Documentaries

[Lee__]

I'm a HUGE Eddie Izzard fan. Believe, the Eddie Izzard Story, the documentary about him, is nominated for an Emmy.

http://www.eddieizzardbelieve.com/
http://www.eddieizzardbelieve.com/video.html
http://www.emmys.com/nominations?tid=112

YouTube- Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story - Trailer

YouTube- Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story EXCLUSIVE CLIP - Now Available on DVD!

http://www.amazon.com/Believe-The-Ed.../dp/B003FM8QJC

[Humpty]

http://documentaryheaven.com

[Just Jordan]

Originally Posted by Humpty

http://documentaryheaven.com

Thanks.

[Lee__]

YouTube- Grey Gardens original trailer

YouTube- Grey Gardens video essay

YouTube- their greatest battles will be with themselves

[Humpty]

look forward to the pat tillman one

YouTube- Pat Tillman Is NOT With 'God'! He's Fucking Dead!

[Just Jordan]

Originally Posted by Humpty

look forward to the pat tillman one
/

Roger That. As do I. What a mess that was. Many seem to have forgotten about it.

[Just Jordan]

Yeah, that's definitely a "must see", for me.

As a parent, he has to be furious. Amazing that he was so composed during the interview. Kudos to him.

Rumsfeld was such an ass. At least Gates is semi-dignified, even if he's ultimately a politician.

[Humpty]

Love the way he calls his sons eulogy the most eloquent. Didn't expect that.

A good one I've been watching piecemeal:

Protocols of Zion
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...5782546&hl=en#

Very interesting. Basically the protocols are, supposedly, minutes from a mythical meeting of the real rulers of the world (Jews.) They've been shown to be fake numerous times but since 911 they've become widely taken as being either factual or based on fact. The doc explores how widely the protocols and that message (and some other famous rumours e.g. no jews died on 911) have spread and how easily they've become accepted.

[Just Jordan]

That's indeed very interesting. I had heard of but never seen the doc. Looks good from watching a bit of it. Bookmarked for later viewing.

Yes, the "No Jews died on 9/11" myth is one of my favorites. Or that they were given a secret order to evacuate prior to the attack. It's amazing that anyone believes that one.

Somewhat reminds me of the fake "Hitler Diaries". I had actually only heard of those recently, since I think it occurred around the time I was born. lol. Still, very interesting.

In a sort of reversal of the sad story about Pat Tillman, I'd also like to see a documentary made one day about the story surrounding the capture and subsequent rescue of PFC. Jessica Lynch and how the U.S. military basically spun that into some sort of wild fairy-tale version of what actually happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lynch

The thing I don't understand about that incident is that the story was "heroic" enough, in it's true version. The first truly successful rescue of a U.S. POW from behind enemy lines since WW2? Why even try to spin that?

[Humpty]

Total farce that one. The bit they were faking was that she heroically held them off before being captured. In the end, didn't they rescue her from a hospital?

[Just Jordan]

Originally Posted by Humpty

Total farce that one. The bit they were faking was that she heroically held them off before being captured. In the end, didn't they rescue her from a hospital?

Yes, that's correct. Lynch later admitted before a congressional inquiry that her M-16 rifle jammed after she initially tried to fire it and that she was subsequently knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed and only woke up later on in Iraqi captivity.

It turned out that that she was actually fairly well-treated by the Iraqis (no sexual assault or torture or anything of the like). While she was filmed and her image broadcast for propaganda purposes by the Iraqis (technically a violation of the "rules" of warfare), that's almost sort of a given, these days.

And yes, she was in fact rescued from a hospital by U.S. Special Forces. She later stated that she had been given adequate, although primitive, medical treatment. Seeing how there was a war going on and there was literally no electricity in Iraq at the time, that's not all that surprising that only limited medical treatment was available.

[InDisguise]

She's actually a pretty good kid who was very embarrassed by all the press attention.

Toss in a US Military wanting a human interest story and an American media only too willing to accept the lies and even embellish them...

One only has to look at Jayson Blair's articles about her and her family to realize how asinine everyone involved was, from the White House to the Times itself.

[Humpty]

On a deeper level (and I think there's a bit in 'Why we fight') as well as micromanaging perceptions of actual events the military plays a huge part in how sometimes fictional military events are portrayed in movies. I think they used top gun as an obvious example of a film that wouldn't be made without military cooperation and how both sides got a lot out of the deal.

Have got to think the navy's guy on that one was ever so slightly gay. Seaman Staines.

[Steph]

Originally Posted by Humpty

On a deeper level (and I think there's a bit in 'Why we fight') as well as micromanaging perceptions of actual events the military plays a huge part in how sometimes fictional military events are portrayed in movies. I think they used top gun as an obvious example of a film that wouldn't be made without military cooperation and how both sides got a lot out of the deal.

Have got to think the navy's guy on that one was ever so slightly gay. Seaman Staines.

"Dammit, there's semen stains in my panties."

"Well you shouldn't have left them around for him to wear."

[Just Jordan]

Originally Posted by InDisguise

She's actually a pretty good kid who was very embarrassed by all the press attention.

Toss in a US Military wanting a human interest story and an American media only too willing to accept the lies and even embellish them...

One only has to look at Jayson Blair's articles about her and her family to realize how asinine everyone involved was, from the White House to the Times itself.

Yeah, definitely not a knock against Pfc. Lynch, herself. She likely just wants to quietly live her life, like most military people. She was basically a "tool" that got caught up in forces beyond her control.

I still find the whole incident ridiculous, since if the military (and the media) wants human interest stories, there are plenty of actual "heroes" (they would never call themselves that) who are prime candidates, such as the U.S. Army physician (forget his name, atm) that was killed trying to rescue two wounded Iraqi soldiers trapped in a minefield, in Gulf War 1.

Or, the story of U.S. Army medic Joseph Dwyer, who was thrust into an unwanted fame after an iconic photograph of him rescuing a wounded Iraqi child was published. His image was used by the military and the U.S. government in a form of feel-good media campaign.

Jospeh Dwyer, haunted by what he described in his own words as his "demons", later died of a drug overdose of inhalants at age 31. The government didn't make a big deal about publicizing that aspect of the story.

Very sad story. It's no wonder that most heroes prefer to remain anonymous.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25775792/

[Humpty]

Saw the last half (or so) of a great doc on the 3rd Battalion in Iraq and the surge.

It's called the wounded platoon
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/woundedplatoon/

A lot of drugs, a lot of pre-existing mental illnesses and the consequences when returning back home.

[Lee__]

OMG

Documentary about a man in his 80s robbing banks.

People in this thing...their reactions...priceless. Especially the judge who let him go. Folk hero? American dream? Lord love a duck.

This Is Not a Robbery

J. L. Hunter "Red" Rountree

YouTube- Andrew Lauren - This Is Not A Robbery - Tribeca

[Steph]

Meh not really that surprising. Australia made a murdering bank robber into a cultural icon ffs.

[Lee__]

Originally Posted by Steph

Meh not really that surprising. Australia made a murdering bank robber into a cultural icon ffs.

We're so weird.

[Occam's Barber]

I just watched an interesting Doc called "Heroin: Facing the Dragon". It follows the travails of two drug addicts as they enter a detox facility located in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand.

This one's decidedly NOT for the faint-of-heart. The part I found/find most interesting is the difference of approach taken there, as compared to detox centers based on the western medical mindset.

<EDIT: Looks like it's coming soon here.>