Deepwater Disaster: The Untold Story

This is a tight one about the 87 day battle to close the burst BP pipeline at the bottom of the god damn ocean. I never realized how many different things they tried... So many failures. Unfortunately it turned into one of the worst environmental disaster in US history.

It doesn't so much investigate BPs mistakes as it does document the events that unfolded after the pipeline burst. Decent.

7.5/10

Afghan Heroin

Afghan Heroin: The Lost War is a documentary which investigates how the war on terror in Afghanistan has unleashed heroin into the mainstream.
Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs on Earth. Some 90 per cent of the drug is grown in Afghanistan and this hard hitting documentary investigates how the War on Terror has inadvertently unleashed a massive supply of the deadly drug.
After the Western coalition troops started their hunt for terrorist Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban allies in late 2001, the country torn apart from decades of war once more became the world’s opium growing capital.
Many impoverished farmers had no choice but to grow the opium poppy to feed their families.
The documentary delve into the devastating effects of addiction that includes shocking scenes of a young Norwegian couple hustling, scoring and shooting up several times a day in order to appease the monster inside them.

8/10

You Don't Know Jack

Dr. Jack Kevorkian died today at age 83. In 2010 HBO made a documentary about him called Kevorkian but I can't find it. Fortunately, also in 2010 there was a film made about him starring Al Pacino called You Don't Know Jack

Dear Zachary

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Dear Zachary is the story of Andrew Bagby, who got shot in the face by his girlfriend. The evidence against her was overwhelming but she just peaced to Canada where government lets her walk free. Bagby's parents are pissed, but they also want custody over their unborn grandson in the girlfriends guts. The soon to be grandparents dip after the girlfriend to Newfoundland where they are forced to kiss her ass in order to see the kid.

10/10

Fighting for Bin Laden

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

This one is truly bad-ass. Since it's so new, it's kind of in fragments, all of which are interesting.

It starts of by highlighting the fact that Pakistan may in fact be harboring Al Qaeda, despite claiming that they're working with the US gov to stop terrorism. This part also shows how the US government is hiring a private Afghan army to help them do some fighting.

The next part looks at the drone war; the use of drone planes to spy on and destroy enemies from the skies. These planes, in case you're not aware, are unmanned aircraft that have the ability to destroy small targets from many miles away. Since the Obama admin., the use of these types of planes has skyrocketed.

The third part is an interview with author Steve Cole. This guy knows tons about everything to do win Osama Bin Laden. He brings up an interesting point: Osama's organization attacked the twin towers in hopes that the U.S. would pull out of Afghanistan and the Middle East. Clearly that plan failed. Maybe the US shouldn't have been there in the first place? I don't know.

The last part is the longest and most awesome. Report Najibullah Quraishi actually chills with a loyal band of fighters who are loyal to Bin Laden. He has to go on a 3 day hike, and think's he's about to die a few times. The leader is super sketchy, and the guy never really knows when he's allowed to be filming. This small group of fighters are pretty loyal to the entire Allah cause. They're even training children to fight.

9/10

The Vice Guide To North Korea

Watch The Vice Guide To North Korea

This is about a white guy going to North Korea to film a documentary. I was surprised at how much shit he gets to see and film. The most bomb part is in part 3, The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang which celebrates Kim Il Sung's birthday.

8.628/10

The Spill

Watch The Spill

This is a sick one about BP Oil, and how many time they've fucked up... If you think Exxon is bad, think again. These guys had a list of disasters a mile long, all of which happened before the big spill. Deaths, safety violations, environmental disasters. BP had enormous growth via financed acquisition which created huge tension between operations and the shareholders, ultimately ending in disaster a few times over.

7/10

The Confessions

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Frontline does it again. In The Confessions, Frontline investigates the conviction of four men -- current and former sailors in the U.S. Navy -- for the rape and murder of a Norfolk, Va., woman in 1997. In the first television interviews with the "Norfolk Four" since their release, Bikel learns of some of the high-pressure police interrogation techniques -- the threat of the death penalty, sleep deprivation, intimidation -- that led each of the men to confess, despite the lack of any evidence linking them to the crime.

The series of events in this is so crazy that it's almost unbelievable. Furthermore, it highlights the fact that the government can get just about anyone to confess to killing someone, details and everything. I truly feel sorry for these fuckers, some of them are in jail for like 13 years before they get let out. Once they're out, they're convicted sex offenders, so they can't get a job or live anywhere by their parents houses.

You gotta watch this one, the timeline of events is incredible.

