documentaries

Zeno Marx · July 20, 2018, 10:15:55 PM

The Great War pts 1-3 from the American Experience series on PBS has been really good. 5.5 hours or so. It's almost as good as the massive Burns' Vietnam doc. Another war and period in history they didn't bother teaching in school.

GEWALTMONOPOL · August 16, 2018, 09:16:02 PM

Quote from: l.b. on July 13, 2018, 07:06:37 PM
Soldiers in Hiding - 1985, about vietnam combat vets who, upon returning to the US, decide to live alone in the wilderness instead of rejoining society

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC4G-JUnMFc

I saw this documentary when I was in my teens and a few flashes apart I had forgotten about it. It's really good to find this again. Thank you!

theworldisawarfilm · August 20, 2018, 03:09:56 AM

Turned Out: Sexual Assault Behind Bars (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKbnWW-4K-A

Zeno Marx · August 24, 2018, 07:40:55 PM

The Lynyrd Skynyrd doc recently aired is worth watching. I knew nothing about them but the radio hits and my own experience with country boys who worship them (not limited to the South).

aububs · August 24, 2018, 08:37:00 PM

zeno, what did you make of the recent greatful dead documentary? i know you ride hard for them and was wondering how it was received by rabid dead fans

i enjoyed it a lot as a document of a time but i'm not sure it explained the huge appeal of their music or the zeal they enjoy from their fanbase. i'm not sure a documentary would even be able to do that for a band like the dead

but it did make me dive into their catalogue and i'm glad for it

Zeno Marx · August 24, 2018, 09:01:16 PM

Quote from: aububs on August 24, 2018, 08:37:00 PM
zeno, what did you make of the recent greatful dead documentary? i know you ride hard for them and was wondering how it was received by rabid dead fans

i enjoyed it a lot as a document of a time but i'm not sure it explained the huge appeal of their music or the zeal they enjoy from their fanbase. i'm not sure a documentary would even be able to do that for a band like the dead

but it did make me dive into their catalogue and i'm glad for it

What's the title? I haven't been keeping up for a while.

If you, or anyone, is interested in some recommendations, don't hesitate to message me. There are several distinct eras.

aububs · August 24, 2018, 10:29:44 PM

it's called Long Strange Trip

it's about 4 hours long, split into episodes. exec produced by martin scorsese

so kind of a "prestige" documentary, as such, and i guess they deserve it

i'd recommend it to everyone but not sure how much seasoned deadheads would glean from it

Zeno Marx · August 24, 2018, 11:27:11 PM

Ah, right. I have not seen that yet. I haven't read anything disparaging in the GD sites I frequent, but then again, those communities are relatively forgiving. From the experience with the books, you need to read a bunch of them to get a good idea. That's a luxury, though. When there's only a book or two, like with many bands, the fans get real picky. When you have such a riches of documentation, you quickly realize perspective.

l.b. · August 31, 2018, 06:52:33 AM

Carts of Darkness - 2008, homeless bottle pickers bomb giant fucking hills in Vancouver on shopping carts, its fucking gnarly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi-f_J6hV-g

j-han · September 03, 2018, 04:49:08 PM

Quote from: l.b. on August 31, 2018, 06:52:33 AM
Carts of Darkness - 2008, homeless bottle pickers bomb giant fucking hills in Vancouver on shopping carts, its fucking gnarly

Came to know about this one just recently after watching the Icelandic 2002 documentary Hlemmur, and some site pointed me in the direction of Carts of Darkness in the similar section. Have not yet seen Carts of Darkness, but Hlemmur is a really depressive film about miserably destituted alcoholics, drug addicts, homeless, and whathaveyou, circulating around the central bus station of Reykjavik. Great documentary with a soundtrack from Sigur Rós.

l.b. · September 04, 2018, 07:27:00 PM

really looking for Sieg Heil Suomi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-vYvvlGU4E) with english subtitles. does such a thing exist??

EXU · December 30, 2018, 03:01:25 AM

The Color of Noise documentary about Tom Hazelmyer and Amphetamine Reptile Records is a blast to watch (at least if you are into noise rock I guess), lots of cool freaks that deserve their own docs (Cows, Lubricated Goat, God Bullies...). I missed some Helios Creed tho, he just pops up by the end briefly.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4532654/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Zeno Marx · December 30, 2018, 10:51:45 PM

The Godfathers of Hardcore - Agnostic Front - 6.5/10 - it might deserve a slightly better rating, but I felt it spent too much time on Roger's health and not enough time on NYC and possibly interviewing, in greater detail, some of the ex-members etc. Worth watching for sure, if not just for the Stigma time of both newer and old. They used a bunch of footage from a VHS-only release called Live In N.Y.C. '91. Worth watching.

GG Allin: All in the Family 3.5/10 - could have been more about the psychology and more in-depth history.

If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd 8/10 - great. recommended.

American Dream / American Knightmare (about Suge Knight and Death Row Records) 5/10

EXU · December 31, 2018, 01:34:30 AM

Cannibal Corpse "Centuries of Torment"
Even if I am not the biggest fan of Cannibal Corpse (tho I like 'em occasionally) I find their doc great. After being underwhelmed by something like the Gimme Danger doc on The Stooges that seems tame, shallow and just... flaccid(?), it's cool to see someone nail the band doc formula for me. It's 3 hours long focusing on all members and album by album, not having an agenda other than overview the whole career of the band up to that point with lots of funny/interesting talking heads. It doesn't go for some kind of arc narrative, it just keeps giving. I am not ashamed to say that I quickly jumped to watch the other two hours of bonuses that really add a lot to the experience by being focused on some aspects of the band like the artwork.

And it's funny that if you compare CC (up to that point, not counting the latest event from Pat) to The Stooges, even if the music and imagerie is taken as something more extreme, the lifestyle of Iggy and the guys was WAY wilder, you can get glimpses of that from other sources (the doc Danny Says, even if not focused on Iggy, is more satisfying in painting his picture than all of Gimme Shelter to me). Musical/band/artist documentaries can be tricky, they can be good and bad at the same time like "Lemmy" that wastes too much time licking his feet and putting him on a pedestal, dwelving into the image (myth?) more than the music - even if by the end I enjoyed it because the subject is interesting and charismatic enough (and his music resonates with me). But a lot of docs want to be "The Story of Anvil" without having the material to support that kind of narrative, and then fail on the music nerdiness aspect that I love so much. /endrant

Anyway, the CC doc is available legally on youtube as well as the extras:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPot3rP53o

Quote from: Zeno Marx on December 30, 2018, 10:51:45 PM
GG Allin: All in the Family 3.5/10 - could have been more about the psychology and more in-depth history.

Bummer, I was really looking forward to this one.

GEWALTMONOPOL · January 02, 2019, 06:24:33 PM

I'm about an hour in to the Cannibal Corpse documentary. Like you I couldn't call myself a fan although I've liked the odd thing I've heard. What I appreciate about this is how it avoids the pitfall of "look at all the famous cool people talking about our band" and instead leaves the floor for friends and other bands associated with the band from early on. This is a real grass roots documentary.

EDIT: Serious respect for having one of the band members mother in the documentary. "I told him he should never have left the band!". Mum is always right!