Mr. Death: This docu follows the exploits of a prison guard's son who helps repair the electric chair of a prison back east, and then somehow manages to parlay this into "expert" status and get work all over the country making/repairing electric chairs. Full of himself and cocksure, things spiral out of control and he winds up a pariah.

Heart of Gold: Johnathan Demme's Docu/concert film of Neil Young's premiere of his songs from the album Prairie Wind. Must see for any Young fan.

C*cksucker Blues: Documentary of The Stones '72 tour in support of their album Exile On Mainstreet. This film was never officially released though bootlegs are occasionally available. Read all about it.

I thought Rock School was worth watching. The teacher is a Zappa freak that basically runs a rock school for kids of almost all ages.

Bowling for Columbine and moreso Farehnheit 9/11 are hardly documentaries IMO. There is certainly going to be bias in documentaries, but these films have complete falsities and misrepresentation of truth in them, which is about as anti documentary as you can get. Its bad that I have to qualify with this, but its usually needed... I am about as far from conservative as one can get, but I still hate being purposefully misled by such a maniac.

2 more:

overnight - follows troy duffy, who wrote the boondock saints, and his group of friends during a time when it seems their careers in entertainment are taking off. this is like the startup.com of the hollywood scene. a bunch of geniuses who have it all figured out and are about to take over the world. they inevitably flame out completely and they are such huge douchebags that the ending is perfect. not particularly well made, but if you like laughing at losers you should check it out.

street fight - chronicles the 2002 mayoral election in newark, nj. the incumbent, sharpe james is the prototypical fast talking, crooked, career politician. his opponent is corey booker, a stanford and yale educated city councilman who lives in one of the housing projects in his district. lots of dirty politics. if you enjoy the political subplots on the wire, you will like this a lot. well produced and very interesting.

On Any Sunday is a classic motorcycle/dirtbike documentary from the 70s with Steve Mqueen. Great if you have any interest in any two wheel sport.

Why We Fight is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.

Who killed the electric car is good as yellosub was saying.

Baraka is an awsome. It has clips from cultures all around the world. Has some excellent footage and really opens your eyes. This would be a good movie to be drugged out too if that is your thing. It would be a fun trip.

Outfoxed is a good one to see also.

There was a video I believe I saw from OOT that followed meth users in Australia that was amazing.

That is all for now.

Not the best, but worth a watch and still unmentioned:

Loose Change
Triumph of the Nerds
Catch a Fire

Just a quick heads up to UKers- More4 are starting to show a series of Errol Morris films on Monday at 9pm- this monday is 'Mr Death' which is suggested in an early post here.

I have always enjoyed all things FRONTLINE.

Most recent was:

"The Meth Epidemic"

Very frustrating to hear how easily this problem could have been significantly reduced. It was not, because of the influence of the major drug companies. Irony or what!

Debater

for anyone in vegas, this documentary is playing now through thursday at the tropicana cinemas . i saw it last night and i thought it was excellent.

I just saw Who Killed the Electric Car a couple nights ago.

I don't think it was the greatest documentary. A little more time was spent on some things that I don't think were as interesting as some others that got less time. I did know some of this before I saw it though, since I was very interested in the car when it came out. For me it was preaching to the choir, but I'm not totally sure the movie would be convincing to a more skeptical audience.

It was pretty good though. I had already thought that the current policy towards alternative powered cars was bad, but I had thought it was more misguided than intentional.

I was already planning on getting or converting a car to electric soon. The movie certainly has me more motivated.

There was a very good documentary on life in Tehran by/on the BBC a couple of days ago.

Rageh Inside Iran

It can be seen in full on google video

It's a genuine look at the life of iranians in Tehran. Very far from the image of flag-burning fanatics Fox Network wants you to have.

Street fight is totally awesome. 4*s.

Just got done watching Cocaine Cowboys thanks to this thread.
Unreal. Always been a Dolphins fan but I really didn't realise just how much of an impact the coke dollars had on the city. And the folks interviewed/covered are ..um..intense. The Godmother and her #1 hitman. Miami's unstoppable economy when the rest of the country is in a recession.
Amazing.

