Review Your Fave/Recent Documentaries

[Babe Ruth]

Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes (2016)

Collection of more obscure Space Shuttle Challenger footage. Brief interview clips with Christa McAuliffe, press conferences with her & the other teachers as they were being vetted down to the 2 finalists, etc.
Every couple years I'll do a renewed deep dive in to the Challenger explosion.. and the best book I've read is The Burning Blue, because it does a good job explaining the Teacher in Space program, which generated a unique public interest in this flight.
This documentary is kinda esoteric,.. but it is valuable for putting together the images of how the Teacher in Space program looked, & was covered by the media.
Something kinda wild, this doc shows a photo of Ralphie from A Christmas Story in the crowd at the launch. I later read he had been invited there by Reagan. Who knew..

 

[Bahama Mama]

Not new but whenever it comes across the screen,can't stop watching these so adorable goofy cuties.
Makes me jealous that my children were not nearly as adorable.

 

[Babe Ruth]

St Patrick: Pilgrimage to Peace. (2020)

Watched this one for St. Pat's Day.. history of St. Patrick and his religious beliefs/mission. About an hour long, a lot of cool scenery of Ireland. I watched it on the RedeemTV app. Not bad..

 

[MadDevil]

I watched MH370: The Plane That Disappeared on Netflix last night. They leaned too heavily into conspiracy theorist territory for me, although I guess it is kind of interesting to see how people buy into them.

 

[Babe Ruth]

American Kidnapping: the Lindbergh Baby. (2019)

Brief documentary on the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son. They spent a lot of time covering Lindbergh's life.. which I thought was kinda unnecessary. If someone is watching this doc, they probably have a baseline understanding of who Charles Lindbergh was..
After the Lindbergh bio stuff, it's just basic facts of the case. There is one author who submits a theory on a (hypothetical) accomplice, but not much else new here.. Watched it on FOX Nation, which has some good historical/cultural documentaries.. but this one was pretty thin.

 

[kook10]

Loudmouth (2023 / BET)

Feature length documentary on Al Sharpton. It was actually a very good look at someone who has been around forever, and had been made out to be more controversial than he really is. They didn't really shy away from the Tawana Brawley case, and it was interesting to hear about his pivot towards legislative action too. It aired on BET, so I had fast forward through a lot of commercials, but was still a worthwhile watch.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Loudmouth (2023 / BET)

Feature length documentary on Al Sharpton. It was actually a very good look at someone who has been around forever, and had been made out to be more controversial than he really is. They didn't really shy away from the Tawana Brawley case, and it was interesting to hear about his pivot towards legislative action too. It aired on BET, so I had fast forward through a lot of commercials, but was still a worthwhile watch.

What is your take on Sharpton's role in the Brawley case? Do you feel he was a true-believing, well intentioned advocate.. or do you think he always knew she was lying, and was oppurtunistically advancing his public profile.. or some of both(?)

 

[kook10]

What is your take on Sharpton's role in the Brawley case? Do you feel he was a true-believing, well intentioned advocate.. or do you think he always knew she was lying, and was oppurtunistically advancing his public profile.. or some of both(?)

i tend to believe him the way he explained it. He saw it as his job to advance the profile of the struggle in general, and to privately minister the families. In that sense he definitely was a well intentioned advocate. He said he didn't do his own investigations into any of the cases he aligned himself with, as it was his duty to get marginalized black folks heard, amplify their voices, and get them treated fairly. It wouldn't make any sense for him to hop aboard a hoax given there were plenty of recent legitimate cases that had built his credibility.

He conceded that in general he tactically wanted to whip up emotions and turn up the volume as high as he could without inspiring violence. At least from the presented material, it seemed like he had previously been almost optimistic in the sense that he had high standards of conduct and encouraged working within the system for change. In hindsight, it was the exact wrong time to get full behind that case and publicly reject the justice system. He definitely seemed to go too far with the rhetoric. It would be interesting to hear more about attorney Alton Maddox, who was involved in all the cases, and even more hard line than Sharpton.

(Spoiler?) it took getting stabbed at the Yusef Hawkins rally, and a come-to-Jesus talk from Coretta Scott King to show him that all the fiery rhetoric served nothing unless it effected legislative change.

 

[Babe Ruth]

i tend to believe him the way he explained it.. would be interesting to hear more about attorney Alton Maddox, who was involved in all the cases, and even more hard line than Sharpton.

Thanks. I appreciate hearing other people's perspective on history etc.

Maddox was in the news occasionally for a couple years after the Brawley case. He had his law license suspended/revoked by NY state, then had some kinda ongoing battle thru the 90s over court fines, etc (if I remember right). There was another lawyer (Mason) who was always flanking Sharpton & Maddox, but I don't remember his fate.
The Brawley case was one of those sensational, intriguing stories that made an impression on me (in real time). When I first heard the Jussie Smollett claim, I thought, it felt like Brawley 2.0.. The names are different now.. Crump & Smollett instead of Maddox & Brawley. But all the elements feel identical, just rebooted 30+ years later.
Last I heard, Brawley was still paying off the defamation settlement to the guy she accused of rape (Pagones), but that was probably five years back I saw that reported. Wild stuff..

