Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen? • Hacker News Board

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

#51

Post by samfriedman » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 4:57 PM UTC

Paris is Burning: a classic that explores the "ball culture" of New York in the 80s, and the impact it had on the city's gay, transgender, black and Latino communities. It's great for how it follows the various characters as they prepare for balls, while explaining the subculture and its slang/practices along the way. Very entertaining and historically important too.

In the same vein, does anyone have any other recommendations for docs that dive deep into a subculture?

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

#52

Post by dugditches » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 4:58 PM UTC

gvajravelu wrote: post #45

Not a true documentary (since it was released as a TV series in episodes), but I'd say The Long Way Round. It documents the real life journey by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman as they attempt to road trip from London to New York on motorcycles (except for a plane from eastern Russia to Alaska). They come across a number of different cultures and outdoor adventures along the way. It's very entertaining and an inter…

Along the same lines. Without as much production/support behind them.

Sibirsky Extreme Trail( To map an offroad trail route all the way from the edge of the European Union, across Eurasia to the Pacific Ocean at Magadan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ZC2WPnkfc

Races to Places(Rider traveling the world while competing in some Rallies) Fairly laid back fellow, and 9 seasons so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXZKuo8iws

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

#53

Post by TimMeade » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

Muscle Shoals. About all the music recorded in muscle shoals Alabama. From Percy Sledge and Areatha to the Rolling Stones and many many more.

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

#54

Post by xaranke » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:01 PM UTC

A Map for Saturday, definitely opened my eyes to spending a gap year traveling the world. Maybe some day.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R07DF6C/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

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

#55

Post by wj » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:02 PM UTC

There was a documentary on the City of God DVD that was better than the film (and I thought it was an amazing film).

A few from Netflix that I could find that I rated:

Endless Summer

Death in Gaza

The Filth and the Fury

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Baseball

March of the Penguins

The Art of the Steal

Born Into Brothels

The Aristocrats

God Grew Tired of Us

The Fog of War

The Lost Wave

The Last Waltz

Festival Express

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

#56

Post by bahador » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:06 PM UTC

Why We Fight (2005) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Fight_(2005_film)

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

#57

Post by nolta » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

Splendor wrote: post #43

The Act of Killing - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375605/ "A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers."

Plus its followup, "The Look of Silence" http://thelookofsilence.com

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

#58

Post by bartcobain » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

Hypernormalisation from Adam Curtis. I have been looking for another documentary as visual appealing, as evolving as this one but haven't found any other documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fny99f8amM

Do you know another documentary as good as this one?

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

#59

Post by bartcobain » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:08 PM UTC

lofo wrote: post #36

pommed wrote: post #11

The Century of the Self: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s The Mystery of the Gnome Homes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLoBWpiOczQ The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2xz5fs

Another great Adam Curtis : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperNormalisation

Do you know any other documentary as good as this one? Any suggestion?

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

#60

Post by rainhacker » Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

1. Fire in the blood: It's about "battle between pharmaceutical companies and the global public health community over access to lower-cost AIDS drugs for Africa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_the_Blood_(2013_film)

2. Capitalism a Love Story: Questions unrestrained capitalism in the backdrop of 2008 financial crisis