Documentaries seen in 2022

[pabs]

List the documentaries you saw in 2022.

Share a few of your thoughts if you can be bothered.

[rischka]

i don't know if they're strictly speaking documentaries but they are an incredible time capsule

the TAMI show and big TNT show (which are both on youtube which won't let me post them here)

TAMI show lineup (1964) A++ https://youtu.be/jlhdplJn_oU

chuck berry
smoky robinson and the miracles
marvin gaye
lesley gore
the beach boys
the supremes
james brown (this was james brown's first tv appearance)
the rolling stones (who somehow managed not to suck following james brown!)
(and a few more forgettable acts, including gerry and the pacemakers sharing a stage with chuck berry, why??)

big TNT show lineup (1966) A+ https://youtu.be/YjtlgVjn6u4

ray charles
lovin spoonful
bo diddley
joan baez
the ronettes (RIP roni!)
the byrds
donovan
ike & tina turner
(petula clark and roger miller somehow also made the bill)

screaming kids and backup dancers are a hoot. really fun to see motown acts with their coordinated dances. the integration of these shows was groundbreaking

a funny story: the guy who ran the inn i stayed at in carmel attended monterey pop. he was 13. he said janis joplin was too loud

[pabs]

Normální autisticky film AKA Normal Autistic Film (Janek, 2016) 8/10
The world seen from the point of view of people on the autism spectrum, this was an amazing and wonderful film!


Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (Davis, 2010) 8
Nostalgia de la luz (Guzman, 2010) 8
Sidney (Hudlin, 2022) 8

Stutz 7.5
Talking Black in America (Hutcheson, Cullinan, 2017) 7.5
McEnroe (Douglas, 2022) 7.5
Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution (Arnold, 2008) 7.5

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (Smith, 2008) 7
Ways of Seeing (Dibb, 1972) Comprising 4 BBC tv episodes discussing art and its relation to society 7
A Matter of Heart (Whitney, 1986) About Carl Jung 7
The Beast Within (Lauzirika, 2003) The making of Alien, the 1979 Ridley Scott classic, from art concepts to final product. 7
Jodorowsky’s Dune (Pavich, 2013) Fascinating look at Jodorowsky's ambitious but unsuccessful project to make the first ever film version of the classic sci-fi novel 7
Italianamerican (Scorsese, 1974) 7
This is Bob Hope (Scheinfeld, 2017) 7
Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (Massot, 2012) 7
Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Life (Portway, 1988) 7
Wordplay (Creadon, 2006) 7
Richard Pryor Live in Concert (Margolis, 1979) 7
David Lynch - Scene by Scene (BBC) (Cousins, 1999) 7
Zizek! (Taylor, 2005) 7
Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Marshall, 2020) 7
Beppie (van der Keuken, 1965) Follows a quirky, opinionated, devil-may-care little girl over a few days in Amsterdam. 7
Follow Your Cat - What Felines get up to When They Leave the House (Treusch, 2022) on youtube 7
Santiago, Italia (Moretti, 2018) 7


Studio 54 (Tyrnauer, 2018) 6.5
The September Issue (Cutler, 2009) On Anna Wintour and her life as editor of Vogue in NYC 6.5
United in Anger: A History of Act Up (Hubbard, 2012) 6.5
Marx puo aspettar AKA Marx Can Wait (Bellochio, 2021) 6.5
Other Worlds (Kounen, 2004) Plant drugs, shamanism and altered states of consciousness. 6.5


Living with ADHD (Harrison-Hansley, Sussman, 2005) 6
Ram Dass: Fierce Grace (Lemle, 2001) 6
Before Babel (Hale, 1992) 6
Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark (Brewer, 2014) 6
The Stories of the Hünsruck Villages (Reitz, 1981) b]6[/b]

American Movie (Smith, 1999) 5.5
The Beatles in India (Bose, 2021) 5.5

[Silga]

Best documentaries I've seen in 2022 so far:

All ratings out of 10

The War Room (Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker, 1993) 9

Italianamerican (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8
Attica (Traci Curry, Stanley Nelson, 2021) 8
QT8: The First Eight (Tara Wood, 2019) 8

Letter from My Village (Safi Faye, 1976) 7
Ascension (Jessica Kingdon, 2021) 7
Lightning in a Bottle (Antoine Fuqua, 2004) 7
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, 2021) 7

Street Scenes (Martin Scorsese, 1970) 6
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (Richard Ray Perez, Joan Sekler, 2002) 6

Who We Were (Marc Bauder, 2021) 5

Michael Palin’s New Europe (Roger Mills, John-Paul Davidson, 2007) 3


Notable short documentaries seen in 2022:

Refrain (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1972) 8
The Queen of Basketball (Ben Proudfoot, 2021) 7
Somebody Waiting (Hal Riney, Dick Snider, 1972) 7
The Mighty River (Frédéric Back, 1993) 7

[pabs]

update since my last post:


Nostalgia de la luz (Guzman, 2010) 8/10
Sidney (Hudlin, 2022) 8

McEnroe (Douglas, 2022) 7.5

This is Bob Hope (Scheinfeld, 2017) 7
Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars (Massot, 2012) 7
Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Life (Portway, 1988) 7


Studio 54 (Tyrnauer, 2018) 6.5
Fascinating story about a shortlived, crazy time of decadence and frivolity in NYC for high rollers. Fun for all the celebrity-spotting, some great candid stills of people both famous, infamous and not famous (but quirky enough and "out there looking" enough to be granted entry by the club's uber-strict, style-police doormen). Everybody who was in the celeb gossip pages went there at one time or other, it seems. But the guys who ran this place were hedonistic lunatics whose drug habits and hubris (and devil-may-care attitude to their tax obligations) ended up derailing the whole thing and landing them in jail.

