Is This The Real Life? Documentaries You Love

[topher]

Just saw Capturing the Friedmans. It was an incredible look inside a real dysfunctional family. I came away that the father did commit some molestation but not to the extent of what the police stated. I believe the son had a hand in it also. It was really disturbing to watch at points. Thanks to whomever recommended this film.

ETA: Netflix only sent one disc. Damn.

[marywebgirl]

If you still have the DVD the extras are really good. People were practically throwing chairs at each other during the post-screening discussions in New York.

[Deleted]

Has anyone seen the documentary that's been running on HBO called My Flesh and Blood? It's about a middle aged woman in northern California who has adopted several handicapped children.

[cynara]

Frances, I just watched that yesterday. It was really good. I liked how it explored Susan's motivation for taking in all these kids--her own mom even said that it was because she was lonely and always had been. Susan's obviously an amazing person, but they showed that she's just that--an amazing person, not a saint, as shown by her oldest (non-disabled) daughter's inability to get her attention.

Something I also found interesting was when she talked about looking at personal ads, and the first thing she mentioned was that she was fat. It's so depressing--like, here's this amazing woman who raises and loves all these kids unconditionally in spite of the hardships, and yet the first thing she knows men will judge her on (and sadly, it's true) is her weight.

I also thought it was fascinating that most of the kids, in spite of their disabilites, were remarkably well-adjusted. My favorite was Xenia, the one who was born without legs. My mother came in and watched and was sort of startled, but I had been so overtaken by her personality that I had totally stopped even noticing it. The same for Faith.

Joe and Anthony's stories were heartbreaking.

[razzy]

I lurve documentaries. At the risk of sounding like a SuperNerd, they are probably my favorite film genre.

Shout out to the Up series - I got into those via netflix and just loved them. I wish they were still interviewing those folks. I'm especially fascinated with the prep school boy who turned into a BBC documentary maker. Naturally he has declined most of the later interviews. I also want to know if the quiet scientist is still living in Wisconsin with his shrill wife.

Documentary alert: I got to see an early screening of Mad Hot Ballroom and it. is. adorable. Freaking adorable. I highly recommend it, especially if you were a fan of Spellbound.

[topher]

I wathced the extras disc of Capturing the Friedmans.
I wish we got to see more of the state's evidence against them. The thing that is bothering me the most is the lack of physical evidence. Also, the secret tape of the police interviewing the student was really disturbing.

[Deleted]

Has anyone seen a documentary which I believe is titled 14 Kids and Pregnant Again? I think maybe it was on the Discovery channel? I am not sure how to go about finding it or if it would be worth my while. Any opinions?

[shriekingeel]

The thing about documentaries is that the filmmaker can't completely stack the deck, or control his audience's response, the way the director of a fictional film can.

I saw Paradise Lost, the documentary about the "West Memphis Three," and I had the exact opposite impression from the one the director wanted: I thought they were guilty.

[principalvaliant]

Documentary alert: I got to see an early screening of Mad Hot Ballroom and it. is. adorable. Freaking adorable. I highly recommend it, especially if you were a fan of Spellbound.

I saw this too, I try to recommend this to everybody I know. My sister loved it so much she saw it twice and she has rarely ever seen any film more than once, much less pay for it more than once.

But seriously razzy, you took the words right out of my mouth. OMG, it was so adorable. You see kids that would never in a million years even consider a future in dancing, much less ballroom dancing, taking the competition seriously. The confidence that emerges from them and the encouragement that they give each other is really engaging. As well as them getting over the whole "eww, boys/girls are icky" stage and being really determined to win.

And dayum!!! can those kids dance.

[workgeordie]

Just saw Monster Road at the Auckland International Film Festival about the Seattle based animator Bruce Bickford.

The documentary was filmed by Brett Ingram from North Carolina who was present at the screening. Bruce is an amazingly interesting character whose love for animation is so strong that it could be an answer for world peace (so he says). A highly interesting film with a great soundtrack.