Is This The Real Life? Documentaries You Love

[chiqui]

I just saw Rodney Bingenheimer, the Mayor of Sunset Strip and recommend it highly. It's about a scenemaker/disk jockey who ran LA's English Disco in the early 70s (a hotned for the glam movement) and later became a DJ on KROQ. Fascinating stuff -- he was a stand-in for Davy Jones on the Monkees, and quite the groupie magnet. It disturbed me in places, though, because he came across as so frail and alone.

[indygirl]

principalvaliant said:

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.

Who are the kids? I am trying to convince my friend to go see this with me, but she is a bit leery of my film selections since I made her see Fantastic Four.

[principalvaliant]

Ouch. Good luck redeeming yourself with that one!
My friend once merely suggested we see Radio. We didn't, thank God, and I have been rather cautious with her selections since. Unless she pays of course, then it is all good.

To answer your question, the kids are all New York, inner city elementary students. The documentary says that it is manadatory for all children in public schools, age 9-13, to attend ballroom classes and for a select few to compete in a city wide ballroom competition. (I think this started after 9/11.) The film documents from the introductory classes all the way to the finals in the competition, focusing on three schools.

It's fantastic.

[Deleted]

Watched Born Into Brothels last nite. It was so good, of course I cried. The director who also is in the movie, she is a professional photojournalist who uses cameras to help the children out of their miserable lives, actually steps up and tries to help the children out of the slums. It is so sad, yet the children are fascinating. I highly recommend it.

[goggle]

I saw Festival Express last Saturday. I didn't enjoy it too much because I don't like that kind of music and it was showing past my bedtime (and then a Q&A with the guy who shot it), but anyone with an interest should check it out. It's half concert and half jam sessions.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed Start-up.com although I recommended it to someone else and they hated it. Maybe they just hate documentaries? I don't know. I watched that when I lived in Austin so I was surrounded by dot-com millionaires and thousandaires so it was interesting to see these two guys go from nothing to something and then everything falls apart. It was very much in line with what I was watching happen to all of my friend's workplaces.

I put Stevie on my Netflix queue along with the Up series.

[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?

I saw that. It was ok- I didn't watch the whole thing but it wasn't awful or anything. The girls all dressed like their mom (homemade eighties-style dresses and long hair) and the boys all dressed like their dad (same short hair, pretty preppy). It was a bit odd!

[Britty]

shriekingeel said:

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.

Have you seen Paradise Lost 2: Revelations? It's a follow-up, and I'd highly recommend it. It may change your mind. Mark Byers is one scary freak. I lived in Jonesboro for many years including during the first trial. We saw Byers at the movies one afternoon, and just being in the same room with him gave me the shakes.

[LoveSparky]

For anyone who loved Titanic, I highly, highly, recommend "Titanic, The Complete Story." Even if you didn't love the James Cameron movie, this documentary is excellent. It takes you from the making of the ship in Ireland, to it's sinking, to it's rediscovery in 1985. More than that, it is the story of the heroism, naivete, courage, and regret, of not only those who perished, but those who survived. It takes you through the aftermath of the ship's sinking. You get to know some of the passengers in life, as well as in death. An excellent, haunting work. Really gripping. One of my favorite docs of all time.

[e c0li]

I was up at 5:00 am this morning and channel surfing, and I happened across a documentary on HBO called Shelter Dogs and I honestly have never cried that much during one single movie. It was so sad, and while I realize that some dogs aren't fit to be adopted out, I wanted to go to the shelter and get them all.

I'm not completely rational at this hour...