Review Your Fave/Recent Documentaries

[Babe Ruth]

(TMZ presents) OJ How he really Did It. (2024)

This was surprisingly good. I'm not a regular viewer of TMZ.. but Harvey Levin does a great job carrying this doc.
A lot of good, personal insights from his time covering the OJ murder trial, combined with his personal connections to people directly connected to Nicole and OJ.
It would be difficult to find another reporter with as much direct knowledge & connection to this case.. to do this kind of retrospective. Good stuff.

 

[Hippasus]

Saw some good ones on western philosophy and chemistry. The former was nicely-paced and went from the presocratics to Jean-Paul Sartre. The latter was a three-episode miniseries on BBC that dealt with history of the subject up through the development of the periodic table in its modern form. The third episode was more about contemporary applications.



For the video above, content starts to repeat, I think, around the 2:25:00 mark.

 

[kook10]

Not documentaries per se, but I've been going down the rabbit hole watching old interviews and debates from Firing Line. There are a lot of good discussions and important guests talking about weighty topics. Even though I often find him smug and repellent, William F Buckley Jr is a pretty masterful speaker and debater. It is interesting that he used a lot of techniques (tons of ad hominems and straw men) that now we would be called out immediately. From what I've watched so far, it seems like he is often debating for sport and to harass those he disagrees with more than for intellectual advancement (which I suppose is the format/meaning of "firing line"). That said, it makes for some pretty lively exchange of ideas.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown (2024)

New 3-part documentary on Jonestown, mostly focused on its suicidal/homicidal end. Nothing really new here, but an informative overview of what happened.

I have a lot of thoughts on how I feel Jonestown has been deliberately misinterpreted (it was much more of a Marxist counter-cultural project, than a religious quest). But this doc doesn't address Jones' philosophy too deeply, it's more of a matter of fact chronology. Lots of interviews with remaining survivors. On Hulu.

 

[kingsfan28]

Steve Mcqueen desert racer:
Amazon Prime

Grew up watching all the McQueen movies and racing docs with my dad. Watching it again brought back some great memories with him. McQueen was just one of the guys when he went out racing in the desert and knew how to ride.. I still want that Metisse Mk3 dirtbike!

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer (2017)

This was an entertaining 5 part series on the Zodiac killer, and one of his unsolved ciphers. But it is definitely a series where the journey is much more valuable than the destination. Because there were no breaking reveals from this particular investigative effort.. and their 2017 solution to the Zodiac cipher was discredited a few years later.
But it is a good watch, and the pair specifically investigating the killings presented a pair of good suspect theories. Tho I do feel for at least one suspect's legacy.. because they can't both be the Zodiac, am I right?

 

[kook10]

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini (Hulu 2024)
3 part miniseries - Keith and Sherri Papini's seemingly idyllic family life is shattered when Sherri vanishes from their northern California neighborhood, triggering a frenzied search that becomes news around the world.

Spoiler: spoiler

her disappearance was a hoax

It was huge news when this happened so I'm not sure spoiler tags are necessary. I think maybe Covid pulled it out of the news in the end so it was interesting to see a more in-depth re-telling. It was an interesting watch and good that they got most of the players interviewed, but I think Sherri herself is involved in a doc scheduled for next year. Like most docs these days, it could have been 2 episodes though (or 3 commercial shortened ones).

 

[archangel2]

Recently watch a couple of docs on the Ottoman empire told from the perspective of the Turkish. Interesting how they viewed certain things compared to the western world.

Also watched 2 docs on the Golden age of pirates and it was amusing that both docs fell into the trap of what happened to Anne Bonney. No one knows what happened to her--everything in pure speculation. But they had her settle in one of the southern states. Both doc relied on the narrative of the book A General History of Pirate By Capt. Charles Johnson (believed to be Danial Dafoe). If you know the history of that book, you know why it is dangerous to use that as a reference book

 

[Babe Ruth]

A-Bombs Over Nevada (2016)

Brief documentary on atomic bomb testing in the Nevada desert.. and the literal and figurative fallout from the tests. Some good firsthand testimonials, and vintage footage of old Las Vegas.
Not great, but not bad. Available on Prime..

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers.

This was kind of an intriguing, tragic case of a Kentucky mother that disappeared about 10 years back. A reporter and retired detective chase down leads over six episodes..
My complaint is that they send viewers on some seemingly obvious (& irrelevant) rabbit holes. This disappearance seemed to have an obvious suspect, but.. I don't wanna spoil too much. It's basically interesting, just too long, and maybe unfocused and conspiratorial to a point that it distracts from obvious people of suspicion?
On Peacock.

 

[Chili]

The Last Continent-2007 (some subtitles)

A group of scientists spent 14 months measuring the effects of climate change on Antartica. It's so far removed from the rest of the world, yet it was clear the temperatures have increased dramatically over time. They showed where a sky-high glacier used to be. They anchored their ship in a cove and waited to be iced in for the winter...and waited. A large storm came along, ripping out their moorings and forcing them to find another place of safety for the ship for the winter months. Some great footage of the local wildlife whales, seals and penguins. It's beautiful and sad at the same time, as they say in the film some species will adapt to the changes in their environment while others may disappear. Narrated by Donald Sutherland.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose - thru the first 2 of 4 episodes, its been an interesting watch, the interactions with former teammates have added a bit more to his story, overall not a ton of new info, it solidifies his well known reputation as a long time liar, and shines a little light on his lesser known reputation as a creep

​

 

[Satans Hockey]

This looks wild...

