Lately, I've been really into watching documentaries. Have any suggestions?

If you want to see stuff about vampires and other creepy people, you could check out “Vampire Secrets”.
Not sure just how informative it is, but it was interesting.

American Movie

I remember thinking how happy I was to find somebody to drink vodka with

I’ve heard interesting things about Che, but I’ve never seen it.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

It’s a three parter originally on PBS.

absolutely fascinating sociological traipse through history focusing on colonialism.

Invisible Children.

Boy, there are so many great ones, but one of my favorites is Sherman’s March and it’s nice if you want a break from some of the heavier ones. Though it’s not all entirely light. It’s unique. Check it out, I think you’ll really enjoy it. Roger & Me still holds up pretty well, and in the “classics”, most anything by the Maysles brothers or Frederick Wiseman is going to be very good. They practically invented the modern documentary.

“Hitler’s Stealth Fighter” made by NatGeo.

The Fog of War

I love documentaries

Food Inc
Overnight
Nerdcore Rising
Helvetica
Supersize me
Superhigh me
Hearts of darkness

EDIT: Oh also watch all the “This American Life”‘s on netflix. Seriously, if you pick anything of what I suggested, pick this.

Thank you all for your suggestions so far. I’m writing them all down.
@lillycoyote I love watching films on heavier topics, but it is vital for a break from them now and then. Thanks so much for your suggestion. I will check it out.
@jackm Great suggestions. I’ve seen Overnight (awesome film) and I own Supersize Me. Someone else mentioned Food Inc. to me. Must be pretty good. I will check out the others. :)

Edit: Will do Jackm.

Murderball

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Born into Brothels and The Price of Sugar.

schindler’s list

@SuperMouse Aw, that looks great. I just watched the trailer. Thanks so much.
@gradyjones Born into Brothels is a great suggestion. I’ve seen it. :) I will check out the other for sure.
@ChazMaz Not necessarily a documentary, but a brilliant film. I own it and have seen it many times. Thanks.

Another vote for The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

PBS Bill Moyer’s Journal
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

PBS Frontline
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/

PBS Nova
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

The Internet Archive has a HUGE collection of odds and ends, it’s like the Smithsonian
http://www.archive.org/details/movies
Even Betty Boop! http://www.archive.org/details/BettyBoopCartoons

King Corn
Disarm
A Journey to the West, a short film by Lawrence Chen

Religulous.

Oh, King of Kong is awesome.

Jeez, now you’ve really gotten me started. Great documentary films that are heavy, but kind of on the long side: Shoah weighing in at 9 hours, but I remember when I was watching it, it felt kind of like a book, something that I could pick up and put down and pick up again. And Spike Lee’s When The Levees Broke about hurricane Katrina and New Orleans is another great one. That’s only 4 hours long.

And Burden of Dreams about the filming of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo is another great one. It might actually be a better film than Fitzcarraldo was.

And again, another lighter one. Errol Morris’ Gates of Heaven about a pet cemetery and pet cemetery people, both the ones that run it and the ones that bury their pets there. It’s not necessarily as good as Thin Blue Line, of course, but it’s more fun.

And so many people have already mentioned The Fog of War…

Long Way Round is one of my favorite documentaries. Ewan McGregor and his best friend, Charley Boorman, go biking east around the world from England across Europe and central Asia and then from Alaska to Manhattan. There’s a real spirit of adventure and camaraderie to the series and they see a lot of wild stuff, plus they’re both pretty funny guys.

Wow. Fog of War must really be great. That’s going at the top of my que.
I can’t wait to start watching all of these. Thanks again everyone.

@Haleth Yes. Long Way Round was wonderful. A lot of fun to watch.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Capturing The Friedmans

Le chagrin et la pitié (The Sorrow and the Pity); a documentary about WWII. In particular, how France’s Vichy government collaborated with the Nazis.

When We Were Kings Ali vs Foreman, the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire

My Architect. On Netflix streaming. Get it.

Also Man On Wire.

You’re done.

Spinal Tap
But seriously, I liked “Crumb”

@PretentiousArtist, as uncomfortable as R. Crumb makes me, that doc was damn good.

