Your favorite documentaries

Since you like documentaries you have some taste so here's so excellent docs worth the time won't get back:

Burden of Dreams - Werner Herzog's epic tale of filming 'Fiztcarraldo' in the jungles of Peru. Prostitution, death, insects, madness, classic Herzog.

Hearts of Darkness - making of 'Apocalypse Now', great stuff for film lovers as Coppola wrestles some serious demons.

Winged Migration - as close to flying like a bird as you will ever get on film.

Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii (Dark Side of the Moon)(incidentally, Dark Side of the Moon perfectly overlays The Wizard of Oz, hence creating the Dark Side of Oz visual overmix)

Triumph of the Will (spectacle, Darth Vader's wet dreams, goes well with the 'Empire' theme song)

Koyanniqatsi (already mentioned but in a league of its own)

Well, as you know, I didn't really see it because I WAS it. They guy who got DQ'd was High School distance running legend Scott Fry, and the unfortunate one who won the race that day was me.

Oak Harbor fan wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

After getting such great responses in the King of Kong thread, I figured I'd open it up generally.

So...what's your favorite documentary film?

I've got several that I like a lot:

Crumb - talk about dysfunction

Hoop Dreams

Super Size Me

American Movie -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Movie

Roger and Me

Will likely see King of Kong this weekend. Got any others to recommend?

Appreciate it!

My favorite is the documentary on the 1985 Oak Harbor Invitational. If I remember right, some guy got disqualified and the crown voiced its displeasure toward the guy who won the race...

Did you ever see that one, Flagpole?

Flagpole wrote:

Well, as you know, I didn't really see it because I WAS it. They guy who got DQ'd was High School distance running legend Scott Fry, and the unfortunate one who won the race that day was me.

Could you tell us the whole story, please? I never actually saw the documentary. It is pretty cool that they made a movie about you, though. Do you get any royalties? If so, how are you investing them?

Oak Harbor fan wrote:

Could you tell us the whole story, please? I never actually saw the documentary. It is pretty cool that they made a movie about you, though. Do you get any royalties? If so, how are you investing them?

If I remember right, it was called 'The Pride of Oak Harbor', and was very sympathetic toward Flagpole after the whole "YOU SUCK YOU SUCK YOU SUCK" incident. He even teared up on the victory stand. The camera then panned in on him, the cheesy music faded in, and the credits rolled. I thought they really made Scott Frye look bad. They focused heavily on his jumping the fence and running through the streets of Oak Harbor.

As for Flagpole's royalties, I understand he has them direct deposited into a Vanguard Roth IRA. An index fund, I believe. Not a bad plan at all.

That is a very good summary of the documentary. What did you think about them using Michael J. Fox as my character? Kind of looks like me from 1985, but he had an awkward running style...not really like a runner. That would be my only problem with the film. Well, they COULD have been nicer to Scott Fry. While I definitely deserved sympathy, that doesn't mean they needed to demonize him.I still have the medal with the blue ribbon on it from that race that day. It's the one award (of the thousands, well, maybe millions I have) that I didn't think I truly earned.

Documentary fan wrote:

Oak Harbor fan wrote:

Could you tell us the whole story, please? I never actually saw the documentary. It is pretty cool that they made a movie about you, though. Do you get any royalties? If so, how are you investing them?

If I remember right, it was called 'The Pride of Oak Harbor', and was very sympathetic toward Flagpole after the whole "YOU SUCK YOU SUCK YOU SUCK" incident. He even teared up on the victory stand. The camera then panned in on him, the cheesy music faded in, and the credits rolled. I thought they really made Scott Frye look bad. They focused heavily on his jumping the fence and running through the streets of Oak Harbor.

As for Flagpole's royalties, I understand he has them direct deposited into a Vanguard Roth IRA. An index fund, I believe. Not a bad plan at all.