8.4/10

Totally Bill Hicks

Watch Totally Bill Hicks

I didn't know who Bill Hicks was until I clicked a link from some Joe Rogan bullshit I was watching & started laughing my ass off. He wasn't just funny, he spoke the truth about some far out shit. He was a well read guy, whether it was religion, politics, consumerism, or some other bullshit. This documentary is part stand up and part interviews with comedians and tv personalities that knew him. If I had to compare him to another comedian it would probably be George Carlin, but more direct and foul.

9.3/10

Death By Fire

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This documentary, in my eyes, dumps a huge steamer on people who still believe that the death penalty is a good idea. Since 1976, when the Supreme Court lifted a ban on execution, Todd Willingham is the most prominent case of a person who was convicted and executed for a crime he may not have committed.

Basically, while his wife was gone, his house burned down and his three children were inside. He did not rush in to save their lives. Later that night he was seen at a bar playing darts, getting drunk, and having a good time. How fucked up is that? At first, you'd believe that he's the murderer. Further in, real experts with valid opinions will make their voices heard, and you'll realize that you were thinking like a southern idiot. Who cares if he gets drunk at a bar after? Who cares if he appears to be having a good time? All that matters is the real evidence. According to arson experts, there was nothing in the evidence presented at his 1992 trial that suggests it was an arson fire that killed his three children. Basically, Willingham is innocent.

Oops. Too bad. Already sentenced him to death, and he is on death row. But wait, the Governor can stop his death by haulting the execution, and he has 7 years to do it. Again, too bad the Governor is an idiot and relies on his instincts (wrong) rather than facts and rationality (right).

So Todd dies.

Check it out.

7.4/10

Proposition 19

OK people, this is huge. This isn't an actual documentary, but it concerns something so ridiculously important that I need to share it with all of you.

On November 2nd, the state of California will be holding a statewide ballot, Proposition 19, which will decide whether or not to legalize marijuana in the within the state. For the bill to pass, they require a simple majority (50%+ in favor). Check out the official Proposition 19 site.

What will legalizing actually do? Basically, people under the age of 21 will be able to possess up to 28g of herb. 28g = 1 oz. Also, citizens will be able to use fun grass in a private place, such as their own home or a licensed site (like bars or pubs). Further, peepz can grow the green stuff in a 2.3 square meter area.There are

More importantly, government is gonna regulate this whole process, and allow sale of up to 28 grams per transaction. Find more info about regulation and taxation at the Proposition 19 Wikipedia page.

How will this affect California negatively? Look at the official No on Prop. 19 Website. Many of their concerns are legitimate, and many, I feel, are not.

Home

Watch Home

In 720p HD, Home is visually comparable to BBC's Planet Earth. Although the shots of the natural world are money, the shots of human civilization are a lot more shocking. Its got parking lots the size of 10 football fields, suburbs that stretch past the horizon, and massive construction projects. It has a very broad focus but the visuals will keep your attention. With a budget of $12M, this non-profit film was the first in history to be released in theatres, on DVD, and online simultaneously across 5 continents.

8.5/10

Body of War

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Body of War follows Tomas Young, a young Iraq vet who was capped in the shoulder by Al Qaeda. The bullet hit his spine, which fucked him up a lot. He has to wear a catheter at all times, he takes more pills in a day than I take in a year, and his mom has to hold his dick at one point in the movie. Plus he can't bang his girlfriend. The film connects Tomas' hardships & political involvement with a debate and vote in congress that allowed Bush to go to war. Original songs by Eddie Vedder, produced by Phil Donahue.

8/10

Gasland

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I saw this on HBO Canada and could only find it online through the stagevu link above. The quality is fine but its a bit slow to load for me. Its the story of one bro and his banjo trying to understand the damage caused by drilling for natural gas on the Marcellus Shale, a formation stretching across a huge portion of the eastern states. This dude is offered some decent money ($100k ish) to allow drilling on his land. He doesn't sign any contracts and drives around talking to others who did. The drilling process is sort of complicated but it can fuck the water supply up. A few times during the movie he puts a lighter to the kitchen faucet and makes some big ass fireballs. This shit doesn't happen in Canada.

8/10

peeps trailer, kitchen fireball @ 2:20 :

Manufacturing Dissent

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Made by a Canadian, Manufacturing Dissent takes a look at the life and work of this popular walrus. Whenever I saw a Michael Moore documentary I had the uneasy feeling that I couldn't trust everything I saw and heard. I didn't know why, but now I do.


