cRPG

Off Topic => General Off Topic => Topic started by: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 01:20:35 pm

Title: Documentaries
Post by: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 01:20:35 pm
As I am too susceptible to getting addicted to TV series and wasting way too much time on them, I would like to substitute TV series with documentaries. I am pretty sure we've had a topic like this before, but I can't find it.

I was wondering if anybody can recommend any documentaries or documentary series which deal with more technical or scientific subjects? I am not so much interested in cultural phenomena shit like most VICE  things and not so interested in pseudo-drama like the Discovery Channel these days.

I am looking for documentaries that will broaden and or deepen my general knowledge. For example, documentaries about how appliances work, about physics, about economy, about the human body, about space, about chemistry. I don't mind if its very educational or a bit dry.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: ecorcheur_brokar on September 08, 2015, 01:32:56 pm
If you like it dry, you dirty intellectual whore, you should take online course on coursera, edx, etc. There's tons of very intersting topics that you can master perfectly with those.

I had found a site repertoring documentaries in streaming, I will post it later when I'm at home.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Vibe on September 08, 2015, 02:25:09 pm
Quote from: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 01:20:35 pm
As I am too susceptible to getting addicted to TV series and wasting way too much time on them, I would like to substitute TV series with documentaries. I am pretty sure we've had a topic like this before, but I can't find it.

I was wondering if anybody can recommend any documentaries or documentary series which deal with more technical or scientific subjects? I am not so much interested in cultural phenomena shit like most VICE  things and not so interested in pseudo-drama like the Discovery Channel these days.

I am looking for documentaries that will broaden and or deepen my general knowledge. For example, documentaries about how appliances work, about physics, about economy, about the human body, about space, about chemistry. I don't mind if its very educational or a bit dry.

I was surprised what a hard time finding good documentaries online I had, people seem to like the dumbed down versions of documentaries. More graphics, less juice, if you know what I mean. Either that or really basic stuff that you mostly learned in school already.

Anyway, I'm kinda crazy about cosmos so most of the documentaries I saw recently pertain to that or other related physics branches. Anyway:

BBC Atom series by professor Jim Al-Khalili (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007x243) - about how atoms work in general, the history of it all, and some subatomic/quantum mechanics as well
BBC Wonders of the Solar System by professor Brian Cox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System) - it has a bit more of that 'commercial' feel, but it's great. I knew a lot of stuff that is mentioned in it before, but still enough new knowledge to make it worth it
BBC Wonders of the Universe by professor Brian Cox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_Universe) - same as above
TTC - The Life and Death of Stars by professor Keivan G. Stassun (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-life-and-death-of-stars.html) - still watching this one and I think it's great. Feel much more like a university course than an actual documentary.
(to add, a lot of my learning was done by reading articles and books, sometimes you don't really have good documentaries for specific, more complex stuff - due to them not being worth being made for general public, I guess)

I'm pretty sure I'll grab more documentaries from TTC (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/), as I like how the one I mentioned is done. They seem to have a lot of different stuff.

I guess I can also suggest watching TED (https://www.ted.com/) videos, but there's a lot of random topics there, so you might have to filter some before you find something good.

Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: [ptx] on September 08, 2015, 02:43:47 pm
Posting for maybe watching something later. Probably not.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Torost on September 08, 2015, 03:04:21 pm
Amazing docu about the greatest movie never made. The Spice must flow!
Robert Strange McNamara life and work. Economics, Cold War, Vietnam, Politics. Great portraitdocu. 11 Lessons for understanding the world.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 04:28:06 pm
Quote from: ecorcheur_brokar on September 08, 2015, 01:32:56 pm
If you like it dry, you dirty intellectual whore, you should take online course on coursera, edx, etc. There's tons of very intersting topics that you can master perfectly with those.
I was not aware of the existence of sites like these and I will have a glance at the courses they offer. Still, I am studying stuff on my own already and I need something to passively watch during meals and such, so documentaries are the perfect format.

Quote from: Vibe on September 08, 2015, 02:25:09 pm
(click to show/hide)
Yeah, whenever I searched for documentaries I ended up being pretty disappointed. These BBC series look pretty good though, cheers. Something irks me about TED talks though, the few that I watched were just too sensational and too try-hard "inspiring", or something like that.

Quote from: Torost on September 08, 2015, 03:04:21 pm
(click to show/hide)
I think I watched some of this at some point, if nothing else it is at least an interesting viewport into US decision making, will probably watch. Thanks.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: AntiBlitz on September 08, 2015, 04:34:30 pm
I'm sure tv varies especially from what is shown in Europe, but we have a science channel/history channel that constantly play the tv shows "How it's made" and "Modern Marvels" which are both pretty good for learning the most random goddamn things like how rubber bands are made, or how they manufacture airplanes.  "worlds strangest" is also pretty good.

