were making something like it three years before the Ramones. The fact that this music is from the early seventies blows my mind. They almost had a contract too but the lead singer and oldest brother refused to change the band's name.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen.
a super interesting piece. I like it a lot, and would watch it again.
The latest documentaries I've seen that are worth watching: Citizen Four and Life Itself.
Ken Burns Cancer, The Emperor of all Maladies was just released and I started watching it. It should be available for free on PBS. My vote is for that OR his documentary The Civil War which I'm guessing is also available for free.
If his Jazz documentary series wasn't like, 20 hours long, i would recommend the whole thing.
Meriadoc Goddamn right. I vote for Lessons of Darkness by Wener Herzog. If you haven't seen Herzog, you should. If you like documentaries, you should see this. It's gorgeous and haunting, alienating and deeply human all at the same time.
Other recommendations: Salt of the Earth is in theaters now, where one genius (Wim Wenders) documents another (Sebastiao Salgado). How to Survive a Plague cause FUCK Dallas Buyer's Club. Paris is Burning is a sincere look at a beautiful culture savaged by the times. It manages to give the subjects a voice they were stripped of, authentically capturing their enormous souls. It's like watching a beautiful object crafted on the sidewalk from the discarded and stolen pieces found in the streets around it, all while being set afire as quickly as it is built. It incredibly captures the spirit of staying and being alive. In my opinion, this is what documentaries were made for.
Documentaries I can do. My vote's for Muscle Shoals, a great one about the development of the Muscle Shoals sound.