Fat Head (2009)

Director:

Tom Naughton

IMDB

Review:

Tom Naughton made a documentary that explains the facts and fiction about obesity and also as a reply to Super Size Me documentary. I must say it reminded me of Michael Moore and Michael Wilson (Michael Moore Hates America) but the difference is that Tom really has some point here, and those two...well, they had only personal reasons to do what they did (ex. money - ex. misapprehended patriotism and personal anger). Nevertheless Tom explains a "few" things that are interesting and also sheds some light on the Super Size Me doc and the "bologna" (his words) that is served there.

Erasing David (2009)

Director:

David Bond

IMDB

Review:

David Bond lives in one of the most intrusive surveillance states in the world. He decides to find out how much private companies and the government know about him by putting himself under surveillance and attempting to disappear - a decision that changes his life forever. Leaving his pregnant wife and young child behind, he is tracked across the database state by two private investigators, on a chilling journey that forces him to contemplate the meaning of privacy - and the loss of it

Wide Awake (2006)

Director:
Alan Berliner

IMDB

Review:
One man's lifelong quest for a restful night of sleep is explored as filmmaker Alan Berliner turns the camera on himself to explore the effects that insomnia has on a man who just can't seem to slow his mind down. Berliner is a man who has fallen victim to his own restless conscience. From as far back as he can remember sleep has been an elusive goal that seems ever farther from reality, but despite his best efforts Berliner just can't seem to find a cure for his condition. Whether the result of simple neurosis or the many demands of his life and family, Berliner's insomnia remains his cursed companion through thick and thin. But Berliner's condition affects more people than just himself, and as the sleep-deprived documentarian interviews family and friends, viewers are treated to an intimate glimpse at how one man's condition can have an unsettling ripple effect on nearly everyone around him.

Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie (2008)

Director:
Jay Delaney

IMDB

Review:
Dallas Gilbert and Wayne Burton, best friends from a dying former steel town in Ohio, are out to convince the world that Bigfoot exists. They have amassed a vast library of video footage and still photographs of proof (their website is highly trafficked) after years of venturing into the forest, day and night, to the capture shots of the legendary creature in its native habitat.
Dallas is the gregarious of the dyad is a Reiki master who uses Sasquatch calls into the wild and claims to have a sheep's bone in his skull; some claim Dallas to be one of the world’s leading big foot researchers. Wayne is the repressed, emotional of the gang- a former high-school bully who currently works at a car wash and is living paycheck to paycheck.
Seeking fame, fortune, and notoriety, Wayne and Dallas's friendship is tested when a nationally recognized high-profile California BF researcher makes a stop in their town. Director Jay Delaney's honest and often funny look at their lives, proves that Bigfoot certainly is alive and well in Wayne and Dallas' world.

College Inc. (2010)

LINK

Review:

Even in lean times, the $400 billion business of higher education is booming. Nowhere is this more true than in one of the fastest-growing -- and most controversial -- sectors of the industry: for-profit colleges and universities that cater to non-traditional students, often confer degrees over the Internet, and, along the way, successfully capture billions of federal financial aid dollars.

In College, Inc., correspondent Martin Smith investigates the promise and explosive growth of the for-profit higher education industry. Through interviews with school executives, government officials, admissions counselors, former students and industry observers, this film explores the tension between the industry --which says it's helping an underserved student population obtain a quality education and marketable job skills -- and critics who charge the for-profits with churning out worthless degrees that leave students with a mountain of debt.

At the center of it all stands a vulnerable population of potential students, often working adults eager for a university degree to move up the career ladder. FRONTLINE talks to a former staffer at a California-based for-profit university who says she was under pressure to sign up growing numbers of new students. "I didn't realize just how many students we were expected to recruit," says the former enrollment counselor. "They used to tell us, you know, 'Dig deep. Get to their pain. Get to what's bothering them. So, that way, you can convince them that a college degree is going to solve all their problems.'"

