Documentaries

Other than sports, I probably watch documentaries more than anything else. They get sprinkled in with the TV and movies threads here. But they’re kind of their own category.

A few I’ve recently watched:

The John Lennon assassination on Apple. It was ok. I know a lot about it, so not a lot new there for me.

Barry Sanders on Nextflix. Thought it was great. They got a lot out of a guy who didn’t like to talk much about himself. And it’s easy to forgot how stunning it was when he walked away at the top of his game.

A Disturbance In The Force. Doc on the ill-fated 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. Rented it, cannot recall which service. It was outstanding. I knew little about it. Other than it was a disaster and George Lucas wanted it buried forever. Lots of great clips and interviews.

 

Check It is about a gay black gang in D.C. Louis CK brought it to America after the film festivals. Very good with excellent music.

You can watch it in full: http://bit.ly/CheckIt_doc

It's how I was turned onto the song Laura by Scissor Sisters, the kind of song you can listen to on a loop for an hour.

 

IMHO the best is The Making of a Murderer, very creepy

The Murdaugh Murders (Atty in SC) entitlement gone wrong

 

Linked to the choices after the "Laura" video was a 45-minute documentary on the 1966 Topeka tornado. Harrowing stuff.

Before Doppler radar, there were probably a thousand other stories like this.

 

“The Last Days” is on Max (or Netflix, I can’t remember) and is the best Holocaust documentary I’ve seen.

If you have seen or are thinking about seeing The Iron Claw in theaters and are interested in the real story of the Von Erichs, the WWE-produced documentary is actually really well done and a good look at both the Von Erich family and the zeitgeist that was WCCW in the early ‘80s.

 

I’ll also add the non-WWE documentary called Heroes of World Class Championship Wrestling. Both are excellent watches.

The part when Kevin Von Erich visits the abandoned Sportatorium right before it’s demolished always fascinates me.

 

I don’t have a ton of pro wrestling knowledge, and those both look interesting. As does the flick. Thx.

 

This is a short, but really good documentary -- even if made by old stuffy white guys in the FBI and DEA -- but Chasing the Dragon to me really illustrated how closely related taking one too many pain killers at a soccer mom card night is to a full-blown heroin addiction.

https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/newss-chasing-the-dragon-the-life-of-an-opiate-addict/view

 

So this is decades old, but I came across Fred Dibnah by chance and became fascinated by his story. He was a steeplejack who would climb these 200-foot tall chimneys and demolish them by hand, but his Lancanshire dialect and folksy manner were endearing to many. The BBC did a documentary on him in the 1980s, which I've linked here, and he was a very well-known character in England (but basically unheard of in the states, from what I can tell). He also had a love of steam power, and would drive around his city in a turn-of-the-century steamroller. He was so much beloved that a statue was erected of him in the center of Bolton after he died about 15-20 years ago. The documentary follows him climbing these chimneys (as someone who has a fear of heights, I was equally amazed and appalled at his lack of safety equipment) to demolish as the mills were closing, his love of steam, and his own family dissolving because he put work first above all. He seems a pathetic character, but truly one who lives for himself.

 

Anyone from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area that grew up in the 1980s should watch the one on Action Park, called Class Action Park, which is available through Discovery and the Xfinity app.

 

This doc was absolutely amazing.