Best Documentaries

[RycePooding]

Because I love them.

Post a pic, post a sentence, post a link if there is one.

[RycePooding]

Restrepo

Saw this last night on a whim and couldn't sleep afterwards. Really powerful. Uses real footage from the Korengal Valley. Makes you think, that's for sure. It's on Netflix, too.

[RycePooding]

Senna

Really well made, well told story. Don't really care about Formula 1 in the least, but the man in the car is incredibly interesting. Highly recommend.

[RycePooding]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Really cute and beautifully shot. I like food porn and this is pure food porn. Jiro has some stand-up values too. Also on Netflix, I believe.

[RycePooding]

Mistaken For Strangers

Technically a tour doc about The National, this is really a story of the ups and downs of brotherhood. I love The National dearly, but I'm positive it would be a compelling movie even if you don't listen to them. If you do, it's a must-watch though. I also heavily related to it because I have 3 brothers.

[RycePooding]

Encounters at the End of the World

One of Herzog's lesser known docs (I believe,) but hands down my favorite. About the characters that live in Antarctica. As Herzog always does, mixes the ridiculous with the serious and heartfelt seamlessly.

[RycePooding]

Food, inc.

In my opinion, a little dramatic, but it's really good to be aware of where your food comes from. Kind of gross, not going to lie, but insightful nonetheless.

[RycePooding]

The Cove

Insane story. Gross, and sad, I'm warning you.

[RycePooding]

Man on Wire

Story of Phillippe Petit's high-wire between the World Trade Center buildings. Pretty mind blowing. Watched this one with my mom (smiling)

[RycePooding]

Shup Up and Play the Hits

I love James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem so this was a no brainer and a treat.

[bueno]

The Blue Planet narrated by David Attenborough.


Big sucker for anything with David Attenborough (who isn't though). I grew up on his documentaries and still enjoy watching them.

[exprof]

Searching for Sugarman

"Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez."

[bhajz]

Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Pretty decent I thought. Based on steroid culture in America, and why so many people are drawn to steroids.

[bhajz]

Cocaine Cowboys

Absolutely love this documentary. Stories of cartels and drug runners and how they have changed Miami. The second one is not close to as good, but if you like the first I would say the second is worth watching.

[bhajz]

Countdown to Zero

A look into how the human race to end. An entertaining watch.

[oucho]

really great arthouse documentary about the men who carried out mass killings in Indonesia

[stappard_]

All Adam Curtis' documentaries (if they can be described as such) are worth watching, but check out All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace first. It is a compelling argument of how computers "have failed to liberate humanity and instead have distorted and simplified our view of the world around us".

Its not available through conventional sources because its extensive use of archive footage and sound is hard to license. Luckily all three parts are currently available on

[stappard_]

[SweetJavaBrown]

Salinger

Chronicles the life of the author of Catcher in the Rye. It includes footage of fans that visit his private home looking for answers to life questions and has some of the last images of JD Salinger.

[SweetJavaBrown]

Room 237

This is about the making of The Shining and its history. The documentary is narrated by different people giving conspiracy theories about the movie. They search for clues in The Shining and Kubrick's other movies so they all relate to one another. There's one guy that thinks 2001: A Space Odyssey was Stanley Kubrick's dress rehearsal so he could fake the footage of the moon landing more realistically.

[SweetJavaBrown]

Somm

This is about wine experts attempting to pass the Master Sommelier Exam, which has a very low pass rate. It shows how much time they invest in order to pass a written exam and a blind taste test to identify 3 white wines and 3 red wines by smell and taste. Some of the people are kind of unlikeable, but definitely worth a watch.

[rjbman]

[BobbyZamora]

[smiles]

[BobbyZamora]

[madisseur]

^ on netflix now, has some great art, perspective on relationships, and cool-old-japanese-people-style-inspo

[diniro]

no mention of Dear Zachary yet. Don't read anything about it. Just watch it. Trust me.

Senna was pretty great, but could have been more nuanced.

Man on Wire is great.

I enjoyed both The Cove and Food Inc, but they're both blatant propaganda.

Gonna name drop Planet Earth and Human Planet (and pretty much anything Attenborough) because getting high as shit and watching these documentaries was some of the best times I had at university.

[Suquida]

Explores the beginnings and, to a lesser extent, the current state of black metal. I don't really expect to find many fans of the genre on care-tags, but even if you're not this doc is still very enjoyable. It really humanizes all of the people involved in all the stories you might've heard about the early scene, the murders among other things. And if you don't know about any of that, this doc is a great way to learn about it all. I REALLY love the soundtrack, ranges from shit like old Darkthrone and Immortal to múm, along with artists like Ulver.

[fun_yunchables]

makes me smile to see people smile. its a documentary exploring what makes people happy (which isn't buying more jawnz in case you thought that was the solution).

[g2x222]

Great documentary about industrial design. Featuring Dieter Rams, Jony Ive, Mark Newson, among others.