Author Topic: Documentaries - Discussion - Which should I watch?  (Read 383867 times)

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #125 on: May 09, 2015, 07:04:36 PM »
Louis Theroux looks at crime in the big city of Lagos, Nigeria, Africa:



Fixed

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #126 on: May 09, 2015, 07:11:54 PM »
This one's too strange not to post. If you have respect for animals (as you should), it's maybe a little sad. Theroux visits places where exotic pets are kept. A bit of weird Americana - both the situation and the people:

(It may be currently unavailable to stream on youtube. It's called America's Most Dangerous Pets.)


Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #127 on: May 11, 2015, 08:27:55 AM »
This guy was an old PBS film maker from the 70's - 90's or so, and his family preserved some of his work here -

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Some great old stuff, here are my picks -

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Great little treasure chest, there. I saw some vintage Geraldo Rivera (on "Public TV"!!)

doggler

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #128 on: May 11, 2015, 11:50:14 AM »
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

dr.chimps

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #129 on: May 16, 2015, 08:34:57 AM »
Recently, re-watched the Maylses' 'Salesman.' Oh, brother, if you want to see a man come to realize his life/career is wasted, right in front of you, this is your doco. Brilliant. Grim.

The Ugly

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #130 on: May 16, 2015, 11:07:36 AM »
The 'Up' series (starting with Seven Up! in '64) is quite extraordinary, if you haven't already.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #131 on: May 16, 2015, 11:19:50 AM »


Can you imagine. The super-rich are building huge underground living spaces that double as hiding places/shelters, right in the middle of the city. Good watch.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #132 on: May 16, 2015, 11:24:54 AM »
Great picks on the PBS work, BB. His page is like a window to the past.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #133 on: May 16, 2015, 11:28:01 AM »

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #134 on: May 16, 2015, 11:29:44 AM »
Recently, re-watched the Maylses' 'Salesman.' Oh, brother, if you want to see a man come to realize his life/career is wasted, right in front of you, this is your doco. Brilliant. Grim.

I knew those guys had done more than one thing. :)

Always meant to look and see what was out there from them, besides that and Grey Gardens. Many thanks, Chimps.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #135 on: May 16, 2015, 11:32:38 AM »
Kind of sad, kind of funny, definitely crazy. Relatives of Jackie O., a mom and daughter live out their days in a broken-down mansion. It's a drifter that requires a certain frame of mind, especially since the ladies are so touched.

Such a classic, though, it can't go without a post.


Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #136 on: May 16, 2015, 11:35:15 AM »
Salesman:


Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #137 on: May 16, 2015, 11:47:48 AM »
The 'Up' series (starting with Seven Up! in '64) is quite extraordinary, if you haven't already.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series

Yeah, it really does look interesting.

Here's this:




Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #138 on: May 16, 2015, 12:16:02 PM »
Haven't watched, but will stream within next few weeks and maybe comment. This is about Woodstock, from VH1:


Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #139 on: May 16, 2015, 02:50:58 PM »
Louis Theroux examines the problem of crime in Johannesburg:



Great look at what a society turns into when it's headed for hell. This is the exact route it takes.

The end bit with the person named as Maleven was highly questionable in detail (that was my problem with it, originally, I guess), but Theroux was trying to make a statement about sociopathic behavior. So I get it, now. That was the guy Theroux was delivered to, by his African "fixer"/contact, anyway, so not sure how Louis could have gotten around it without exceeding budget with no clear end (...and to his credit, Louis later mentioned that he didn't know if the details were true or not. His point about sociopathic culture stands strong, though, no doubt.)

That part is at the end. The rest looks at private policing, and what any society that plummets into hell will see. Very interesting watch.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #140 on: May 16, 2015, 09:18:31 PM »
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Yes. Looks like it could be a good watch.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #141 on: May 17, 2015, 09:42:59 AM »
Said pretty much the exact same thing when it was first posted.

Yes, that's what made me watch it.

Here's an update on that guy, for anyone interested (from April 2015):

*

Bobby Liebling is in a bad place right now. That may not be a huge surprise if you’ve ever listened to his band, Pentagram, or happened to catch Last Days Here, the critically-acclaimed 2011 documentary that detailed Liebling’s lifelong struggle withm drug addiction and followed him as he revived Pentagram in his 50s while emerging from his parents’ basement to start afresh with a wife less than half his age and their newborn son. Fast forward to today: Liebling is 61 and may or may not be on drugs again. He and his wife are separated. His aged parents have just been rushed to the hospital. “I’m trying to hang in there,” he tells us. “I haven’t been feeling so great lately, and my separation from my wife is killing me. But we all have a lot of baggage. I’m just grateful to wake up these days, because for all intents and purposes, I’m not supposed to be here.”