Yeah. I just finished it too. What a great film! I knew but had no idea.

Yea cocaine cowboys was the most enjoyable drug documentary I've seen.

Two I haven't seen mentioned:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0166896/ The Straight Story, though not strictly a documentary

"The Straight Story" chronicles a trip made by 73-year-old Alvin Straight from Laurens, Iowa, to Mt. Zion, Wis., in 1994 while riding a lawn mower. The man undertook his strange journey to mend his relationship with his ill, estranged, 75-year-old brother Lyle. Written by Christian Sandberg

Alvin Straight is a very old man with a quiet life in a small country town. When his brother gets seriously sick, he decides to put away their differences and visit him after many, many years. So, alone, he begins a long journey through hundreds of miles, just to see again his brother, even if it's the last thing he will ever do... Based on a real story. Written by Chris Makrozahopoulos {makzax@hotmail.com}


AND

http://imdb.com/find?s=all&q=southern+comfort Southern Comfort

At its essence, Kate Davis's film, Southern Comfort, is about a transgendered man who is dying from cancer in his female reproductive organs. Southern Comfort is more than this, however. It also deals with the intricacies of the social community that the main character, Robert Eads, has surrounded himself with since transitioning from female to male, details the romantic attachment that Robert has formed with his girlfriend Lola Cola near the end of his life, and examines the dynamics between Robert and his genetic family. More than this, Southern Comfort engages in a discourse on human sexuality that serves to enlighten the audience viewing the film on the realities of transgendered life in the backcountry of the Deep South.

Bastards of the Party

HBO documentary. Good, not great. Very interesting if you're interested in gang culture. This documentary traces the history of LA gangs starting from the history in the 40s, but mainly focusing on how things evolved into the current gang culture from the Black Panther and other politically focused organizations.

Watching this right now on Netflix (its featured in the play now section and you can watch it for free right on your comp if you have an acct.).

Coincidentally I've watched only about the first half and I decided to pull up this thread and see if anyone mentioned it. Very surprised by your review El D. So far I have found it utterly gripping and fascinating. I'd rate the first half of Dark Days among the best 45 minutes of documentary I've ever seen.

Off to watch the 2nd half now.

Finished. Amazing film. Can't recommend it enough.

El D, I think this one might be worth another look. Try watching the whole thing this time.

Kind of weird not to see The Sorrow and the Pity mentioned.

eh - all of the reviews in The op are mine, diablo just posted it for me. i may watch it again - a number of people have advised that.

This one hasn't been mentioned yet:

http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/

It's incredibly dry (I watched it in 2 one hour sittings) and very low budget but historically accurate. There are a few pro-rights people they could have dropped but that goes with the territory I guess. If you are interested in either the 2nd or the 14th amendment this is a good flick to watch. It's interesting to see how misguided even some of our circuit courts are on this piece of history.

I'm a huge fan of David Attenborough/BBC documentaries.

My favourites are Life of Mammals and The Trials Of Life, but they all are worth watching.

Magnificent footage from Norwegian mountains alone make Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk a good choice.

Besides showing skydiving/BASE jumping footage, they also explain why some people want to do things most people wouldn't do for any price.

I didn't like it that much. I felt it was made for people who know nothing or very little about metal.

His view on black metal was just like outsider's view on metal in general: only morons are into that kind of music.

NP: Akercocke - Horns Of Baphomet

Haven't seen the "Up" series mentioned. Seven Up, etc...

Not sure if this counts but the Blue Planet: Seas of Life series is incredible. THat's narrated by David Attenborough I believe as well. Just amazing footage.

Mayor of Sunset Strip is awesome and depressing. Dig is too long and self-indulgent. Really want to see 'Dark Days.'

Two music docs that may not have been mentioned yet:

Wild Man Blues - Woody Allen's and Soon-Yi traveling through Europe with his jazz band. Barbara Kopple made this, also want to see her recent doc on the Dixie Chicks.

Don't Look Back - Amazing Pennebaker doc on Dylan's late-60s UK tour.