Is This The Real Life? Documentaries You Love

[Ginger]

I just saw an ad for the new season of "Documentary Now". The Grey Gardens episode was priceless. This time they've got a "War Room" episode. Can't wait.

[scarlet]

Just watched Ron Howard's Beatles doc "Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years" and really enjoyed it. The cleaned-up concert footage was great and, man, it's amazing they didn't crack more under the pressure the record company and management had them under (new album every six months, lots of touring).

[ratscabies]

I was watching that last night in the hotel. I had just tapped the screen to see how much I had left (at 7:10), and decided I would wait til after our show to finish.

As I hit the space bar to pause the movie, the boss calls to gently remind me our show was at 7:30, not 8.

Oops. Luckily it was right across the street, and sold out, so we started late so people could get seated.

I liked the film a lot, but seriously, Mr. Howard? Colorizing the footage? Has that technology not progressed an iota since Ted Turner ruined all those Hollywood classics?

I was especially impressed with the manipulation of some of the concert footage from Europe. I don't remember which song it was (Can't Buy Me Love, maybe?) where the footage was a theatre in Europe, but the sound was from the newly re-done Hollywood Bowl tapes. The picture was manipulated to match impeccably. Kudos to the post-production folks!

Giles Martin did a FABULOUS job with those awful Hollywood Bowl recordings. His father was coerced into doing something with them in the 1970s, and was always embarrassed by the end result, which is why it never came out in CD until this week.

Giles has the advantage of all the digital trickery that Pro-Tools can bestow, and he exploited it masterfully.

I may or may not have choked up while Whoopi Goldberg was telling stories of her Beatle fandom.

Also, while I have long known the Beatles impact on society at large,
as well as music, and have long thought they did far more than Reagan EVER did to end the cold war, I never realized their contribution to de-segregation. A cheeky 24-yr-old Paul McCartney telling a southern reporter that segregation was just stupid was a thing of beauty. How I never saw that footage before escapes me.

[scarlet]

Sept 18, 2016 19:20:40 GMT -4 ratscabies said:

I may or may not have choked up while Whoopi Goldberg was telling stories of her Beatle fandom.

I teared up when she related the story about her mother surprising her with tickets to their Shea Stadium show.

[narm]

I watched Weiner. Wow. Just, wow. So delusional and suuuuch a dick to his wife. So rude. If he was that rude to her on camera, I cringe to think how he spoke to her behind closed doors. He's batshit.

I feel so bad for Huma. I'm so glad she got out.

[Mutagen]

Into the Inferno, Werner Herzog's latest, which is out on Netflix now. I was on a minor volcano kick a few months ago so I was pretty jazzed that Herzog did a movie on the same topic. It was hypnotic and had some truly awe-inspiring footage. And the segment in North Korea alone was worth the watch. There were definitely some sections where it was unfocused and I wouldn't say it's quite as strong as Grizzly Man, but still very much worth the watch.

[americanchai]

Burn, it's a 2012 documentary on Detroit's firefighters (and Detroit in general) but it just hit Netflix. My favorite person is a guy who is retiring and he talks so lovingly about his wife. Very moving. I also just watched Michael Pollan's Cooked and it was much better than I thought it would be. It was less of a cooking show and more of just a food documentary in four episodes - they each focus on a different culture/ingredient: Aborigines/meat, Water/India, bread/Morocco, and earth (haven't watched yet(.

[scarlet]

I watched Newtown last night on Netflix. Not an easy watch, by any means, but it really shouldn't be, you know? It's not gratuitous in the least, focusing more on the aftermath of the tragedy. They don't give the shooter much more than a passing comment--and never mention that fucker's name--but deal with the families and emergency workers who were there that day. I can't get two scenes out of my mind:

- The father of one of the slain children talks about how he starts to think of things like "what if the shooter had turned left and not right that morning" but then he stops himself because that's the "chaos of life" and he always sort of found that beautiful, but how do you continue to find that wonderment after said chaos destroys *your* life?

- Footage of the families speaking after a bill on better background checks to buy firearms didn't pass. President Obama and VP Biden are there will them and they're hugging and consoling them. I cannot imagine our current administration showing a fraction of that compassion.

[chonies]

I haven't seen any of them, or Forks Over Knives--I personally got really turned off food/health documentaries about 5 years ago when everyone was talking about Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I am interested in eating much less meat and dairy, and I suppose what I'm getting at is that I applaud the parties to the movement in their effort to rebrand 'vegan' as plant-based. I mean that seriously--I think veganism is overwhelming to think about for many people and a name edit might have really helped turn the tide.

[Deleted]

I would agree with that. "Vegan" is animal- and environment-focused, with improving personal health being an awesome added bonus. Whereas "plant-based" is personal health-focused, with the awesome added bonus of being better for animals/the environment.

But six in one, half dozen in the other. It's all good stuff.

Topic: I haven't watched a food doc in AGES. I can't do any better right now and I don't need the guilt! I eat vegan sometimes, ovo-lacto veg the vast majority of the time, and pescatarian a couple times per year. When/if I ever get the strength to go full vegan, I will absolutely delve deep into the docs. They are VERY motivating!