These links just show you the shows, i don't think you'll actually find anything of value on these sites, but it can at least give you an idea of the shows and if you'll like them.
http://www.sciencechannel.com/videos/
http://www.history.com/shows/modern-marvels

After re-reading your initial post, im not sure these are necessarily "deep" by any means lol, but they do give a bit of entertainment while you osmosis the random facts.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Paul on September 08, 2015, 04:40:23 pm
Quote from: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 01:20:35 pm
I am looking for documentaries that will broaden and or deepen my general knowledge. For example, documentaries about how appliances work, about physics, about economy, about the human body, about space, about chemistry. I don't mind if its very educational or a bit dry.

If I estimate your intellectual power level correctly then the "Sendung mit der Maus" might be right for you.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Teeth on September 08, 2015, 04:55:30 pm
Quote from: AntiBlitz on September 08, 2015, 04:34:30 pm
I'm sure tv varies especially from what is shown in Europe, but we have a science channel/history channel that constantly play the tv shows "How it's made" and "Modern Marvels" which are both pretty good for learning the most random goddamn things like how rubber bands are made, or how they manufacture airplanes.  "worlds strangest" is also pretty good.

These links just show you the shows, i don't think you'll actually find anything of value on these sites, but it can at least give you an idea of the shows and if you'll like them.
http://www.sciencechannel.com/videos/
http://www.history.com/shows/modern-marvels

After re-reading your initial post, im not sure these are necessarily "deep" by any means lol, but they do give a bit of entertainment while you osmosis the random facts.
No, these do fit into what I am looking for, these are the kind of shows we used to have on the Discovery Channel here, before it all turned into pseudo-drama series. These kinds of shows are easy to digest, yet informative enough to always learn at least something. If it really is very basic, I can always watch them at like 1.5 speed and breeze through the information quickly.

Quote from: Paul on September 08, 2015, 04:40:23 pm
If I estimate your intellectual power level correctly then the "Sendung mit der Maus" might be right for you.
Doesn't hurt to reach
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Paul on September 08, 2015, 07:12:40 pm
Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfXsdbnPjX4) a useful online tutorial how to get internet.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Kafein on September 08, 2015, 07:17:22 pm
Get into the Computerphile/Numberphile/Vsauce/Veritasium/whatever corner of Youtube if you haven't already. Those videos are often too short, scratch the surface and contain too much noise but at least they provide some introduction to topics that are legitimately interesting/challenging.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Grumbs on September 08, 2015, 07:27:45 pm
I liked this documentary:

I found it on Netflix. You can probably fine a bunch of similar stuff there
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Utrakil on September 08, 2015, 09:15:11 pm
I found this pretty interesting.
(click to show/hide)
It is a MIT lecture about poker economics.
Even if you are not interested in the game it is amazing how this guy explains how future markets (and ideas of modern economy) are based on and evolved from poker.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 08, 2015, 09:29:42 pm
Searching for 'lectures' will get you a lot further than 'documentaries' on various video sites, if you're looking for something serious. It's virtually all I watch unless I have guests, and you can usually avoid the worst 'edutainment' types of videos.

But of course there's always http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: WITCHCRAFT on September 08, 2015, 09:39:39 pm
It sounds to me like most "made for TV" documentaries are going to be a little light for your preference? Even ones that cover the hard sciences like physics/chem/bio stuff are made easy to digest on purpose.

If I'm right about those guesses, then boy do I have a cool thing for you. Check your local library for The Great Courses (http://www.thegreatcourses.com). Or steal them from the internet. Or buy them. I don't care. It's basically a semester length set of lectures on DVD for any subject you can think of.

I prefer reading to watching TV when I have lazy time, but I have gone through a couple of these and they're good stuff. I think everyone here would like The Crusades (covered over 2 "courses"). Unless you're a post-grad in history and then it's babymode stuff for you.

edit: man I just went through the history courses on their website and I think I'm gonna have to borrow more of these from the library. Vikings! Gnosticism! Barbarian Empires of the Steppes! Late Antiquity!!!
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 08, 2015, 09:55:42 pm
Quote from: WITCHCRAFT on September 08, 2015, 09:39:39 pm
I prefer reading to watching TV when I have lazy time
Wasn't long ago I even got a TV in the house again. It's never on though, unless I have guests and if I don't read I listen to an audio book or as I said some lecture (use both for commuting aswell). On the rare event once half a year or so when I do turn on the TV together with someone it's almost a psychedelic experience; commercials, sit coms, reality tv, talk shows, incessant noise and idiocy, and we quickly reconnect it to something sane through the internet.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: ecorcheur_brokar on September 08, 2015, 10:38:34 pm
So here is the promised site http://documentaryheaven.com/citizenfour/ . Just watched citizen four on it (great to see btw) but it seems there's a lot of documentaries.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 08, 2015, 11:12:24 pm
I can also recommend Citizen Four.