American Movie (Smith, 1999) 5.5

[rischka]

i watched american movie too. i thought it was a parody. when i found out it was real (and how real is it ACTUALLY) i felt bad for laughing at the guy who didn't know how to pronounce coven. it seemed like the filmmakers were making fun of him. dude had 3 kids! seems mean

and i also watched 27hrs of the world at war back in sept. laurence olivier made me cry more than once

i have the new adam curtis Russia: Trauma zone or whatever it's called didn watch it yet

[pabs]

American Movie made me so uncomfortable. That's why I gave it such a low score. I actually feel depressed whenever I see people like that, people without a clue and completely unaware of how dumb they are and how stupid they look to normal people. They always make me think we're completely doomed as a species.

[pabs]

Italianamerican (Martin Scorsese, 1974) 8

Thanks for that suggestion, Silga. I'm gonna watch it soon.

[rischka]

https://twitter.com/rbgscfz/status/1591 ... VtOyVp0T0g

TraumaZone was horrific thus why it took me 4 days to get through. sad to say, that country is fucked. i am relieved authoritarians have received at least a temporary setback here people are upset about 8% inflation?? try 2500% inflation. Jan 6 coup troubling? yeltsin fired on his own parliament building. incredible stuff

[pabs]

since my last post:

Italianamerican (Scorsese, 1974) 7/10
Wordplay (Creadon, 2006) 7 About the NYT crossword compilers and the annual national NYT crossword competition.

Enjoyed both very much.

[pabs]

TraumaZone was horrific thus why it took me 4 days to get through. sad to say, that country is fucked. i am relieved authoritarians have received at least a temporary setback here people are upset about 8% inflation?? try 2500% inflation. Jan 6 coup troubling? yeltsin fired on his own parliament building. incredible stuff

I'm almost too scared to watch it, but I will.

[pabs]

The last four documentaries I saw in 2022:




Stutz is about a shrink with a novel approach to treating his patients. The film's director is the patient here, if I remember correctly. Anyhow, it's well worth looking into. 7.5/10

Talking Black in America is a delightful look at black culture, especially focused on communities in Harlem and the Bronx, and how they've use and modified English over the centuries, and how that usage conforms to subtle yet strict rules of grammar and sentence construction - don't assume you can wing it and talk jive just because you know a few common/famous lines, no rule is a one-size-fits-all, and you'll make a fool of yourself attempting it. It's a fun and fascinating program if you like language and culture. Some touching moments too. 7.5 Anyway, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QFpVgPl9tQ

The Beatles in India was a bit of a yawn and the Reitz one was only interesting if you watched his epic tv series "Heimat".

[Silga]

I watched these documentaries last December:

All ratings out of 10

I Wish I Knew (Jia Zhangke, 2010) 8 - another wonderful film by the great Jia Zhangke. A touching and beautiful reflection of Shanghai, experiences of generations that lived through massive changes there. Nice to see other popular filmmakers talk about their connection to the city.

Ruta (Ronaldas Buožis, Rokas Darulis, 2018) 7 - a very personal and intimate doc about the most famous and successful Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte who won gold medal at London Olympics at just 15 years old. Ruta reflects on the onslaught of fame, expectations and psychological pressure to maintain the highest level and results. Inspiring if a bit simplistic look at the extraordinary athlete.

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Rory Kennedy, 2022) 7 - infuriating is a right word. I don't travel as much right now, but I'm still a devout lover of aviation and follow aviation industry news regularly. What Boeing did and how they decided to deal with it is shameful to say the least. But it didn't originate at their company nor in this particular industry. It's the rules of the game that are in place and have been for a long time. The blueprint for corporations of any kind to get away had been laid out decades ago with chemical companies and the like. Nothing really new, but still a worthwhile look at the horrific time for aviation and, most importantly, for families of the victims.

The Real Hunt for Red October (Gary Lang, 2021) 6 - I am big fan of a feature film so it was interesting to hear about another real life incident that may have inspired Tom Clancy. Although others say that it was more inspired by two other incidents, one involving a young Lithuanian Jonas Pleskys - the captain of Soviet Submarine Tender (from here - Sean Connery's character being Lithuanian "Marko Ramius"). A simple TV doc that runs quick and on point.

The Redeem Team (Jon Weinbach, 2022) 5 - a slightly disappointing showcase of the famous USA Men's basketball team that competed at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Directed by J. Weinbach, it doesn't reach the emotional heights of his previous produced doc The Other Dream Team about the Lithuanian 1992 Basketball team at Barcelona. This time, it doesn't really translate into the essence of Olympics and that spirit and focuses more on getting some egos caressed.