Ask HN: Good documentaries to watch?

"Blood Into Wine" - Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of Tool, makes wine in Arizona

"180° South" - About retracing a 1960's trip to Chile by two rock climbing friends who went on to found Patagonia and The North Face

"Exit Through The Gift Shop" - Amazing work by Banksy about the state of street art and those who attempt to commercialize it

"Crips and Bloods: Made in America" - About the context and history of gangs in LA

"Man on Wire" - The story of Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker who eventually walked across a high wire between the World Trade Center

"The Rape of Europa" - Explores the history of famous works of art in Europe during the 12 years of Nazi destruction

Darwin's Nightmare, if you want a reality check.

Baraka, if you want inspiration.

The Class (Entre les murs), not a documentary, but a hyper-real film about youth and the possibilities of education.

Seven Up!, as to what may come.

They're not quite documentaries in the standard sense, but I like the 1920s/30s "city symphonies", which try to capture some of the mood and rhythm of cities. Three are: Manhatta (USA, 1921), Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (Germany, 1927), and Man with a Movie Camera (USSR, 1929). They're plotless and a bit avant-garde, though, so may be boring if you're not into that sort of thing. Man with a Movie Camera is the most avant-garde, and is as much about the reflexive idea of filming a city as about the city itself; it also invented a bunch of now-standard cinematic techniques.

Anything by Louis Theroux is generally fantastic. Watch the one on "Medicated Children" if you can't choose where to start.

"Exit Through The Gift Shop" - Banksy fucks with everyone, and makes you appreciate just how brilliant he is.

"King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters" - If you think start up nerds think they are all that, you won't believe it when you see just how cocky former arcade game world champions can be.

"I Think We're Alone Now" - I wouldn't call it "great," but its definitely weird. It follows two unusual people who believe they are connected to Tiffany, the 80s singer.

"The Cove" (http://www.thecovemovie.com)

I had no idea what it was about when I flipped it on, but it's a great hacker movie. The guy who trained Flipper is trying to save some dolphins from being killed in Japan, so he teams up with some folks from Industrial Light and Magic to rig a secret cove with all kinds of spying equipment to catch the guys doing it. Really interesting.

Art & Copy - similar to Helvetica and Objectified. Good documentary about advertising and design's power, effect, and influence.

Here's one I saw recently that is worth a mention:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugabe_and_the_White_African

(Disclaimer: Nothing to do with hacking whatsoever.)

If you've missed these, here are a few on Netflix Streaming that I really enjoyed: Restrepo, Brother's Keeper, all the "Up" (7 Up, 35 Up, etc.) documentaries, Harlan County USA.

Try the movie - The Startup or it may be just "Startup".. you may find some good stuff to watch on - www.biznus.tv - which is a Startup and Business related video aggregator..

When We Left Earth, by the Discovery Channel. Amazingly inspiring.

Dreams With Sharp Teeth, about and starring Harlan Ellison. Very interesting.

The Smartest Guys in the Room - about Enron

"Greeks: The crucible of civilization" by PBS I think. For history buffs. "Empires: The Medici"

Food Inc. - "An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry."

Restrepo

The Smashing Machine

You can watch some about Aliens, Bermuda Triangle, Conspiracy theories, Pyramids.

thanks everyone. ill try some of these out.

Into Eternity