Ram Dass, Fierce Grace (2001)

Director:
Mickey Lemle

IMDB

Review:
 Harvard professors Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary made countercultural history in 1963 when they were fired from that institution for conducting controversial psychedelic drug research. In the purple haze aftermath, Alpert journeyed to India and found his guru Maharaj ji, who renamed him Ram Dass ("Servant of God"). Best known for his 1971 bestseller BE HERE NOW, which was a spiritual touchstone of the era, Ram Dass became an inspiration to people across the globe. Filmmaker Mickey Lemle--who has known his subject for more than twenty-five years--intersperses vivid archival footage from hippiedom's glory days with intimate glimpses of Ram Dass today, as he continues to remake his life since being--in his words--"stroked" in 1997. Named by NEWSWEEK as one of the Top Five Non-Fiction Films of 2002, RAM DASS FIERCE GRACE is an engrossing, poignant meditation on spirituality, consciousness, healing and the unexpected grace of aging.

So Much So Fast (2006)

Director:
Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan

IMDB

Review:
The unusual response of two brothers to devastating news sets the stage for this documentary. Stephen Heywood was 29 years old and had a solid job building houses, as well as a steady girlfriend, when he received word from his doctor that he'd been diagnosed with Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, a fast-spreading motor neuron condition also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." ALS robs its victims of the ability to control their muscles, and no cure has been discovered at this time. Stephen's brother Jamie responded to this news by quitting his job and starting a scientific research team to ferret out new treatments for the disease (given the small number of people who deal with ALS, few drug companies have stepped forward with medicines to ease its symptoms, believing that they could not turn a profit on the drugs). As Jamie wages a personal war against the medical establishment knowing his brother is getting worse every day, Stephen asks his girlfriend to marry him and they decide to have a baby, determined to squeeze a lifetime into the few years he has left with the unflagging support of his friends and family. So Much So Fast was screened in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Religulous (2008)

Director:
Larry Charles

IMDB

Review:
Bill Maher interviews some of religion’s oddest adherents. Muslims, Jews and Christians of many kinds pass before his jaundiced eye. Maher goes to a Creationist Museum in Kentucky, which shows that dinosaurs and people lived at the same time 5000 years ago. He talks to truckers at a Truckers’ Chapel. (Sign outside: “Jesus love you.”) He goes to a theme park called Holy Land in Florida. He speaks to a rabbin in league with Holocaust deniers. He talks to a Muslim musician who preaches hatred of Jews. Maher finds the unlikeliest of believers and, in a certain Vatican priest, he even finds an unlikely skeptic.

Autopsy: Life & Death (2006)

Review:
The two scientists perform a series of autopsy demonstrations at the Institute of Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, in which they point up the process of finding a cause of death. With the aid of human dissection, live models and scientific models they are able to reveal what disease really looks like and how it works.  It is important to note that in the UK, a standard clinical autopsy tends to follow a set pattern in order to establish a sound cause of death for scientific, medical and legal purposes. The autopsy demonstrations in the programmes employ similar techniques to the clinical standard. But they were designed to present a clear view of the anatomy and pathology and as such they represent partial, rather than full autopsies. The autopsies in the films did not have any medico-legal purpose, since causes of death had, in all cases, already been registered in the manner required by German law.

Hofmann's Potion (2002)

Director:
Connie Littlefield

IMDB

Review:
Researchers try to establish the medical benefits of LSD. The documentary about LSD and how it was created, what usage it had, and how the early experiments were carried out by Albert Hofmann, Timothy Leary and others.

No Impact Man: The Documentary (2009)

Director:
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein

IMDB

Review:
Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.  It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, busses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.  No problem – at least for Colin – but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.  Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein's film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
If you liked this doc also check out Recipes for Disaster.

Global Metal (2008)

Director:
Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen

IMDB

Review:
Directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the most maligned musical genre - heavy metal - has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West - they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.

I Was Possessed by God (2000)

Director:
Caveh Zahedi

IMDB

Review:
On Valentine's Day, 1993, Caveh Zahedi decided to ingest 5 grams (a very large dose) of hallucinogenic mushrooms. For the first time in his mushroom-taking history, he had an experience of "divine possession," in which he felt that a divine being took possession of his body and spoke through him, in a voice that was not his, and with knowledge that he himself did not possess. He later tried several times to repeat the experience. I WAS POSSESSED BY GOD is the documentary record of one such attempt.

Black Metal: The Norwegian Legacy?

