Documentary Challenge (Official, December 2019)

[flavo5000]

11. They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

How is this one? It's playing in a theater here next week, and I was thinking of going.

[Coryn]

11. They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

How is this one? It's playing in a theater here next week, and I was thinking of going.

I've seen the first hour now and it has some cool coloured in fragments. Basically shows what it was like to be an allied soldier. Doesn't hit me on an emotional level like some other WW documentaries but if you're interested in the first WW I'd give it a watch.

Give the trailer a watch, it does no harm in this case:

[flavo5000]

63. Amy (2015)
A sad doc about the meteoric rise and tragic fall of Amy Winehouse who really was a great singer that fell victim a combination of the trappings of stardom, some very bad people in her life and her own demons. It's well made and engaging, her story being told through voice over of the people close to here and personal video shot by her and her friends with a big focus on the music itself and how personal her lyrics were. For an interesting companion piece that focuses more directly on her downward spiral. check out the Disgraceland podcast about her.


64a. Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective (2018)
64b. 12 Days of Black Christmas (2006)
64c. Mondo Macabro: Fantasy Films from Indonesia (2002)
A trio of horror docs found as extras on various blu-ray/dvd releases, Return to Party Beach and 12 Days of Black Christmas are both pretty standard 15 to 20 minute featurettes on the making of Horror of Party Beach and Black Christmas while Fantasy Films from Indonesia is more of a broad overview of Indonesian cult/horror films (as one would assume from its title). The Mondo Macabro doc is definitely the most interesting of the three mainly because I always like watching these types of docs to get ideas for other things to watch that look interesting (same reason I dig trailer compilations a lot too). I mean, I was already invested in digging into more Indonesian cult movies after the awesomeness of Lady Terminator and Mystics in Bali anyway.


65. Bai Ge Ji Hua: Taiwan Xin Dianying Ershi Nian Huei Gu a.k.a. Our Time, Our Story (2002)
This is a very comprehensive, nearly two-hour doc on New Taiwan cinema and can be found on the Criterion release of Brighter Summer Day. Much like my comments on the Indonesian doc, this was a goldmine for getting additional ideas for things to watch. Additionally it was interesting to see how films we see as "artsy" foreign films are major box office smashes in their native countries (City of Sadness being a prime example profiled here). This one is very good if you're interested in digging into Taiwanese films more and features many insightful interviews with various directors of the movement.


66. Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
A nice doc on the biggest horror superfan himself Forrest J Ackerman (Uncle Forrey to his friends). It's pretty straightforward but still entertaining to watch just because the man himself has a natural love of what he does. I am super bummed that I'll never get to tour his Ackermansion though. It looked really neat.


67. Hospital (1970)
Call me crazy but I'm not the biggest fan of watching a junkie vomit for five minutes straight....


68. Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen (1983)
What's basically a profile of women in a small village in Senegal, it's apparently intended to show, contrary to many films of the time depicting African natives as starving people in dire straits and in desperate need of civilization, that these people in fact are a healthy and thriving community. There's a particular emphasis put on the women's breasts to illustrate the richness of the life in the village. I understand where the director is coming from but I'm afraid that this falls mostly in the historically significant doc category since we have had many docs on these natives since then executed with more skill and with clearer messages at their core.


69a. Zrcadlení (1966)
69b. Odchádza clovek (1968)
69c. Voda a praca (1964)
Here we have a trio of Czech short films with an interesting commonality between them in that they all have excellent soundtracks. In particular the shrieking dissonant strings of Odchádza clovek are an excellent pairing with its depiction of Bulgarian funeral rites. Zrcadlení wasn't bad but after having just watched Wiseman's Hospital, the subject matter had lost its luster. It was shot and edited in an interesting way though. Voda a praca has a nice rhythmic flow to it that gave me fond memories of riding the log ride at Six Flags Over Georgia in my childhood.

Reality Is Stranger Than FictionShow

1. Why Horror? (2014)
2. Portrait: Orson Welles (1968)
3. For All Mankind (1989)
4. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
5. Free Solo (2018)
6. Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
7. D'Est a.k.a. From The East (1993)
8. Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
9. Cien niños esperando un tren (1988)
10. Enter the Anime (2019)
11. Demon House (2018)
12a. Mor vran a.k.a. Sea of Ravens (1931)
12b. De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel a.k.a. The Reality of Karel Appel (1962)
12c. The Private Life of a Cat (1947)
13. 66 scener fra Amerika a.k.a. 66 Scenes from America (1982)
14. The Rock-afire Explosion (2008)
15. Always for Pleasure (1978)
16a. Lagniappe (2006)
16b. Dry Wood (1973)
17a. My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1995)
17b. Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge (1991)
17c. The Maestro Rides Again! (2005)
18. Jag är Ingrid a.k.a. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)
19. Fyre (2019)
20. Fyre Fraud (2019)
21. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
22. Cabra Marcado Para Morrer a.k.a. 20 Years Later (1984)
23. Mark of the Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf (2019)
24. Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
25. Come on Children (1973)
26. True Asian Horror (2007)
27-29. Five Came Back (2017)
30. Pina (2011)
31-34. Brazil with Michael Palin (2012)
35a. Faces of November (1964)
35b. Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja (1924)
35c. Blight (1996)
36d. Selective Service System (1970)
36e. Mimbre (1958)
37. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
38. Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkende a.k.a. Mother Dao, the Turtlelike (1995)
39. Making of...Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
40a. Shedding the Skin (2005)
40b. The Wild, Wild World of Dick Randall (2006)
41. Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu a.k.a. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
42. Monterey Pop (1968)
43. Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015)
44. Torero (1956)
45a. Juan Lopez Moctezuma—A Cultured Maverick (2003)
45b. Moose Magic – The George Newman Shaw & John Willhelm Story (2015)
45c. Slashing 'Dressed to Kill' (2001)
46. David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)
47. Fascism on a Thread- The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema (2019)
48. L'image manquante a.k.a. The Missing Picture (2013)
49. Lettre de Sibérie a.k.a. Letter from Siberia (1958)
50a. Dimanche à Pekin a.k.a. Sunday in Peking (1956)
50b. L'ambassade a.k.a. The Embassy (1973)
50c. Théorie des ensembles a.k.a. Theory of Sets (1990)
50d. Zoo Piece (1990)/Owl Gets in Your Eyes(1994)/Tchaïka (1994) a.k.a. Three Video Haikus
51. Casque bleu a.k.a. Blue Helmet (1995)
52a. La sixième face du pentagone a.k.a. The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1968)
51b. E-clip-se (1999)
51c. The Power of One: The Pokemon 2000 Movie Special (2000)
52. Stand van de Sterren a.k.a. Position in the Stars (2010)
53. The Spaghetti West (2005)
54. Out of Print (2014)
55. Diaries Notes and Sketches (1969)
56. Huie's Predigt a.k.a. Huie's Sermon (1981)
57. Five Broken Cameras (2011)
58. The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005)
59. Mondo Porno (1972)
60. Innocents Abroad (1971)
61. Description d'un combat a.k.a. Description of a Struggle (1960)
62. Chats perchés a.k.a. The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004)
63. Amy (2015)
64a. Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective (2018)
64b. 12 Days of Black Christmas (2006)
64c. Mondo Macabro: Fantasy Films from Indonesia (2002)
65. Bai Ge Ji Hua: Taiwan Xin Dianying Ershi Nian Huei Gu a.k.a. Our Time, Our Story (2002)
66. Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
67. Hospital (1970)
68. Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen (1983)
69a. Zrcadlení (1966)
69b. Odchádza clovek (1968)
69c. Voda a praca (1964)

