Review Your Fave/Recent Documentaries

[Babe Ruth]

Quest for the Real Paul (2005)

Even tho this has a 2005 release date, it has the look and feel of a '9os A&E documentary. That said, it's a pretty good introduction to the life of the apostle Paul. Lots of maps & interviews with Biblical scholars. Slow in parts, but not bad.
On Tubi and YouTube.

 

[Hippasus]

Quest for the Real Paul (2005)

Even tho this has a 2005 release date, it has the look and feel of a '9os A&E documentary. That said, it's a pretty good introduction to the life of the apostle Paul. Lots of maps & interviews with Biblical scholars. Slow in parts, but not bad.
On Tubi and YouTube.

Currently watching this. Seems interesting.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Cosplay Universe (2022 release)

A look in to the international personalities and labor involved in cosplaying. Has some nice visuals of female cosplayers.. but it's a pretty monotonous depiction. People getting dressed up for conventions, got old (for me) after about the first 20 minutes.. some cool footage of Stan Lee near the end of his life too, but..
No real revelations here. Watched on Tubi.

 

[Osprey]

I like how you keep your interests broad, watching a documentary on the apostle Paul and then one on cosplayers. I can't imagine why you didn't feel as enlightened after the latter, though.

 

[Babe Ruth]

I like how you keep your interests broad..

About 5 years back, I completely stopped (social) drinking.. so instead of going out to drink, see live music etc twice a week.. I now have more free time for reading and watching docs. Around the same time, my daughter started exhibiting profound mental illness.. which caused me to reexamine my life and deep dive into religion and psychology etc.

Not sure if this lifestyle transformation has been good or bad for me, but it has turned me in to an information junkie. I used to post all the books I was reading in our 'What book are you reading thread'.. but not much conversation there, so I kinda dipped on it..
But yeah, the only uplifting thing from that cosplay doc, were the superheroine corsets.

 

[kook10]

GLITCH: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia (Max)

Maybe it was fate manifest (or I just unconsciously heard about it), but I was thinking about HQ Trivia the other day and lo and behold a documentary on its rise and fall appears on Max. It was an entertaining little doc on the live trivia app that was a cultural phenomenon from 2017-2018. Though it was hardly a Ken Burns study, it was a good watch on something that was a huge flash in the pan and almost forgotten.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Dark Star: H R Giger's World. (2014)

Documentary on the life of artist H R Giger. Filmed shortly before Giger died, it shows how he was living at the time.. with flashback clips to his earlier life and fame.
You see a lot of his unique home, and domestic living. He seemed like an artist, without much pretense. He didn't analyze his work or talent much.. didn't ascribe too much deep meaning to it. He basically felt that he experienced dark dreams & images and it was therapeutic to get them out on to a canvas.
Doc is streaming on Tubi..

 

[Babe Ruth]

Luther vs Rome. (2017)

A pretty good biography on the life of Martin Luther. Some great footage of the old German locales where Luther lived and worked.
50 minutes, I streamed it on ReedemTV, but I think it's on Prime also..

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Story of Europe. (2017)

Truth is, this could be a thousand part series, but historian Christopher Clark gets Europe's history down to 6 parts. Pretty good, concise coverage of the Greeks, Protestant Reformation, Columbus, etc.
Some of the reenactments are goofy, but a decent series. Watched it on Prime.

 

[Stylizer1]

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Imposter (2012)

Documentary on an Algerian man, with a French accent, who clumsily pretended to be a missing American kid.
Intriguing account of a sick tragedy.

The imposter's con ultimately contributed even more intrigue in to the original disappearance. (Currently on Prime).

