Documentaries seen in 2021

[pabs]

Everyone should watch more documentaries!

List the ones you saw in 2021 here.

Diego Maradona (Kapadia, 2019) 7.5/10
The Smell of Burning Ants (Rosenblatt, 1994) 7.5
Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character PBS American Masters (Thompson, 2007) 7.5 youtube
HyperNormalisation (Curtis, 2016) 7.5
Can't Get You Out of My Head (Curtis, 2021) 7.5

Streetwise (Bell, 1984) 7
Debbie Harry - Atomic Blondie (Forneri, 2018) 7 youtube
The New Romantics: A Fine Romance (Walker, 2001) 7 youtube
Being in the World (Ruspoli, 2010) 7
The Stonewall Uprising (PBS American Experience, Davis, Heilbroner, 2010) 7
Boo Hoo (Munro, 1975) 7 a nice short about an old retiree who's a graveyard attendant on the web https://www.nfb.ca/film/boo-hoo/
Visions of Light (Glassman, McCarthy, Samuels, 1992) 7 A history of lighting in motion pictures

Deborah Harry Does Not Like Interviews (Fredrich, 2019) 6.5
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (Stevens, Bloom, 2016) 6.5
Louis Theroux - Transgender Kids (Barrow, 2015) 6.5
21 Years: Richard Linklater (Dunaway, Wood, 2014) 6.5
Cracked Actor (Yentob, 1975) 6.5

Framing Britney Spears (Stark, 2021) 6
Louis Theroux: Under the Knife (Cooper, 2007) 6
Ballerina Boys (PBS American Masters, Gazit, Barylick, 2020) 6
William Eggleston - Photographer (Holzemer, 2008) 6

[john ryan]

Watched Martin Bell's Streetwise (1984)

Follows several teenagers living on the streets of San Francisco. So many great moments shared between these kids. One of my favorite doc watches in a long time.

[pabs]

Watched Martin Bell's Streetwise (1984)

Thanks! Lucky it's still out there and easy to get. I'm watching it tonight.

[pabs]

Watched Martin Bell's Streetwise (1984)
One of my favorite doc watches in a long time.

You're right, it was really well-made, really raw. It's Seattle, though, not that that matters. Those poor sweet kids.

7/10

[john ryan]

Watched Martin Bell's Streetwise (1984)
One of my favorite doc watches in a long time.

It's Seattle, though, not that that matters.

7/10

Whoops! sorry

[pabs]

I'm putting it in the place in case others want to see it.

[MrCarmady]

Just watched 35 Up. Been almost exactly 7 years, funnily enough since I saw 28 Up, and this one continues the series' enduring brilliance. Each film builds on the next, showing a cross-section of the British class system, and asking engaging questions about love, work, and finding meaning in life along the way. Can't remember if the other ones are exactly like that but at times the interviewer really grills the subjects in an uncomfortable fashion which almost makes this seem like hardcore therapy for them, and certainly great for the viewer. Wouldn't wanna watch 42 Up too soon because they do (obviously apart from the first one) all heavily lean on cross-edited footage from the preceding entries, but definitely don't wanna wait seven years, either.

The fact that Michael Apted directed both this and possibly the worst Bond movie is really funny to me, somehow.

[greennui]

About Time (1985) - Tapping, whispering? Bah. there's no bigger ASMR trigger than John Berger plaintively riffing on time and timelessness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USzGCdoLhjQ

[cinesmith]

Pretend It's a City (2021) Martin Scorsese 7 part limited series which is made up of interviews with Fran Lebowitz. [Netflix]

Showbiz Kids (2020) Alex Winter [HBO]

The Mystery of DB Cooper (2020) John Dover [HBO]

[rischka]

watched a couple more emigholz for architecture month, since i really enjoyed goff in the desert. d'annunzio's cave (2005) is quite something, roaming the palatial home of proto-fascist gabriel d'annunzio, where every square inch is covered in detritus. disturbing soundtrack of synthetic voices is our tour guide

https://twitter.com/rbgscfz/status/1353 ... 97056?s=20

followed by schindler's houses (2007) tracking the works of modernist architect rudolf schindler in and around los angeles. some are sadly in disrepair and all are surrounded by cacophony of the modern city. made me think of thom anderson, and then i saw his name in the credits. good stuff, very calming

[pabs]

i really enjoyed goff in the desert

Would you by any chance have subtitles for it?

There are two versions of it online, one of them is over 4Gbs, the other less than 2Gbs.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[rischka]

i watched it on mubi but from what i remember there is very little language in the film (according to kg < 30 seconds)

and since you've reminded me i'll grab loos ornamental

[pabs]

Good to know! thanks!

[pabs]

Well I don't know how bad I should feel about this, but with KG's freeleech over these last few days I've been stocking up BIG TIME on documentaries!

I will have collected at least 40 titles, including about 20 from PBS's excellent American Masters series. Wow, I have so much good stuff to see, I'm ecstatic!