[jeroeno]

39. Il successore (2015)

[maxwelldeux]

You can't HANDLE the truthShow

"1. Caesar Must Die (2012)
2. La flaca Alejandra (1994, Chile)
3. The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution (2018)
4. The Great Hack (2019)
5. The Civil War: The Cause (1990)
6. The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
7. The Civil War: A Very Bloody Affair (1990)
8. Fart: A Documentary (2016, UK)
9. The Civil War: Forever Free (1990)
10. The Civil War: Simply Murder (1990)"
"11. Hunting Nazi Treasure: Hitler's Obsession (2017)
12. Haxan (1922, Sweden)
13. Mercury 13 (2018)
14. Back in Time (2015)
15-18. Lorena (2019)
19. Das Netz/The Net (2003, Germany)
20. Senorita Extraviada (2001, Mexico)"
"21. Prophet's Prey (2015)
22. After Innocence (2005)
23. Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (2017, New Zealand)
24. Scrum (2015, Australia)
25. Barbecue (2017, Armenia)
26. I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi (2018)
27. The Civil War: The Universe of Battle (1990)
28. Cholesterol, the Great Bluff (2016, France)
29. Countdown to Zero (2010)
30. Chernobyl 30 Years On: Nuclear Heritage (2015)"

31. Best Worst Movie (2009)
This is a doc about Troll 2 and the cast members of it reuniting for the cult phenomenon. It was fun to see all the people obsessed with it, including the guy who played Bevers on Broad City. Lots of fun.

32. The Civil War: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1990)
33. The Civil War: Most Hallowed Ground (1990)
34. The Civil War: War is Hell (1990)
35. The Civil War: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1990)
Finished the mini-series last night. Fascinating stuff and super cool exposure to what was going on in the US Civil War. I would suspect very few people outside the US would give a damn about it, but I loved it. I had to reach back into memory to compare what was going on in this docuseries to what I learned from history class in school and other sources I've read, it was pretty consistent. A few nuggets I didn't know, but solid info all around. I do prefer Vietnam War to this one from Ken Burns, mostly because you lose the personal stories doing something from so long ago.

It also makes me appreciate The Battle of Pussy Willow Creek even more, which is a pretty spot-on and hilarious parody of this Ken Burns series.

[jeroeno]

40. Il mondo o niente (2018)
41. La via del petrolio: Le origini (1967)
42. La via del petrolio: Il viaggio (1967)
43. La via del petrolio: Attraverso l'Europa (1967)

[sol]

Pulp Non-FictionShow

1. The Story of Kindness or How to Behave (1987)
2. Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
3. Village at the End of the World (2012)
4. Animals are Beautiful People (1974)
5. My Scientology Movie (2015)
6. UFOs: It Has Begun (1979)
7. Please Vote for Me (2007)
8. Children of God (1994)
9. Tim's Vermeer (2013)
10. Going Clear (2015)
11. Holy Hell (2016)

12. Mansome (2012)



Male grooming is the subject of this documentary from Morgan Spurlock (who is absent over half the time). On one hand, Spurlock's attempts to weave himself into his project feel staged. On the other hand, he has an amazingly vivid personality and is a more interesting individual than anybody else, including Will Arnett and Jason Bateman who essentially co-host. Still, I found this entertaining and insightful even if it has no resonating deeper points.

[hurluberlu]

1. Pictures of the Old World / Obrazy starého sveta (Dusan Hanák, 1972) [Slovakia] 7+
2. Twenty Years Later / Cabra Marcado Para Morrer (Eduardo Coutinho, 1984) [Brazil] 7+
3. It All Started at the End / Todo comenzó por el fin (Luis Ospina, 2015) [Colombia] 5

[sol]

Pulp Non-FictionShow

1. The Story of Kindness or How to Behave (1987)
2. Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008)
3. Village at the End of the World (2012)
4. Animals are Beautiful People (1974)
5. My Scientology Movie (2015)
6. UFOs: It Has Begun (1979)
7. Please Vote for Me (2007)
8. Children of God (1994)
9. Tim's Vermeer (2013)
10. Going Clear (2015)
11. Holy Hell (2016)
12. Mansome (2012)

13. Rats (2016)



Fashioned as a horror movie with disquieting music and jump scares as the titular creatures launch themselves at the camera, this documentary travels around the world to look at why humans are so scared of rats and the diverse extermination methods that exist. Particularly unsettling are the parts in Cambodia and Vietnam where rat meat is a valued commodity. A curious break in form for director Morgan Spurlock too, not appearing once here.

14. Zoo (2007)



Zoophilia is the subject of this indie documentary that is unfortunately never as fascinating as one might expect. It is halfway in before the film really gets interesting as it introduces the death of a man while performing a sexual act with a horse, and even then much of the material feels repetitive as 'zoo' individuals continue to talk about feel isolated and shunned. The documentary does well drumming up sympathy for these lonely men though.

[sebby]

27 Amazing Grace (2018) 5/10
28 My Winnipeg (2007) 7/10
29 Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much (2017) 5/10
30-33 The Dust Bowl (2012) 7/10
34 Maiden (2018) 5/10

SpoilerShow

01-05 The Devil Next Door (2019) 7/10
06 ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (2019) 5.5/10
07-09 63 Up (2019) 7/10
10 Dream/Killer (2015) 6/10
11 Bipolar Rock 'N Roller (2018) 5.5/10
12 La région centrale (1971)
13 Echo in the Canyon (2018)
14 American Factory (2019)
15-19 Who Killed Little Gregory? (2019)
20 Meeting Gorbachev (2018) 5/10
21 Finding Frances (2017) 9.5/10
22-23 Varda by Agnès (2019) 6/10
24 ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads (2019) 5/10
25 Virunga (2014) 6.5/10
26 John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018) 7/10
27 Amazing Grace (2018) 5/10
28 My Winnipeg (2007) 7/10
29 Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much (2017) 5/10
30-33 The Dust Bowl (2012) 7/10
34 Maiden (2018) 5/10

[flavo5000]

70. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
Misery machine Allen King returns with yet another difficult-to-watch doc, this one following a group of senior citizens in a nursing home. Watch as they succumb to dementia! Struck in awe as their friends die and loved ones neglect them! But seriously, while this isn't quite as depressing as Dying at Grace with some moments of levity, it is still quite sad. With this being the last movie in the Allen King Criterion Eclipse set I have, I don't see revisiting these again any time soon.


71. A Poem Is a Naked Person (1974)
Les Blank applies his laid back approach to the soulful, southern fried stylings of Leon Russell which fits Blank to a 'T'. I dug it like I do all Blank films for it's ability to immerse you in a culture without pretension and without pseudo-intellectual commentary. Now, will this be useful if you want to learn about Russell's life and motivations? Not really. But it is a great snapshot into Russell's day-to-day living as he surrounds himself with good music and friends. And speaking of the music, it's top notch here.


