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Documentary Film Recommendations?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by ardee, Mar 6, 2020.

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  1. donfairplay

    donfairplay VIP Whale

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    https://www.netflix.com/title/80146284

    Netflix has an entire series called Rotten that focuses on near one-hour documentaries on the food industry. Highly recommend the ones on honey, and the one on the sugar industry's labor practices.

    I would bet that Netflix's view counters for food documentaries they bought or licensed rights to had spawned this series. It's high quality.

    Also, I second the recommendations for Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and if you haven't seen it: Free Solo.
     
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  2. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    I just watched Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. So sad :(
     
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  3. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" - Revered sushi chef Jiro Ono strives for perfection in his work, while his eldest son, Yoshikazu, has trouble living up to his father's legacy.

    I'll think of others.
     
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  4. Maine Farmer

    Maine Farmer Low-Roller

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    Scotch: A Golden Dream - I watched it on Amazon Prime.
     

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  5. donfairplay

    donfairplay VIP Whale

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    (not a political post, its about the documentary)

    https://www.netflix.com/title/81080637

    "Knock Down the House" about 2018 primary challengers, who consisted mostly of working class non-professional candidates. I saw this one last night and it caught me by surprise, I (and probably most Americans) forget that people running for office are people with emotions, which makes the last 20 or so minutes of this documentary all the more heartbreaking.

    I'm pretty sure the filmmakers picked 4 sections of America (mountain/desert west suburbs in Las Vegas, big city, rural south, and rural midwest) as an example of America. I don't think they expected to capture a successful primary fight, which happens about once per decade - its the equivalent of catching a meteor out of the clear blue sky.
     
  6. AyDee

    AyDee is getting too old for this

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    To step slightly outside the lines,
    David Lettermans Netflix show crushes on his guest picks, also his recent Desus & mero Interview is nice.
    Also Netflix Abstract Art of Design is interesting to me,
    and that Bill Gates series will make you feel tired, crappy, and dumb.

    also seconding American Factory, theres one somewhere about a family in China doing plastic recycling that I think every american child should see,

    and I'll probably come up with more later. I love when Docs take tangents and you're learning about some whole other thing than the topic,

    Oh yeah, the one about the hippie commune out somewhere, where they got all militant;.. I forget...
     
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  7. AyDee

    AyDee is getting too old for this

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    Oh remembered some more, the Free Climb doc, it is so mental,
    and I had to absorb all the LA riot ones, (3 I think) because I was right around where & when it started.
    The Roy Choi/Jon Favreau thing is great if you want to get hungry.
     
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  8. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    Forgot to add trailers to my post... here they are:


     
    Annual Spring Trip!
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  9. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    OK, I don't know if this is in the documentary category, it's more like "docu-tainment".

    I found David Chiang's "Ugly Delicious" series to be both informative and entertaining.
     
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  10. VivaSladeVegas

    VivaSladeVegas Low-Roller

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    Jiro Dreams of Sushi and King of Kong are two of my favorites, great suggestions.

    I just watched the HBO documentary on Andre the Giant last night and really enjoyed it. I was in my early teens when wrestling blew up and haven't thought much about it since then.
     
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  11. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    We're watching a series right now on CBC (Canadian) called The Oland Murder. Nothing makes my blood boil like a badly botched murder investigation, so badly botched it can probably never be prosecuted again. Anyhow, you should be able to find it online.
     
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  12. ffejry

    ffejry #1 Bears Fan

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    Dark side of the Ring had some good episodes if you're into wrestling. The Montreal screwjob, Randy Savage and Elizabeth, and the killing of bruiser Brody comes to mind
     
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  13. bull0120

    bull0120 VIP Whale

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    I know this sounds boring, but, I watched this documentary series where they followed a group of office workers that sell paper in Pennsylvania. I can't remember what it was called, but, it was pretty good if you can find it.
     
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  14. Maine Farmer

    Maine Farmer Low-Roller

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    "The birth of Sake" This is as good as the scotch doc I recommend.
     

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  15. black29

    black29 Tourist

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    Watched the ZZTOP docu last night on Netflix, super good
     
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  16. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    It's an interesting story, and seemed to blow up a decade or so ago thanks to word of mouth. As a child of the '80s, I was intrigued, and surprised to learn that there was such competition at mastering an old video game.

    As for the villain, there's plenty of criticism of the editing of the documentary, suggesting they made him look like a bigger jerk than he is. How aloof and ego-maniacal is the villain? Depends upon whom you ask. Scrutiny of his ways and means in recent years has cast a cloud over his achievements, a cloud likely to never be erased. But he's still an amazing video game player who seems to hang his hat more on the fact he was the first guy to play a perfect game of Pac-Man. Don't ask what that entails, just know it's not easy. Some have done it faster, but he was the first. and the villain likes to tout that.

    I met the villain a few years ago when he was in Minneapolis for a paid appearance. I was a member of the media on that day, so I had extra access. He was super friendly and nice to everyone he dealt with, at least during the two hours I saw him. Perhaps getting paid an appearance fee had something to do with it.

    As for recommendations:

    Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler is from several years ago and has an interesting story about a quest at a different classic video game record. It even includes the villain, who should have pompoms, as he is the biggest advocate for the guy chasing the Nibbler record.

    The most recent doc I watched, via Hulu, was Wrinkles the Clown. It was interesting, and surprises you as the story unfolds. Overall it wasn't great, and it seems like they tried too hard to find a way to stretch it to 75 minutes, but it had some interesting moments.

    The one I recommend the most, which isn't easy to find, is from the 1990s: Hands on a Hard Body. It's got a definite amateur quality to the overall production, but it's a bit of a cult classic at this point. It's entertaining. You won't learn anything substantial about the world we live in, but it's a snapshot of American life in Texas that is amusing. There's nothing sexual about it, but the title makes you wonder. It's not easy to find, but my buddy did find it via some streaming platform. I think he had to pay for access. It wasn't available via the big players.
     
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  17. pjbear05

    pjbear05 Low-Roller

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    Bourbontucky on The Audience Channel, a history of bourbon, excellent!
     
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  18. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    I'm really enjoying this. I think the finale is on tonight. It has been a real roller coaster. I remember hearing about the scandal, but I didn't know all the details. That one cop is a reality show unto himself. :haha: I love how all the other investigators talk about him. :kill:

    I was glad I heard about this one and managed to get it on my list before I forgot. It was all kinds of messed up. And when they turned the tables to make it my fault for watching their documentary? Um... yikes. I guess I'm guilty. :)

    The only one more twisted to me than this one was Evil Genius. That one made me worry about the future of humanity.
     
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  19. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    Lol I love him. I'm like he has GOT to be "that guy" in the office they can't control.
     
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  20. carolineno

    carolineno VIP Whale

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    I haven't seen too many but the most memorable one I've seen is called "Portrait of Jason". I guess some people found it exploitative, but I loved it.


     
    Ladies getaway, somewhere on the strip with a pool :)
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