[pabs]

I'm watching this at the moment. It's hilarious, sad sometimes, but always entertaining. Tried to get it off KG but no-one was sharing, so I'm glad youtube had it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLbtZ3d9w6o

[niminy-piminy]

I'm watching this at the moment. It's hilarious, sad sometimes, but always entertaining. Tried to get it off KG but no-one was sharing, so I'm glad youtube had it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLbtZ3d9w6o

ha, what a coincidence!
only yesterday, i searched the phrase "shirley temple parody" to get some Shirley Temple tap dancing that I could use for Genre Coup and ultimately ended up watching the following Carol Burnett (I never heard about her before) video...
https://youtu.be/GP7eGdxfZZ0

[ofrene]

Joshua Bonnetta's El Mar La Mar(2017), The Two Sights(2020) till next week (USA only but VPN works)

https://www.nga.gov/film-programs/the-t ... a-mar.html

[pabs]

Hope I'll get to see at least one of those ^.


I watched a 50 minute French tv biography of Debbie Harry which was good, unfortunately no subs for English speakers though. Debbie Harry - Atomic Blondie (Forneri, 2018) 7/10

https://vimeo.com/286771334

[pabs]

The Smell of Burning Ants (Rosenblatt, 1994) 7.5/10

A 21 minute film listing some of the most common psychological injuries inflicted on boys during childhood, blows that inevitably reinforce the toxic male culture we have today. Using found footage to illustrate these traumas, it's quite effective. This emotional violence often creates monsters, or, at least, lifelong arsehole behaviour.


Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (Stevens, Bloom, 2016) 6.5

This one came out posthumously. Both mother and daughter died within a couple of days of each other. It's a nice portrait of both. Amazing to think that Carrie Fisher lived the life of a celebrity from day one, which also gave her access to all kinds of drugs from adolescence, and which she continued abusing for the rest of her life.

[pabs]

Diego Maradona (Kapadia, 2019)

Quite a moving portrait of a boy from the slums who became the greatest legend of his time, maybe of all time, in world football. Watching clips of this man threading the ball through and then past his opponents was jaw-dropping at times. What a magician!

It's a rivetting story about how he helped turn his team (Napoli) from the poorest, worst performing and nationally derided underdogs into Italy's best team, at the top of the sport's year-end ladder. And he restored civic pride in Naples. His later drug addiction and reliance on that city's mafia family to supply him with cocaine, and the way Italy and Naples eventually despised him for playing with his national team (Argentina) in the World Cups against Italy was probably inevitable. The film is also an insight into how much Italy is divided into north and south, and how much the north detests, ridicules and scorns its southern compatriots. Some of the banners those rich northern city supporters hoist up during matches to taunt their opponents are extremely rude, sometimes even shocking and downright cruel. "WASH YOURSELVES!" "DIRTY CHOLERA SUFFERERS!" I'm hoping they're not allowed to do that at matches today!

I also didn't realize what an enormous place football has in the national psyche of Italy. It's truly a religious thing for them, and fans can go absolutely nuts! The amount of noise, screaming people, flags, fireworks, traffic jams and car horns in city streets over a single soccer match has to be seen to be believed.

Another jaw-dropping scene was of the massive, jam-packed, ecstatic, undulating crowd in a huge Buenos Aires square that greets Maradona and the Argentine team after their World Cup win in Mexico.

7.5/10

[Monsieur Arkadin]

Only doc I've seen so far this year was Mayor about the Mayor of Ramallah, Palestine. I was physically present for many of the events depicted (though not aware there was a doc being filmed at the time). I only found out from the credits that one of my students worked on the film. So I've got some personal reasons that taint my objectivity. BUT.... I thought it was quite charming, and captured the absurdities of municipal government under occupation in a droll way. It was good fun, at least for me.

[Silga]

Radio Bikini (Robert Stone, 1988) 8/10

A fascinating account on what happened during the nuclear tests performed around Bikini Atoll and how it affected both the local people and those in the military who observed the tests.


Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20th Century: In Pursuit of Happiness (Robert Zemeckis, 1999) 7/10

Lots of talking heads and archive footage, but it almost successfully blends into a portrait of how smoking, drinking and drugging changed and formed the public throughout the century.


By Sidney Lumet (Nancy Buirski, 2015) 8/10

Lumet is one of my favorite directors so it is almost impossible for me to find any flaws in this. Just a great filmmaker talking about his craft, ideas and lifelong experience. I only wish it was 3 hours long.


Ronaldo (Anthony Wonke, 2015) 5/10

My favorite contemporary football player deserves a better doc. But maybe his ego and self-love may not like or allow a more realistic and less choreographed film. Also, the doc would have been so much sweeter after the three in a row Champion League titles by my favorite sports club Real Madrid.

