Documentaries.

[K]

I made this thread last night, it was massive and awesome, but the board hiccuped and lost the whole bloody thing.

Anyway, I've been watching a bunch of documentaries lately, and found afterwards while googling them that a lot of them are actually on video.google.com, so I figured I'd share my favourites, and ask you to do the same.

The Boy With The Incredible Brain

Daniel Paul Tammet is a British high-functioning autistic savant gifted with a facility for mathematical and natural language learning.

Tammet was the subject of a documentary in the UK entitled The Boy With The Incredible Brain, The documentary showed highlights of his pi recitation feat, studying the Icelandic language in one week and his meeting with Kim Peek, a world famous savant."(Source: Wiki)

I really enjoyed this one. It's really quite sweet. It's about an "Autisic Savant", who doesn't actually suffer from (m)any social, or mental developmental difficulties, usually associated with Savantism. This gives scientists a really unique opportunity to study this phenomenon.

Watch Online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4913196365903075662

Life After People

Life After People is a special feature on the History Channel in which scientists and others speculate what the earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance would have on the artificial aspects of civilization. (Source: Wiki)

This one was rather engaging. It speculates what would happen if the population of the Earth were to dissappear all of a sudden. It touches briefly on everything from animal behaviour to structural engineering. It's quite interesting actually. Cool CGI as well.

Watch Online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4939078184096254535

Helvetica

Helvetica is an independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centred around the typeface of the same name. (Source: Wiki)

Can't watch this one online I'm afraid, it's cool though. If you have even a passing interest interest in graphic design, typography, advertisement, modernism, anything of that nature, check it out. It's fantastic. Really interesting, though I don't think it will hold your interest unless you're into computer design.

No Online Link, Check Amazon

America's Deadliest Gang

Lisa Ling narrates this informative, yet frightening documentary about the street gang known as M-13. Started in Los Angeles by half a dozen young immigrants it has grown into an international threat, infiltrating 6 countries. There are now 10,000 members in El Salvador alone! In the United States, the gang's brutality is rapidly spreading across 33 states, touching even rural and suburban areas. (Source: hdtv magazine)

I got really into Prison/Gang Docs for a while, this one isn't amazing, but it's interesting enough to hold my attention every now and then. Pretty intense, and quite scary.

No Online Link... But Available If You Know Where To Look

Ross Kemp On: Gangs

On the show Kemp travels around the world talking to gang members, locals who have been affected by gang violence, and the authorities who are attempting to combat the problem. In each episode he attempts to establish contacts within the gangs who can arrange interviews with the gangs' leaders.

More prison/gang stuff. Really, really interesting series. My favourite so far is the one about New Zealand from season one. Talks about The Mongrel Mob who really want to be this vicious and violent gang (And were) but now more closely resemble an old mans club full of drunks and nobodies.

Watch Online: go to video.google.com and search. There's a lot of episodes, but they're in bits, so no single link

Alien Planet

Alien Planet is a 94 minute special on Discovery Channel about two internationally built robot probes investigating for alien life on the fictional planet Darwin IV. It was based on the book Expedition, by sci-fi/fantasy artist and writer Wayne Douglas Barlowe, who was also executive producer on the special. It premiered on May 14, 2005.

The show uses sophisticated computer-generated imagery, which is interspersed with interviews from such notables as Stephen Hawking, George Lucas, Michio Kaku, and Jack Horner. (Source: wiki)

Haven't watched this one yet, really looking forward to it though.

Watch Online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3106679767514635043

[Liam]

I love a good documentary. The Cutting Edge series on Channel 4 is always good for something of interest.

I've also got The Corporation, and some other docu-film about Enron.

[Gazz]

I watched 'Life after People' when it was on channel 4 originally, really liked it, got you thinking about just how quickly things would crumble without maintainence and just how powerful nature really is, as our pathetic little structures all but disappeared as nature reclaimed the globe.

[K]

Totally. It really emphasised the fact that we're constantly fighting a losing battle just to maintain what we've created, let alone build more. I mean, I don't want to spoil it for those that plan to watch it (And I do recommend it), but it's really quite interesting just how quickly the planet would regress to a pre-human state.

[RoyWill Rumble]

I'll think of more later, but the first documentary that popped in my mind was Jesus Camp. That needs to be seen by everyone.

[VerbalPuke]

I watched two National Geographic documentaries last night, one about male prisoners, the next about female prisoners.

