Television Feature length documentaries

Yeh, I've seen anvil. Was much sadder than I'd thought it would be, shattered dreams and what not ( why the hell did they let that one organise their 'European tour'?, desperation maybe?) But it was a nice ending to go back they blew up in the first place even if it was a one off.

I've seen a few really good sports one's lately, Hoop dreams is excellent.
 
There are a few good basketball one's, I watched one about the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson rivalry (ESPN special maybe? not too sure) and I really liked, polar opposites who will forever be linked together and it showed even though the rivalry was epic the mutual respect was and still is amazing.
 
Mick1991 said:
Yeh, I've seen anvil. Was much sadder than I'd thought it would be, shattered dreams and what not ( why the hell did they let that one organise their 'European tour'?, desperation maybe?) But it was a nice ending to go back they blew up in the first place even if it was a one off.

I've seen a few really good sports one's lately, Hoop dreams is excellent.
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Anvil was heartbreaking! Makes you realise how much the success of a lot of these guys is pure, simple luck!

There's a few I'd recommend (is that what we're doing?!) Grizzly Man is great, if a little manipulative and Touching the Void has to be one of the best. Absolutely epic story in terms of one guy's struggle against nature.

I saw Hearts of Darkness the other night (the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now) which is also essential viewing and along similar lines (although with a less happy ending) Lost in La Mancha.

Aileen about the serial killer is hard going and leaves you kind of empty, but still a great watch.
 
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Chilling documentaries about a great injustice. Three boys have been (and still are) in prison for the last seventeen years for a crime they clearly did not commit. Fantastic docs.

 
Prophet_of_Doom said:
Anvil was heartbreaking! Makes you realise how much the success of a lot of these guys is pure, simple luck!

There's a few I'd recommend (is that what we're doing?!) Grizzly Man is great, if a little manipulative and Touching the Void has to be one of the best. Absolutely epic story in terms of one guy's struggle against nature.

I saw Hearts of Darkness the other night (the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now) which is also essential viewing and along similar lines (although with a less happy ending) Lost in La Mancha.

Aileen about the serial killer is hard going and leaves you kind of empty, but still a great watch.
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Ah stop man, they had the talent but they just couldn't catch a break. When you had guys like slash talking about how talented they were it just seemed unbelievable that they didn't make it, some of the fight in it were hilarious though but you could feel the love they had for each other.

May check a few of them out Prophet, Aileen sounds interesting.
 
Prophet_of_Doom said:
Anvil was heartbreaking! Makes you realise how much the success of a lot of these guys is pure, simple luck!

There's a few I'd recommend (is that what we're doing?!) Grizzly Man is great, if a little manipulative and Touching the Void has to be one of the best. Absolutely epic story in terms of one guy's struggle against nature.

I saw Hearts of Darkness the other night (the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now) which is also essential viewing and along similar lines (although with a less happy ending) Lost in La Mancha.

Aileen about the serial killer is hard going and leaves you kind of empty, but still a great watch.
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Great recommendations. Seen them all apart from Aileen though. Will check it out.

Grizzly Man is class. Gotta love Werner Herzog. Hardcore misanthrope.
 
Get Thrashed: A History of Thrash Metal.

If you like the genre, you will love it. Segments and interviews with Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Exodus, etc, etc. It covers the genre from the days of Motorhead and Venom, all the way through to today.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Great recommendations. Seen them all apart from Aileen though. Will check it out.

Grizzly Man is class. Gotta love Werner Herzog. Hardcore misanthrope.
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If you watch Monster straight after seeing Aileen (which is how I saw them on TV) you realise what an absolutely phenomenal job Charlize Theron did. That said Aileen is by far the more interesting because of Broomfield's relationship with and desperate attempts to find humanity in Aileen Wornos (sp?)

The best part about Grizzly Man are Herzog's repeated claims about how horrifying and disgusting the taped footage is - and then stressing that he won't allow you to hear it. It's the equivalent of the school bully saying "Do you want a sweet? ... Well you can't have one!"
 
Didn't think Anvil was as good as Spinal Tap.

I used to think Bowling for Columbine was pretty good when I was 12. Haven't seen it since then though.
 
Speaking of Michael Moore, if you dislike him you should check out Manufacturing Dissent, I caught it on RTE a few months ago and thought it was pretty good.
 
