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Bunx
December 17th, 2008, 02:32 PM
What is everyone's favourite documentaries? I would have to highly recommend 'Garbage Warrior' and 'What a way to go - Life at the end of an empire'. 'Project Camelot' is interesting for those that like to think a little bit outside the sentient box. ;)

bp1509
December 17th, 2008, 03:11 PM
d

billgoldberg
December 17th, 2008, 03:50 PM
"The enemies of reason" by Dawkins is pretty good.

"The god who wasn't there" by Flemming is another one of my favorites.

I can't remember the name, but the BBC documentaries on dinosaurs was great.

-

Not exactly a documentary but "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" is pretty damn awesome.

That one is freely available here:

http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

reyfer
December 17th, 2008, 04:00 PM
"Too Hot Not To Handle" http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/toohot/index.html
Zeitgeist & Zeitgeist Addendum http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
"Evidence: The Case for NASA UFOs"

bp1509
December 17th, 2008, 04:22 PM
d

SuperSonic4
December 17th, 2008, 04:25 PM
I can't remember the name, but the BBC documentaries on dinosaurs was great.

Walking with dinosaurs :KS

---

The World at War is my absolute favourite

none others come to mind at the moment xD

jeyaganesh
December 17th, 2008, 04:37 PM
1. Planet Earth - on our planet, 5 Blu-ray discs, spectacular and visually stunning HD documentary
2. Deep Ocean - on creatures living in the deep ocean
3. A documentary on Ernest Shackleton's exploration - I saw it on Discovery Channel long time ago and forgot the name.

der_joachim
December 17th, 2008, 07:45 PM
This is Spinal Tap of course! :)

On a more serious note: Sir David Attenborough's documentaries have always been the television equivalent of a warm shower for me: utterly relaxing. Sir David is getting my vote.

OffHand
December 17th, 2008, 08:15 PM
Modulations (http://media.hyperreal.org/modulations/): Cinema For The Ear

Darkhack
December 17th, 2008, 08:34 PM
Revolution OS - It's about the history of Linux and the free software movement.

The Code - Another Linux documentary. It's not as good as Revolution OS though. The narrator has an accent that I'm unable to identify but it makes it hard to understand.

The Elegant Universe - A Nova documentary on string theory.

The Root of All Evil - Evolutionary biologist professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University explains the problems of religion.

The Enemies of Reason - Another Dawkins documentary where he talks about the unfounded belief in things like cold reading and homeopathy.

Secrets of the Psychics - James (The Amazing) Randi debunks psychic phenomenon.

These were listed in no particular order. A lot of them can be found on Google Video.

mips
December 17th, 2008, 08:38 PM
on a more serious note: Sir david attenborough's documentaries have always been the television equivalent of a warm shower for me: Utterly relaxing. Sir david is getting my vote.

+1

bp1509
December 17th, 2008, 10:23 PM
d

urukrama
December 17th, 2008, 10:30 PM
Into Great Silence/Die Große Stille (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478160/)

crl0901
December 17th, 2008, 10:35 PM
To name a few:

The Men Who Killed Kennedy
Paradise Lost
King of Kong

Kingsley
December 17th, 2008, 11:01 PM
China Blue - It's about some chicks in China that have to make due with little pay and long hours at a jeans factory.

handy
December 18th, 2008, 01:35 AM
Zeitgeist has some solid information in it that I think many people need to know, but it doesn't do anyone any favors by coupling it together with completely unfounded conspiracy theory. The 3 parts that the film is done in are tied so loosely together they don't feel like they fit at all either. The film just felt like it had no direction and was made by a really stupid smart person.

The content of Zeitgeist: Addendum is vastly superior to the first Zeitgeist imho.

My list:

Earthlings (not really a favourite, as I could never watch it again)
Zeitgeist: Addendum
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
An Inconvenient Truth
America: Freedom to Fascism
The Corporation
The Corrupt Bastards Club
Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion
Should Google Go Nuclear?
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

(I forgot the following, I should have had a look at my collection when I posted) :-)
Revolution OS
Seeking the Stone

diablo75
December 18th, 2008, 02:55 AM
+1 for Steal This Film 1 & 2
+1 for This Film Is Not Yet Rated
+1 The Corporation
+1 Outfoxed
+1 Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price

I've not yet seen The World According to Monsanto, but I'd bet The Corporation encompassed a good chunk of it (as does someone I know who used to work for them)

I've also not seen "The enemies of reason" so will have to check that out.

