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What Are Some Documentaries and TV Shows That You Recommend To Others?
Reader joshtops writes: Wow thanks for the overwhelming response on my previous post. I'm taking notes and intend to give all of the suggested books a go in the near future. If I may, and I hope the editors approve of this, could you also list some of your favorite TV shows and documentaries? Also, is there any show or documentary you think that changed or influenced your life, or at least your perception on any particular subject?
It's a great show. I highly recommend it. Basically, anything on The Learning Channel is amazing.
"Save me, Barry!"
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
A different take on zombies, fun to watch.
always good.
Vice also good.
Sicko
The medical industry is a mess and a sham :(
The Anthony Weiner documentary is fantastic.
Explains a lot of the crap of happening in the world...
The Untold History of the United States is an unusually frank and honest look at... you know.
Terry Jones has done an assortment of documentaries which are all quite amusing, e.g. Barbarians.
I wouldn't mind if a few more people saw The Genius of Charles Darwin.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I watch Shark Tank and the Profit for business.
I watch Forged in Fire, and car restoration shows for old school craftsmanship
I like American Pickers.
I like certain cooking shows that show of skill-sets of chefs put in bad situations. Many a good dinner came from bad ingredients.
I recommend variety of different topics.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Idiocracy(civics, politics), Look Around You(science, education)
A great look at the guys in the JSC Mission Control during the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Anything by James Burke:
- Connections
- The Day The Universe Changed
- The Real Thing
The Expanse, pretty awesome Sci-Fi series.
Hands down the best WWII documentary I've ever seen
It's THE documentary that all documentaries are measured against in the US.
watch it.
Anything by James Burke. For example:
- Connections
- The Day The Universe Changed
- The Real Thing
I recommend Sportscenter. Really, anything on ESPN is worth watching. ESPN is well worth the $8 or so dollars per month subscriber fee. In fact, it's probably worth twice that. You hear a lot of whining about ESPN from Slashdot commenters, but it's easily the best channel on TV. They're just butthurt because they are terrible at sports and the athletes stole their girlfriends away. Seriously, you should watch Sportscenter.
The Untold History of the United States is a great documentary, although there is very little in it that is "untold". My interest tapered off considerably during the last 3-4 episodes (may reflect my age) but a worldwide perspective on WWII and the cold war was very interesting.
The Vice Guide to North Korea is very dated now, but it intrigued me enough that I visited the country in 2014. So many things have changed since 2008 that many of the details are no longer accurate, but may be worthwhile to watch after watching a more recent DPRK documentary.
[Plug] I made a short video of my DPRK trip in 2014. There are far better ones on Youtube (Aram Pan has done several), but this one is mine.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Connections by James Burke. I remember it was on the Learning channel but wouldn't bet money on that. The DVD set was available at one time from TLC.
Dyslexics Untie!
This TV drama series, The News Room, is very worth watching.
Watching her show makes me feel smart, successful, and good-looking.
Nature is also in a similar vein as NOVA, although more focused on ... nature. Also good family viewing in many cases.
It's worth watching (most episodes are on YouTube), especially alongside Wikipedia to see what has been discovered since airing of said episodes (which were circa 1977-1982) -- in many cases, actual answers have been found to things previously unsolved or deemed unexplainable. Plus, how can you go wrong with Leonard Nimoy as the host?
i like to watch tosh.0 but i am not sure if it is for kids
Some of them will change the way you think forever.
My favorite documentary is In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood. If you read other Shakespeare biographies that came out after this documentary, Wood is sometimes accused of making Shakespeare too popular for non-scholars and not serious enough for the serious scholars to take seriously.
A documentary that explains in solid musical terms why The Beatles were game changing.
Available on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I always liked Triumph of the Nerds. Wikipedia
I know that Robert X. Cringely is not a favorite around here, but the documentary series was really interesting. Great interviews with key players and lots of contemporaneous accounts of companies that were awesome but now no longer exist (e.g., Excite!).
There are plenty of others that are must see, too, but this is the one that I thought of first!
Will
remove nospam. to email!
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Connections by James Burke.
Good news: There's three seasons
Bad news: There's only three seasons.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
What the hell people how was this not first?
Anything by Louis Theroux
Might be hard to watch outside the UK, but definitely worth at least checking it out.
That's the name of the show, it was a series on debunking common myths
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I watched the WWII series when I was a teen and the way the producers introduce both the political and war machine elements are remarkably effective. I actually thought about buying this for my son, or will maybe look to see if it's on Neflix.
Spiral, available on Netflix, is a french documentary with english subtitles. Fantastic series; my wife and I have been binging on it for the past two weeks. But be aware, it can be quite graphic and dark.
It's like no other documentary. It's actually being there.
30 on 30 about Bo Jackson is incredible! Exit Through The Gift Shop is another and it might be a mocumentary about how people that pay a lot for art are idiots. But it is by Banksey so if it is a documentary, it is fantastic. And if it is a mocumetary it is also fantastic. This one is a fabulous piece on the art world any way you look at it. Aside: Banksey a few years ago was selling unsigned art that he did in NYC and only a few people bought the art pieces. If they knew it was Banksey he would have sold out at 10x the price of each piece. He did this basically to show the art world that they are all idiots. American Scream - Documentary about Bill Hicks that is awesome. One of the best comics ever and not a big name. But he is often on the top 20 of any list and sometimes I've seen him listed in the top 5.