I can second Aileen (Broomfield), Touching the Void (MacDonald) and Capturing the Friedmans. Broomfield and MacDonald are consistently good. Terror's Advocate about Jacques Verges is also excellent.
 
Does made for tv count? One that I like is a Frontline documentary about the Tienanmen Square Tank Man. It's actually available on Google Videos.

Tank Man

PBS in the US has aired some pretty fantastic stuff ranging from news and current events (Frontline) and science (Nova).
 
Mick1991 said:
There are a few good basketball one's, I watched one about the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson rivalry (ESPN special maybe? not too sure) and I really liked, polar opposites who will forever be linked together and it showed even though the rivalry was epic the mutual respect was and still is amazing.
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It was HBO(should always recognize the godly narration of Liev Schreiber), but yeah another terrific one. HBO does superb docs all round, their "Legendary Nights" boxing ones are fantastic, as are the docs on Joe Louis and 'Assault in the Ring' about the Resto-Collins Jr fight marred by plaster in the gloves.

Fearless Freaks, King of Kong, Catfish(up to you how you take it), Roger and Me, Man on Wire, Ken Burns Baseball, The Up Series, Dark Days also all come highly recommend from me.
 
Zen said:
It was HBO(should always recognize the godly narration of Liev Schreiber), but yeah another terrific one. HBO does superb docs all round, their "Legendary Nights" boxing ones are fantastic, as are the docs on Joe Louis and 'Assault in the Ring' about the Resto-Collins Jr fight marred by plaster in the gloves.

Fearless Freaks, King of Kong, Catfish(up to you how you take it), Roger and Me, Man on Wire, Ken Burns Baseball, The Up Series, Dark Days also all come highly recommend from me.
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Cheers Zen, I'll check a few of those out.
 
Zen said:
It was HBO(should always recognize the godly narration of Liev Schreiber), but yeah another terrific one. HBO does superb docs all round, their "Legendary Nights" boxing ones are fantastic, as are the docs on Joe Louis and 'Assault in the Ring' about the Resto-Collins Jr fight marred by plaster in the gloves.

Fearless Freaks, King of Kong, Catfish(up to you how you take it), Roger and Me, Man on Wire, Ken Burns Baseball, The Up Series, Dark Days also all come highly recommend from me.
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Can't believe I missed this out having only seen it a couple of weeks ago. Really engaging and quite a tragic story but I somehow doubt that the tale it tells is particularly unique in the digital age. Sure there are a few on Redcafe.
 
Both Heavy Metal: A Headbangers Journey and Global Metal are excellent if you're interested in the genre.
 
Zen said:
It was HBO(should always recognize the godly narration of Liev Schreiber), but yeah another terrific one. HBO does superb docs all round, their "Legendary Nights" boxing ones are fantastic, as are the docs on Joe Louis and 'Assault in the Ring' about the Resto-Collins Jr fight marred by plaster in the gloves.

Fearless Freaks, King of Kong, Catfish(up to you how you take it), Roger and Me, Man on Wire, Ken Burns Baseball, The Up Series, Dark Days also all come highly recommend from me.
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Just finished watching it, absolutely brilliant
 
For anybody interested in cinematography they should check out visions of light, it's really good.
 
Sporting docs have become more and more popular these days

I don't know if you get them in the UK, but several of the ESPN 30 for 30 Documentary style films have been excellent... In particular:

"Without Bias" - the death of Basketball prospect Len Bias

"The Two Escobars" - The way the lives of the drug lord and murdered footballer were intertwined

"Straight Outta L.A." - The impact of the LA Raiders on Hip Hop culture

and the best one

"Once Brothers" - the sad tale of the end of a friendship between former Yugoslav basketballers Croatian Dražen Petrović and Serbian Vlade Divac.
 
In Restrepo when the soldier runs up to see if his friend is okay after being attacked and the guy has to tell him he's been killed, it's pretty hard to watch.

If there's any similar war documentaries like that one then let me know.
 
Mick1991 said:
Yeh, I've seen anvil. Was much sadder than I'd thought it would be, shattered dreams and what not ( why the hell did they let that one organise their 'European tour'?, desperation maybe?) But it was a nice ending to go back they blew up in the first place even if it was a one off.

I've seen a few really good sports one's lately, Hoop dreams is excellent.
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Jaysus man, some folk havent seen that show - including myself. Use spoilers big son if you're gonna tell the story in a nutshell...
 
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