Review:
This documentary tries to determine who originated the black metal genre, where the term “black metal” came from, and what makes metal truly black. Discussion is contributed by members of Enslaved, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Ulver, Korovo, Unexpect, Gloomy Grim, King Diamond, Impaled Nazarene, Turisas, Belphegor, Finntroll, Dark Funeral, Naglfar, Rotting Christ, and Bloodthorn. Also includes tons of live performance footage.

Starsuckers (2009)

Director:
Chris Atkins

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510934/

Review:
Starsuckers is a feature documentary about the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it. Made completely independently over 2 years in secret, the film journeys through the dark underbelly of the modern media. Using a combination of never before seen footage, undercover reporting, stunts and animation, the film reveals the toxic effect the media is having on us all and especially our children.

Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus (2006)

Director:
Randy Olson

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800334/

Review:
The highly anticipated, comic and controversial feature documentary, "Flock of Dodos: the evolution-intelligent design circus," is the first feature film to take an even-handed look at the intelligent design vs. evolution clash that appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek in 2005. Filmmaker, scientist, surfer and evolutionary biologist Dr. Randy Olson explores the controversy over the teaching of evolution and the recently developed alternative, intelligent design. Olson, a native of Kansas, visits his home state and the community of Dover, Pennsylvania, which attempted to introduce intelligent design in science classes. Olson draws on basic aspects of evolution as metaphors, including the extinct dodo, which he suggests symbolizes what happens to those unable to change with their environment. Featured are seven top advocates for intelligent design, including Dr. Michael Behe, author of "Darwin's Black Box," fourteen evolution Ph.D.'s, a poker game among eight evolutionists, a rabbit eating its own poop, and a flock of animated dodos playing poker, dancing, and helping the audience answer the question, "who really is the 'flock of dodos?'"

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Director:
Kirby Dick

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/

Review:
An independent documentary about the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system and its effect on American culture since it acts as a means of censorship, affecting distribution and the potential for advertisement. The film discusses disparities in ratings and feedback: between Hollywood and independent films, between homosexual and heterosexual sexual situations, between male and female sexual depictions, and between violence and sexual content. Furthermore, Dick used a private investigator to unmask the identities of the ratings and appeals board members, whose identity is kept secret, and showing that the composition of these boards did not comply with the public assertions of the MPAA. The MPAA gave the original cut of the film an NC-17 rating for "some graphic sexual content": scenes that illustrated the content a film could include to garner an NC-17 rating. Kirby Dick appealed, and descriptions of the ratings deliberations and appeal were included in the documentary. The new version of the film is not rated. The film is also known for another controversy: the MPAA, a longtime bastion of anti-piracy, admitted to making unauthorised duplicates of a digital copy of the film that was provided to them for the purpose of obtaining an MPAA rating, despite having assured Dick that no copies would be made.

We Live in Public (2009)

Director:
Ondi Timoner

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498329/

Review:
On the 40th anniversary of the Internet, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC tells the story of the effect the web is having on our society as seen through the eyes of "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of", visionary Josh Harris. Award-winning director, Ondi Timoner ("DIG!"), documented his tumultuous life for more than a decade, to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives. Josh Harris, often called the "Warhol of the Web" through the infamous dot.com boom of the 1990's, founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network and created his vision of the future, an underground bunker in NYC where 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days over the millennium. He proved how in the not-so-distant future of life online, we will willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire. Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living under 24-hour live surveillance online which led him to mental collapse, he demonstrated the price we will all pay for living in public

Art & Copy (2009)

Director:
Doug Pray

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1333631/

Review:
Director Doug Pray reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising minds of our time. From the "creative revolution" of the 1960s, artists and writers have brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in an industry know for pandering and manipulation. Featuring the brilliant campaigns behind everything from cars to presidents, Art & Copy takes us inside the powerful machine of advertising and brings to light the profound influence the industry enjoys by tapping into the zeitgeist of popular culture.

Who Killed Martin Luther King? (1989)

Director:
John Edginton

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0803769/

Review:
Controversial interviews with convicted assassin James Earl Ray and new evidence surrounding the death of Martin Luther King are featured in this compelling documentary examination of what is known and what remains unclear concerning the 1968 shooting that stunned a nation....It's revisited in 2008 so you'll get some updates at the end.