72. The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
Something Weird brought to my attention this sensationalist doc on Bonnie & Clyde released shortly after the smash hit Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway version of the events by self-ordained Schlockmeister Larry Buchanan (director of such classics as The Naked Witch and Attack of the Eye Creatures). Despite Buchanan's participation, the movie actually seems to have some real credibility to it due in large part to relying on information supplied by Frank Hamer, the Texas Ranger who eventually took down the pair. In addition to the late Hamer's notes on the case, the doc also features interviews with his wife and son on the incident as well as an interview with a woman who was actually kidnapped by Bonnie & Clyde providing one of the few real first-hand accounts of the duo during their actual crime spree. In true exploitation fashion, it also has to throw in the actual footage of their deaths after being gunned down by Hamer's posse. Overall, given it's presence on a Something Weird DVD and it's direction from Buchanan, this one is actually better than I expected it to be with some real meat on it, painting B&C not as the star-crossed lovers of the film but as what they really were, criminals and murderers.


73. Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder (1980)
Billy wilder is interviewed at length by French film critic Michel Ciment in this at times rambling and at times quite interesting doc. Focusing less on behind-the-scenes production of Wilder's films and more on his life philosophy and reactions to various incidents in his life, it's paints a more personal picture of Wilder as restless, cynical and somewhat cantankerous. It's very easy to see that this is the man who brought us such grim classics as Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard and Ace in the Hole. It actually becomes more surprising that he trafficked just as much in comedies like Some Like It Hot and Sabrina. He even talks about that aspect of his personality, wishing himself to be remembered as a cynic but admitting he may have a soft side. He also has some sly digs at other filmmakers in here like Hitchcock who he basically accuses of making the same thing over and over (when asked why he does do such a wide variety of films). If you are a fan of Wilder's films (and I mean... who isn't?), then this is certainly something to check out to get to know a little more of the man himself.

Reality Is Stranger Than FictionShow

1. Why Horror? (2014)
2. Portrait: Orson Welles (1968)
3. For All Mankind (1989)
4. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
5. Free Solo (2018)
6. Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
7. D'Est a.k.a. From The East (1993)
8. Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
9. Cien niños esperando un tren (1988)
10. Enter the Anime (2019)
11. Demon House (2018)
12a. Mor vran a.k.a. Sea of Ravens (1931)
12b. De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel a.k.a. The Reality of Karel Appel (1962)
12c. The Private Life of a Cat (1947)
13. 66 scener fra Amerika a.k.a. 66 Scenes from America (1982)
14. The Rock-afire Explosion (2008)
15. Always for Pleasure (1978)
16a. Lagniappe (2006)
16b. Dry Wood (1973)
17a. My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1995)
17b. Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge (1991)
17c. The Maestro Rides Again! (2005)
18. Jag är Ingrid a.k.a. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)
19. Fyre (2019)
20. Fyre Fraud (2019)
21. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
22. Cabra Marcado Para Morrer a.k.a. 20 Years Later (1984)
23. Mark of the Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf (2019)
24. Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
25. Come on Children (1973)
26. True Asian Horror (2007)
27-29. Five Came Back (2017)
30. Pina (2011)
31-34. Brazil with Michael Palin (2012)
35a. Faces of November (1964)
35b. Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja (1924)
35c. Blight (1996)
36d. Selective Service System (1970)
36e. Mimbre (1958)
37. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
38. Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkende a.k.a. Mother Dao, the Turtlelike (1995)
39. Making of...Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
40a. Shedding the Skin (2005)
40b. The Wild, Wild World of Dick Randall (2006)
41. Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu a.k.a. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
42. Monterey Pop (1968)
43. Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015)
44. Torero (1956)
45a. Juan Lopez Moctezuma—A Cultured Maverick (2003)
45b. Moose Magic – The George Newman Shaw & John Willhelm Story (2015)
45c. Slashing 'Dressed to Kill' (2001)
46. David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)
47. Fascism on a Thread- The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema (2019)
48. L'image manquante a.k.a. The Missing Picture (2013)
49. Lettre de Sibérie a.k.a. Letter from Siberia (1958)
50a. Dimanche à Pekin a.k.a. Sunday in Peking (1956)
50b. L'ambassade a.k.a. The Embassy (1973)
50c. Théorie des ensembles a.k.a. Theory of Sets (1990)
50d. Zoo Piece (1990)/Owl Gets in Your Eyes(1994)/Tchaïka (1994) a.k.a. Three Video Haikus
51. Casque bleu a.k.a. Blue Helmet (1995)
52a. La sixième face du pentagone a.k.a. The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1968)
51b. E-clip-se (1999)
51c. The Power of One: The Pokemon 2000 Movie Special (2000)
52. Stand van de Sterren a.k.a. Position in the Stars (2010)
53. The Spaghetti West (2005)
54. Out of Print (2014)
55. Diaries Notes and Sketches (1969)
56. Huie's Predigt a.k.a. Huie's Sermon (1981)
57. Five Broken Cameras (2011)
58. The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005)
59. Mondo Porno (1972)
60. Innocents Abroad (1971)
61. Description d'un combat a.k.a. Description of a Struggle (1960)
62. Chats perchés a.k.a. The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004)
63. Amy (2015)
64a. Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective (2018)
64b. 12 Days of Black Christmas (2006)
64c. Mondo Macabro: Fantasy Films from Indonesia (2002)
65. Bai Ge Ji Hua: Taiwan Xin Dianying Ershi Nian Huei Gu a.k.a. Our Time, Our Story (2002)
66. Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
67. Hospital (1970)
68. Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen (1983)
69a. Zrcadlení (1966)
69b. Odchádza clovek (1968)
69c. Voda a praca (1964)
70. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
71. A Poem Is a Naked Person (1974)
72. The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
73. Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder (1980)

[vortexsurfer]

13. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: UFOs (Debbie Geller, 1998)
14. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Porn (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
15. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Head for the Hills (Ed Robbins, 1998)
16. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Weird Christmas (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
17. Bunker77 (Takuji Masuda, 2016)
18. Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (Jason Massot, 2012)
19. Oasis: Supersonic (Mat Whitecross, 2016)

SpoilerShow

1. Tribe: Adi (James Smith, 2005)
2. Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (Matt D'Avella, 2015)
3. Life Off Grid (Jonathan Taggart, 2016)
4. The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009)
5. Tribe: Suri (James Smith, 2005)
6. Tribe: Kombai (Jonathan Clay, 2005)
7. Tribe: Babongo (Steve Robinson, 2005)
8. Tribe: Darhad (Graham Johnston, 2005)
9. Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004)
10. Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup (Dylan Avery, 2009)
11. Rewind This! (Josh Johnson, 2013)
12. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Christianity (Daniel Elias, 1998)
13. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: UFOs (Debbie Geller, 1998)
14. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Porno (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
15. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Head for the Hills (Ed Robbins, 1998)
16. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Weird Christmas (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
17. Bunker77 (Takuji Masuda, 2016)
18. Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (Jason Massot, 2012)
19. Oasis: Supersonic (Mat Whitecross, 2016)

[maxwelldeux]

You can't HANDLE the truthShow

"1. Caesar Must Die (2012)
2. La flaca Alejandra (1994, Chile)
3. The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution (2018)
4. The Great Hack (2019)
5. The Civil War: The Cause (1990)
6. The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
7. The Civil War: A Very Bloody Affair (1990)
8. Fart: A Documentary (2016, UK)
9. The Civil War: Forever Free (1990)
10. The Civil War: Simply Murder (1990)"
"11. Hunting Nazi Treasure: Hitler's Obsession (2017)
12. Haxan (1922, Sweden)
13. Mercury 13 (2018)
14. Back in Time (2015)
15-18. Lorena (2019)
19. Das Netz/The Net (2003, Germany)
20. Senorita Extraviada (2001, Mexico)"
"21. Prophet's Prey (2015)
22. After Innocence (2005)
23. Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (2017, New Zealand)
24. Scrum (2015, Australia)
25. Barbecue (2017, Armenia)
26. I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi (2018)
27. The Civil War: The Universe of Battle (1990)
28. Cholesterol, the Great Bluff (2016, France)
29. Countdown to Zero (2010)
30. Chernobyl 30 Years On: Nuclear Heritage (2015)"
31. Best Worst Movie (2009)
32. The Civil War: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1990)
33. The Civil War: Most Hallowed Ground (1990)
34. The Civil War: War is Hell (1990)
35. The Civil War: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1990)

36-37. Leaving Neverland (2019)
Probably the best depiction of childhood sexual abuse I've seen, specifically because it goes through the grooming process. Hard to ignore and a powerful and emotional documentary. Well recommended.