 

[Osprey]

I'm not sure if they count as documentaries, but I can't get enough of History's "That Built" series that started with "The Men Who Built America" in 2012 and more recently includes "The Food That Built America," "The Toys That Built America," "Mega-Brands That Built America" and "The Icons That Built America" (which is currently airing every Sunday, I believe). Each episode uses dramatization and interviews with pop culture experts to show and explain how iconic American things came to be. For example, an episode of 'The Food...' covered the rise of and war between Pizza Hut and Domino's, and episode of "The Mega-Brands..." covered the rise of Hertz and Avis and an episode of 'The Icons..." covered the rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Every episode is really interesting and there are literally hundreds of them across the various series, which makes them great for binging or putting on when you don't know what to watch. History re-runs them often and you can find them on-demand. I highly recommend them if you like shows about inventors and corporate rivalries or just like learning about how iconic things began.

 

[johnjm22]

The real life succession of 85 year old George Coulam who owns the largest Renaissance Fair in Texas.

George's employees compete to buy the fair, while George himself spends time looking for a romantic relationship before he dies. His quest for love tends of focus on large breasted women a quarter of his age.

7.5/10

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Levys of Monticello (2023)

An interesting historical story, but I had mixed feelings about the documentary's constructed narrative.

It covers the story of a Jewish naval officer who purchased, and inhabited, Monticello following Jefferson's death. The naval officer (Levy), and then his nephew were admirers of Jefferson, and basically did their best to preserve Monticello's legacy as they lived there. It's an interesting and inspiring story (I think as is). But the documentary spends a lot of the last quarter of the movie talking about the 2017 Charlottesville riots, and trying to tie 'em to the Levys' story.. which I don't think is relevant to the story of the Levy's lives as 19th century proto-preservationists. The documentary maker's take on Charlottesville, and contemporary White Nationalism should be a separate movie, my opinion. I felt it hijacked the distinctly different account of Uriah Levy at Monticello.

 

[Unholy Diver]

The Automat

History of the rise and decline of the Horn & Hardart Automat chain of Automated eateries that were prevalent in Philly and NYC from the turn of the century thru to the final closure in 1991, an interesting watch with some good interviews including celebs and former executives and employees

The Automat (2021) - IMDb

The Automat (2021) Reference View

www.imdb.com

 

[Guardian17]

 

[Guardian17]

 

[Babe Ruth]

9/11: the Legacy (2021)

Accounts of kids (now grown) who were directly impacted by 9/11. Students from a nearby magnet school in Manhattan. Children who lost their parents in the twin towers, or whose parents were first responders & firemen. The way that 9/11 shaped their subsequent lives and activism.
Pretty heavy.. (on Hulu)

 

[NyQuil]

No-one has mentioned it, but The World At War is one of the greatest, and most influential documentary series of all time.

Made in the 70s when many of the key military and political leaders were still alive (as well as ordinary soldiers and civilians), it combined interviews with archive footage, all narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. It didn't shy away from the horrors of war, or the holocaust, but managed the trick of doing it without devolving into virtue signalling sentimentality on the one hand or dumbed down simplifications on the other.

26 x 1 hour episodes that everyone should watch at least once in their life.

The theme song is permanently stuck in my head as well.

EDIT: HF gluing posts together as per usual.

I saw Senna in the theatre when it came out.

For context, my family is very into motorsports, and Senna was my favourite driver dating back to his days with the JPS Lotus team.

I enjoyed it, but I still had a bit of a feeling that they crafted the documentary around the footage that they did have, so there was a bit of padding when it came to the home movies with his family.

I get that there are certainly more engaging moments, like the behind-the-scenes driver briefing meetings, and you have to pace things out, but ultimately it had a bit more of a cobbled together feeling than I expected.

 

[Satans Hockey]

This looks wild...

I watched this whole thing, I'd actually argue this was more crazy than Tiger King because that guy was doing a lot of things for publicity and attention and this woman simply is just absolutely crazy over her chimps. Definitely worth a watch to me, it's only 4 episodes.

 

[Jumptheshark]

June

8/10

A good doc on June Carter Cash. While it has no choice but to talk about Johnny, it keeps the main focus on June and how much talent she had. I had forgotten she wrote a majority of Ring of Fire.

It is not until the 50 minute mark does Johnny and their marriage takes over the documentary and that does lead me to my one whinge about the documentary. The Carter family was considered the first family of country long before she married Johnny and I think more detail should have been given to her family and how it lead her to live her life a certain way

 

[Jumptheshark]

Watched a Doc on John Wayne. Very polarizing person even nearly 50 years after his death. While it was well made, it suffers from the curse of almost every other Wayne documentary. It glosses over some of the stuff he did and down plays other things he did. The moment you realize the Wayne family was involved you knew that several topics were off limits and would be mentioned in passing.
While an okay Doc--it does not cover any new territory. There was a doc the came out about 15 years ago where that last 1/2 was dedicated to a debate between two individuals that knew Wayne. Both worked with Wayne but had different political leanings. I found that more interesting. It was one of the more balanced docs I had seen on him because the Wayne family was not involved and would not allow any footage of him from his movies to be used--they had to use only film and photos in the public domain. The family had "conditions" for use of any of his movie stock. The doc was more balance and went into greater detail than this one that is on prime.
.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Married to Comics (2023)

The story of a married couple, who both became famous as illustrators. Showcases their respective works, and shared life over the decades.
The husband (Green) suffers from severe OCD, which framed a lot of their marital struggle.
I thought the doc goes a little long.. but overall, it's touching & interesting. Reminded me a lot of the old doc "Crumb". And R. Crumb actually has a couple cameos in it.. Watched it on Tubi.