Nova (PBS) : "To the Moon" is about the Gemini and Apollo space programs, and the debate at NASA and at Langley Research Center. The scientists working under Wernher Von Braun were debating furiously about the "mode" to get to the moon, and eventually decided on a method, Lunar Orbit Rendevous, which was advocated by an outsider, John C Houbolt. Very interesting show.

I also like "The Civil War" by Ken Burns, and "Lewis and Clark, the Journey of Discovery"

Great stuff already mentioned. Here are a few more:

It Might Get Loud: Music and the electric guitar starring Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White.
Truth in 24: 1 hour doc. about Audi at le Mans. I think it's free on iTunes right now.
Long Way Round: BBC Series about riding motorcycles around the world with Ewan McGreggor and Charlie Boorman.
Long Way Down: Same guys, but from the North tip of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa.
Senna was AWESOME! Saw it opening night in S.F. and the director gave a Q&A at the end.

Another for Victory at Sea -- epic music score.

Another for Man on Wire

Just watched and was amazed by Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (overlong, but good)

49 Up (the entire Up series)

Restrepo

Downfall

+1

Restrepo +2 - it gives a great insight into the hardships the troops in Afghanistan experience. The filmmaker died covering the civil war in Libya last year.

Deep Water
Fascinating and tragic : The story of Donald Crowhurst and his boat in the 1969 Sunday Times global single handed yacht race.
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This aint California
About Skateboarding in East Germany
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Exactly. Just like River's Edge, Mean Creek, and Twin Peaks are documentaries about the PNW.

I enjoy your typical elitist liberal condescension, Weeby... it's so thoughtful, unique, and refreshingly free of ignorant stereotypes.

You slept through middle school literature, right? :rolleyes:

I love most documentaries but this one is brilliant.

Just one detail from documentary... There's a German guy from SKF talking about the design and construction of the gimbal bearings for the pivot point at the top of the lift tower.
They weighed about 14 tons each (from memory) and cost a small fortune to produce.

I remember an old British TV show called 'Connections'. Was all about how one thing lead to another over time...looked on Youtube and there seems to be a big pile of episodes there.

Greatest series ever made. James Burke is a true visionary.

i laughed when the filthy hippies died at the end. shame it wasn't real.


hey, you know what no one is mentioning? that al gore load from a few years back. wonder why?






also look for "Spies Above" a television documentary on the history of satellite reconnaissance narrated by gillian anderson.

Alone in the Wilderness

About Dick Pronneke, guy built a log cabin by himself up in Alaska and lived in it .

I have a rare interview with Jim Morrison from about 1969 or '70, conducted over the phone from Memphis, (I think), where the Doors were staying while on tour. The interviewer asks Morrison if they've had any experiences like the ones in the just released film, "Easy Rider". The band had long hair and I think that he was expecting a humorous response, asking from CA.

To my surprise, and the interviewer's, Jim informed him that he was in fact from the south and that he did not think that the film gave a fair representation of the region. It's a fascinating interview, IMO, Jim was extremely intellectual and sounded a lot more conservative than expected. The interviewer was quite caught off guard. Of course the south had rednecks and racism, as did other regions of the U.S., but Jim was schooling him on the more cultured and less publicized aspects of the place, at least at that time. :cool:

I saw a pile of these on DVD at my brothers house... if he owns them I need to borrow them... I watched it on PBS the first time around... stuning

I read his book last year... it was great! I'll need to watch this.

there is a documentary called: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
covers WWII and into the cold war, lots of interesting statistics, if you are a numbers guy like me, but a great documentary.

also anything by ken burns, you cant go wrong with him.

Anyone see Exit Thru the Gift Shop about street artists including Bansky? A bit odd at first but really draws you in.

Fog of War is on my to watch list.

Last week on PBS Masterpiece Theatre had a 2 hour special on Johnny Carson. It brought back some great scenes from the show.

Agree on "Connections". James Burke did one before that called "The Day The Universe Changed". Even better, imo. Burke is uniformly excellent.

"Pulling John" pro armwrestling documentary

About John Brzenk- the skinny 20 year something heavyweight undefeated arm wrestling champ from Utah.


Crazy who he takes out.