38. After Neverland (2019)
The Oprah rejoinder. Not bad, but didn't add much.

39-41. Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery (2017)
This was a purely fun crime doc on the murder sensation. Nothing great, but it had a lot more info than I was aware of.

[weirdboy]

記録映画Show

1. LA 92 (2017) - Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
2. Alone in the Wilderness (2004)
3. Landscape Suicide (1987) - James Benning
4-16. Soupçons AKA The Staircase (2004) - Jean-Xavier de Lestrade [TV mini-series]
17. Nathan for You: Finding Frances (2017) - Nathan Fielder 8/10
18. The Fear of 13 (2015) - David Sington 6/10
19. Style Wars (1983) - Tony Silver 8/10
20. Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003) - Abbas Kiarostami 6/10
21. El botón de nácar AKA The Pearl Button (2015) - Patricio Guzman 7/10
22. RR (2007) - James Benning 7/10
23. Alone in the Wilderness Part II (2011) - Bob Swerer Jr. 9/10
24. The Battle of the Somme AKA Kitchener's Great Army in the Battle of the Somme (1916) - Geoffrey H. Malins 6/10
25. Monrovia, Indiana (2018) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
26. The Last Waltz (1978) - Martin Scorsese 8/10
27. Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (2014) - Steve Sullivan 8/10
28. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) - Mark Achbar, Peter Wintonick 5/10
29. David Wants to Fly (2010) - David Sieveking 7/10
30. The Garden (2005) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
31. Alaska: Silence & Solitude (2005) 7/10
32a. 1925 Studio Tour (1925) [short - 32 min] 8/10
32b. I Am Somebody (1970) - Madeline Anderson [short - 28 min] 7/10
33. Hundertwassers Regentag (1971) - Peter Schamoni 7/10
34. Jaco (2015) - Stephen Kijak, Paul Marchand
35a. Between Two Worlds (2014) - Charles de Lauzirika [short - 38 min] 3/10
35b. An Introduction to David Lynch (2002) - Mark Rance [short - 22 min] 7/10
36a. Notes on the Circus (1966) - Jonas Mekas [short - 12 min] 6/10
36b. Vietnam, Land of Fire (1966) [short - 15 min] 6/10
36c. The Cry of Jazz (1959) - Edward Bland [short - 34 min] 5/10
37. The Frozen North (2006) - Dick Proenneke 4/10
38. Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch (1997) - Toby Keeler 5/10
39. Alt om min far AKA All About My Father (2002) - Even Benestad 6/10

40. Roy Lichtenstein (1991) - Chris Hunt 6/10
41. Jazz Episode 1 - Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917 (2001) - Ken Burns 7/10
42. Jazz Episode 2 - The Gift 1917-1924 (2001) - Ken Burns 8/10

[weirdboy]

Exciting race at the top between flavo5000 & 72aicm with only a difference of 3 points between them.
Then we get a group of 3 including weirdboy, PUNQ & jeroeno with 39&38 watches.

Huh I didn't realize I was in competition, really. I'm just trying to clear out my backlog. :-)

Call me crazy but I'm not the biggest fan of watching a junkie vomit for five minutes straight...

Are you kidding me? That whole scene was hilarious.

[jeroeno]

44. Strangers on the Earth (2016)
45. Dive! (2010)
46. Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land (2008)

[maxwelldeux]

Exciting race at the top between flavo5000 & 72aicm with only a difference of 3 points between them.
Then we get a group of 3 including weirdboy, PUNQ & jeroeno with 39&38 watches.

Huh I didn't realize I was in competition, really. I'm just trying to clear out my backlog. :-)

Not to start the trash talk, but I'm going to finish in the top 5. This is my favorite challenge and the one I put the most effort into. So one of y'all is going down.

Plus, my wife is gone next week, and then I'm taking off the week after Christmas while she has to work. So plenty of time to watch docs!

[Obgeoff]

1. Too Early/Too Late (1981, Huillet/Straub) 6
2. Sans Soleil (1983, Marker) 8

[72aicm]

67-72. Apocalypse: La 2ème guerre mondiale (2009)
73. HyperNormalisation (2016)

SpoilerShow

01-06. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)
07. RR (2007)
08. Style Wars (1983)
09-13. Wonders of the Solar System (2010)
14-20. Long Way Round (2004)
21. D’est (1993)
22. Nathan for You: Finding Frances (2011)
23-30. The Blue Planet (2001)
31. Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003)
32. A Alma do Osso (2004)
33-40. Human Planet (2011)
41-53. Soupçons (2004)
54. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)
55-58. The Century of the Self (2002)
59. Presunto culpable (2008)
60-66. Frozen Planet (2011)
67-72. Apocalypse: La 2ème guerre mondiale (2009)
73. HyperNormalisation (2016)

[klaus78]

SpoilerShow

a. An shab ke barun amad [The Night It Rained] (1967, 35') 8/10
1. Maradona (2019) 7/10
2. Sisters in Law (2005) 6/10
3. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) 7/10
4. Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972) 8/10
5. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) 8/10
b. Ilha das Flores (1989, 13') [rewatch] 8/10
6. Hospital (1970) 8/10
7. At Sea (2007) 8/10
8. Dead Slow Ahead (2015) 7/10

9. Alone in the Wilderness (2004) 7/10
10. Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges (1989) 8/10
11c. Ryan (2004, 14') 7/10
12. Lost, Lost, Lost (1976) 8/10
13. Honeyland (2019) 7/10

[flavo5000]

Exciting race at the top between flavo5000 & 72aicm with only a difference of 3 points between them.
Then we get a group of 3 including weirdboy, PUNQ & jeroeno with 39&38 watches.

Huh I didn't realize I was in competition, really. I'm just trying to clear out my backlog. :-)

Honestly, I'm just basically doing the same thing. I just tend to consume a lot of media in general.

Call me crazy but I'm not the biggest fan of watching a junkie vomit for five minutes straight...

Are you kidding me? That whole scene was hilarious.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I did think he kinda deserved it but that doesn't mean I like to watch puke regardless of what loser it's coming out of.

[blocho]

Exciting race at the top between flavo5000 & 72aicm with only a difference of 3 points between them.
Then we get a group of 3 including weirdboy, PUNQ & jeroeno with 39&38 watches.

Huh I didn't realize I was in competition, really. I'm just trying to clear out my backlog. :-)

Honestly, I'm just basically doing the same thing. I just tend to consume a lot of media in general.

Call me crazy but I'm not the biggest fan of watching a junkie vomit for five minutes straight...