On a much, much more positive note, Pentagram have two new releases in the pipeline. The first is a double DVD collection of vintage and contemporary live footage entitled All Your Sins: Video Vault (watch a clip below). The second is a brand new studio album called Curious Volume, which Liebling and his bandmates—guitarist Victor Griffin, bassist Greg Turley, and new drummer Pete Campbell—are currently putting the finishing touches on.

Given the personal circumstances mentioned in the first paragraph, Liebling has not been speaking with the press. His faithful manager Sean “Pellet” Pelletier (you remember him from Last Days Here) made an exclusive exception for Noisey but almost cancelled at the last minute when Liebling’s parents were hospitalized. Clearly distressed as we talk, Liebling trails off on several non-sequitur tangents and his words occasionally become indecipherable. The following transcript has been edited for coherence and clarity.

How are your folks doing?

Bobby Liebling: They’re not doing too well right now. Two days ago they were both taken in separate ambulances to the ICU. They’re both in the same hospital right now. I’m kind of on the edge about that because my dad collapsed and my mom missed taking her pills. So it’s all messed up. I’m in their house right now, and the walls are starting to creep in on me. Reality is hitting. I mean, my dad’s 95. My mom’s about 84, and they’re both really sick, and all I can do is just pray for them. If they don’t make it, they’ll both go to a better place anyway.

I’m sorry to hear it, Bobby.

We’re all gonna go. Once you come out of the hole, you’re dying. Most people don’t look at it that way, but that’s really what it is. When you’re young, there are all these things you wanna see and do—you’ve got an appetite. But then you get to be my age—I’m 61 now—and I’ve done it all. I’ve been there, and I’ve got into every damn thing you could possibly name on the planet. The years start going by fast, and it happens to all of us. It’s just part of the plan the big guy’s got for us. That’s at least how I think of it.

You mentioned “the big guy.” I know your friend and longtime Pentagram guitarist Victor Griffin found religion in the last few years. How has that affected you?

It’s affected me totally. I’m on the same exact course now, and we’ve grown more than ever as people because we’ve turned to God as we know it and it gives us serenity. So yes, I’m really spiritual. I don’t believe in the church, but every day I talk out loud for at least a couple of hours to God. When I try to analyze it, I realize you shouldn’t try to analyze it. That’s the point. You just have to believe. And I do. It’s carried me this far. I’m a rock star, and I never thought I’d get near something like that. I’m not perfect, but I’m doing things right more and more. When I turned in the same direction as Victor—I wouldn’t call it “born again”—my spiritual awareness surfaced. It took precedence over our pagan, ritualistic living.

That means Pentagram can’t do certain things anymore.

Yeah. No baphomets, no upside-down crosses. That’s in our riders, in our contracts. People maybe didn’t get it when they heard “Review Your Choices” or “Be Forewarned.” Those songs are telling you there’s two ways to go, but I can’t tell you which to choose. You gotta figure it out for yourself. And it’s rough sometimes. It’s hard. I talked to my wife yesterday evening, and there’s a chance we might be able to give it another shot. I’m praying for it, because I really do love her. She’s done a lot of bad things, a lot of wrong things, but so have all of us. God will forgive you if you pay homage and stop fucking up. When I go, I know where I’m going. And I’m not afraid. I know I’m going to a good place, and I’ll be safe. Somewhere there’s a perfectness, and I will end up there because I believe.

You’ve been through a lot of shit since you started Pentagram in 1971—failed record deals, drug addiction, and nearly three dozen ex-band members. When you look back, do the good times outweigh the bad?

The good times outweigh the bad times when I’m functionally doing the band thing. But it’s not always like that. Nowadays, I’m a total recluse. I’m extremely antisocial. I don’t go out of the apartment. I see one or two people a week, if that. I stay at home and watch movies on Netflix. I never go out anywhere. I’m afraid to go out after dark.

Why?

It’s dangerous out there, man. It’s a rotten fucking world. I didn’t grow up with guns. I mean, fuck guns! We always fought with our hands—maybe somebody had brass knuckles. But now you can get catch a stray bullet in a drive-by. It’s real. People think, “Oh, not me.” Bullshit! You gotta watch it, man. You gotta try to live right, because it’s much easier to fuck up. Much easier.

What can you tell us about the new album you’re working on?

We took a real chance with this album. It’s called Curious Volume, which is very self-explanatory because this album is not your typical Pentagram album. We’ve got about 13 songs, and I’d say half a dozen are the traditional stuff that the diehards wanna hear. But we’ve also got a couple of punk songs, and there’s a ballad on there. We took a chance and stepped out to see if we could cut the mustard or not. It’s really a do or die thing, but why not discover that part of yourself?

How did you decide on the album title?