I thought MJF was excellent as young Flagpole. He really pulled it off, even if he didn't really look like a natural runner. My favorite, though, was Dom Delouise as the fat guy with the beverage in his hand who yelled, "Well he SSSSUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!". The way he spilled a little of his beverage was priceless. You don't find good acting like that very often.

Flagpole, have you not seen: "Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/)

It's an outstanding documentary for many reasons (interesting, insightful, surprising and engaging)

I saw a really good one a month ago or so about the Masters World Track Championships. Followed some of the more senior competitors. Showed what training is like as you get older and how the competitive spirit can still there as you age. Nothing like watching the one competitor in the 100+ age group throw walk up the ring with his walker and then toss the discus in slow motion. You could see the same grit and determination that you see in many of the world elites. I forget the exact name, August Gold or something like that.

Documentary fan wrote:

I thought MJF was excellent as young Flagpole. He really pulled it off, even if he didn't really look like a natural runner. My favorite, though, was Dom Delouise as the fat guy with the beverage in his hand who yelled, "Well he SSSSUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!". The way he spilled a little of his beverage was priceless. You don't find good acting like that very often.

You people do realize you're just feeding Flagpole's already gigantic ego, don't you?

I have to agree with Murderball.

There was a Discovery Channel documentary in the late 1990's called The Ultimate Athlete. It had a bit about Lance pre-cancer. It was just downright interesting, but the piece they had about Billy Mills is classic.

Knuckle

If you didn't like the documentary, then fine. It's ok if you didn't see it brother.One thing that not many people know is that Paul Prudhomme was Dom Delouise's stand-in which was cool because he made everyone on the set lunch and dinner.See how much they look alike - http://totallylookslike.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dom-deluise.jpg

Mr. Bill wears loafers wrote:

Documentary fan wrote:

I thought MJF was excellent as young Flagpole. He really pulled it off, even if he didn't really look like a natural runner. My favorite, though, was Dom Delouise as the fat guy with the beverage in his hand who yelled, "Well he SSSSUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!". The way he spilled a little of his beverage was priceless. You don't find good acting like that very often.

You people do realize you're just feeding Flagpole's already gigantic ego, don't you?

By the way, "Super Size Me" and "Koyaanisqatsi" (along with "The Long Green Line," and maybe other films that have been mentioned in this thread) are available free on Hulu.

Sorry, that's at hulu.com...

Riding the Rails. It's about teenage hobos riding the trains during the Depression. Great music and really interesting people, with very different views on what they did. I show this in class, and after watching it five times, I still want to take it home and watch it again.

Dear America: Letters From Vietnam. Very moving if you're into the Vietnam War at all.

Forks over Knives changed my life

I just watched Man on Wire after catching this updated thread the other day.

Thanks

This guy was missing the part of his brain that controls fear.

Looking at his face, it is as if he thinks he is two feat off of the ground when he is suspended between the two towers of the World Trade Center.

It's hard to watch even knowing that he survives (since he is narrating it).

And he has such charisma.

1934 Obama campaign wrote:

Lina Reifenstahl's Triumph of the Will.

Last watched it in fall 2008. Amazing how that stuff from the old days in Germany reminded me of the Obama campaign.

Watch it an see if you agree.

Minus the Obama comments (and without approving of Reifenstahl's purpose), I agree. The imagery has been stolen and redone dozens of times since (watch it and then watch the Star Wars movies, for example).

Olympia by Reifenstahl is very impressive also - lots of great footage of the 1936 Olympics and American athletes like Jessie Owens and Glenn Morris in the decathlon (with whom Reifenstahl was having a fling during the filming).

Another excellent documentary is Tokyo Olympiad by Ichikawa about the 1964 Olympics - the highlight for me being Billy Mills in the 10000 - you can find lots of it on Youtube.

"No Direction Home", Bob Dylan's early days before he went electric. "The Last Waltz", rockumentary of The Band's (Dylan's backup band) last performance. Both by Martin Scorsese. "Festival Express", sort of like the Canadian Woodstock on rails moving across Canada.