Are you kidding me? That whole scene was hilarious.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I did think he kinda deserved it but that doesn't mean I like to watch puke regardless of what loser it's coming out of.

I also thought that scene was pretty funny.

[weirdboy]

記録映画Show

1. LA 92 (2017) - Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
2. Alone in the Wilderness (2004)
3. Landscape Suicide (1987) - James Benning
4-16. Soupçons AKA The Staircase (2004) - Jean-Xavier de Lestrade [TV mini-series]
17. Nathan for You: Finding Frances (2017) - Nathan Fielder 8/10
18. The Fear of 13 (2015) - David Sington 6/10
19. Style Wars (1983) - Tony Silver 8/10
20. Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003) - Abbas Kiarostami 6/10
21. El botón de nácar AKA The Pearl Button (2015) - Patricio Guzman 7/10
22. RR (2007) - James Benning 7/10
23. Alone in the Wilderness Part II (2011) - Bob Swerer Jr. 9/10
24. The Battle of the Somme AKA Kitchener's Great Army in the Battle of the Somme (1916) - Geoffrey H. Malins 6/10
25. Monrovia, Indiana (2018) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
26. The Last Waltz (1978) - Martin Scorsese 8/10
27. Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (2014) - Steve Sullivan 8/10
28. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) - Mark Achbar, Peter Wintonick 5/10
29. David Wants to Fly (2010) - David Sieveking 7/10
30. The Garden (2005) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
31. Alaska: Silence & Solitude (2005) 7/10
32a. 1925 Studio Tour (1925) [short - 32 min] 8/10
32b. I Am Somebody (1970) - Madeline Anderson [short - 28 min] 7/10
33. Hundertwassers Regentag (1971) - Peter Schamoni 7/10
34. Jaco (2015) - Stephen Kijak, Paul Marchand
35a. Between Two Worlds (2014) - Charles de Lauzirika [short - 38 min] 3/10
35b. An Introduction to David Lynch (2002) - Mark Rance [short - 22 min] 7/10
36a. Notes on the Circus (1966) - Jonas Mekas [short - 12 min] 6/10
36b. Vietnam, Land of Fire (1966) [short - 15 min] 6/10
36c. The Cry of Jazz (1959) - Edward Bland [short - 34 min] 5/10
37. The Frozen North (2006) - Dick Proenneke 4/10
38. Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch (1997) - Toby Keeler 5/10
39. Alt om min far AKA All About My Father (2002) - Even Benestad 6/10
40. Roy Lichtenstein (1991) - Chris Hunt 6/10
41. Jazz Episode 1 - Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917 (2001) - Ken Burns 7/10
42. Jazz Episode 2 - The Gift 1917-1924 (2001) - Ken Burns 8/10

43-50. Jazz Episodes 3 - 10 (2001) - Ken Burns 8/10

[flavo5000]

74. Document of the Dead (1985)
75. At Last... Total Terror! - The Incredible True Story of 'Axe' and 'Kidnapped Coed' (2015)
76. Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)
77. One of Those Nights: The Making of 'Vamp' (2016)
I decided to binge a bunch of horror docs yesterday afternoon that have been on my backlog a while. Document of the Dead was quite good, offering a comprehensive look behind the curtain on several of Romero's films with an emphasis on Dawn of the Dead. It also does some early analysis of his impact on culture and features lots of interviews, some very nice Savini effects work on Two Evil Eyes and more. Well worth a watch for Romero fans. At Last... Total Terror is a solid doc on Axe and Kidnapped Coed and is a very good look inside extremely low budget film-making and what's doable on a shoestring. Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan is a good overview of Harryhausen's films and a kind of celebration of his effects work and its influence on pop culture. One of those Nights is probably the most traditional talking head style doc in this bunch but was still a solid watch, offering some interesting nuggets. In particular, Grace Jones sounds out of her fucking mind.


78. The Late Great Planet Earth (1979)
this is some bullshit doc about end of the world prophecies with wild speculation and very little basis in fact. It relies heavily on the gravitas granted by Orson Welles as host and narrator. This is one of those cases where I really hope Welles did this for the money and not because he actually believed this trash.


79, Workingman's Death (2005)
A sort of profile of several grim and rough jobs that shows what people are willing to do to earn a living. It isn't a particularly fun watch although the visuals are quite good. Rather than showcasing some edge-of-your-seat Ice Truckers style intensity and drama, it shows the day-to-day grind of incredibly difficult or unpleasant working conditions like a very claustrophobic Ukranian mine and a Nigerian open air slaughterhouse (for anyone who's a big PETA supporter, avoid this like the plague... VERY graphic animal death for a good 25 minutes straight).

Reality Is Stranger Than FictionShow

1. Why Horror? (2014)
2. Portrait: Orson Welles (1968)
3. For All Mankind (1989)
4. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
5. Free Solo (2018)
6. Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
7. D'Est a.k.a. From The East (1993)
8. Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
9. Cien niños esperando un tren (1988)
10. Enter the Anime (2019)
11. Demon House (2018)
12a. Mor vran a.k.a. Sea of Ravens (1931)
12b. De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel a.k.a. The Reality of Karel Appel (1962)
12c. The Private Life of a Cat (1947)
13. 66 scener fra Amerika a.k.a. 66 Scenes from America (1982)
14. The Rock-afire Explosion (2008)
15. Always for Pleasure (1978)
16a. Lagniappe (2006)
16b. Dry Wood (1973)
17a. My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1995)
17b. Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge (1991)
17c. The Maestro Rides Again! (2005)
18. Jag är Ingrid a.k.a. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)
19. Fyre (2019)
20. Fyre Fraud (2019)
21. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
22. Cabra Marcado Para Morrer a.k.a. 20 Years Later (1984)
23. Mark of the Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf (2019)
24. Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
25. Come on Children (1973)
26. True Asian Horror (2007)
27-29. Five Came Back (2017)
30. Pina (2011)
31-34. Brazil with Michael Palin (2012)
35a. Faces of November (1964)
35b. Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja (1924)
35c. Blight (1996)
36d. Selective Service System (1970)
36e. Mimbre (1958)
37. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
38. Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkende a.k.a. Mother Dao, the Turtlelike (1995)
39. Making of...Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
40a. Shedding the Skin (2005)
40b. The Wild, Wild World of Dick Randall (2006)
41. Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu a.k.a. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
42. Monterey Pop (1968)
43. Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015)
44. Torero (1956)
45a. Juan Lopez Moctezuma—A Cultured Maverick (2003)
45b. Moose Magic – The George Newman Shaw & John Willhelm Story (2015)
45c. Slashing 'Dressed to Kill' (2001)
46. David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)
47. Fascism on a Thread- The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema (2019)
48. L'image manquante a.k.a. The Missing Picture (2013)
49. Lettre de Sibérie a.k.a. Letter from Siberia (1958)
50a. Dimanche à Pekin a.k.a. Sunday in Peking (1956)
50b. L'ambassade a.k.a. The Embassy (1973)
50c. Théorie des ensembles a.k.a. Theory of Sets (1990)
50d. Zoo Piece (1990)/Owl Gets in Your Eyes(1994)/Tchaïka (1994) a.k.a. Three Video Haikus
51. Casque bleu a.k.a. Blue Helmet (1995)
52a. La sixième face du pentagone a.k.a. The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1968)
51b. E-clip-se (1999)
51c. The Power of One: The Pokemon 2000 Movie Special (2000)
52. Stand van de Sterren a.k.a. Position in the Stars (2010)
53. The Spaghetti West (2005)
54. Out of Print (2014)
55. Diaries Notes and Sketches (1969)
56. Huie's Predigt a.k.a. Huie's Sermon (1981)
57. Five Broken Cameras (2011)
58. The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005)
59. Mondo Porno (1972)
60. Innocents Abroad (1971)
61. Description d'un combat a.k.a. Description of a Struggle (1960)
62. Chats perchés a.k.a. The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004)
63. Amy (2015)
64a. Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective (2018)
64b. 12 Days of Black Christmas (2006)
64c. Mondo Macabro: Fantasy Films from Indonesia (2002)
65. Bai Ge Ji Hua: Taiwan Xin Dianying Ershi Nian Huei Gu a.k.a. Our Time, Our Story (2002)
66. Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
67. Hospital (1970)
68. Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen (1983)
69a. Zrcadlení (1966)
69b. Odchádza clovek (1968)
69c. Voda a praca (1964)
70. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
71. A Poem Is a Naked Person (1974)
72. The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
73. Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder (1980)
74. Document of the Dead (1985)
75. At Last... Total Terror! - The Incredible True Story of 'Axe' and 'Kidnapped Coed' (2015)
76. Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)
77. One of Those Nights: The Making of 'Vamp' (2016)
78. The Late Great Planet Earth (1979)
79, Workingman's Death (2005)

