Documentary Thread #2

[kev2050]

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go. I did read a bit about that one but was a bit put off by the fact it was made 40 years ago, although reviews seem to suggest it holds up well.

[Egg Shen]

i got a copy of that free with the Daily Mail, ive never watched it though. I need to get on it.

[WWFChilli]

Can anyone recommend any documentary/series on WW2? I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to history, I never cared much for it at school, and only now have started reading bits. I want to watch something that tells the complete story, which I am aware is huge.

 

You really can't go better than the World at War as Maverick pointed out. Bar a few things that were classified when it was released (Enigma etc) it's just insane in it's detail, brilliant footage, superb narration and on screen storytellers. It does more than earn it's reputation.

[Monkee]

You should also have a look at the BBC WWII series that have been associated with Laurence Rees such as Auschwitz: The Nazis & the 'Final Solution', The Nazis: A Warning from History and The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. They've all got accompanying books as well. Very good documentaries. I read the Auschwitz book while in Poland before going there and it was good to be able to put things into context once there.

[Maverick]

There must be millions of books and docos out there about them and iv'e read/seen alot of them but are there any especially good Nazi docs or books out there I might have missed over the years. I've been absolutely fascinated by them since school. I'll hunt out those ones you mentioned Monkee thanks.

[Monkee]

The Laurence Rees ones are good specifically for Nazi stuff (Hitler, the SS, Auschwitz, etc.) but you should also check out Stephen Ambrose as well. He mainly focuses on specific events and tactical warfare but he still manages to evoke a lot of emotion in his writing. He wrote the Band of Brothers book that the series was based on and I recently read Pegasus Bridge which was very good. Everyone's got very 1940s nicknames even to the extent that the only black member of the squadron was called something like "Darkie Smith". I have another of his on my shelf to read which is Citizen Soldiers. Definitely recommended even if not specifically Nazi-related.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Monkee

[Dead Mike]

Storyville - The Great Hip Hop Hoax. Watched this last night. 2 rappers from Dundee convinced Sony records & the general public that they were American. An excellent watch even if you're not a hip hop fan. It's only on iPlayer for a couple more days though.

[Richie Freebird]

I watched quite a puzzling and bizarre one last night: The Boy Who Lived Before. Very strange. Basically a young Scottish boy of about 5 or 6 years, from Glasgow. Ever since he could talk, he constantly referred to a previous life on a fairly small and remote Island in the outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. He described the Island and

[Egg Shen]

That sounds like my kind of thing.

 

Storyville always provides some quality documentaries.

[Egg Shen]

I watched quite a puzzling and bizarre one last night: The Boy Who Lived Before. Very strange. Basically a young Scottish boy of about 5 or 6 years, from Glasgow. Ever since he could talk, he constantly referred to a previous life on a fairly small and remote Island in the outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. He described the Island and

[Richie Freebird]

Yeah, I

[Egg Shen]

yeh it was.

 

I saw Big Boys Gone Bananas!* last night on Netflix. Bascially a documentary about a film maker getting sued by Dole (the banana company) for making a documentary that shone a light on some ill practices the company exploits when harvesting their banana's. It was an interesting little look into how a massive corporation can go after a small time product and threaten scare tactics and whatever, but i couldn't help but feel 'what did they expect?' through the whole thing.

 

The documentary doesn't really focus on the problems the original documentary highlighted (this is a follow up to the original) but instead focuses on how Swedish people (Swedish film maker) should be allowed freedom of speech...all that despite the fact that what the film maker claimed in the original documentary may not even be true.

 

Weird.

[Stylin_and_Profilin]

A documentary on Drew Struzan and his work.

 

That looks fantastic although it doesn't seem to have a release date yet

 

 

Have been eagerly waiting for this for well over a year now. Looks like it's getting a DVD release at the end of November and probably onto iTunes as well so hopefully not too much longer before we can see it.

[Maverick]

Anyone know where I could get some (or recommend some) good documentaries on the American mafia? I generally love Mafia fiction so I figure i'd enjoy getting clued up on the real thing.

[Stylin_and_Profilin]

Anyone know where I could get some (or recommend some) good documentaries on the American mafia? I generally love Mafia fiction so I figure i'd enjoy getting clued up on the real thing.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsRc5WFY4_c

 

Good one to start with. Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano who was John Gotti's underboss and eventually made a plea bargain with the government and brought the whole thing tumbling down.