Best Docu on Netflix Instant?

[PopAria]

Posted: 12/24/11 at 9:42pm

I'm looking for a good movie I haven't seen yet. What are your favorites on Netflix Instant?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 12:35am

I watch a LOT of documentaries. The "recently watched" documentaries from my account are:

MR. WARMTH - THE DON RICKLES PROJECT
(great doc on Don Rickles that will have you laughing way too loudly)

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
(same as Rickles, you'll laugh way too much, although this doc also shows the tragic sides from her life)

GOODNIGHT, WE LOVE YOU
(more similar to Rivers' doc, this one is of Phyllis Diller and is more balanced of her comedy act with a bio of her life)

THE LIFE OF REILLY
(a filmed presentation of his final stage performance prior to his death. There will only ever be one Charles Nelson Reilly.)

CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP
(doc on the creation of his comedy tour which followed the NBC/Jay Leno scandal and controversy.)

THE BOYS: THE SHERMAN BROTHERS' STORY
(great and revealing documentary about the composer-brothers who brought us the music to MARY POPPINS, WINNIE THE POOH, BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS, and much more.)

WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (no longer on instant?)
(one of my personal favorite docs, this film tells the behind-the-scenes tale of the Disney company in their '90s renaissance when the animated movie musical brought the company a string of hits. mainly focuses on the late great Howard Ashman.)

THE PIXAR STORY
(tells the story of how PIXAR came to be and the creative minds that have now taken over the "quality" division at Disney)

PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES
(a peek behind the makings of the most famous news publication, which also foreshadows its imminent departure from "print" in an "online" world)

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
(the real life Devil Wears Prada and how the famous Fall issue of the magazine shapes to publication)

CIRCUS
(a six-part mini-series doc which makes you a temporary member of the Big Apple Circus family. in a world where "never before seen" is growing smaller and smaller, and variety shows/live entertainment is diminishing, see how the Big Apple Circus deals with this new reality while trying to maintain its legacy)

ONLY WHEN I DANCE
(a REMARKABLE documentary about a boy from Rio de Janneiro who just wants to dance! he overcomes several life obstacles to make it into a dance school. it's a real life Billy Elliot.)

BACKGROUND
(an interesting look at "background artists" but slightly disappoints. wish it went more in-depth.)

SPECIAL WHEN LIT: A PINBALL DOCUMENTARY
(a neat look at Pinball Machines and the people who love them.)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 12:39am

THE COVE

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 8:24am

The Cove is a must see.

My favorites: Forks Over Knives. It discusses the benefits of a (more) plant based diet and the crazy crap that is in American food now.

Food, Inc.: Same as above

The Business of Being Born: Explores the American medical system as it is now and the overwhelming use of intervention with pregnancy vs. the opposite side of home birthing with midwives. I've watched this several times because it just keeps playing out in my friends' situations.


This site has hundreds of documentaries from all over the net. You can search by theme. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/

[Luscious]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 8:52am

Just watched MAKING THE BOYS yesterday. Really enjoyed it. It traces the evolution of THE BOYS IN THE BAND from stage play to movie, and in so doing presents an overview of gay life and the gay rights movement in the 60's and 70's. It includes some wonderful period footage and archival clips. Highly recommend.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 9:16am

The two Aileen Wuornos documentaries from Nick Broomfield are excellent. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer and Aileen Wuornos: Selling of a Serial Killer. Broomfield essentially befriended Wuornos to get her to open up about what led to the first murder in Life and Death and all the dirt from her lawyers in Selling.

Cropsey fails as the scary documentary it tries to be but succeeds in going into the failure of mental hospitals to provide adequate treatment. It focuses on one of those hell hospitals where they just locked mentally ill people in and let them wallow in their own filth with no actual care.

S&Man is a documentary that fakes footage to prove its point. It's about the creation and distribution of low-budget gore movies: who watches them, who makes them, and what draws people to this side of human nature. It's probably the best documentary I've seen on Netflix Instant. But I reiterate: a lot of people are thrown off by the ending that reveals some of the footage was staged. That's the point. It's about how realistic some of these films look. Why wouldn't the director insert fake footage that you would swear is real only to pull the rug out from underneath you?

Marwencol is a heartbreaking portrait of a man who has had a very hard time in life. He was nearly beaten to death outside of a bar, suffered severe brain damage, and his insurance company cut off his therapy funding way too early. Now he self-medicates by building an elaborate scale model of his own stories in WWII, where each character is someone he met in real life. Updated On: 12/25/11 at 09:16 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 10:49am

I am a fan of all things Alaska (not named Palin), so I'd recommend the NatGeo Extreme Alaska Denali National Park.

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 11:12am

"Fish Out of Water" is a personal favorite. It looks at the bible passages relating to homosexuality. AND it's animated.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 11:29am

VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR about the designer and his long relationship with his partner Giancarlo Giammetti

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 11:39am

Trent, that movie sounds realy interesting but you should have said SPOILER! lol

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/25/11 at 1:35pm

Jordan, the problem is, outside of the talking head interviews, everything in the film looks fake. It's a film about making films and why those films are made. It's so meta by the end that you question everything you saw.