I've been watching this for a long time, every episode is fascinating. They go to some very interesting places, some of which travelers wouldn't even consider. It's obvious from watching this that a small amount of effort to fit in and not be an 'Ugly traveler' goes a long way to making the traveler feel welcome.
People can watch what they want. Not up to me to sell a show.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Genghis Blues
A Band Called Death
Ken Burns is good but THIS is the best documentary ever made.
https://youtu.be/6SBLf1tsoaw
What has become of this site?
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
Zero Day was pretty interesting. I didn't know everything about stuxnet, I came to find. Other recent-ish documentaries that are worth seeking out:
Score: A Film Music Documentary
Red Army (the hockey movie)
An Honest Liar
Pina 3D (but only if you can somehow see it in 3D)
Side by Side (digital vs film debate)
Senna (make sure you see the documentary before the one with Thor in it)
It Might Get Loud
Note By Note (probably my most foveritest docu ever)
Man on Wire (2008 documentary, not the recent dramatization)
Shut Up and Sing
And, of course, the King of Kong
Can't We Take A Joke ....
I found it for free to watch on Amazon Prime...very interesting, in that Lenny Bruce, once again in today's culture....likely couldn't perform on a modern college campus.
In the past he was persecuted by the right....today, he'd be shouted and shamed into oblivion by the left.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
They have some amazing shows.
Most recently, Cold Case JFK (https://www.amazon.com/NOVA-Cold-Case-JFK/dp/B00F1BFM7O/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1496870659&sr=1-1&keywords=nova+dvd+kennedy) great investigation and ignore the low ratings of the conspiracy nuts.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
We watch it every couple of years. It's not really a documentary but seem to increasingly resemble one each time we watch it.
love is just extroverted narcissism
And not just for nerds either. The only description needed is that it's like being able to watch the first 5 seasons of the Simpsons again for the first time.
There are a few documentaries that I can say absolutely changed my life. Back in the day, I worked in the video databank of a university, and most of my time was spent watching classic films and documentaries. There was one film, Titicut Follies by Frederick Wiseman that blew me right out of my seat. It's banned now, and very hard to find. It's about the Massachusetts Institute for the Criminally Insane. You can find a few clips from it on YouTube, but not, as far as I can tell, the whole thing. I once rented a 16mm version from Films Inc and transferred it to VHS for my own collection.
Two more life-changing documentaries by Fred Wiseman are Meat and Welfare.
Be advised though: these are not Ken Burns feel-good documentaries with beautiful music and narration that depict a soft-focus view on our history and leave you with a warm feeling. This is a filmmaker who sets up in the corner of a room until people stop noticing him and records film and audio. Very little editing. There are times when you wish it would cut away because what you're seeing on the screen is too horrible...too human...to watch. These are not movies to see with a date.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Teaches critical thinking, anyway.
The old one did, anyway.
Very funny, very profane and will get you thinking about what are your personal taboos.
Great seeing all the different comedians.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Good documentary based off a good book.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascent...
lose != loose
The Revelation of the Pyramids (but not Brian Cox narrated verison) puts a lot of pieces in one place that you will begin to wonder why there are more questions than answers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_at_War
I saw it originally and one of the episodes (I think it was episode 20)
was not shown because it too controversial for the 70's.
CAP === 'reindeer'
Yes, Minister.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
It feels relatable to current events but in a twisted science fiction way. Sort of like 1984, but with aliens.
That is what I suggest. Best 6 bucks a month I spend. It's what the Discovery Chanel used to be, but on demand.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
The history of Australian exploitation cinema.
Adam Ruins Everything is worth checking out
The hardest part is finding documentaries the provide a balanced viewpoint. I used to recommend Waiting for Superman, a documentary on the U.S. education. Turns out it's extremely biased. Here is what I would recommend:
"The Ascent of Man," a 13-part series from way back in 1973 by Jacob Bronowski, remains a classic.
In the same vein, all the various "Connections" series (running in 1978, 1994, 1997) by James Burke are quite worthwhile.
It's The Outer Limits for the 21st century (which by the way is another great series, although I only watched the 90's remake). Currently it has three seasons with about a dozen episodes, all worth your time. Season 4 is supposed to come out this fall.
One episode, San Junipero, hit me particularly hard. I don't ever watch a movie/show more than once, but San Junipero is the only one ever that I've watched three times so far and cried my eyes out each time. It managed to pack so much emotion and human condition into 60 minutes. Although you do need to be old enough (I'd say 35, at least) to appreciate the sense of mortality and the extra layer of nostalgia.
Command and Control, an American Experience movie on PBS. Details a mishap in a Titan 2 missile silo in Oklahoma.
Bonus points if you get a chance to visit the bunker in Tucson, AZ that is the last remaining silo (it's a museum now).