Well, originally the album was gonna have a lot more older stuff. It still has some very old stuff—it has a song I wrote in 1965, and another one I wrote in ’69, which is the ballad. So I wanted to call it Over Many A Quaint and Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore [a line from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”], because it has the old and the new. But we whittled it down to Curious Volume, because I got to thinking about why we have this obsession with playing such dark stuff and stare so much into the void. It hooks you, like a drug. It becomes an outlet for depression. That’s our calling, basically.

Pentagram bass player Greg Turley recently told Decibel that about half the songs on the new record are from your famously never-ending stash from the late 60s and 70s, and half are new songs.

Every single Pentagram album is that—every one, ever. The stuff that I’ve written is all from ’68 to ’73. I’ll never run out. But out of the 13 songs on the new album, I only participated in writing five and only wrote two alone. Up until this album, my favorite Pentagram album was [2001’s] Sub-Basement. That album is one of the most demented, sick, depraved, god-awful annoying things I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s hard as shit to listen to Sub-Basement and not come away feeling like your head has turned to mud. It’s assaulting. It’s imposing. It’s past the realm of uncomfortable. But I love that because hundreds—maybe thousands—of kids all over the world have told me, “I was gonna kill myself, and then I listened to Sub-Basement and for some reason I didn’t feel so alone.” And that does my heart good. They didn’t check out because they realized they weren’t the only one with problems. We’re all part of the malcontent club at times in our lives, aren’t we? But after Sub-Basement, I’d say the new record is the darkest Pentagram album. It’s really creepy.

Did you ever come close to suicide yourself, during your darkest days?

I tried it more than once. It’s not the right thing to do. You gotta try to hold on. And I’m holding on by a thread right now, I’ll be honest. I’m barely, barely holding by a thread. It’s getting the best of me this time because I’m older and wiser and I can’t escape it as easily. But playing music gives me an accomplished feeling. I didn’t get that before, when I was younger. It was all about the altered state. But now it’s uncomfortable for me to be altered, and I want a comfort zone of some sort.

What else has changed?

The band feels really in tune with the higher up. We’ve become much more of a family than we ever were because we know our limitations. I can’t jump all over the stage or do these three songs in a row because I’ll run out of air. Victor has to wear glasses onstage because he can’t see the frets. These things are all reality, man. We’re not gonna be here forever, but we can make the best of what we’ve got and just make every day count. It’s hard, but you gotta do it. Because we’re still here.

I hope it stays that way for a while.

Me too. In 2013, something like 126 heavy rock ‘n’ rollers died. That’s a hell of a number, man. And everyone except two people were between 55 and 65.  So we don’t live that long, people in “the life.” We live fast. You know the old adage, and it holds true. I’m just trying to hang on as much as I can. But you can’t dwell on it. [Rolling Stones founder] Brian Jones was my idol, and he died before any of them did. He did all the drugging and had the naked chicks all over the house, and that’s exactly what I did. I did all the drugs and had a house full of naked blondes. But now I’m 61. So when all those people went in 2013, I thought, “Oh boy.” Because I’m a fuck-up—let’s face it. I’m a big fuck-up. A major, professional fuck-up. But what’s frightening is that they’re all gone now and I’m still here. So I know I’m here for a reason.

J. Bennett plays guitar in Ides Of Gemini. He is not on Twitter. Source: Vice

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The Ugly

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #142 on: May 18, 2015, 01:13:28 AM »

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #143 on: May 18, 2015, 08:13:05 AM »
F'n monster.

Haven't yet watched the whole thing, myself. I want to give it the attention it deserves, as I've seen enough to know it's a very important work.

Have to admit, though, I would have advised him (the guy that made it) to start with some basic introduction into the situation. It felt like I was pulled into something tragic, without having a clear idea of who is who.

This is definitely a watch to be had, and I'll start it again from the beginning.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #144 on: May 18, 2015, 08:15:16 AM »
...I do take your word that he is a monster, though. No confusion about that part.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #145 on: May 19, 2015, 07:24:11 AM »
One more that's sort of related. This is the story of a guy on Guam, who lost his ability to walk because he got too heavy. It also has a surprise in it that I'll mention in the next paragraph, so if you want to watch it to see for yourself, don't read on...

He dies apparently due to an overdose of drugs, while his wife is present. Her 911 call and her story after it don't match up from what I recall, but no investigation followed. She most likely only helped him commit suicide, so maybe that's why.



Somewhere in this one, when they were showing pics of the guy from when he was mobile, I remember they flashed on one where he appeared to be lifting the back of a car. I wonder if that was legit.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #146 on: May 19, 2015, 07:45:03 AM »
Salesman:



The New York Times - April 18, 1969

Albert and David Maysles's Salesman, which opened yesterday at the 68th Street Playhouse, is a documentary feature about four door-to-door Bible salesmen who move horizontally through the capitalistic dream. It's such a fine, pure picture of a small section of American life that I can't imagine its ever seeming irrelevant, either as a social document or as one of the best examples of what's called cinema vérité or direct cinema.

