Good Documentaries
- Thread starter d gray
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mjp
Founding member
Well I'm not sure what to make of Beware of Mr. Baker. He was a great drummer and he likes horses, so I guess that's good. It was a'ight.
But what was better than a'ight, in fact what was fantastic, was The Punk Singer, a bio on Kathleen Hannah from Bikini Kill.
Girls to the front!
Beautiful.
But what was better than a'ight, in fact what was fantastic, was The Punk Singer, a bio on Kathleen Hannah from Bikini Kill.
Girls to the front!
Beautiful.
yeah, that's a good one.
20 Feet from Stardom
disappointing.
some of these divas have bigger egos than the real talent they back up!
disappointing.
some of these divas have bigger egos than the real talent they back up!
Bukfan
"The law is wrong; I am right"
"Anarchism In America"
1983 documentary which includes interviews with influential anarchists Murray Bookchin, Paul Avrich, Jello Biafra, Mollie Steimer and Karl Hess, and with poet Kenneth Rexroth. It also discusses the Spanish Civil War, the 1917 Revolution, the influence of Emma Goldman and the case of executed anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.
[This video is unavailable.]
1983 documentary which includes interviews with influential anarchists Murray Bookchin, Paul Avrich, Jello Biafra, Mollie Steimer and Karl Hess, and with poet Kenneth Rexroth. It also discusses the Spanish Civil War, the 1917 Revolution, the influence of Emma Goldman and the case of executed anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.
[This video is unavailable.]
justine
stop the penistry
Let the Fire Burn:
Shedding light on the fiery 1985 standoff between the extremist group MOVE and Philadelphia authorities, this thoughtful documentary dissects the tragedy from all angles, using interviews, archival footage and home movies to get to the truth.
Shedding light on the fiery 1985 standoff between the extremist group MOVE and Philadelphia authorities, this thoughtful documentary dissects the tragedy from all angles, using interviews, archival footage and home movies to get to the truth.
mjp
Founding member
I loved this one. When they are in the studio listening to Merry Clayton's vocals on Gimme Shelter...come on, man.
"They said, 'You want to do another one?' and I said, sure, I'll do another one. So I said to myself, um hmm, I'm gonna do another one that's gonna blow them out of this room [laughs]. So I went in again and did that pass on the part that says [singing] rape, murder, it's just a shout away, it's just a shout away..."
Then they play that part of her vocal track isolated, by itself, and if the raw feeling in that track doesn't give you goosebumps there's something wrong with you.
The egos (of those who have large egos, which in all fairness is a small minority of them) are justified.
absolutely! her vocals in that tune still give me a chill any time i hear it. and it was great to put a face and person to that haunting voice.
what irked me was i got the impression that they - excluding darlene love, who had a legitimate major beef over her deal - thought they made the songs great and deserved more credit than they received. i don't remember any of them acknowledging that they were lucky as hell to be part of some classic tunes and it's the songs they got to sing on that are the reason they're remembered.
but i was also drinking while i watched it so i may have missed that...
mjp
Founding member
Well, an interesting point they made was that those women (and a few men) were really restricted in what they could do before the 60s rockers said, "No, go ahead, blow it out!" which freed them to really sing. Once they started really singing, they did make some of the songs they sang on. Gimme Shelter wouldn't be the same song without Merry's vocals, so credit where credit is due.
Not saying you're doing this @d gray, but in general, people have a problem with women who dare to exhibit any ego. If Mick Jagger had done a backing vocal like Merry's on someone else's song, everyone would be falling all over themselves saying he "made the song." But when she lays claim to the song being great (which she didn't, but if she had), she's seen as being out of bounds. It's a double standard. Girls to the front!
Darlene Love is a special case. Spector fucked her over for sure, and of everyone profiled in that movie, Love had - and still has - the most distinctive voice. One of a kind. She's the star of the movie, as she should be.
Not saying you're doing this @d gray, but in general, people have a problem with women who dare to exhibit any ego. If Mick Jagger had done a backing vocal like Merry's on someone else's song, everyone would be falling all over themselves saying he "made the song." But when she lays claim to the song being great (which she didn't, but if she had), she's seen as being out of bounds. It's a double standard. Girls to the front!
Darlene Love is a special case. Spector fucked her over for sure, and of everyone profiled in that movie, Love had - and still has - the most distinctive voice. One of a kind. She's the star of the movie, as she should be.
The netflix thumbnail for 20 Feet From Stardom confused me. From the picture, I thought it was some backstage look at a tv singing competition. I'll have to watch that tonight.
This was really good:
This was really good:
Re: 20 Feet From Stardom...
Very good, worth watching alone for the look on Mick Jagger's face listening to the playback of Merry Clayton's isolated vocals. I watched that scene four times over, the hair raised on my arms every time.
On the ego note, I was surprised by the lack of ego, and further, the lack of bitterness that could have rightly been displayed.
Very good, worth watching alone for the look on Mick Jagger's face listening to the playback of Merry Clayton's isolated vocals. I watched that scene four times over, the hair raised on my arms every time.
On the ego note, I was surprised by the lack of ego, and further, the lack of bitterness that could have rightly been displayed.