Women Aren't Funny takes the viewer deep into the comedic world to answer this age old question. It's been called "the most important documentary of our generation".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
All four parts are worth watching, however I consider part one to not only be thought provoking, but also life changing. It's certainly worth an hour of your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Tetris: From Russia with Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
If you like video game history, this documentary has tons of insights into some of the early console wars and international issues that were overcome to bring a game outside of Russia to the rest of the world.
RICK AND MORTY FOREVER AND FOREVER A HUNDRED YEARS Rick and Morty.. some...things.. Me and Rick and Morty runnin' around and... Rick and Morty time... a- all day long forever.. all a - a hundred days Rick and Morty! forever a hundred times.... OVER and over Rick and Morty... adventures dot com.. W W W dot at Rick and Morty dot com w..w..w... Rick and Morty adventures.. ah- hundred years..... every minute Rick and Morty dot com.... w w w a hundred times... Rick and Morty dot com.......
Space: above and beyond - claustrophobic sci-fi action
My so called life - teen age drama without the melo-drama
Faulty towers - classic british humour
Patlabor: The Movie - slower paced anime with mechs in the background and not too much of the the exagerated anime iconography that I struggle with
Highest quality TV you can watch... even 37 years after its premiere on PBS.
I Dream of Jeannie
Get Smart
F Troop
Nothing else comes close.
Nanoo nanoo!
No, you are all wrong. The only correct answer to this question is BBS: The Documentary.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
My recommendation of a documentary would be BATTLE OF THE LEAVES, and TV film would be FARSCAPE for it's Baghavad Ghita rendering.
The Genius of Photography is the best documentary I have ever seen. You don't have to care anything about photography to love it.
The "Happy" documentary has quite a few interesting ideas - and it's available on Netflix streaming.
'Science of stupid', UK
'Street genius', USA
I'd also add 'The real hustle', UK, which mostly demonstrates social engineering.
Next would be 'House hazards', CAN and 'Myth busters', USA.
Best documentary I've ever seen: https://www.amazon.com/Fog-War-Robert-McNamara/dp/B00ANTNLWM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496873444&sr=8-1&keywords=fog+of+war
'nuff said
Documentary on the innards of Scientology. Really eye-opening for whoever still thinks that scientology isn't all that bad.
Recently I watched the whole series for the third time. Guess it's a good one to see every decade or so...
Documentary about Robert Strange McNamera, and the 10 lessons from war in the 20th century.
Best SciFi series ever made. No aliens with stuff glued to their foreheads. Realistic space travel. Realistic space problems. Gritty and dirty. And the most complex plot I have ever seen in a TV show.
And furthermore the space battle scenes - which they have 3 or 4 times a season - are absolutely riveting.
Another thumbs up for "The Expanse".
There's a reason the breathless old bugger's become the canonical naturalist: he's always worked with terrific photographers who use the best equipment available to them at the time.
The original and still the best!
Food, Inc is well worth watching and exposes what's REALLY going on in the US food system.
From the Earth to the Moon is hands down the best documentary out there on the Apollo program and the moon landings.
If you have ever wondered about the history of the things all around us, Modern Marvels has episodes on everything from Whiskey to glue to Computers.
The Internets Own Boy (all about Aaron Swartz)
About an ultra-marathon in Tennessee.
If you think you're tough, you ain't tough until you finish this race (though you may be tough even if you don't finish this race).
Barbarians Rising
America: The Story of US
The Presidents
Roman Empire: Reign of Blood
It's a BBC 4-part documentary, about "how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy" and "explores the various ways that governments and corporations have utilized Freud's theories." It's amazingly eye-opening, going into modern PR, how advertising got women to smoke, and includes info about the Lehman Brothers, the Labor Party, the Clintons, use of focus groups...
Once you see it, you will grok why many politicians are amorphous flip-floppers, how advertisers and politicians are using our basic human nature and base psychology against us. You can catch the whole thing on Youtube.
In the Shadow of the moon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/) The actual Apollo astronauts recount their experiences of going to the moon.
The Fog of War: 11 lessons from the life of Robert McNamara ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/).
Inequality for all (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2215151/) former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich as he looks to raise awareness of the country's widening economic/equality gap.
They're the ones I recommend.
No grand perspective of world events. No proclamations of social change. Just well shot, really engaging recount of a run of the Baja 1000, and the people who race it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B6N-jXoFvM
The Planets
You'll want the British version because the US version, incredibly, cuts out a hell of a lot of the Soviet accomplishments! Pretty much have to torrent to find that copy. I was completely unaware of how close the Russians were in the space race before this series. Well directed too.
Very good investigative reporting on current events topics
documetaries:
Dark Net - exploring dark web and technology
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace - computers distorting our worldview
Ancient Inventions - Terry Jones talking about cities, sex and war
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about...go figure
series:
The Wire - crime drama depicting Baltimore urban inequality, some serious shit
Black Sails - pirate drama, need I say more?