Salesman is not a total movie—that is, a complete experience—as a fiction film may aspire to be. It is fact, photographed and recorded with extraordinarily mobile camera and sound equipment, and then edited and carefully shaped into a kind of cinematic mural of faces, words, motel rooms, parlors, kitchens, streets, television images, radio music—even weather.

The movie is a record of the adventures of four real-life, Boston-based representatives of the Mid-American Bible Company, filmed over a period of two months, first in and around Boston, then at a sales convention in Chicago, and finally during a sales tour in and around Miami. The focal point is Paul Brennan, a lean, bristly, professional Irish-American who, in the course of the movie, slowly comes to realize his inadequacy as a Bible pitchman. In a very gentle way, Salesman is Paul Brennan's voyage to personal defeat via rented automobile—a gallant Hickey in a Hertz.

Movie purists may object to some of the techniques employed by the Maysles brothers. They have eliminated from the film all evidence that the people being photographed—the salesmen and their customers—are aware of the presence of the camera. Obviously, they also photographed much more material than is included in the finished movie, allowing them to impose a certain narrative order on the events, and with that order, a point of view.

For one reason and another, I've seen Salesman three times, and each time I've been more impressed by what I can only describe as the decency of that point of view. The movie's lower-middle-class, Roman Catholic-oriented landscape is not particularly pretty, nor are the hard-sell tactics employed by the salesmen as they pitch their $49.95 Bibles to lonely widows, Cuban refugees, boozy housewives, and to one young couple that can't even pay its rent. "Be sure to have it blessed," a salesman reminds a customer to whom he's just made a sale, "or you won't get the full benefit from it."

However, everyone in the movie seems to be touched by the Maysleses' compassion, even the Mid-American Bible Company's pious "theological consultant," Melbourne I. Feltman, who, at the Chicago convention, urges the salesmen to go about their "Father's work," adding: "God grant you an abundant harvest." Salesman somehow transcends such surface mockery, partly, I think, because the salesmen really are no less vulnerable than their customers.

Giving the movie its comic and poignant dimension is Brennan's performance as Brennan, a cocky, beady-eyed drummer who finally succumbs to "negative thoughts" after a long period of being unable to make a sale. "I don't want to seem negative," he confesses to a colleague after a fruitless day, "but all I can see here is delinquent accounts." Brennan driving aimlessly through the fake Moorish architecture of Opa-Locka, Florida, where the streets are named after Sinbad and Ali Baba and the City Hall is shaped like a mosque, is an image of America as a worn-out Disneyland that is unforgettable.

Salesman is hardly a romantic movie, but in a curious way, it's just as exotic and strange a journey as any that the late Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North, Tabu) ever took through the Arctic or the South Seas. It may not be the entire story of America or even of the salesmen themselves (whose private lives are barely touched), but it is a valuable and sometimes very funny footnote to contemporary history.


Vincent Canby

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #147 on: May 19, 2015, 07:52:09 AM »
Since bikers are in the news -

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Slow in parts, but the parts that were filmed in NY are pretty good.

And this short was interesting, you can see a very young Chuck Zito in it -

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And a little more on the guy in the clip -

http://www.secondsout.com/usa-boxing-news/usa-boxing-news/the-incredible-comeback-of-john-lofranco .

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #148 on: May 19, 2015, 08:37:54 AM »
I've already watched Salesman once (curiosity got the best of me the other day, so I cheated and bumped it up the watchlist - hadn't heard of it before this thread). It's definitely one of those that you can see several times over, and pick up a better understanding each time. I noticed the NYT-guy seems to have found that, too, so thought it would be a good post.

No question, this is an excellent watch that sends important messages (be very careful what you invest yourself in, for one). It gives an almost-unbelievable look into the past, too, that is just priceless. On so many levels, it is brilliant.

BTW, kinda funny how the NYT-reviewer describes the process of making a movie like this, but I guess the explanation was needed back then. I suppose some people wouldn't understand WTF the filmmaker was trying to do, otherwise.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Documentary Thread
« Reply #149 on: May 19, 2015, 09:06:42 AM »
Meant to say a few pages back, that I recall seeing the Frozen Addicts vid a few years ago, and it's an interesting watch. Someone attempted to make a synthetic heroin-like drug, and it fucked a bunch of people by causing them to remain in a state of slow-motion. They were still driven to score drugs, though, so some tried to carry on despite having severe damage. One guy broke into a house, then froze on a fence he was climbing to get away.