+1 "The god who wasn't there" (I could have sworn the same person who made this also did the Zeitgeist films)
+1 "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" (It's much easier to watch than that Nova documentary about string theory)
+1 Planet Earth
+1 Revolution OS

Documentaries that I like a lot that haven't been mentioned yet:

Status Anxiety - discusses the desire of people in many modern societies to "climb the social ladder" and the anxieties that result from a focus on how one is perceived by others. (3 parts)

The Power of Nightmares - argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries. (BBC, 3 parts)

Manufacturing Consent - The film presents and illustrates Chomsky's and Herman's propaganda model, the thesis that corporate media, as profit-driven institutions, tend to serve and further the agendas of the interests of dominant, elite groups in the society.

Why We Fight (2005) - a documentary film about the United States's relationship with war as a business.

If Drugs Were Legal - A 1 hour BBC movie that depicts a worlds in the year 2015 where all drugs are legal.

Ecstasy Rising - An Peter Jennings special which documents the rise and eventual criminalization of MDMA's prohibition (it's a great case study that can be juxtaposed against the prohibition to other psychedelic drugs that held great potential in the field of psychopharmacology).

We - A fast-paced 64 minute documentary that covers the world politics of power, war, corporations, deception and exploitation. It visualizes the words of Arundhati Roy, specifically her famous Come September speech, where she spoke on such things as the war on terror, corporate globalization, justice and the growing civil unrest.

Terence McKenna lecture "Seeking the Stone" - He highlights the role of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic societies and their impact on the evolution of human cultures.

Changturkey
December 18th, 2008, 03:12 AM
+1 on planet earth. Phenominal.

+1.

Tomone
December 18th, 2008, 08:24 AM
Scratch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143861/) - It's about the past and present of turntablism, and kind of about hip-hop in general.

some_random_noob
December 18th, 2008, 08:33 AM
One of the best things I've seen in recent times is "Terrorstorm: A History Of Government Sponsored Terror". Alex Jones is the man.

Also:

* Martial law 9/11: Rise Of The Police State
* 9/11 Chronicles: Truth Rising
* Endgame: Blueprint For Global Enslavement
* Zeitgeist Addendum (doesn't everyone just love that one? :) )

I wish I could see more but my internet connection is terrible. The power of nightmares looked interesting. Reminds me that "Al-Qaeda doesn't exist" is coming out really soon.

dannytatom
December 18th, 2008, 08:59 AM
This Film Is Not Yet Rated - on the MPAA's bias on raiting films


Watching this right now, good stuff. Gonna watch the copyright one next.

Thanks for the suggestions. :)

treepolitik
December 23rd, 2008, 09:51 PM
Good Copy Bad Copy - on copyright law
Steal This Film 1 & 2 - on piracy
This Film Is Not Yet Rated - on the MPAA's bias on raiting films
The Corporation - A look at the history and the modern negative effects of the institution known as a corporation.
Outfoxed - Robert Greenwald's take on Fox News
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price - on the nation and international effects of walmart on the work force and economy.
The World According to Monsanto - a look at the company Monsanto and their practices globally.

Loved The Corporation. (A corporation is not a person!!)
:popcorn:
Good thing you mentioned Walmart. I seriously thought that suburban sprawl would lead to the end of the world through the subprime mortgage crisis.

Save Our Land, Save Our Towns--by Tom Hylton, covers the problems of sprawl, methods of controlling sprawl such as growth boundaries, European design, neo-traditionalism(using the best aspects of pre-Depression developments), the post WWII housing boom leading to flight from/decay of cities, zoning(the rules for what kind of buildings go where), and hints at the subprime mortgage crisis(It was made in 2001 for PBS). Despite the topic, I thought it was exceptionally fun to watch.

Taken for A Ride--by Jim Klein, covers the highway lobby, namely how General Motors took down nearly the entire streetcar and railroad system, allied with road builders, and bought out city officials(and the officials of other municipalities) to create a car-dependent society. The movie also talks about efforts to stop the worst highways in LA from being built, most of which failed.:cry: Very depressing, so that you will literally be crying for streetcars and trolleys again.

It has sort of an 80s movie style(made in 1996 for PBS), but it's a good thing to know what has been tried, so the same doesn't happen elsewhere.

Slacker Uprising--Michael Moore tours the U.S. looking for war protesters old and young, while trying to get voters 18-25 to vote. At one point he addresses the high cost of activist films for young people. On that note, it also happens to be free for download and distribution. In fact, burning copies for your friends and sharing on BitTorrent are suggested for this film by the author. There is a lot of fluff(crowds cheering), but Moore also covers the history of the Vietnam War Protest. (And I've covered the bases for it being "directly related to free and open source issues.")