 

[Babe Ruth]

Bye Bye Barry (2023)

New documentary on Barry Sanders.. his impact on the city of Detroit, relationship with his father, and analyzing his (supposedly surprising) retirement. Good bio of a good man. Released earlier this week on Prime.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

DAYS OF RAGE: The Rolling Stones Road To Altamont​

i saw this pop up on youtube and watched it the other day.

it was the grateful dead, a band that a lot of bashed on another thread a while ago, that suggested to the stones that it would be an awesome idea to play there. on previous shows the dead and the jeferson airplane would hire the san fran hells angels chapter to provide security for the bands. not that the sf members were the peaceful rocker stoner peaceful types.

for altamont other chapters of the hells angels would appear. the ones from san jose, oakland, and maybe a few others. these were not the peaceful ones like the san fran chapter but rather criminals who had large rapsheets that would range all the way up to murder. so yeah there would be no west coast version of woodstock.

so yeah the grateful dead. they organized the event and when they saw what was happening with the hells angels they said later and then split. can't say that i could really blame them. the stones otoh though at that concert actually showed me that they are just serious badasses. the last band on the bill had to survive those events and pulled off playing a full set. i saw mick taylor mention in an interview that he was scared out of his mind that night.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Murders at the Burger Joint. (2022)

Documentary on an unsolved quadruple murder committed at an Indiana Burger Chef, in 1978.
Sad, interesting case.. the doc gives a pretty good, straightforward account of the murders & their context.. the story of Burger Chef and the culture of the surrounding small town.
Featuring a detective who worked the case, and a pair of goofy podcasters (who, to their credit, are still searching for answers).
Decent watch, streamed thru HBO Max..

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland. A five-part documentary about the "The Troubles." I watched it on PBS. I thought it was excellent largely for one reason, which is it is told through a dozen or more street-level people who lived it. Both sides represented. Neutrals/bystanders represented. Some folks were directly involved or impacted. Some it was just part of life. No talking heads or historians. No major figures. Major events are covered, but it's kept through the eyes and perspectives of these ground-level folks. It's a great decision that gives you the important information, but does so with such a human impact it resonates greater than if they had someone like Gerry Adams pontificating about the big picture. Powerful, informative stuff.

 

[kook10]

Little Richard: I Am Everything (Max)
This was an interesting bio-doc about Little Richard. Of course everybody knows his music and his flamboyance, but it was pretty interesting to hear of his drag and queer beginnings and his religious fervency and how all over the place his life was. Overall it was a good watch for music fans.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Little Richard: I Am Everything (Max)
This was an interesting bio-doc about Little Richard. Of course everybody knows his music and his flamboyance, but it was pretty interesting to hear of his drag and queer beginnings and his religious fervency and how all over the place his life was. Overall it was a good watch for music fans.

I just watched 'Montage of Heck', which is also an HBO/Max music documentary (on Kurt Cobain). They've done some good bios.
'Montage' is more about Cobain the human being, than Cobain the artist/rock star. That subtle distinction made this one stand out to me..

 

[Babe Ruth]

The Boer War 1899-1902. (2018)

Documentary on the second Boer War. Good overview of the players, causes, and battlefield strategies. Its presentation is kinda dry, reminded me of a video u might see at a battlefield visitor center.
But it's an important and underreported piece of Western history, I think.
Free (with ads) on Freevee..

 

[Brodeur]

Stumbled on this one over the weekend. Did eventually watch all three episodes but fell asleep during the second ep.

Felt like they could have trimmed a solid half hour out of it, but I guess it made sense to establish things that happened decades beforehand.

I hadn't heard of this case beforehand, some Cliff's Notes:

Spoiler

Man is driving with his pregnant wife and claims somebody jumped into his car then made them drive into remote area of Boston. Claims that the guy robbed them and then shot his wife in the head while also shooting him in the abdomen. Tells police it was a black guy in an Adidas track suit.

Wife and baby die while the husband is hospitalized for weeks. Boston PD use questionable tactics to find a suspect. One teenager jokes to his friend that his uncle was the killer. Then that friend tells another friend who then tells his mom who is dating a cop. What was essentially a game of telephone is used as incriminating "evidence" to arrest a suspect.

Meanwhile the original detectives assigned to the case thought something didn't add up with the husband's story. But they were taken off the case. Eventually the guy's brother tells the police that the story was fabricated and that his brother was the murderer. When that became public, the guy jumped off a bridge and killed himself.

In the weeks beforehand, the media had more or less convicted the other suspect.