[vortexsurfer]

20. Tribe: Sanema (Jonathan Clay, 2005)

SpoilerShow

1. Tribe: Adi (James Smith, 2005)
2. Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (Matt D'Avella, 2015)
3. Life Off Grid (Jonathan Taggart, 2016)
4. The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009)
5. Tribe: Suri (James Smith, 2005)
6. Tribe: Kombai (Jonathan Clay, 2005)
7. Tribe: Babongo (Steve Robinson, 2005)
8. Tribe: Darhad (Graham Johnston, 2005)
9. Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004)
10. Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup (Dylan Avery, 2009)
11. Rewind This! (Josh Johnson, 2013)
12. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Christianity (Daniel Elias, 1998)
13. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: UFOs (Debbie Geller, 1998)
14. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Porno (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
15. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Head for the Hills (Ed Robbins, 1998)
16. Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: Weird Christmas (Geoffrey O'Connor, 1998)
17. Bunker77 (Takuji Masuda, 2016)
18. Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (Jason Massot, 2012)
19. Oasis: Supersonic (Mat Whitecross, 2016)
20. Tribe: Sanema (Jonathan Clay, 2005)

[Coryn]

12. Hello Cinema (1995)

[jeroeno]

47. The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)
48. Hit the Road: India (2013)
49. Aral, Fishing in an Invisible Sea (2004)
50. Bikes vs Cars (2015)
51. Nella Golena Dei Morti Felici (2017)

[maxwelldeux]

You can't HANDLE the truthShow

"1. Caesar Must Die (2012)
2. La flaca Alejandra (1994, Chile)
3. The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution (2018)
4. The Great Hack (2019)
5. The Civil War: The Cause (1990)
6. The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
7. The Civil War: A Very Bloody Affair (1990)
8. Fart: A Documentary (2016, UK)
9. The Civil War: Forever Free (1990)
10. The Civil War: Simply Murder (1990)"
"11. Hunting Nazi Treasure: Hitler's Obsession (2017)
12. Haxan (1922, Sweden)
13. Mercury 13 (2018)
14. Back in Time (2015)
15-18. Lorena (2019)
19. Das Netz/The Net (2003, Germany)
20. Senorita Extraviada (2001, Mexico)"
"21. Prophet's Prey (2015)
22. After Innocence (2005)
23. Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (2017, New Zealand)
24. Scrum (2015, Australia)
25. Barbecue (2017, Armenia)
26. I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi (2018)
27. The Civil War: The Universe of Battle (1990)
28. Cholesterol, the Great Bluff (2016, France)
29. Countdown to Zero (2010)
30. Chernobyl 30 Years On: Nuclear Heritage (2015)"
31. Best Worst Movie (2009)
32. The Civil War: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1990)
33. The Civil War: Most Hallowed Ground (1990)
34. The Civil War: War is Hell (1990)
35. The Civil War: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1990)
36-37. Leaving Neverland (2019)
38. After Neverland (2019)
39-41. Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery (2017)

42. The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby (2011)
This was boring. About a former CIA director, told by his kid, that had both way too much detail and not nearly enough. Total miss.

43. British Sounds (1970)
It took me a long time to figure this one out, but it was pretty interesting in the end. A nice look at late-60s UK culture, from the good to the bad to the ugly. Fun fact: Wife came out to talk to me during this, so I paused the doc to talk to her. It just so happened to pause on the long close-up shot of the woman's vagina, which was not at all awkward...

44. You Laugh But It's True (2011, South Africa)
Wife and I started this a long time ago, expecting a stand-up special, which this was not. It's a bio doc about Trevor Noah and his background leading up to his first stand-up special in South Africa. We'd both read his book "Born a Crime", so there wasn't much new for us, but this was a really nice look at South Africa with a decent amount of comedy mixed in. A pretty rewarding watch, overall.

45-49. The Confession Killer (2019)
This is a doc about a guy who confessed to over 300 murders... mostly (all?) falsely. Over 20 of them have been proven via DNA to be false confessions. Many others have been shown to be impossible to commit. Some were false crimes (that didn't happen) that he confessed to. All weird. And interesting. So much weird stuff in there.

[flavo5000]

80. Streetwise (1984)
Here's another relentlessly depressing doc (which seems to be a staple of these "Best Documentary" lists) following a group of teens living on the streets turning tricks, doing drugs and whatever else to just survive. It ends with one of the poor kids hanging himself. So yea, it's a delight to watch. So glad you asked.


81. Empire (1964)
Before anyone asks, no I absolutely did not just sit there and watch this movie for 8 hours, and if you did, you are exactly as stupid as Warhol thinks you are. This supreme ode to trolling has created ripple effects throughout film history, culminating in the majesty of the Yule Log video, it's most direct point of influence. Actually here's a little story. My 6-year-old son has been really fascinated with skyscrapers lately, so I thought 'oh I'll show him some of Empire. Maybe he'll like it.' So I started it and he was asking how many stories it was and where it was located, stuff like that. After about a minute, he just said "Play the movie, dad!" And I was like, "it is playing..." Then he just gets up and wanders off. He is far smarter than any person who has sat and watched this, including myself.


82-91. Life E1-10+Making of (2009)
Gorgeous visuals of animals in action from all over the globe is what this BBC doc follow-up to Planet Earth is all about, or at least is what it initially seems to be all about. After watching the as-fascinating-if-not-more-so Making Of Life episode 11, it seems as though there were several unprecedented achievements in this film as well including the likes of catching a rare bird on film mating, the first ever film capture of Komodo dragons feasting on a water buffalo, the first end-to-end filming of a Humpback Whale run and more. It seems as though these crews utilized the larger than usual budget to do things previous thought impossible or highly unlikely to ever capture. Very cool stuff.


92. The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019)
Hm... This one was quite interesting. Hard to talk about it without spoilers but suffice it to say the title is actually descriptive of the subject more than it seems to be. This story of what seems to be about the magician The Amazing Johnathan finding out he has a life-threatening heart defect and is given a year to live does feel a little aimless at times (probably intentionally), but I still quite liked this oddball story where all doesn't appear as it seems.
I also liked that the final twist is

SpoilerShow

that everything was the full truth the entire time.