MASH - comedy war drama following tem of doctors in Korean War
The Expanse - one of the best sci-fi series ever
Mr. Robot - don't need to explain it here, I guess
Futurama - what Simpsons should have been
Rick and Morty - mad scientist running around galaxy with his inept grandson. hilarity ensues
Rome - historical drama; from Caesar to Cleopatra, Game of Thrones brutality
Lazy to write more
The book is better, but it's an undramatic, unpretentious but engaging account of the invasion of Iraq from the reporter Evan Wright when he was with the First Recon team, really shows how fucked and incompetent it was without being a diatribe against Bush/US. Directed by David Simon (creator of The Wire), on HBOgo.
Great account of the events that changed WWII. Good book, too.
What are we injecting?
Any nature documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
BBC panel show, was hosted by Stephen Fry for 13 years. Full of knowledge and entertainment.
and none of it is worth recommending to others... except ASH vs. EvilDead on Starz that show RULEZZZZ Baby!! You should watch it. Groovy
This puts growing health issues in perspective with GMO foods, industrialized food/grain processing, and the use of Monsanto's herbicide 'Roundup', now known to cause cancer.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells
Sarah Silverman Program Supernatural Eastbound & Down Definitely not an enlightening list, but great for relaxing.
Only those produced prior to 1965. All others are full of bias and shit.
1) The Civil War by Ken Burns. The closest thing to a perfect documentary I've seen. Shelby Foote's storytelling is still fascinating every time I listen to his comments.
2) Patterns of Evidence: Exodus - On Netflix streaming, it covers a man seeking for archaeological evidence that the Exodus ever happened. Unlike most "documentaries" that try to tackle the Bible and only preach to the choir, this doc doesn't pretend to have all the answers. It's very balanced and objective, and surprisingly informative about various locations in the vicinity of Egypt and Palestine and what's been found there. It also offers educational insights into the academic research (past and present) on ancient Egypt, how our world's history has been mapped out, etc. (Don't mix this one up with, "Is Genesis History?", which is mostly a joke and an embarrassment, intellectually speaking.) If you've ever wondered if there's any reasonably hard evidence tied to supporting the story of the Exodus, this is as good as it gets from both sides.
3) Jazz, by Ken Burns. While not quite as strong as The Civil War, it is very insightful on the historical and human side of the topic. It talks about everyday life around the beginnings of jazz down south and touches on everyday life as much as about jazz itself - making it a great time capsule.
4) The Cosmos mini-series on FOX a couple of years ago, hosted by Neil Degrasse Tyson. It doesn't just talk about hard sciences like math/physics/chemistry. It also touches on great examples of human nature getting in the way of truth and knowledge (corporations hiding dangers for profit - lead in gasoline, religions killing innocents who see things differently, etc.) Some evangelicals got all worked up about it, but even the most ardent believers will get a lot out of it if they give it a chance.
Basketball as an avenue to rise out of the ghetto. Warning: it's 3 hours, but it doesn't seem too long when you're watching it. And I can practically guarantee that you'll google what happened to the subjects of the film afterwards.
This documentary about the power of nuclear weapons should be required watching for anyone who thinks using them is a good idea.
Also, nuclear artillery.
An excellent document on Russian arts during Stalin's Russia and the man who basically saved it all.
III.IIVIVIXIIVIVIIIVVIIIIXVIIIXIIIIIIIIVIIIIVVIII
Watching it year after year, it's scary how close it has come to reality.
...is the most entertaining thing I can find on Netflix these days.
Despite being a spin-off of a very minor character in Breaking Bad, it's very well done and the characters are all well written.
...and it drove me mad trying to watch Ken Burns Civil War doc. Oh for a few seconds of silence, but no, the music keeps going to the point of being damn annoying.
The Brain With David Eagleman,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_with_David_Eagleman/
http://http//www.pbs.org/show/brain-david-eagleman/
Fairly recently I saw this documentary series and I was very impressed. It covers a lot of ground on many levels physical, philosophical, and social. There's a particularly chilling part dealing with sociopaths.
Here are a couple of examples of things in the series that happen to come to mind right now which might whet (or not whet) the appetites of some of you out there:
The presenter, Eagleman, talks about the importance of emotions in helping us make decisions. In a section about a woman who was in an accident and had a disconnect with emotions there's a scene of her in a supermarket trying to select food, with her husband beside her, and bursting in to tears because she can't decide. There's a guy who was a roadie for KISS, but when people asked him about KISS as people, as opposed to the kind of equipment they used, and he couldn't answer, he realized something was wrong. He got some treatment and after that it was a though a light came on; he could understand people's expressions, make jokes with them, etc.
Consciousness is compared to the CEO of a corporation who doesn't concern himself with the routine day to day decisions, but must handle the unusual, and the surprises. In the same way, 90 % of what the brain is doing is not done consciously, a person might not even remember a routine walk to the mailbox, unless something unusual happens.
In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice they're different. (Yogi Berra & A. Einstein)
A tech conglomerate featuring an exec who is in charge of a team of scientists, their adventures, feelings, diversions. It is hilarious, I like that the characters are somewhat believable and the nerds are largely the most likeable of the lot.
Only I can judge you.
Features the IT team at a medium sized company. They are led by a clueless CEO, who is as pointy-haired a boss as they come. The IT team manager is clueless but makes the best of her tiny team of unmotivated but probably overqualified IT staff.
Only I can judge you.