And in line with this, a Glenn Greenwald talk on civil rights at the University of Texas, basically a summary of his work the last years.

Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 08, 2015, 11:33:47 pm


Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Gravoth_iii on September 09, 2015, 07:55:01 pm
Super smash bros Melee documentary

(click to show/hide)

Wont teach you a thing, but hey video games. Havent played the game more than a few rounds, watched the full 4 hours though and got kind of nostalgic at the end. Its just interesting to delve into different competitive video games, id like to think it helps me improve my skillz somehow, broadening my gaming knowledge. Makes me dream what crpg shouldve been.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: njames89 on September 09, 2015, 08:16:46 pm
If you haven't seen it I recommend watching Knuckle. Its a documentary that follows some irish gypsy families that vcr each other trash talking tapes and then beat the fuck out of eachother.

Great stuff shot over a really long time period.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 09, 2015, 08:35:34 pm


Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: cup457 on September 09, 2015, 09:17:40 pm
Der ewige jude
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 13, 2015, 04:05:27 pm

Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Clockworkkiller on September 13, 2015, 04:45:49 pm
I have a bunch of WW2/Korea/Vietnam documentaries on DVD at home. If I can dig em out and get the names you'll probably be able to easily find em online.

Also if anyone knows any good military history/anicent history related documentaries. Science or other kinds of history really don't interest me that much.

I'd avoid TED talks if I were you, they used to be good and a rare few still are, but you have to sort through mostly trash to find em and I don't find it worth it.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: WITCHCRAFT on September 16, 2015, 04:29:00 am
Quote from: Clockworkkiller on September 13, 2015, 04:45:49 pm
I have a bunch of WW2/Korea/Vietnam documentaries on DVD at home. If I can dig em out and get the names you'll probably be able to easily find em online.

Also if anyone knows any good military history/anicent history related documentaries. Science or other kinds of history really don't interest me that much.

I'd like some recommends from your DVD collection. I've been watching WW2 in HD and Vietnam in HD on Netflix - I like that the majority of them is actual footage. Bonus if you got anything with crackly radio transmissions or radio/TV news recordings. It puts me in a dark place mentally but I also enjoy it??? I dunno. I guess I like realistic post-apocalypse stuff for the same reason.

As far as historical military stuff, are you looking for ones that cover military tactics and specific battles or more biopics of historically significant military people?
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Clockworkkiller on September 16, 2015, 06:11:34 am
Quote from: WITCHCRAFT on September 16, 2015, 04:29:00 am
I'd like some recommends from your DVD collection. I've been watching WW2 in HD and Vietnam in HD on Netflix - I like that the majority of them is actual footage. Bonus if you got anything with crackly radio transmissions or radio/TV news recordings. It puts me in a dark place mentally but I also enjoy it??? I dunno. I guess I like realistic post-apocalypse stuff for the same reason.

As far as historical military stuff, are you looking for ones that cover military tactics and specific battles or more biopics of historically significant military people?

ok so I thought I had more but turns out i only have 3. they are in these big tin boxes. First one is a 2 disc set Famous generals of WW2, another 2 disc set of The Forgotten war Korea, and last is a wicked cool 5 disc set Battleground Vietnam: War in the jungle. dont think theyll be on netflix but definitely found on amazon.

and yea, military tactics/battles stuff is my shizwhiz
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Grytviken on September 18, 2015, 10:27:25 pm
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Oberyn on September 19, 2015, 03:40:47 pm
Quote from: Clockworkkiller on September 13, 2015, 04:45:49 pm
I have a bunch of WW2/Korea/Vietnam documentaries on DVD at home. If I can dig em out and get the names you'll probably be able to easily find em online.

Also if anyone knows any good military history/anicent history related documentaries. Science or other kinds of history really don't interest me that much.

I'd avoid TED talks if I were you, they used to be good and a rare few still are, but you have to sort through mostly trash to find em and I don't find it worth it.