[rischka]

watched the britney doc yesterday, predictably sad but brit deserves better. just another victim of the american dream, like marilyn, elvis and michael jackson

today i watched a place called chiapas, having spent a few days there last spring, a beautiful place and desperately poor. this is a good overview of the zapatista uprising of 25 years ago, a complicated and dangerous undertaking that got the attention of the world via this new fangled internet. the doc was made in 1998 by a canadian/mexican crew



the charismatic leader subcomandante marcos became a celebrity of rock star level. he was clearly not indigenous and was later revealed to be a professor of philosophy who left academia to fight against capitalism and for indigenous rights



also these people did masks before it was cool. they're still controlling some land in chiapas. i asked our guide, who was maya from yucatán, about the zapatistas. being a bird guide he wasn't thrilled about forest destruction for subsistence farming but seemed sympathetic. the government has been very harsh and marcos shrewdly used media attention to promote their cause but most have forgotten them now. i was thrilled to visit briefly and see signs of what has been one of the more inspiring events of my lifetime

[Silga]

Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief (Alex Gibney, 2015) 7/10

I've watched it, liked it a lot, but also want to immediately forget that lunacy like this even exists.


Packing for Mars (Thierry Robert, 2018) 6/10

French produced doc about the next steps in our evolution towards the journey to Mars. It's not a 'big doc' about space exploration like Apollo 11 or The Farthest, but still managed to present major issues that need to be addressed before people will be able to touch the surface of Mars.


Magical Land of Oz (Tosca Looby, 2019) 7/10

Pristine and breathtaking documentary about Australia's nature and its wildlife. It's a three-part mini-series and I only wish it had more episodes.


The Living Sea (Greg MacGillivray, 1995) 6/10

It's not content-heavy, but beautiful like most IMAX documentaries.


The Untold Story of Euro Disco (Olivier Monssens, 2017) 6/10

Needed more Giorgio Moroder, but disco is pure fun and it was still an enjoyable doc about its origins.


If It Were Love (Patric Chiha, 2020) 6/10

Modern look at professional dance troupe and their rehearsals for the performance about the rave scene of the 1990s.


Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough (Gene Feldman, 1997) 8/10

Brief but entertaining piece about one of my favourite actors. A true screen legend.

[cinesmith]

Crazy, Not Insane 2020 Alex Gibney

Have You Seen Andy? 2007 Melanie Perkins-McLaughlin

The Cheshire Murders 2013 David Heilbroner, Kate Davis

There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane 2011 Liz Garbus

Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie 1988 Marcel Ophuls (rerun)

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind 2020

The Sparks Brothers 2021 Edgar Wright

Terrorists: The Kids They Sentenced 2003 Lukas Moodysson

The Architecture of Doom 1989 Paul Cohen

The Story of Chaim Rumkowski and the Jews of Lodz 1982 Paul Cohen

Can’t Get You Out of My Head 2021 Adam Curtis

The Lady and The Dale 2021 Nick Cammilleri & Zackary Drucker

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind 2018 Marina Zenavich

Allen vs Farrow (4 part doc) 2021 Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering

Zappa 2020 Alex Winter

[Monsieur Arkadin]

I watched Collective partly because of its 2 Oscar noms, partly because of my love for all things Romanian.

It's good, and it paints a conveniently clear and depressing picture of corruption and political indifference. On the other hand, it raises a whole lot of questions about the process of making this film itself. There are like 15 scenes where I found myself asking "why were they filming this?" but it would conveniently lead into a major revelation. Which makes me think much of this info was somewhat public knowledge to begin with, which is why the decision to make a doc was even made.

[pabs]

Louis Theroux - Transgender Kids (Barrow, 2015) 6.5

I learnt a lot from watching this. Some people aren't born into the correct body.

Deborah Harry Does Not Like Interviews (Fredrich, 2019) 6.5

A fun collage of questions poor Harry was asked nearly every time she was interviewed. It's no wonder she looked so bored and ended up fooling around and being un-cooperative with her interviewers.

Framing Britney Spears (Stark, 2021) 6

I found this tedious after a while.

Louis Theroux: Under the Knife (Cooper, 2007) 6

People altering their bodies in L.A. Not much I didn't know already.

[pabs]

Can’t Get You Out of My Head 2021 Adam Curtis

Great list! Thanks! I decided to look into "Can’t Get You Out of My Head" and that led me into reading about an earlier documentary of his, HyperNormalisation (2016), which I now intend to watch before diving into this latest, 2021 work of his. I'm really looking forward to it!

[cinesmith]

There's a litany of work from Adam Curtis and I just discovered him via this most recent one which runs somewhere near 6 hours. He also loves to juggle several plot lines simultaneously as he weaves the variable events that occurred in several countries. It's really something to see how he ties these things together. I'm going to work my way back into the rest of his catalog at some point.

[pabs]

There's a litany of work from Adam Curtis

Yeah, and I just realised I already had two more of his works, Pandora's Box (1992) and The Century of the Self (2002), saved on a drive. I got them earlier this year from KG during their freeleech week, so I'm delighted about that. And another one has come onto freeleech there today called Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh (1997) so of course it's now added to my menu!

I started watching HyperNormalisation two days ago. I'm viewing it in chunks of roughly an hour each and I see what you mean about how he presents different strands of international events and ideas to explain how things got to be how they are/were. It's easy to follow, but I'm looking forward to seeing how he ties everything together at the end.