I've always had a fascination with prison life, and any glimpse of it I can get without actually going.

My dad has two cool documentaries that he got for Christmas, Walking With Cavemen and the Real Eve. The Walking With Cavemen is fairly self explanatory, being about Cavemen and how they lived, hunted, and fought for survival against the elements and other environmental hazards. The Real Eve is about the mother of humanity, basically what they believe to be the first woman that each and every one of us could have descended from.

Another I remember from a few years ago was the Walking with Prehistoric Animals set of documentaries. I don't know if it was the buzz, but I was fascinated by those documentaries.

Have you guys ever seen the prices for some of though? If you buy stuff from Discovery or History Channel itself, it's fucking expensive.

[Lord Nibbler]

The Fog of War is a good one.

[Herr Matzat]

I just watched one about Loomography on youtube today.

Here is what it can do. (very well don slide show)

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ9q8fICC_s

The BBC Documentary about the story of these Photostyle

Parts 1- 7 in the right order.

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd-fufbjeo0

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4Hu-YN2qU

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=wN6OttpMss4

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwt9I5THXLA

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=FFcdtHItiBU

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyZD0AWyx8

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=EjV2qCmiBwQ

The institude of Lomografphy sells these very cool crap cammeras for way to much money, just get one on ebay rom hong kong if you get intereseted.

[Cactus Drags]

I really want to see the Gridiron Gang documentary, the one that the film of the same name starring The Rock is based on. There's a couple of clips in the closing credits, but I've never managed to source the whole thing, legally or otherwise.

I enjoy watching documentaries, but I never remember entire things, or the titles, so my contribution to this thread shall be pretty much nil. That Planet Earth or whatever it was on BBC was aces. I'd love to get an HD-DVD version.

[Green Demon]

I dont know where you would be able to find the full length episodes but I have seen "The Drug Years" on VH1 a couple of times and it was just really intresting to see the "evolution" of drugs.

On a somewhat related note The Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel in actually a TV series but it is about crab fishing up in Alaska that I have been watching for a couple seasons now. I know it is somewhat popular but I thought I might as well throw it out there.

[jrtdot]

I watched 'Life after People' when it was on channel 4 originally, really liked it, got you thinking about just how quickly things would crumble without maintainence and just how powerful nature really is, as our pathetic little structures all but disappeared as nature reclaimed the globe.

in Canada they did a remake of this doc with more emphasis on the Nuclear Fallout part which i thought was intriguing. the doc which was ironiclly on The History Channel too I believe was called "The World Without Us" or something similar. Both docs were good and as you said, just shows how little effect we have in the grand scale of things

[K]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I will definitely check out The World Without Us, and I've been meaning to pick up Jesus Camp for a while. Thanks.

I watched two National Geographic documentaries last night, one about male prisoners, the next about female prisoners.

I've always had a fascination with prison life, and any glimpse of it I can get without actually going.

Any idea what these were called?

[apsham]

I watched The World Without Us and two episodes of Ross Kemp On Gangs, and they were awesome... thanks for the links\info Keith. For reference, I watched the NZ and St. Louis episodes.

[Gazz]

Did anyone watch that documentary on 4 that's just finished about those people who can't read or write.

That fucking blows my mind, being over fifty and not been able to even recognise your own written language, how the hell do you cope in life when all written text is gibberish to you?

[K]

I had to turn that off. I could not comprehend it. At all. Which is so ironic it actually hurts.

I literally can't warp my mind enough to understand it.

[jrtdot]

I have been also meaning to check out the Naked Planet series, any links would be awesome, I can't seem find time or the channel to watch it

EDIT

my bad its actually Naked Science

Edited July 21, 2008 by jrtdot

[Toe]

I hate the documentaries that are on TLC now about the 700 lb people who need to change their eating habits to live but can't. They are just boring, its the same thing over and over again.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Most of the documentaries I've seen have been through school, so they've been Michael Moore and The Corporation and the like.

But I did see clips of "Black Dawn: The Next Pandemic", which was a CBC piece guessing at what the world would be like during the next major influenza outbreak. It's probably not that difficult to track it down online.

[Gazz]

This is the featured article on wiki today, I haven't seen it but it looks quite interesting. If anyone can track it down let me know. (Y)

[apsham]

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22p...t%201&src=2

It's all over the net if you just search the name of it.