 

[John Price]

[b[The Imagineering Story[/b] on Disney Plus: 9/10

Very good look at the people who helped design the Disney parks from the first park in Disneyland to 2020's. If you're a big disney fan would strongly recommend. Recently came back from Florida visiting Epcot and wanted more material to watch re: Disney so took a look at this, now motivated to head to California Adventure

 

[kook10]

Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare (Netflix)
Feature length doc about abuse at (specific) wilderness camps for troubled teens. It was fine and interesting enough to watch on a slow weekend afternoon, but mediocre overall.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (HBO Max)
Really interesting documentary about the small cult known as "Love Has Won"/"Galactic Federation of Light"/"5D Disclosure". They were led by a woman named Amy Carlson, who was convinced that she was divine and claimed to have been reincarnated hundreds of times and could communicate with "Galactics" including popular cultural icons such as Robin Williams.

I don't want to give too much info here, as a lot of the information here is entertaining to learn as you go if you're not familiar with the group.

They became popular mostly via the Internet, as they live streamed sessions every morning and started selling different products. I had a hard time understanding their actual theology. They don't really have a "creed" per se, aside from just worshipping their "Mother God". Despite calling her God, they're really not religious in any way. It seems they just want to get high and go camping. A great example of how even one singular person can create a powerful delusion among a group.

If the group would have been more structured with a hierarchy and chain of succession as the "leader" I think that it could have developed into one of the more mainstream cults in the country. Amy was a very persuasive leader and most people who have interacted with her say that she had a hell of an energy about her, even as a child.

The doc was interesting but really pissed me off, as it's pretty much all deception and delusion causing vulnerable/impressionable people to abandon their families (including many children) and just follow Amy and whatever guy she anoints as "Father God" at the time.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (HBO Max)
Really interesting documentary about the small cult known as "Love Has Won"/"Galactic Federation of Light"/"5D Disclosure". They were led by a woman named Amy Carlson, who was convinced that she was divine and claimed to have been reincarnated hundreds of times and could communicate with "Galactics" including popular cultural icons such as Robin Williams.

I don't want to give too much info here, as a lot of the information here is entertaining to learn as you go if you're not familiar with the group.

They became popular mostly via the Internet, as they live streamed sessions every morning and started selling different products. I had a hard time understanding their actual theology. They don't really have a "creed" per se, aside from just worshipping their "Mother God". Despite calling her God, they're really not religious in any way. It seems they just want to get high and go camping. A great example of how even one singular person can create a powerful delusion among a group.

If the group would have been more structured with a hierarchy and chain of succession as the "leader" I think that it could have developed into one of the more mainstream cults in the country. Amy was a very persuasive leader and most people who have interacted with her say that she had a hell of an energy about her, even as a child.

The doc was interesting but really pissed me off, as it's pretty much all deception and delusion causing vulnerable/impressionable people to abandon their families (including many children) and just follow Amy and whatever guy she anoints as "Father God" at the time.

This was a strange account.. not necessarily because of its cultic operations.. It was similar to other cults in their behaviors..
But I thought it was oddly unique, because their leader seemed very ordinary(?) I didn't see her charisma at all.. even tho I may be repulsed by other notorious cult leaders, I can see some of their charisma. Amy seemed strangely ordinary for someone who eventually became viewed as divine.. She seemed just like what she once was, a young fast food manager.. & a single mom trying to make it, etc. It appeared as an unexpected transformation.
And I do think God calls ordinary people to extraordinary service, etc, but.. this was hard to understand.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

This was a strange account.. not necessarily because of its cultic operations.. It was similar to other cults in their behaviors..
But I thought it was oddly unique, because their leader seemed very ordinary(?) I didn't see her charisma at all.. even tho I may be repulsed by other notorious cult leaders, I can see some of their charisma. Amy seemed strangely ordinary for someone who eventually became viewed as divine.. She seemed just like what she once was, a young fast food manager.. & a single mom trying to make it, etc. It appeared as an unexpected transformation.
And I do think God calls ordinary people to extraordinary service, etc, but.. this was hard to understand.

Yes I think to the ordinary person she doesn’t seem to be that special, but it seems like to vulnerable people who are seeking for something special she was able to rope them in. She had the weird frequency that just intoxicated them.

 

[Bahama Mama]

Fascinating woman and so charming.