A great documentary I just rewatched was this 35-minute YouTube video. It talks about an old video game, but then it goes deeper, and deeper, and deeper still – only to reveal itself at the end to be about something much more meaningful. Very recommended.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnPOQr1pxY8 …
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The Man In The Machine: This is a caveated recommendation. The documentary a sprawling movie, a disjointed collection of various “what’s wrong with Apple” threads. And yet, it was important to me to see videos of Jobs unpolished, petty, cruel.pic.twitter.com/rHcnbzvKLo
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Apollo 11: I watched this at a theatre and it was an incredible experience, with footage so crisp and vivid it felt as if we sent someone with a modern camera 50 years back in time. My mouth was agape for a significant portion of this movie.pic.twitter.com/AeFl0zHHaR
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The Last Steps: A short movie (free to watch) documenting the Apollo 17 flight, made by the same crew as “Apollo 11.” It’s nice on its own, but particularly fascinating as a prelude – a “dry run,” in words of the composer – to the main event.https://vimeo.com/192013765
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For The Record: Not as professional as other documentaries in this thread, but I still enjoyed this look at court reporting and captioning stenographers, I learned a new things, and a few moments made me pause.pic.twitter.com/uyUbGSRHTE
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Love Notes To Newton: Starts in a messy way, but then finds its footing. I never knew Newton, and this film made me reflect on two deaths of a computing platform: first when the product is discontinued, and second when its fans move on or pass away.pic.twitter.com/ILcLRfC26i
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How To Survive A Plague: A documentary about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America, and the efforts of activists to help affected people, and to hold the government accountable. Powerful, poignant, moving. I think everyone should watch this. (thx to
@hypatiadotca for recommendation)pic.twitter.com/KB8bWzO8OT
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The Patent Scam: This was bad in a fascinating way – a cross between an awful self-published book and Troll 2 maybe? The subject matter is worthwhile, but the execution… like the best worst movies, it entertained me *and* taught me a lot about the art of documentary filmmaking.pic.twitter.com/R9CpXebjQR
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The Century Of The Self: A sprawling, ambitious, epic even history of the 20th century through the lenses of psychotherapy, consumerism, and advertising. I feel like I need to watch it again to fully get it. More Adam Curtis scheduled already. (thx to many who recommended!)pic.twitter.com/758sSCnzai
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Knock Down The House: Just like the RBG documentary, this reminded me that there’s still room for humanity, hope, and integrity in politics. Unexpectedly touching throughout – and particularly at the end.pic.twitter.com/BHusQ5MBdy
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The Biggest Little Farm: Cleaned up and tends to be sappy, but it is also really beautifully shot and, as a city boy, I actually learned quite a bit.pic.twitter.com/6uvSDItORS
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The Inventor: For me, this worked as sort of a visual companionship to the Carreyrou’s book. Surprised by many shots from company meetings and inside Theranos labs, and likewise many CGI sequences explaining the malfunctioning machines.pic.twitter.com/sdDoe3j0Ml
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Chernobyl: Devastating docudrama portraying people working against unknown forces in an utterly broken system. Also, beyond masterful. (I am impatient, and at the same time dreading the remaining two episodes.)pic.twitter.com/8pcF3S7mst
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(Also, I have learned so much about storytelling and movie-making from the excellent accompanying podcast where
@petersagal talks to the show’s writer about each episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/id1459712981 …)Show this thread -
What We Left Behind: That this is a weird documentary becomes clear within the first five seconds. But that’s a great thing – and this recent retrospective on Deep Space Nine (best Trek!) is also rather lovely, and *very* lively, and I’m glad I watched it.pic.twitter.com/TFezAXo6Qv
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Too Funny To Fail: For some reason, I love the inner workings of comedy, and this was a slice I haven’t been familiar with before (Carell! Colbert!). I hope someone makes a movie about The Chevy Chase Show next. (Yeah, I know, I need to get back to more serious documentaries…)pic.twitter.com/UyLDrG8SvB
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General Magic: This was a really frustrating movie. I learned a lot, and it’s an interesting story filled with fascinating people – but I could do without the glamorization of failure and unhealthy work/life balance, and cherry-picking of influence.pic.twitter.com/zEgiabOVYU
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Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice: I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of Linda Ronstadt before. After watching this movie, I’m quite puzzled – she seems like a really interesting and very talented person, with an amazing musical career filled with so much acclaim.pic.twitter.com/01W8XPRat2
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Neon: I saw this 2014 documentary about Warsaw’s neons at
@TLMuseumSF tonight and it was utterly captivating – a rich history of my home country’s capital seen through the lens of one surprising group of artifacts.pic.twitter.com/iBZ2Vsg5RG
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Hearts and Minds: A brutal, relentless anti-war movie. Powerful storytelling achieved solely by editing and careful (and sometimes manipulative) juxtapositions.pic.twitter.com/xe975HQZJc
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Framing John DeLorean: I had no idea of the wild and complicated twin stories of John DeLorean and his eponymous car – IRA! Margaret Thatcher! FBI! Cocaine! Mostly enjoyable, although making actors participate in storytelling *as actors* felt like a rather weird choice.pic.twitter.com/xftrJZHD2X
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Show Me A Hero: Rewatching this underrated docudrama miniseries about racial tensions, public housing, and urban politics of Yonkers, N.Y. 30 years ago. It’s very, very good, in the vein of The Wire – dense, written by David Simon, and with an excellent cast.pic.twitter.com/aLAJ8232UU
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When They See Us: I decided to watch this docudrama this weekend as part of my education. It’s about the injustice and entrenched institutional racism underlying the 1989 NYC Central Park Five case, and I would encourage you to watch it, too – it’s on Netflix.pic.twitter.com/59o00vGj8r
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Do Not Resist: A 2016 documentary about the militarization of the police in America. Maybe more relevant today than it was then. It weaves through Ferguson, protests in general, some pretty gross glorification of violence, James Comey (oof), and surveillance.pic.twitter.com/ixwmo790re
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Selma: Somewhat embarrassed how little I knew about this moment in American civil rights history.pic.twitter.com/4q9DLDNkdV
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The Force: A brutal fly-on-the-wall examination of the Oakland Police Department, mired in one awful scandal after another despite being under 13-year-long federal oversight, and having undergone a series of reforms.pic.twitter.com/oFCB4xIsC0
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The Way I See It: I wished this documentary about the job of the official photographer of Barack Obama’s presidency went even deeper into the responsibilities of photojournalism, but still: the photos are so incredibly great, and remembering Obama as a president? Heartwarming.pic.twitter.com/liRP8uapbU
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Feels Good Man: This is a documentary about Pepe, the infamous mascot. I found the movie surprisingly good and deep: Visually fascinating, surreal, absurd, and wild towards the end, but also with a great amount of humanity throughout.pic.twitter.com/A9s29D8m1G
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