I’m back. You’ve created a monster. Have you seen Michael Apted’s Up films? His series follows a group of British kids, well, they’re not kids any more, but his films have been following them over the course of their lives… the first film, 7 Up, was made when the kids, his subjects were 7 years old, and he goes back every 7 years to see how they are doing. It’s fascinating, though I haven’t seen the last two. I’m at least 14 years behind! And just one more, then I’ll stop, I promise. The Good Fight, about Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War, in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. You’ll be surprised how good and how compelling it is.

@PretentiousArtist +1 for Crumb, great movie

@andrew So many documentaries are streaming on Netflix. I love it. Thanks for the suggestions.
@lillycoyote That definitely sounds fascinating. Hopefully I can find it on Netflix.
Thanks again everyone. I have a list of over 25 now. :D

@Vunessuh Sorry! I got so excited about someone being interested in documentaries that I kind of went into overdrive. You might have to get some of the ones that people have recommented on DVD, but I’ve been really impressed with how many great documentaries that Netflix has free, streaming. I find that I actually watch more stuff streaming that I do by getting DVDs from them. Anyway, put a fork in me, I’m done! I swear! :)

@lillycoyote You can recommend as many as you wish. I love documentaries. I have many in my que, but plenty that I’ve never heard of which is why I asked the question. :)
You can never have too many movies. I have over 250 on Netflix. I agree, so many are streaming, I tend to be able to watch more of those per week than how many I get in the mail.

Another vote for Crumb.

Food, Inc.

“With All Deliberate Speed”

@gailcalled I’ve been told to watch Food Inc. many times. Must be pretty good. I think I’ll watch that one first. Thanks.
@thriftymaid Thank you.

@Vunessuh: It is a terrifying depiction of what six or seven huge multi-corporations like Montsanto and Cargill have done to the business of raising animals for food. I had to cover my eyes several times during the course of watching it.

@gailcalled Then it sounds like my kind of movie. Surprisingly enough, I enjoy films that are disturbing and make me uncomfortable. Always have. I enjoy the rawness and reality of it.

I also love documentaries. Some favorites:

To Be and To Have
Tarnation
Crumb
Devil and Daniel Johnson
I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore
I’m Your Man
Southern Comfort
Some Kind of Monster
Look Both Ways
Rivers and Tides
The Education of Shelby Knox
The Bridge
Devil’s Playground
Sketches of Frank Gehry

Beautiful losers
pedal
dark days
home movies

party monster:the shockumentary

hell house
handmade nation

@Megan64 Wow, that’s quite a few great ones. Thank you.
@Ashalah I saw Party Monster. Definitely a good one. Thanks.

Edit: Look Both Ways, not a documentary. Oops.

Enjoy!

National Film Board of Canada has some great ones.

@Vintage55 Interesting. Never heard of them. I shall browse through their website. Do you have a particular favorite documentary?

Some REALLY great ones have been mentioned already. Definitely check out Fog of War, Supersize Me, American Movie and the UP series (or at least the most recent one, 49 Up). You should also add to this list

March of the Penguins
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control
The Times of Harvey Milk
No Direction Home
Sicko
The Corporation
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
This Film is Not Yet Rated
The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years
Fahrenheit 9/11
Grizzly Man
The Aristocrats
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq For Sale
Outfoxed
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Kurt and Courtney
Roger & Me
Wal Mart – The High Cost of Low Price
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

That oughta get you started.

@dalepetrie Great list. I’ve some of them already, but most I haven’t. I’ll add them to my list. Thanks!

Let The Church Say Amen: really sad but worth watching.

The Corporation and The Party’s Over: dictated my political beliefs in high school.

@gailcalled . Is “Food Inc” available online?

Ed Wood by tim burton , with johnny depp

Gray Gardens

@thriftymaid: No idea. I only watch movies at the movies and don’t know the mechanisms for searching. My TV is so ancient it doesn’t even support the electronics necessary to install a DVD player.

Direct your question to the collective.—They are, by and large, further along the technology curve than I.

@thriftymaid You can watch it here, http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/food-inc/

@Tomfafa: Ed Wood is a biographical film with actors and thus not a documentary. It would have needed Ed Wood to play Ed Wood, just as Robert Crumb played himself in Crumb. Sounds like an interesting movie, however.

@gailcalled . @gradyjones . THANKS, will do.

Damn! I was soooo close…

American Drug War-The Last White Hope
Harlan County, U.S.A.
Sicko

@Silhouette Thanks. Sicko was pretty good. I will definitely add the other two to my list.