Favorite Documentaries

[LoathedVermin72]

Halfway through Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which is terrific so far. Comparable to History of the Eagles, I would say (which is, of course, one of the great rockumentaries). A really pleasant surprise after seeing the dreadful Becoming Led Zeppelin.

I would agree. But both pale in comparison to the Tom Petty and Bee Gee docs.

I actually thought Runnin' Down a Dream was really overrated. Didn't do much for me. Haven't seen the Bee Gees one.

[Buby]

Halfway through Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which is terrific so far. Comparable to History of the Eagles, I would say (which is, of course, one of the great rockumentaries). A really pleasant surprise after seeing the dreadful Becoming Led Zeppelin.

I would agree. But both pale in comparison to the Tom Petty and Bee Gee docs.

I actually thought Runnin' Down a Dream was really overrated. Didn't do much for me. Haven't seen the Bee Gees one.

wease be weasin'.

[wease]

Halfway through Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which is terrific so far. Comparable to History of the Eagles, I would say (which is, of course, one of the great rockumentaries). A really pleasant surprise after seeing the dreadful Becoming Led Zeppelin.

I would agree. But both pale in comparison to the Tom Petty and Bee Gee docs.

I actually thought Runnin' Down a Dream was really overrated. Didn't do much for me. Haven't seen the Bee Gees one.

wease be weasin'.

If we go outside music, the Fred Rogers doc is one of the best ever made.

[VinylGuy]

I liked that tom petty one and also Amazing Journey of The Who. I also think the foo fighters one was pretty good.

I need to see that Iggy and The Stooges from Jim Jarmusch.

[warehouse]

i loved the led zep doc, but it's led zeppelin, of course i loved it.

whoever made the eagles documentary should be given a lifetime achievement award. the eagles are one of most boring bands to ever play "rock" music, but somehow have one of the best documentaries. i've seen it so many times and i can't stand the eagles.

i turned the billy joel doc on, but for some reason when he started narrating, i was immediately turned off. i'll give it another shot, i love billy joel

[contamination]

A friend of mine works as a tour guide now and it reminded me of this documentary that I saw over 20 years ago and loved. I really should rewatch it:

[lvc]

Here are some that have stuck with me:

Touching the Void (2003) -- this story is just unimaginable

When We Were Kings (1996) -- It's Muhammad Ali

The Comeback (2024) -- back in 2004, these four games were the first baseball I'd watched in years. Was fun to get more of the back story. (I'd add 4 Falls of Buffalo and Last Dance to this general category of sports I remember as they were happening but not really in depth at all)

Facing Nolan (2022) -- just feel-good vibes and Texas accents

Muscle Shoals (2013) -- good doc, but would have been better if it was called The Swampers because they were the magic more so than the actual studio.

[lvc]

Also I recently did a double header of the Waco and Oklahoma City Bombing docs and I feel like I understand that time of American history better because those two things were huge and hugely interconnected. And the skin of the teeth way they managed to apprehend Timothy McVeigh was something I didn't know. And I shudder to imagine an America where he hadn't been caught simply because of the way that might have emboldened more people.

The Waco documentary was far weaker. I feel like it never really had a POV. It kind of threw me off that they never really said whether the one lady who was one of David Koresh's harem looked back on that as something she still believed in or to what extent. Same for the drummer guy. That felt like a huge missing piece in the narrative that irked me the whole way through. What has time done to the few cult members who survived?

[Buby]

Facing Nolan (2022) -- just feel-good vibes and Texas accents

My baseball hero.

Back in the day, his “Feel The Heat” VHS was pretty much the only thing on the VCR.

Spoiler: show

[Buby]

This was great!

[VinylGuy]

just saw the trailer yeah i wanna see it

[Buby]

just saw the trailer yeah i wanna see it

I suck at reviews VG, so looking forward to your verdict.

[BurtReynolds]

Cocaine Quarterback. Pretty good stuff. He's like the Forrest Gump of crime. What a dope.

[doug rr]

we watched the John candy doc that came out yesterday..so good..one of those guys that I think everybody misses

[wease]

I’m hoping we can get to that today.

[Ms Harmless]

Crip Camp (2020)

[wease]

we watched the John candy doc that came out yesterday..so good..one of those guys that I think everybody misses

The film is summed up at the beginning when Bill Murray says: “I wish I had some bad things to say about him.”

What the film reaffirms is that Candy was gregarious, a person of integrity and honour, and a man with a good heart who freely gave his time and talent to help others. And there is no dark side or nastiness to the man that is uncovered or comes out.

What you get as well is an exceptional amount of footage from home movies, outtakes, his early stage and TV work and personal photographs. All the people that knew him and worked with him are present and offer good stories and insights.

To Hanks's credit he tries to get deeper in to the psyche of John Candy. It is then you see the one tragic reason that he can't that adds extra pathos: it is John Candy himself that doesn't allow it.

Candy clearly had issues and anxieties from his childhood (mainly his father dying aged 35 on Candy's 5th birthday) and his career that are alluded to, but Colin Hanks can never get in to them because they were cordoned off by the actor himself. You see that Candy simply guarded himself too closely for those in his life to fully crack him, even as they take part in a documentary with that goal in mind. And there lies another bit of sadness that we learn so much yet we don't learn everything.

I'd say it's well worth your time.

[Buby]

I wouldn't put this on my favorites list, but definitely on a recommended watch list:


Pretty brutal.

[Buby]

[doug rr]

finally got around to watching the doc about Norman's Rare Guitars today..so good