I originally saw BBC series 'The Secret War' back in the late 70's and it was utterly fascinating. A bit dated now, especially as it only alluded to Colossus, but if you are into WWII military technology it is still one of the best.
Also the fabulous 'Moon Machines' from a few years back. It covers the technology of the Saturn V, CM, LM, spacesuits, Lunar Rover and my favourite episode on the Apollog Guidance Computer.
Both these series are informative and take the viewer for an intelligent, interested person.
Oh, and anything by David Attenborough. I once heard him interviewed on radio where he was talking about his script ideas he would write. One line would start with 'Location: step out from beside a palm tree on a remote pacific island...'. The next paragraph would start with 'Location: clambering across a glacier in the far north...'. and the next 'Location: a cool dense forest in Africa...' and so on. He really did have the best job in the world, supported by an A-grade team of photographers and producers. Our family will miss him when he's gone, that's for sure, but he'll leave us a great legacy of the nature of this planet.
Some stuff my wife and I have enjoyed together.
Longmire: Episodic murder drama, but with small town rural values (the lead is actually an Australian)
Homeland: OK, it gets a bit silly at times, but still good drama.
Suits: Legal Drama with lots of type A personalities
Good Wife: Legal Drama but the series ending was dumb.
Boston Legal: Old now, but Spader and Shatner are very good.
Once Upon a Time & WhiteColla: Wife really enjoyed these ones.
46137
Martin the dog and his mistress Nan, both neurotics continue their downward slide into inevitable madness.
There's a lot here I can second.
* The Century Of The Self
* Ken Burns; for us, most recently, it was The West which we found surprisingly informative, once we got used to the dead-slow pacing
* James Burke
Both on my TODO list already:
* David Attenborough
* Louis Theroux; so far only Louis and the Nazis which was interesting, but also imperfect
Not yet seen here:
* Glenn Gould: The Russian Journey
It was on YouTube in early 2016, but has since flat-mouthed (flat != level). Here's one remarkable passage:
David Hoffman's documentary on John von Neumann was also on YouTube (as of early 2015) and has also subsequently flat-mouthed. Old, old, old, but I found it amazing.
Another thing, some of the molecular animations that started to come out in the 2007 time frame are mind blowing. (Three names from my notes are Janet Iwasa, Drew Berry, and David Bolinsky, but I don't have them attached to specific clips.)
Just to get ahead of this, for podcasts, one of my favourites episodes recently was Talking Machines interviewing Douglas Eck on generative art.
The "Alpha Gal" episode on RadioLab was hugely entertaining (and useful for terrifying your meat-loving relatives).
Finally, I'm also just loving the new (not many episodes yet) More Perfect about the U.S. Supreme Court which recently spun out of RadioLab.
If you find all that too entertaining, Bus 174 and Darwin's Nightmare (both quasi documentaries) will cure you in short order (mesmerized != amused).
And, oh yeah, one can do far worse than the various documentaries of Werner Herzog.
The Secret Life of Machines, from the UK, looks at the inner workings and history of household and office machinery.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The series covers topics like: The Vacuum Cleaner, Television Set, Internal Combustion Engine, Quartz Watch, Telephone, Word Processor, Photocopier.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The Iraq War seems to be fading out of memory already, but it should never be forgotten. Bill Moyers told the story much better than Michael Moore or anyone else did.
I just recently watched "It might get loud!". Fantastic documentary on Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White getting together to talk about guitars/music and jamming a bit. Really entertaining to watch!
I'd recommenced anything by Adam Curtis.
I'd start with "The Century of the Self". A real eye-opener; quite scary in some ways. (Online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Then watch "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace". (Online: http://www.youtube.com/playlis... )
Then "HyperNormalisation". (Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... )
Then, be angry with yourself and the modern world.
(Other people above have already mentioned James Burke many times, which is also my recommendation. Why Sid Meier hasn't had James rewrite and narrate all the tech tree/advances in a Civilization game yet, I don't know...)
Deadwood
The Wire
The Sopranos
Band of Brothers
(To a much lesser extent) Shameless
I'm not sure if these count as documentaries, but...
If you are at all interested in physics quantum/classical and have a background in calculus and a little linear algebra, watch Leonard Susskind's lectures on physics. You can find them on youtube (just search for "susskind"). Hours and hours of good physics fun. He also has a couple of good books related to the videos: "The Theoretical Minimum" and "Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum". He has a way of getting right to the point without leaving out the mathematics. I would put his books right up there with Feynman's "Lectures" as something that every aspiring physicist should read.
Also, some of the older "Ted Talks" before they started to get popular and watered down. Daniel Dennet and Steven Pinker are really reat. Just google "ted talk Daniel Dennett" and "ted talk Steven Pinker".
Milton Friedmans "free to choose" series about free market capitalism. Very well explained and well put together. I wish this was shown in school..
Vertical Video Syndrome
Maybe you should focus your efforts and resources towards feeding your people first. A starving army is not a standing army. A country with no economic staying power cannot hope to win a drawn out war.
