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HipGnosis posted:I think Louis Theroux misses that mark most of the time. I've seen the Nazis, the most hated family in America and the Thai brides docs and it just seems like he misses a lot of good opportunities to ask these people WHY these movements proliferate and learn about them. Instead, he asks Fred Phelps, "Do you really believe this?" Well, the problem with his documentaries, especially the ones where he meets the worst of the worst, is that he really can't be too confrontational, because his front of naivety is what allows him to get so close to the people in the first place. I think the Nazi one also contains a scene where he's eventually chased off by a bunch of guys because he wouldn't reveal whether he was Jewish or not. While that bit did a good job at revealing their hypocrisy, if he did stuff like that all the time, people wouldn't let him come into their homes. The thing is: He's not going to convince people like that of anything, and if he digs deeper into the "why are you doing this?" question, he's in danger of allowing them to shut themselves off or throw him out. What his style does allow is to show in what ways people with strange or disgusting worldviews live a normal everyday life, and at what point this starts to differ from the norm. I think he usually does a good job at letting the contradictions reveal themselves. By the way, I saw parts of an interview with Louis recently, and he talks about how in his early works, he sometimes overdid his nerdy, naive persona, while he feels like he's acting more natural in more recent series. I haven't seen enough of his films to see the effects of this, but it's an interesting point.
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Apr 1, 2010 09:19
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Underflow posted:Michael Palin's travel docs are nice. Have a look at http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/, then check Youtube. Yeah. I probably like Terry Jones better as a Python, but his (mostly historical) docs are a bit vanilla and popsci for the most part. Palin's films are more personal and very entertaining, because not only is he funny, he's also one of the nicest guys you'll ever see.
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Jul 4, 2010 11:50
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budgieinspector posted:Absolutely. Never in a million years would American network TV give someone like Dawkins multiple programs to make his case before the public. Our media gatekeepers really don't seem to like the idea of a lively public debate on matters of substance. Possibly because we have guns. I think this is partially a matter of perspective. You choose to watch BBC documentaries on the internet while being exposed to sensationalist crap on TV whether you want it or not (unless you not only never watch TV but also don't socialize with people who do). Here (in Germany), there are plenty of small, interesting programs hidden away in local or specialized channels, but it's hard to seek them out. If you just go channelsurfing, you're more likely to see mindless history or military stuff (often imported from the US, I admit) or the nth variation of "Hitler's Helpers", "Hitler's Driver" or "Hitler's Barber" (I think only the last one is made up). When I think of American documentaries, overdramatized Discovery Channel films do come to mind, but so do some excellent PBS docus and other more subtle or personal films. I'm sure you don't have as much of a tradition of intelligent documentaries as, say, Britain or France, but if television comedy is any indication, you do have a tendency to catch up with the Old World. 
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Sep 15, 2010 14:44
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evobatman posted:I'm looking for recommendations about the financial crisis, lehman brothers, goldman sachs and anything related. I've seen the lates couple of PBS Frontline specials and BBCs The love of money which was very good. "Let's Make Money" is an Austrian documentary that gives a good insight in global machinations and some of the most baffling and greedy financial transactions. A quick search only turned up the movie on Veoh (requires a download) and a French version somewhere else. You should be able to find something you can watch, though. Curiously, what stuck in my mind the most from it is a typical (and, in this case, very embarassing) English-German translation error in the subtitles near the end, where they translated "trillion" as "Trillion" - which, due to the German long number scale, means "quintillion". Still definitely worth a watch. I can imagine that as a non-British or American film, this might be interesting to watch for some goons.
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Oct 7, 2010 09:52
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Squarette posted:The trailer itself has to be the worst thing I've ever seen in my life It's been a while since I saw the trailer, but I was mostly disappointed by the fact that Joaquin Phoenix doesn't know how to pronounce "Gloucester". 
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Dec 16, 2010 16:51
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