The Dawn Wall (2017)
Meru (2015)
The Alpinist (2021)
The mindset of the people at these extremes is really interesting. Clash of cultures with Magnus Midtbø visiting Honnold was also an interesting watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyya23MPoAI
Hoop Dreams is not on a list of the 50+ best documentaries?
There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane - investigation of a car crash that killed 8 people
Art of the Steal - walks through the back-room negotiations and money resulting in the move of the Barnes Foundation (one of the world's greatest private art collections) from Main Line to Center City Philadelphia, which was specifically against the patron's wishes.
Roger & Me - I don't love Michael Moore's politics or his later movies but his breakthrough film, where he looks at everything gone wrong in his hometown of Flint Michigan, is very good.
June 17th, 1994 - this is an ESPN 30 For 30, splices together TV clips covering multiple historic sporting events of that particular day, most famously, the O.J. Simpson car chase. If you weren't alive on that date (and even if you were) it's utterly fascinating.
If I have a favorite genre of doc, it's the ones about outsider artists. In addition to American Movie I love "Monster Road", "In the Realms of the Unreal", "Exit Through the Gift Shop", and my personal favorite "Crumb".
For a couple of years there after it came out on DVD, Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank had a website that they posted Mike's phone number, and you could call and leave a voicemail. That always put a smile on my face, his outgoing message was jamming on a guitar playing Led Zeppelin. I wish I could recall the URL to find it on Wayback Machine.
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control by Errol Morris [0] might be the best ever for its detailed exploration into its four subjects and their passions into their area of expertise.
It’s so simple, but part of why it’s so hard to make a documentary.
Grossing over $222 million total worldwide, the film is the highest grossing documentary of all time, according to Box Office Mojo....It was the highest-grossing film released by Lionsgate until it was surpassed by The Hunger Games in 2012.
Down the memory hole. It's not mentioned once here. (up til this post)
Maybe because it's not actually very good? It's extremely partisan and conspiratorial, and doesn't actually document or explain much of anything, beyond "Bush bad". It's not surprising that a "Bush bad" film did very well in the aftermath of the Iraq War and the brazen lies from the Bush administration to sell it, but that doesn't mean it's actually a good documentary, or that it has lasting value.
I watched it back in 2004 and thought it was just brilliant, but I watched it again last year and I found it shocking just how incredibly conspiratorial and superficial it is. I do not consider it to be a serious documentary.
Intimate view through surveillance cameras over 6 weeks about the inner working of a crack house. With interviews from law enforcement, families and later convicts. Unorganized crime being the key word here, including drive by shootings by barely adults whos perceived room for maneuvering narrows to the extreme.
Chiming in a second time to throw in just about every Ken Burns and Rick Burns episodic docs on PBS -— they have so much depth that it’s crazy. “The Vietnam War” is like 18 hours long. This is a bit hyperbolic and reductive but if you want to understand why an older person in your life is the way they are, pick a Burns documentary set during their formative adult years and so many puzzles get solved haha.
I’m terrified to see Ken Burns’ “The Internet” in 20 years lol
I thoroughly enjoyed watching 'Carlos' [0] on Christmas day and I would encourage anyone to watch it. I actually discovered it was being released because of this previous post [1] on HN.
Even the best-intended looks at the furry fandom from the outside tend to be surface level with a focus on dispelling stereotypes. The Fandom comes from deep inside and covers the fandom I know, not just the fursuits, which are a good and valid but tiny part of it.
Is there any service you would recommend to know where to watch something you are searching? I know Hoarder Hoogle does it, but trying to look for an alternative
Judgment day: intelligent design on trial. Covers the Dover Intelligent Design trial, providing a lot of insight into the religious rights' plans for the US.
1. It's not the best people have ever seen, it's what average people love [1]
2. Ratings # is 5000 minimum. Rare stuff has less ratings. I doubt many in this HN thread would be less than 5000.
3. Political/emotive docos on strong lines will be overrated. It's a effect with some Indian or Turkish topics, and things like veganism or the holocaust. They are often rated higher than the quality of the documentary.
4. You can make the minimum 5000 ratings higher for more solid docos. You could try putting rating # to 1000 - 4000 to try and find some gems, but I don't think that will work. I think the gems are ones people don't get. So low numbers and middle ratings. Maybe looking at the graph of the votes might work. IMDB data is open to download FYI
5. Torrents are really bad with keeping docos alive. eDonkey fills the gap a little more. Youtube are always low quality.
[1] Mads Brügger The Ambassador (2011) is so subversive, it often makes me think. It's only 7.2 with only 4200 votes. It's hard to say is it good? His "The Mole: Undercover in North Korea" (2020) is on the list however.
2. Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
3. Microcosmos
4. Crip Camp!
5. Keep The River On Your Right
6. All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
7. Harlan County USA
8. Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story
9. Good Night Oppy
10. We Met in Virtual Reality
11. All That Breathes
12. Still
13. Can’t Be Stopped
14. The Amazing Jonathan Documentary
15. Searching for Sugarman
16. AKA Mr Chow
17. The Pigeon Tunnel
18. Little Richard: I Am Everything
19. I Know That Voice
20. Genghis Blues
21. Kings of Pastry
22. 20 Feet From Stardom
23. Stevie
24. Anvil: the Story of Anvil
25. Searching for Sugar Man
26. King of Kong
27. The Gleaners and I
28. Touching the Void
29. Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
30. 20 Days in Mariupol
31. Minding the Gap
32. How to Survive a Plague
33. Speciesism
34. Free Solo
35. Jim Allison: Breakthrough
36. Seven Up! series
37. Bowling for Columbine
38. The Fog of War
39. Rivers and Tides
40. Capturing the Friedmans
41. Spellbound
42. King of Kong
43. Crip Camp
44. Jesus Camp
45. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
46. Flee
47. Man on Wire
48. Queen of Versailles
49. The Thin Blue Line
50. Time Indefinite
51. The Gleaners and I
52. My Life as a Turkey
53. Happy People
54. Grizzly Man