For TV shows, I keep going back to Stargate: SG-1 and Atlantis. It's well-written in general, but it stands out to me for its well-written female characters, particularly Samantha Carter and Dr. Elizabeth Weir. They're not perfect, but I'm continuously amazed that this show is over 10 years old and has better female characters than most modern shows. It's also just self-aware enough of a show that it doesn't get too full of itself, and as a sci-fi show it strikes a good balance with philosophy/action/science jargon.
I'm also really loving Aziz Ansari's Master of None on Netflix. Season 2 just came out and holy wow, is it good. I like it for mostly the same reasons I like Stargate: excellent writing, character development, and self-awareness. I wasn't expecting much when it first came out, and I was pleasantly surprised. It constantly subverts my expectations in a good way.
Better Call Saul is another good one. Not nearly as violent as Breaking Bad (yet?), but just as well-written and filmed. Vince Gilligan has a unique visual and storytelling style that he uses so effectively in his shows, and it's refreshing to watch in a sea of mediocre, monotone shows.
For a REALLY unique show, Twin Peaks is another good one. David Lynch has an even more distinctive style than Vince Gilligan. I can't be doing anything else when I watch this, it's a disservice to do that for this show anyway since it's a work of art to look at. I've not seen a show at all like it, I think it was far ahead of its time visually and cinematically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Wasn't a bad primer on post WWII events.
I highly recommend the book & documentary "The Corporation"—watch it online and buy a copy. I highly recommend the 2-disc DVD set because the interviews and extras on the second DVD are compelling. It continues to be valuable to debunk the corporate-friendly media that passes for informative entertainment today. I watch this documentary at least once a year and I always manage to find something I'd almost forgotten in it. It's deeply informative, compelling, and the underlying thesis is intriguing. Rewatching with the audio commentary (particularly the Joel Bakan commentary which continues the examination and places a few figures in a more interesting context, such as one of the CEOs that got high praise for his interview but can be seen in an entirely different light when one thinks about his role as a CEO) is also highly recommended.
I see on their homepage (linked above) that they're working on a sequel as well.
Digital Citizen
In order of production:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Green_Valley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Farm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwardian_Farm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_Farm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_Monastery_Farm
Admittedly a radio show (which I am loosely calling a documentary) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...
The ones I particularly liked were Vilayanur S. Ramachandran: The Emerging Mind: 2003 and Trust and Transparency - Onora O'Neill: A Question of Trust: 2002.
I found it good interesting listening while driving.
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie It really does a good job of putting in perspective just how screwed the world is if someone does something stupid.
Louis Theroux does a great series or two. Documentaries on very niche social issues, with a very human feel. Things like dementia, incarceration, gangs in Johannesburg, extreme Zionism... Just avoid the early stuff he did that's very British-centric.
Try TV Shows or Documentary in a genre you're interested in but from a different culture or language. There are subtitles now. Also it kinda opens the whole world to you.
yea, im the one who usually gets asked if they have seen any good movies, documentaries.. ill keep to documentaries / TV shows for now movies would be a rather large list..
We Live In Public:
A documentary focusing on the life of dot-com entrepreneur Josh Harris, and his exploits over the last decade.
Sample This:
A documentary that reveals how a forgotten record by the Incredible Bongo Band helped cement the foundation of hip hop when DJ Herc extended its percussion by playing them back to back, creating an anthem on the streets of the Bronx.
RiP!: A Remix Manifesto
A documentary which examines copyright issues in the information age.
Francis Bacon: A brush with Violence
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea:
Renowned cult film director John Waters narrates this quirky exploration of the Salton Sea, the massive Southern California lake that was created by accident a century ago, became a popular desert resort and has since developed into a refuge for a community of oddballs.
Room 237:
An exploration of various interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's horror film, The Shining (1980).
Stanley Kubrick's Boxes
A few years after his death, the widow of Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) asks Jon Ronson to look through the contents of about 1,000 boxes of meticulously sorted materials Kubrick left. Ronson finds that most contain materials reflecting work Kubrick did after the release of "Barry Lyndon " in 1975, when Kubrick's film output slowed down. Ronson finds audition tapes for "Full Metal Jacket," photographs to find the right hat for "Clockwork Orange" or the right doorway for "Eyes Wide Shut" -- thousands of details that went into Kubrick's meticulous approach. Ronson believes that the boxes show "the rhythm of genius." Interviews with family, staff, and friends are included.
Line of Sight:
Line Of Sight is a rare view into underground bicycle messenger racing which has become a global phenomenon.
Bound by Flesh:
A biography of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who started as "freaks" in side shows, then went on to be stars of Vaudeville and films.
Exit Through the Gift Shop:
The story of how an eccentric French shop-keeper and amateur film-maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.
Freakonomics:
A collection of documentaries that explores the hidden side of human nature through the use of the science of economics.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
Food Inc
Jesus Camp
Jodorowsky's Dune
The story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau:
A behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within:
William S. Burroughs: featuring never before seen footage as well as exclusive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues.
Finding Vivian Maier:
A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films:
The history of the independent film company, The Cannon Film Group, Inc..
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King:
the story of Jimmy Ellis - an unknown singer plucked from obscurity, and thrust into the spotlight as part of a crazy scheme that had him masquerade as Elvis back from the grave.