TED talks are often very interesting, even if you disagree with the research or conclusions they are worth listening to. TEDx talks are almost uniformally piles of garbage from idiots from my experience, although there are obviously exceptions there too.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 19, 2015, 08:23:31 pm
A series of lectures delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise the 8-week General Philosophy course and were delivered in late 2009:


Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Radament on September 19, 2015, 08:33:30 pm
i'm not really into documentraies but i was stunned by this one ---> Antarctica: A Year on Ice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361700/)

and if you are into nerdy/hacking things i can suggest watching interesting stuff here (more like conferences than docs)---->  https://www.youtube.com/user/DEFCONConference/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/DEFCONConference/videos)
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Angantyr on September 19, 2015, 11:21:34 pm

Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Kalam on September 20, 2015, 12:58:02 am
Disclaimer: I do not necessarily approve of whatever message you may get from these films, nor am I stating that these documentaries present the most pertinent (and true) facts. They were (mostly) entertaining to me, and interesting enough to trigger late night Googling sprees.

The Square (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Square_%282013_film%29) is a personalized, ground level take on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Might have teared up a bit.

Blackfish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfish_%28film%29) Orcas are dangerous mammals and should not be treated like dogs! Right?

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Dreams_of_Sushi) My personal favorite of the last two years. It's just about a perfectionist making sushi. A shocking lack of pretension.

SOMM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOMM_%28film%29) All the pretension you missed in Jiro Dreams of Sushi! Interesting nonethless. Still believe I could play their game, if I could waste a year of my life.

An Idiot Abroad (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Idiot_Abroad) I suspect I enjoy this tv travelogue solely because I have a friend like the main character, and my best friend and I drag him to amazing spots he never appreciates. Not sure if honest or acting. Probably a mix of both, ala Anthony Bourdain.

Restrepo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrepo_%28film%29) and Korengal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korengal) are two instances of the same journalist embedded in units deployed to Korengal. I'd say Restrepo is more entertaining (as far as you can call this 'entertainment') for the public, and Korengal hits closer to home for American soldiers. Spoilers: people die.

Where the Trail Ends (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2509922/) A long ass redbull commercial. Seriously, though, it's worth watching for the cinematography. There's no meat, but you won't care because people jumping bikes off cliffs is FUCKING COOL OKAY?

Departures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departures_%28TV_series%29) Adventure travel tv show. I thought it would be a show where two friends travel across the world and realized they're in love and have buttsex. No luck. I don't know why I watched this.











Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: WITCHCRAFT on September 22, 2015, 09:44:25 pm
Quote from: Kalam on September 20, 2015, 12:58:02 am
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Dreams_of_Sushi) My personal favorite of the last two years. It's just about a perfectionist making sushi. A shocking lack of pretension.

I liked this too. Jiro is claimed by many people to be the best sushi chef in the world, but he is very humble. The documentary is more of a biography than a food documentary. It just happens to be a biography of a guy who is a sushi chef.

One of those "slice of life" things that whisks you out of your body and puts you in someone else's shoes for a little while. Really well done. You feel like you're there. Like you know Jiro personally.
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: Armpit_Sweat on September 22, 2015, 11:19:15 pm
Hmm.. I only watch historical documentaries, not what OP wanted, but might be interesting for someone nevertheless. Michael Wood and John Romer produced some of my favorite documentaries, watched them all several times and with great interest. Very well done, and you will learn much about the subject:

The Story of India (http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/the-story-of-india-episode-1-beginnings-video_c5cad4922.html) - no Youtube link, BBC fgts blocked it outside of UK

(click to show/hide)
- first out of six parts

(click to show/hide)
- first out of four parts

(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)
- first out of seven parts, you can find playlists on youtube easily, if interested

And here is one more about Christinanity - BBC made, weaker than John Romer's imo, but covers other aspects and is generally rather good:

(click to show/hide)
- first out of six parts, can find the rest searching for "BBC History of Christianity", there are playlists

Btw, no offence US guys, but all of your historical documentaries are garbage, or have a preschool target-group... May be only US civil war related, about the Indian wars in NA, etc. - those are ok. Don't be mad, but it's true :)
Title: Re: Documentaries
Post by: WITCHCRAFT on September 23, 2015, 02:14:58 am
PBS (the US version of BBC) puts out some documentaries on-par with BBC ones. Nature and Nova are the two series I like.

History Channel and Discovery channel blow these days. They have "ghost hunters" and other pseudoscience shit presented as if they were real. And reality shows. Ugh. When I was growing up, they had Real Documentaries About Real Important Things!

*rolls wheelchair onto porch, lights corn cob pipe*

Kids these days...