Thanks for cluing me in on this - I just checked out the scene on youtube. While Gimme Shelter is a very good song on its own (maybe even excellent), Ms. Clayton's vocals are a mainline in the aorta on that. She personally ramps it up to greatness in my view. But then again, the Stones might just as well have looked at a very pregnant woman in sleepwear and said to heck with it, so there certainly is a measure of good fortune that goes into these things, including being asked to sing on a song that's strong to begin with.
Enjoyed this radio-drama on BBC3 about the poet Ivor Gurney.
Think Buk would have enjoyed it as well.
Will have to look up his poetry after this.
Have any of you read anything by hm?
He wrote his first poetry collection in the trenches of WWI.
Was committed to an asylum after the war and continued to write there.
I heard this late last night, unable to sleep because of an injured knee.
Maybe that situation had something to do with why I liked it. ;-)
Only available for five more days.
BBC3 - A Soldier and a Maker
Here's a poem:
The Silent One
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-silent-one-4/
Think Buk would have enjoyed it as well.
Will have to look up his poetry after this.
Have any of you read anything by hm?
He wrote his first poetry collection in the trenches of WWI.
Was committed to an asylum after the war and continued to write there.
I heard this late last night, unable to sleep because of an injured knee.
Maybe that situation had something to do with why I liked it. ;-)
Only available for five more days.
BBC3 - A Soldier and a Maker
Here's a poem:
The Silent One
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-silent-one-4/
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mjp
Founding member
Side By Side - which I think someone already recommended, but most of us don't type the names of the movies in the posts anymore, so I can't find it.
This was a good one about progress and the inevitability of technical change in artistic mediums. Or it was about movies. One of the two.
The idea that old films on celluloid will be still be around 100 years after all this digital media is gone isn't too far fetched. But only in the context of today's digital storage. As someone suggests in the film, sooner or later we'll come up with some kind of storage media that isn't as prone to error as the stuff we use now, and our wonderful digital art forms will survive. Of course after the big electromagnetic war that's probably coming in the next few decades, all bets are off...
This was a good one about progress and the inevitability of technical change in artistic mediums. Or it was about movies. One of the two.
The idea that old films on celluloid will be still be around 100 years after all this digital media is gone isn't too far fetched. But only in the context of today's digital storage. As someone suggests in the film, sooner or later we'll come up with some kind of storage media that isn't as prone to error as the stuff we use now, and our wonderful digital art forms will survive. Of course after the big electromagnetic war that's probably coming in the next few decades, all bets are off...
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
Don't be Denied- Neil Young
mjp
Founding member
Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart.
Hers was the first televised (beginning to end) trial here in the U.S., and being that Guinea pig didn't do her any favors. It was a circus from the beginning, and local (and national) news had pretty much decided on her guilt before the trial even started.
The kids who did the murder were together in jail before the trial, and had plenty of time to hang out and make sure their stories matched up. The jury went home every night and watched the trial on the news, and saw for themselves the overwhelming public sentiment that Smart was a scheming "ice queen" murderess who coerced the boys into murdering her husband.
Sound like an atmosphere you'd want to be tried in?
What's really fascinating about it though is that today, the people who were directly involved seem to confuse the actual facts and evidence (of which there was very little) with what happened in two movies made about the case. It's frightening and painfully ridiculous, and the whole thing was best summed up by someone in the film: "The system did what the system does."
When it was over I had no better idea of her innocence or guilt, but it's pretty clear that it didn't really matter either way.
It's an HBO documentary, so you can find it there.
Hers was the first televised (beginning to end) trial here in the U.S., and being that Guinea pig didn't do her any favors. It was a circus from the beginning, and local (and national) news had pretty much decided on her guilt before the trial even started.
The kids who did the murder were together in jail before the trial, and had plenty of time to hang out and make sure their stories matched up. The jury went home every night and watched the trial on the news, and saw for themselves the overwhelming public sentiment that Smart was a scheming "ice queen" murderess who coerced the boys into murdering her husband.
Sound like an atmosphere you'd want to be tried in?
What's really fascinating about it though is that today, the people who were directly involved seem to confuse the actual facts and evidence (of which there was very little) with what happened in two movies made about the case. It's frightening and painfully ridiculous, and the whole thing was best summed up by someone in the film: "The system did what the system does."
When it was over I had no better idea of her innocence or guilt, but it's pretty clear that it didn't really matter either way.
It's an HBO documentary, so you can find it there.
'She was given a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole.'
I've just read this and what Pamela Smart was accused of. And I watched an interview with director Jeremiah Zagar on YouTube. Makes me sick. The whole case sounds like a complete joke to me. What are you doing with mass murderers, with real killers or child rapists?
I can't see any proportionality.
I've just read this and what Pamela Smart was accused of. And I watched an interview with director Jeremiah Zagar on YouTube. Makes me sick. The whole case sounds like a complete joke to me. What are you doing with mass murderers, with real killers or child rapists?
I can't see any proportionality.
Watched my home town's adopted Dark Prince on the silver screen last night and it was a pretty amazing film. It focused more on Cave's creative process than his history and they did a clever blend of the real and the unreal. He's a kind of cartoon like character which lends itself to this style of documentary filmmaking. There's a few good cameos too and I loved seeing Warren Ellis at work (if you can find it there's an outtake showing the pure, furious, beauty of his violin playing).