Documentary recommendations?

We are close to finishing up Ken Burns' 'Baseball'... i LOOOOVE it! Just wish it had been made after 2004 so i could see my Sox win. :)

Has anyone seen his other works? Or any other documentaries you'd recommend?

...but I'm a big Mark Twain guy. One of the most fascinating and tragic lives ever lived.

:hi:

That and Baseball are his two best I would say.

I like the documentary "The War Room" which is about Clinton's run for president in 1992, it features James Carville and George Stephanopoulos prominently throughout.

Also along the same lines: "Primary" which is about JFK and Hubert Humphrey as they battle it out in the Wisconsin primary. And "The Perfect Candidate" which chronicled the 1994 senate race in Virginia between Chuck Robb and Ollie North, and it's extremely entertaining.

Try "Trudell" which is about American Indian activist John Trudell, and how he coped with the loss of his wife and children in a tragic fire, and his continued activism.

Also: "The 50 Year War" which is all about the Arabic-Israeli conflict and includes interviews with several presidents, prime ministers and cabinet members.

If you can get it watch: CNN's "Cold War" which covers the Cold War from the end of WW2 until the early 1990s, it's about 19 hours long and is fantastic. I think CNN still has a website up for it.

(That goes for all of you!)

I'll have to bookmark this thread for our Blockbuster queue... :)

It's about the West Memphis 3. Please read.

http://www.wm3.org/splash.php

and they're still showing it on PBS stations around here.

Also, the Planet Earth series...with David Attenborough narrating.

http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

It can be viewed on-line... Scroll down for the links. Warning -----The mpeg2 links are over a Gig each-----

The Civil War is essential viewing. I enjoyed his take on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Recommend PBS's The American Experience. It takes one event or person and explores it in detail - everything from Kinsey to the Orphan Train to Seabiscuit. I found the history of the 1918 flu pandemic riveting. Netflix has 74 episodes; that should keep you and yours off the streets for awhile. :)

Murder on a Sunday morning
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/murder_sunday/

Brenton Butler was just a regular 15-year-old African American high-school student living in Jacksonville, Florida. But when a woman was murdered on a quiet Sunday morning, Brenton suddenly found himself accused of the killing in one of the most frightening cases of mistaken identity ever. This shocking documentary provides a candid look at the U.S. justice system at work and exposes the racial bias and abuse of power that resulted in Brenton's arrest. The film features exclusive courtroom footage as well as interviews with the youth's public defenders, including attorney Patrick McGuinness, who uncovered startling evidence that raised serious doubts about the police investigation and subsequent interrogation tactics.

It's FINALLY being released on DVD on Tuesday (previously out of print on VHS only). It's a fascinating documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now, shot mostly by Coppola's wife Sophia. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

Shut Up and Sing is also outstanding.

but I'm a freak like that :)

:hi:

I started a thread on those a while back because i LOVE them... i'm a big nerd :)

Thanks for the recommendation!

dodos are cool though :P

:hi:

I'm in grad school in biology -- just finished a seminar where we read "Monkey Girl," an account of the Dover ID trial. It's a really interesting and readable book if you want to check it out!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41o-zLrVMGL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg



Also if you haven't seen the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you should check this out --> http://www.venganza.org/

hehe.

This documentary would be interesting to you I bet. The speakers try to separate themselves from religion and place the focus on biology/science.

:)

some were mentioned before

The Thin Blue Line (this is a must see, unbelievably good)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_%28documentary%29

The Fog of War (Academy award winner, features Robert McNamara)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_fog_of_war

Control Room (about Al-Jazeera and relationship with military in Iraq)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_Room_%28film%29

DiG! (Just watched it, a highly interesting documentary about two bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, good even if you aren't into that type of music, which I really am not)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiG%21

there are lots of other ones i like but they've already been posted.