1. He is a liar, and his films are full of lies
For example, in his first film Roger and Me, the whole movie is about him unsuccessfully trying to get an interview with Roger Smith of Ford Motor Company. In reality, he had two filmed interviews that he decided not to include in the film.

2. He is a hypocrite
Everyone knows the Michael Moore style documentary: chase guys down and make them look guilty. A Canadian lady chases Michael down trying to get an interview for at least a few months in this film and is never given an interview.

3. He is whack in many other ways.
Former friends, co-workers, and even my boy Ralph Nader appear in this film to give their two cents on this nutjob of a man.

It was always about him, rather than the movement. Everyone wanted to hold Michael up there as the savior of the left, when he wasn't trying to save the left, he was just trying to create an image for himself.

-Guy that worked with Michael on Roger and Me

8.5/10

The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

Watch The Fog of War

Winner of the 2003 Academy Award for best documentary with 98% and 8.1/10 at rotten tomatoes. The film is almost entirely one conversation with the controversial guy, with an original score and historical footage and audio added. Although his life was full of crazy shit (President of Ford Motor Company, President of the World Bank) his biggest moments were during the Cuban missile crisis and dealing with Vietnam as the US Secretary of Defense. He did some questionable things in his time but he is incredibly open and honest about mistakes that were made. Very cool if you're interested in war/politics/foreign policy. 145min.

8.5/10

Burma's Nuclear Ambitions

Watch Burma's Nuclear Ambitions

Burma is building a giant tunnel/fortress under the jungle to hide their military activities. They are also making big rockets and hanging out with North Koreans. The idea is, nobody fucks with Burma if they have a bombproof hideout and WMDs.

8.5/10

Discordia

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September 9, 2002, jewish student group Hillel has invited former Israeli Prime Minister Ben Netanyahu (former at the time, now he's PM again) to give a lecture at Concordia University in Montreal.

Concordia had/has a lot of students sympathetic to the cause of Palestinians and some consider Netanyahu a war criminal. They decided to protest his visit. The protest turned into cops beating a couple dudes, and a broken window.

The film, made by a jew and an arab, captures the following year the from the perspective of 3 students:

Samir Elatrash - Canadian of Palestinian decent. Vice-President of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. This guys a good speaker and seems to know whats going on.

Aaron Maté - One of the student council executives. Jewish guy, son of Canadian doctor/writer/activist/baller Gabor Maté. This guy is pro-peace, pro-palestinian, but thinks that Netanyahu should have been able to speak. Samir and Aaron were both beaten by the Po in the protest. This guys probably the smartest of the three.

Noah Sarna - Head of Hillel, and probably the most interesting of the three. For most of the film he seems oblivious to the perspective of the other two guys. He's from an all jewish school and had never really come into contact with people who see the conflict differently than the way he did. He seems like a nice, open-minded guy. Near the end he says something i wish more people would say when dealing with issues they don't understand, whether its true or not:

"...the scary thing is, no matter how open minded you think you are, no matter how objective or how knowledgeable you think you are, you can never know if you're just always deluding yourself. You can never know for sure if you're just close-minded still."

8/10

Missionaries of Hate

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Uganda is 90% Christian, 10% Muslim, and 100% Fucked. This 45 min doc is one more piece of evidence answering the question "Are people fucking idiots?". For a while now, whitey douchebags like pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) have been exerting mind control on Ugandans. Not only do these people buy the christian books in droves, but they believe the bullshit they are told. As a result they hate gays... a lot. The legal debate in Uganda doesn't focus on civil unions or marriage, but instead on whether or not they should execute people just for being fags/lesbos.

This is done by Current TV at current.com. They make short documentaries about some interesting stuff, the kind of stuff you might not hear about otherwise. Usually they are important, but don't have much production value beyond doing great interviews.

Sometimes I catch myself blaming governments, corporations, and other institutions for nearly everything. In this case it should be blamed on the gullibility of poorly educated people (not that educated people are all that much better). Solutions to problems like these are hard to find, but I think I know where to start: Get rid of the god damned missionaries and start air dropping books like these.

7.3/10

I Know I'm not Alone

Watch I Know I'm not Alone

Michael Franti, an American musician, travels first to Baghdad, then to an occupied Palestinian village. It will shock you how friendly the people he meets are. Almost immediately he is invited into Iraqi homes. It would seem the danger of these places would transform the people into cold assholes, but it appears to do the opposite. Its the same deal when he goes to Palestine. You think that the conflict and hatred is permanently ingrained in the two peoples, but then this guy goes and plays a little music and everyone loves each other. Few documentaries give you perspective on what life is really like for oppressed people.

8/10