 

[Babe Ruth]

Private Voice of Hitler (2006)

This looked interesting, but wasn't. It was a project to lip-read, then dub, the silent home movies of Hitler. But most of the doc was biographical filler. And when they got to the dubbing/lip reading process, it just yielded very mundane small talk amongst Hitler and guests at his mountain retreat. No new insights here..

 

[Baby Punisher]

Cocaine Cowboys.
There are three parts to the series. I highly recommend watching all 3 and reading the late John Roberts book.

The Fog of War.
Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. I was always fascinated by that era that went from the greatest generation to the silent generation.

The World according to Dick Cheney
You may not agree with him on anything, but you will understand him a bit more after watching this doc.

Where's my Roy Cohn?
A polarizing figure, who bent the media to his will to suit him no matter how bad the story was.

Dio
Dreamers NEVER die. A deep dive into Ronnie James Dio's life.

 

[kingsholygrail]

The first part of this had been linked before, but the guy has since finished it.

 

[Osprey]

Wow. I linked to the first part 4 years ago and said that I was looking forward to part 2. After a few years, I gave up checking for it and thought that the series might never be finished. Thanks.

For anyone who missed my earlier post, it also includes the guy's videos for the attack on Pearl Harbor and The Battle of the Coral Sea: Review Your Fave/Recent Documentaries

 

[kingsholygrail]

Wow. I linked to the first part 4 years ago and said that I was looking forward to part 2. After a few years, I gave up checking for it and thought that the series might never be finished. Thanks.

For anyone who missed my earlier post, it also includes the guy's videos for the attack on Pearl Harbor and The Battle of the Coral Sea: Review Your Fave/Recent Documentaries

He also has some good videos on the Mexican American War and one on Stonewall Jackson. We may never see the Guadalcanal one that is implied at the end of the Midway videos, but you never know.

 

[kingsholygrail]

He updated a new one.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Television Under the Swastika (2001)

A history of live television during the Nazi regime. It was a unique niche, because very few people owned TVs at the time. So there was a wide range of (mostly unwatched, forgotten) programming. Most of the shows were surprisingly apolitical: cooking shows, women dancing, street scenes. German TV technology was cutting edge at the time, but largely ignored and underestimated.

Documentary runs about an hour, and is slow in parts.

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Dolly Madison Murders (2023)

A frustrating 2002 robbery-turned-double murder case from Kansas. A local film maker details the case for a public reexamination. Watched it on Tubi, not sure it's streaming anywhere else.

 

[Brodeur]

Enjoyed this documentary about Tim Burton's Superman Lives that had years of pre-production in the late 90's but got cancelled before they started filming. Maybe the easy joke is that the movie about the making of a Superman movie is way more interesting than an actual Superman movie.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Deli Man (2014)

Documentary on Jewish delis, and to some extent, the personal lives & family histories of the deli owners.
Interesting slice-of-life, and cultural history.. but I thought it ran long. It probably would've been more dynamic if it was edited down from 90 to 60 minutes. I wasn't really interested in watching a deli owner take acupuncture, etc.
(available on Prime's Cohen Media channel)

 

[Bahama Mama]

This more of a biography drama but so far it's captivating,you can feel the tension and stress among the individuals involved.

Ein Funken Hoffnung - Anne Franks Helferin (TV Mini Series 2023) ⭐ 8.4 | Biography, Drama, History

6h 42m | 12

www.imdb.com

 

[Babe Ruth]

Cannibals of the Canyon (2017)

Documentary showing research efforts into potential cannibalism of a historical southwestern Indian tribe. I thought it was a good presentation, because it gives fair hearing to the physical evidence of cannibalism. But also gives consideration to the cultural impact that allegations of cannibalism have on the reputation/legacy of Indians.

A lot of this research, and the cultural pushback it received happened in the late 9os, so I wonder if this was repackaged/re-released as a cheap streaming offering(?)
Watched it on Tubi, but think it's also free on YouTube.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Drive Thru History: the Gospels. (2015)

Multi-episode documentary series, where a host travels around Israel showing famous sites from Jesus' life. Each episode is about 20/25 minutes, and the pace is quick and presented in lay terms, sometimes with humor.
I haven't watched all 18 episodes, but they're well organized in to chronological units of Jesus' life.. so can be valuable as stand-alone chapters.
Watched on Tubi..

 

[Babe Ruth]

Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax (2023)

Five part docuseries on Smollett's trial and claims. It's too long, but I think the first & final episodes have a lot of value explaining the case and the staging of the hoax (as reported by Smollett's hired associates). It's free on Tubi now.

 

[Babe Ruth]

JonBenet's Mother: Victim or Killer? (2016)

Pretty good doc on the (theoretical) murder case against JonBenet's mother Patsy. Currently on Hulu..
I have the low-budget version of Hulu, so there were a ton of prescription drug ads, but the documentary was worth the interruptions.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Punk the Capital (2019)

Documentary on the early days of Washington DC's punk scene (basically mid 70s thru mid 80s).
A lot of Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Henry Rollins.
Nostalgic and informative.. but not really much to it.. streaming in a couple places now..