Saving Banksy
Abstract: The Art of Design :
A look beyond blueprints and computers into the art and science of design, showcasing great designers from every discipline whose work shapes our world.
Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America:
Daryl Davis is an acco
The Gatekeepers - Interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency. Whatever you might feel about McNamara in The Fog of War it's puny compared to these guys.
A selection of documentaries by Stacey Dooley - She has a unique and rather naive way of approaching some EXTREAMLY difficult subjects that gets her access to people and insights to the surrounding complexities like nothing I've seen. She's done a lot and quality varies, but there's plenty that are poweful enough to make a grown man cry.
On a lighter note The Ambassador, (and I'm not totally convinced this is a true documentary, although I've not seen anyone claim it's fake) - Danish journalist with the approach of Borat goes to the Central African Republic to expose the blood diamond trade. This is a documentary unlike others for that the maker is possibly crazier than the absurdities he finds and it is exceptionally funny. (Red Chapel by the same guy is not as great, but might be available at your local netflix and well worth the watch).
Exodus: Patterns Of Evidence. Its mostly a archeaology documentary. It doesn't talk about the religious meaning of the events in Exodus. Some are biased to 'no evidence for Exodus' angle but the ground has much that supports Exodus. Check out the film. I guarranty you'll learn something regardless of your background.
BBC - Space Race (4 episodes)
Discovery - When we left earth
HBO - From the earth to the moon
NASA - 50 years of space exploration
Cosmos: a space time odyssey
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt23... Just chilling to watch people casually reenact the mass murders and atrocities they committed. I found it difficult to realize most of these guys think they are good guys who did the right thing.
Physics for future presidents is a series of lectures from UC Berkeley. It is available on youtube.
Princes of the Yen: About how the founders of modern Japan were basically a bunch of WW2 fascists, and their methods of social engineering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The Century of the Self: About social engineering and propaganda.
https://youtu.be/eJ3RzGoQC4s
The Collapse of the American Dream Explained in Animation: About debt slavery and banking.
https://youtu.be/mII9NZ8MMVM?l...
It is much easier to state what I don't like, which is most, modern 'soft documentaries' that are almost homeopathic when it comes to facts and understanding, and invariably comes with poor narration, constant soundtrack of muzak and 'artistic' cutting. But there are a few people that have done good documentaries for BBC: Dr Lucy Worsley, who makes slightly crazy (in a good way) historical documentaries, and Francesco da Mosco with his journeys through Italy are just very, very pleasant and relaxing to watch. There are others, of course - history and archaeology are subjects that seem to attract good documentaries atm; nature and hard science programmes are unfortunately a very mixed bag with too much big-eyed gawping and too little real communication of understanding.
This 47 minute documentary will explain why the people doing all of the real work in the economy struggle under a perpetual burden of debt while bankers, who provide very little of actual value, rake in billions.
If your into learning and expanding your knowledge "PBS Space Time" & "Isaac Arthur" on YouTube.
Really good Norwegian series about a comedian interviewing Norwegian social scientists about their theories of gender and social constructionism, and then confronting them with contrary data and testimony he had obtained from experts in other fields, such as biology and evolutionary psychology.
Hands down - Breaking Bad!
classic
Used to be on the History channel, but full episodes are on Youtube.
Will keep boys and older boys (men) glued to screen.
There are episodes for everyone.
It's a fantastic documentary covering the engineering challenges encountered during the Apollo missions. Each episode covers a certain aspect of the vehicle in amazing detail. I highly recommend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Machines
James Burke programs are spectacularly engaging for anyone with more curiosity than a sea slug.
Ken Burns documented the US Civil War in a way that brings the dusty reality to life.
The mini-series Longitude was just as engaging and provides an excellent frame of reference for the impact of invention-to-need. Like the James Burke material, it's also pure fun to watch.
probably going to be a duplicate
-``Connections``, and may be the sequel series
- ``The Day the Universe Changed``
both hosted by James Burke
A fascinating documentary about a guy's obsession to replicate a Vermeer painting: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3089388/combined
Like video games sounds and music? want to see how it all started? BEEP http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5371622/
My favorite music related documentaries are: Scratch - About the birth and evolution of record scratching DJs and Buena Vista Social Club - Great documentary about cuban music, as well as an amazing soundtrack another great documentary is Dishonest - about the justifications of why people cheat (on each other, exams, etc)
Full title: Note By Note - The Making Of Steinway L1037. Amazing. Makes you want to move to Brooklyn just to sweep the floors in the factory.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
I often struggle to accept what passes for news these days, especially that from "mainstream" outlets.
I find that the RT (RT on MiND TV and at RT.com) outlet seems to have a rounding-out delivery of stories, many of which never make the "mainstream" media.
While RT (Russia Today) is a Russian owned outlet, I find their periodic propaganda much easier to handle than nearly all of the US mainstream sensationalism and biased crap.
If the people that voted for Trump were to have watched RT during the last presidential campaign, I am sure Trump would NOT have been elected.
It seems obvious to me that a vast pool of people should not be voting at all, as they have been brow-beaten by mainstream media - not just news - into being corporate cronies.
