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Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

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111–120 of 568 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#111
The “Engineering an Empire” series from the History Channel (back when they did real history).

Nice to see extensively detailed stories about the grand states of yore from a perspective of engineering, rather than politics and great man moments.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#113
"The Social Dilemma", what a great documentary showing how ad business, recommendations, attention grabbing works in social networks and how it impacts society, it basically shows "how sausage is made" and how it impacts the whole world and the risks associated with it https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

"Planet Earth II", breathtaking documentary about animal life on earth with extraordinary scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5491994/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Inside Job", documentary about 2008 crisis, masterpiece, narrated by Matt Damon. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/

"The Last Dance", I'm not a fan of basketball, it's a doc about Michael Jordan, one of the best docs I've seen, sounds boring but you can't wait to watch the next episode, recommended even if you don't watch sports like me, it's about extraordinary person/athlete and what it takes to be GOAT https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Zero Days", great doc about stuxnet exploit https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5446858/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Human", what it is to be a human from different perspectives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3327994/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Over the Limit", documentary about olympic gymnastic and shows the price of winning at any cost. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8184202/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Life Story", beautiful doc about animals, great scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4150884/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Planet Earth", extraordinary scenes of animals lives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795176/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Blue Planet II", like Planet Earth but in water https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6769208/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Cosmos", doc about cosmos, nature of the world etc, very good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395695/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"The Tinder Swindler", "Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, he wooed women online, then conned them out of millions of dollars." Surprisingly good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14992922/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"The Farthest", about first human made object leaving our Solar system https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6223974/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Our Planet", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9253866/?ref_=rt_li_tt

"Cartel land" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4126304/?ref_=rt_li_tt

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#117

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Dreams_of_Sushi If you're a developer / engineer you'll admire the professionalism. And more importantly value proposition of your work.

I think Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a fantastic documentary and recommend it also. I came away with a different impression, in that I certainly don't admire or want to share Jiro's attitude to work, because the perfection-at-all-costs approach looked like it had a pretty devastating fallout on his wife and his two sons. It's a fascinating documentary in that you'll either come away saying "how inspirational!" or "I'm run…

I just watched “10 years with Miyazaki” and had the exact same sentiments.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#118
post #63

“The Century of the Self” by Adam Curtis. https://youtu.be/eJ3RzGoQC4s It goes through each decade of the 1900s and explains how Freud’s psychology and the new field of marketing completely reshaped society. For the first time in my life I feel like I understood the “why” of how things work in American society. This film is probably best if you’re age 40+ and actually remember some of the events.

+1 for any Curtis documentary. They aren't something you necessarily need to agree with to enjoy. Most of them involve him attempting to stitch together an over-arching narrative for events of our time.

Also see The Loving Trap for explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1bX3F7uTrg

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#119
“Stevie” because it’s so real and even almost quits half-way through because the filmmaker had a personal relationship history with the subject. Set in one of the poorest parts of the United States. I saw it at the Angelika where I worked and warned everybody: this film will test and possibly scar your heart and emotions.

For non-US folks, it’s set in a place that you probably don’t imagine really exists here, but it’s a level of poverty and despair on par with any urban slum or containment area in its own right…

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#120
post #64

Already so many good recommendations here, so just a few I enjoyed but haven't seen mentioned: — This excellent 2013 re-working of Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle (not a proper doc, but if you like Adam Curtis, you'll probably like this). If you like to consider whether the world we've built is good for us, look no further: https://vimeo.com/60328678 — Pump Up The Volume, a 2001 BBC doc about the rise of House…

"pump up the volume" is also a cool movie about high school pirate radio

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_Up_the_Volume_(film)

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