Reality Is Stranger Than FictionShow

1. Why Horror? (2014)
2. Portrait: Orson Welles (1968)
3. For All Mankind (1989)
4. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
5. Free Solo (2018)
6. Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
7. D'Est a.k.a. From The East (1993)
8. Sympathy for the Devil (1968)
9. Cien niños esperando un tren (1988)
10. Enter the Anime (2019)
11. Demon House (2018)
12a. Mor vran a.k.a. Sea of Ravens (1931)
12b. De werkelijkheid van Karel Appel a.k.a. The Reality of Karel Appel (1962)
12c. The Private Life of a Cat (1947)
13. 66 scener fra Amerika a.k.a. 66 Scenes from America (1982)
14. The Rock-afire Explosion (2008)
15. Always for Pleasure (1978)
16a. Lagniappe (2006)
16b. Dry Wood (1973)
17a. My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1995)
17b. Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge (1991)
17c. The Maestro Rides Again! (2005)
18. Jag är Ingrid a.k.a. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)
19. Fyre (2019)
20. Fyre Fraud (2019)
21. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)
22. Cabra Marcado Para Morrer a.k.a. 20 Years Later (1984)
23. Mark of the Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf (2019)
24. Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
25. Come on Children (1973)
26. True Asian Horror (2007)
27-29. Five Came Back (2017)
30. Pina (2011)
31-34. Brazil with Michael Palin (2012)
35a. Faces of November (1964)
35b. Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja (1924)
35c. Blight (1996)
36d. Selective Service System (1970)
36e. Mimbre (1958)
37. What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
38. Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkende a.k.a. Mother Dao, the Turtlelike (1995)
39. Making of...Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
40a. Shedding the Skin (2005)
40b. The Wild, Wild World of Dick Randall (2006)
41. Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu a.k.a. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
42. Monterey Pop (1968)
43. Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015)
44. Torero (1956)
45a. Juan Lopez Moctezuma—A Cultured Maverick (2003)
45b. Moose Magic – The George Newman Shaw & John Willhelm Story (2015)
45c. Slashing 'Dressed to Kill' (2001)
46. David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)
47. Fascism on a Thread- The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema (2019)
48. L'image manquante a.k.a. The Missing Picture (2013)
49. Lettre de Sibérie a.k.a. Letter from Siberia (1958)
50a. Dimanche à Pekin a.k.a. Sunday in Peking (1956)
50b. L'ambassade a.k.a. The Embassy (1973)
50c. Théorie des ensembles a.k.a. Theory of Sets (1990)
50d. Zoo Piece (1990)/Owl Gets in Your Eyes(1994)/Tchaïka (1994) a.k.a. Three Video Haikus
51. Casque bleu a.k.a. Blue Helmet (1995)
52a. La sixième face du pentagone a.k.a. The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1968)
51b. E-clip-se (1999)
51c. The Power of One: The Pokemon 2000 Movie Special (2000)
52. Stand van de Sterren a.k.a. Position in the Stars (2010)
53. The Spaghetti West (2005)
54. Out of Print (2014)
55. Diaries Notes and Sketches (1969)
56. Huie's Predigt a.k.a. Huie's Sermon (1981)
57. Five Broken Cameras (2011)
58. The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005)
59. Mondo Porno (1972)
60. Innocents Abroad (1971)
61. Description d'un combat a.k.a. Description of a Struggle (1960)
62. Chats perchés a.k.a. The Case of the Grinning Cat (2004)
63. Amy (2015)
64a. Return to Party Beach: A Retrospective (2018)
64b. 12 Days of Black Christmas (2006)
64c. Mondo Macabro: Fantasy Films from Indonesia (2002)
65. Bai Ge Ji Hua: Taiwan Xin Dianying Ershi Nian Huei Gu a.k.a. Our Time, Our Story (2002)
66. Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
67. Hospital (1970)
68. Reassemblage: From the Firelight to the Screen (1983)
69a. Zrcadlení (1966)
69b. Odchádza clovek (1968)
69c. Voda a praca (1964)
70. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005)
71. A Poem Is a Naked Person (1974)
72. The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
73. Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder (1980)
74. Document of the Dead (1985)
75. At Last... Total Terror! - The Incredible True Story of 'Axe' and 'Kidnapped Coed' (2015)
76. Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)
77. One of Those Nights: The Making of 'Vamp' (2016)
78. The Late Great Planet Earth (1979)
79, Workingman's Death (2005)
80. Streetwise (1984)
81. Empire (1964)
82-91. Life E1-10+Making of (2009)
92. The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019)

[allisoncm]

SpoilerShow

1. The Prison in Twelve Landscapes (2016) 6/10
2. The Biggest Little Farm (2018) 7/10
3. Angry Inuk (2016) 4/10
4. The Apollo (2019) 7/10
5. Everybody's Everything (2019) 5/10
6. Amazing Grace (2018) 7/10
7. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) 6/10
8. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) 7/10
9. Roll Red Roll (2018) 7/10
10-12. 63 Up (2019) 8/10
13. The Magic Life of V (2019) 7/10
14. National Gallery (2014) 5/10
15. What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018) 7.25/10

16. Generation Startup (2016) 6.5/10

[klaus78]

SpoilerShow

a. An shab ke barun amad [The Night It Rained] (1967, 35') 8/10
1. Maradona (2019) 7/10
2. Sisters in Law (2005) 6/10
3. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) 7/10
4. Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972) 8/10
5. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) 8/10
b. Ilha das Flores (1989, 13') [rewatch] 8/10
6. Hospital (1970) 8/10
7. At Sea (2007) 8/10
8. Dead Slow Ahead (2015) 7/10
9. Alone in the Wilderness (2004) 7/10
10. Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges (1989) 8/10
11c. Ryan (2004, 14') 7/10
12. Lost, Lost, Lost (1976) 8/10
13. Honeyland (2019) 7/10

14. Chronos (1985) 7/10
15. Divorce Iranian Style (1998) 7/10
16. One Child Nation (2019) 7/10

[jeroeno]

52. Vancouver 2010: Stories of Olympic Glory (2011)
53. Pina (2011)

[Tim2460]

If you need some ideas for new docs take a look at that video :

[nimimerkillinen]

1. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)
2. Senna (2010)

[maxwelldeux]

You can't HANDLE the truthShow

"1. Caesar Must Die (2012)
2. La flaca Alejandra (1994, Chile)
3. The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution (2018)
4. The Great Hack (2019)
5. The Civil War: The Cause (1990)
6. The Woman Who Wasn't There (2012)
7. The Civil War: A Very Bloody Affair (1990)
8. Fart: A Documentary (2016, UK)
9. The Civil War: Forever Free (1990)
10. The Civil War: Simply Murder (1990)"
"11. Hunting Nazi Treasure: Hitler's Obsession (2017)
12. Haxan (1922, Sweden)
13. Mercury 13 (2018)
14. Back in Time (2015)
15-18. Lorena (2019)
19. Das Netz/The Net (2003, Germany)
20. Senorita Extraviada (2001, Mexico)"
"21. Prophet's Prey (2015)
22. After Innocence (2005)
23. Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (2017, New Zealand)
24. Scrum (2015, Australia)
25. Barbecue (2017, Armenia)
26. I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi (2018)
27. The Civil War: The Universe of Battle (1990)
28. Cholesterol, the Great Bluff (2016, France)
29. Countdown to Zero (2010)
30. Chernobyl 30 Years On: Nuclear Heritage (2015)"
31. Best Worst Movie (2009)
32. The Civil War: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1990)
33. The Civil War: Most Hallowed Ground (1990)
34. The Civil War: War is Hell (1990)
35. The Civil War: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1990)
36-37. Leaving Neverland (2019)
38. After Neverland (2019)
39-41. Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery (2017)
42. The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby (2011)
43. British Sounds (1970)
44. You Laugh But It's True (2011, South Africa)
45-49. The Confession Killer (2019)

50. Do You Trust this Computer? (2018)
This had some nice CGI work for visual entertainment, but at its core, it was just a talking heads doc about AI and machine learning. Some scare tactics, some interesting points. Highlights the importance of responsible use of AI, but overall just fair.