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
The Big Short is the best conversion of a non-fiction book I've seen dramatized into a movie, as it somehow manages to teach you the financial math that led to the housing bubble and how a few people foresaw it and cashed in huge on it.
The same author, Michael Lewis, is also behind the non-fiction book that became Moneyball.
Along the same lines, also recommend Margin Call and Boiler Room.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
"Dark side of the moon" :)
Dark Days ...just from the top of my head.
Anything by Les Blanc
Anything by Errol Morris (and for double-points, "First Person" was his TV show)
Planet Earth
Blue Planet
Senna
Hoop Dreams
Hybrid (about Hybrid Corn)
Jupiter's Wife
Blackfish (if only for the scene of the guy escaping an angry killer whale)
Even if you're not a Deadhead, Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip, just released on Amazon Prime, is a really excellent documentary about the band, the times that produced them, and how the times changed. If for nothing else, it's amazing to see the film footage of Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and other figures from the The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for whom the then-called Warlocks were the original house band.
Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
Nostalgia, obsession, kill screens, and the vicious fight to hang on to a small and faded glory. Two grown men try to claim GOAT at original arcade Donkey Kong. One is the accepted champion since the 80's, vintage mullet intact. The other is a newcomer working with analytical techniques and too much free time. It's not about Donkey Kong and quarters; it's about dedication and victory at any cost. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
They are all excellent!
Forks Over Knives changed my life over night. I've not eaten a morsel of meat since watching that documentary.
"British Humour should be rammed down the throat, twice nightly" ~ Noel Coward on British Humour "It is clear
I always enjoyed NOVA, but the most fascinating documentaries I have seen were on the 'Secrets of the Dead'.
The Pruitt Igoe Myth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Mommy Dead and Dearest. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I ran into this documentary on YouTube quite by accident. I didn't realize it was over 3 hours long until I got into it a ways. It is called JFK to 911 Everything Is A Rich Man's Trick
Apocalypse: The Second World War is head and shoulders above all other WWII documentaries. A must see for every human being on the planet.
In the movie "Midway", Admiral Halsey is quoted as saying "There are no great men. Only exterordinary circumstances that ordinary men must endure." I always felt I'd step up in those circumsatances. "Hold At All Cost, Korea: The Battle Of Outpost Henry" a documentry by The Bob Baker Foundation made me doubt that feeling. I served in Korea on the DMZ after the cease fire. I can only thank God and those great men that I was never exposed to those circumstances.
You'll laugh, you'll cry... just like real life.
Not quite what you asked for but this series of podcasts are quite good value to have:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...
On FYI.tv
If you really want to know how messed up women are and relationships are, watch the first season of this.... http://www.fyi.tv/shows/seven-year-switch
You will learn all you need to know to stay away from women.
Forewarning everyone: Ever since the IMDB message boards got closed, all of their TV shows stats are starting to become falsified - so now you can't tell the good TV shows from the shit ones anymore. It's been like this with newly released movies for years, but now the TV show IMDB pages are completely useless for trying to save yourself time from watching garbage TV shows.
The best economics documentary I've seen thus far (minus the last few interview episodes), by John Kenneth Galbraith - a great antidote to todays free-market-everything economics.
More than I ever wanted to know about Einstein. They just changed characters (Einstein and his first and second wives), and the new Einstein is the spitting image, I swear!
The Greatest Story Never Told is probably one of the most important documentaries ever.
Dinosaur 13
Food Inc
Drug Inc
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Inside Job
The Most Dangerous Man in America
The Internet's Own Boy (Creative Commons)
We Are Legion
The Corporation
The Fog of War
Dinosaur 13
Food Inc
Drug Inc
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Inside Job
The Most Dangerous Man in America
The Internet's Own Boy (Creative Commons)
We Are Legion
The Corporation
The Fog of War
Documentaries by Iain Stewart from the BBC such as
- Earth: The Power of the Planet
- Rise of the Continents
Life on Mars (UK Edition) - A police drama with bits of comedy and a sci-fi twist. Set in the 1970s and good music
Ashes to Ashes - Follow up to Life on Mars and explains what finally happens to the characters.
Being Human (UK Edition) - A vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf live together trying to have a normal life
This is Not My Life (New Zealand) - Drama with some sci-fi in it
The Almighty Johnsons (New Zealand) - Comedy where brothers are the Norse gods living in New Zealand
Underbelly (Australia) - Based on real life drug king/queen pins in various eras of Australia (1 season set in NZ)
Babylon 5 - Old. Set in space in a couple of hundred years from now. My favourite show. Graphics have aged but the story is still amazing as it carries over the whole 5 seasons (though the fifth season isn't the greatest). Creator planned out whole story before filming started so everything fits together.
This is a classic from the late '80s, and I still get more out of it every time I dust it off. It's a 6-part miniseries, and there is a companion book available.
Yes, it's a serious documentary by DNA himself. It started out as a radio series, progressed to a book, and has now been made into a video series as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See
I think I will recommend you to watch Master Chef and The Amazing Race. Can't tell you how much I love them. http://williamreview.com/im-vi...
http://williamreview.com/