51. David Holzman's Diary (1967)
On a different day, this might have gotten a higher rating from me, but for something on the BFI Docs list, this was the exact opposite of what I wanted. Nothing real, nothing interesting, filmed in the exact style I hate.

52. Behind the Curve (2018)
I sat with my mouth open nearly the entire time. This is about flat earthers, how they came to be, about their organization, and their opposition to science. Interesting was how the experiments they were designing to prove the earth is flat proved the opposite. Nicely handled overall, as it was respectful towards these people.

53. GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (2012)
The story of GLOW, and a fun look back at the ridiculousness of the league and era. I didn't have nostalgia for it (never was into it), but enjoyed it well enough.

54. The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Rewatch. Fun story of a fun minor league team.

[maxwelldeux]

92. The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019)
Hm... This one was quite interesting. Hard to talk about it without spoilers but suffice it to say the title is actually descriptive of the subject more than it seems to be. This story of what seems to be about the magician The Amazing Johnathan finding out he has a life-threatening heart defect and is given a year to live does feel a little aimless at times (probably intentionally), but I still quite liked this oddball story where all doesn't appear as it seems.
I also liked that the final twist is

SpoilerShow

that everything was the full truth the entire time.

Yeah - that was surprisingly good. I came for the comedy, but got pulled in by the mystery and intrigue. Goes nowhere I thought it was going to...

[sebby]

35 Alamar (2009) 4/10
36 Life Overtakes Me (2019) 5/10
37 One Child Nation (2019) 5/10

SpoilerShow

01-05 The Devil Next Door (2019) 7/10
06 ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (2019) 5.5/10
07-09 63 Up (2019) 7/10
10 Dream/Killer (2015) 6/10
11 Bipolar Rock 'N Roller (2018) 5.5/10
12 La région centrale (1971)
13 Echo in the Canyon (2018)
14 American Factory (2019)
15-19 Who Killed Little Gregory? (2019)
20 Meeting Gorbachev (2018) 5/10
21 Finding Frances (2017) 9.5/10
22-23 Varda by Agnès (2019) 6/10
24 ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads (2019) 5/10
25 Virunga (2014) 6.5/10
26 John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018) 7/10
27 Amazing Grace (2018) 5/10
28 My Winnipeg (2007) 7/10
29 Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much (2017) 5/10
30-33 The Dust Bowl (2012) 7/10
34 Maiden (2018) 5/10
35 Alamar (2009) 4/10
36 Life Overtakes Me (2019) 5/10
37 One Child Nation (2019) 5/10

[weirdboy]

81. Empire (1964)
Before anyone asks, no I absolutely did not just sit there and watch this movie for 8 hours

But did you watch it for one hour?

[weirdboy]

記録映画Show

1. LA 92 (2017) - Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
2. Alone in the Wilderness (2004)
3. Landscape Suicide (1987) - James Benning
4-16. Soupçons AKA The Staircase (2004) - Jean-Xavier de Lestrade [TV mini-series]
17. Nathan for You: Finding Frances (2017) - Nathan Fielder 8/10
18. The Fear of 13 (2015) - David Sington 6/10
19. Style Wars (1983) - Tony Silver 8/10
20. Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003) - Abbas Kiarostami 6/10
21. El botón de nácar AKA The Pearl Button (2015) - Patricio Guzman 7/10
22. RR (2007) - James Benning 7/10
23. Alone in the Wilderness Part II (2011) - Bob Swerer Jr. 9/10
24. The Battle of the Somme AKA Kitchener's Great Army in the Battle of the Somme (1916) - Geoffrey H. Malins 6/10
25. Monrovia, Indiana (2018) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
26. The Last Waltz (1978) - Martin Scorsese 8/10
27. Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (2014) - Steve Sullivan 8/10
28. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) - Mark Achbar, Peter Wintonick 5/10
29. David Wants to Fly (2010) - David Sieveking 7/10
30. The Garden (2005) - Frederick Wiseman 7/10
31. Alaska: Silence & Solitude (2005) 7/10
32a. 1925 Studio Tour (1925) [short - 32 min] 8/10
32b. I Am Somebody (1970) - Madeline Anderson [short - 28 min] 7/10
33. Hundertwassers Regentag (1971) - Peter Schamoni 7/10
34. Jaco (2015) - Stephen Kijak, Paul Marchand
35a. Between Two Worlds (2014) - Charles de Lauzirika [short - 38 min] 3/10
35b. An Introduction to David Lynch (2002) - Mark Rance [short - 22 min] 7/10
36a. Notes on the Circus (1966) - Jonas Mekas [short - 12 min] 6/10
36b. Vietnam, Land of Fire (1966) [short - 15 min] 6/10
36c. The Cry of Jazz (1959) - Edward Bland [short - 34 min] 5/10
37. The Frozen North (2006) - Dick Proenneke 4/10
38. Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch (1997) - Toby Keeler 5/10
39. Alt om min far AKA All About My Father (2002) - Even Benestad 6/10
40. Roy Lichtenstein (1991) - Chris Hunt 6/10
41. Jazz Episode 1 - Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917 (2001) - Ken Burns 7/10
42. Jazz Episode 2 - The Gift 1917-1924 (2001) - Ken Burns 8/10
43-50. Jazz Episodes 3 - 10 (2001) - Ken Burns 8/10

51. The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (2014) - Annika Iltis, Timothy James Kane 7/10
52. Tokyo Reverse (2014) - Simon Bouisson, Ludovic Zuili 8/10
This is a 9 hour "slow TV" documentary with no sound except ambient music performed by live musicians (not shown). A guy walks around various neighborhoods and popular tourist spots in Tokyo, backwards and away from the single camera, while people stream by. The genius of the whole thing is that they take this film and play it in reverse, so it looks like he is walking forward towards the camera while everyone and everything else is moving backwards. It's not deep, it doesn't make interesting social commentary, etc. But it is still interesting to watch and was a great choice for me to have on while I worked on tedious red tape. I was also chagrined to discover that there is no entry on ICM for it, so I cannot even check this after spending all day watching it.

[flavo5000]

81. Empire (1964)
Before anyone asks, no I absolutely did not just sit there and watch this movie for 8 hours

But did you watch it for one hour?

I watched all eight hours of it but it was broken up in little 20 to 30 minute chunks over a couple weeks and I was definitely checking stuff on my phone at the same time. Obviously the most thrilling moment was at about 1h 45m in when the sun sets and the lights come on on the tower. There's also a slight zoom ten or fifteen minutes later.