The Human Behavior Experiments (2006)

Director:

Alex Gibney

IMDB

Review:

This movie is not a gem of documentary films, it's not fancy, pretty or spectacular, but the information contained in it is extremely well structured and very important. Only 40 minutes long, the documentary focuses on the experiments undertaken by Milgran, Darley and Zimbardo, but also presents real cases that validate those experiments, including Abu Ghraib, the Kitty Genovese story and others. I highly recommend searching on Wikipedia about these experiments after you see the movie, as they were a lot more detailed and some had many variations. Bottom line: It says the things that you don't want to believe are true, but they are, and that no one is willing to teach you, because they go against the ideas of blind obedience, peer pressure, etc.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)

Director:

Tamra Davis

IMDB

Review:

Centered on a rare interview that director and friend Tamra Davis shot with Basquiat over twenty years ago, this definitive documentary chronicles the meteoric rise and fall of the young artist. In the crime-ridden NYC of the 1970s, he covers the city with the graffiti tag SAMO. In 1981 he puts paint on canvas for the first time, and by 1983 he is an artist with “rock star status.” He achieves critical and commercial success, though he is constantly confronted by racism from his peers. In 1985 he and Andy Warhol become close friends and painting collaborators, but they part ways and Warhol dies suddenly in 1987. Basquiat’s heroin addiction worsens, and he dies of an overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. The artist was 25 years old at the height of his career, and today his canvases sell for more than a million dollars. With compassion and psychological insight, Tamra Davis details the mysteries that surround this charismatic young man, an artist of enormous talent whose fortunes mirrored the rollercoaster quality of the downtown scene he seemed to embody.

Genuine Nerd (2006)

Director:

Wayne A. Harold

IMDB

Review:

From his appearances in Harvey Pekar’s AMERICAN SPLENDOR comic book to MTV segments to movies like KILLER NERD, TOWNIES and the award-winning, big-screen AMERICAN SPLENDOR adaptation, Toby Radloff has achieved fame — for being a "Genuine Nerd!" Underground filmmaker Wayne Alan Harold (TOWNIES) profiles his friend and collaborator in this truly unique, truly nerdy documentary! See Toby’s customized "Nerd Mobile," check out his swinging bachelor pad and hear his hilarious musings on hamburgers, the Internet, world politics and (of course) being a nerd! Featuring appearances by AMERICAN SPLENDOR creator Harvey Pekar, Judah Friedlander (the actor/comedian who played Toby in the SPLENDOR movie) and comic book artist P. Craig Russell!

Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher (2005)

Director:

David Di Sabatino

IMDB

Review:

Lonnie Frisbee was a young hippie seeker fully immersed in the 1960s counter culture when he claimed to have experienced an encounter with God while on an acid trip. This event so transformed him that Lonnie became an itinerant Christian evangelist, something of a John the Baptist of Southern California who compelled thousands of fellow spiritual seekers to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. During the 1970s Lonnie Frisbee became widely known as California's "hippie preacher," the quintessential "Jesus freak" whose pictures frequented such magazines as Time and Life as the media told the story of a burgeoning "Jesus movement." Lonnie Frisbee provided the charismatic spark that launched the Calvary Chapel church into a worldwide ministry and propelled many fledgling leaders into some of the most powerful movers and shakers of the evangelical movement. During the 1980s Lonnie was at the center of the "signs and wonders" movement.

Tattooed Tears (1979)

Director:

Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill

IMDB

Review:

Before he became an onscreen documentary provocateur, Nick Broomfield got his start with this made for PBS look at life in the California Youth Authority. It was quite a coup for Broomfield to get access to the Authority, and this remains an extremely powerful, disturbing, and moving document. Focusing on a handful of incarcerated youngsters, including kids in jail for glue sniffing and B.B. gun use, the film is a raw depiction of a dehumanizing penal system that crushes the hopes and dreams of at risk teenagers.

The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)

Director:

Albert Maysles and David Maysles

IMDB

Review:

Mother and daughter - Big Edie and Little Edie Beale - live with six cats in a crumbling house in East Hampton. Little Edie, in her 50s, who wears scarves and bright colors, sings, mugs for the camera, and talks to Al and David Maysles, the filmmakers. Big Edie, in her 70s, recites poetry, comments on her daughter's behavior, and sings "If I Loved You" in fine voice. She talks in short sentences; her daughter in volumes. Utilizing hours of unseen archival footage, The Beales is a new take on the women of Grey Gardens.

A Brief History of Errol Morris (2000)

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

IMDB

Review:

What to say about Errol Morris? Man with vision, genius and a briliant director. All of his documentaries are  eyecatching and with a stunning stories. Unfortunately this is a vhs rip from an Israeli television broadcast with hebrew subs hardcoded and the sound's a little out of sync, but it's still perfectly watchable and since most of the sound is in voiceover it shouldn't bother you too much. This is as rare as it gets so make sure you get your "copy". My recomendation.

Absolut Warhola (2001)

Director:

Stanislaw Mucha

IMDB

Review:

Absolute Warhola is a wry but affectionate look at the village in Slovakia where Andy Warhol's parents were born and which proudly claims the artist as its native son. This is not a purist's documentary. The seasons shift inexplicably. The pace feels a bit aimless. It contains no useful information about Warhol nor his work. Instead of cinematic orthodoxy, however, Absolut Warhola offers the quirky poignancy of a documentary on the Cargo Cult, combined with a bizarre juxtaposition that perhaps would be found in a Lawrence Welk special on Abstract Expressionism. The filmmakers visit Warhol's cousin who recalls, at one point, how Andy sent them a pack of drawings and paintings which they didn't much care for, so they rolled some up to use as paper cones and pitched the others into the water after the house was flooded. The curator of the Warhola Museum explains how he chose the works to be included in the collection primarily on the basis of their relevance to the local community: cows, butterflies, Lenin, and Ingrid Bergman as a nun. The touching absurdity of his discourse is rivaled only by David St. Hubbins' explanation in Spinal Tap as to why the amplifier whose dial goes up to eleven is better than the ones that only go to ten. Absolut Warhola may not be a textbook work of documentary filmmaking, but it presents a consistent vision of people whose lives under the shadow of Chernobyl are somehow brightened by the memory of a man they never knew nor remotely understood.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (2010)

Director:

Yony Leyser

IMDB

Review:

William S. Burroughs: featuring never before seen footage as well as exclusive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues. Born the heir of the Burroughs' adding machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. His novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government. Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer testified on behalf of the book. The courts eventually overturned their decision in 1966, ruling that the book had an important social value. It remains one of the most recognized literary works of the 20th century. William Burroughs was one of the first to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and write about his experiences. Eventually he was hailed the godfather of the beat generation and influenced artists for generations to come. However, his friends were left wondering, did William ever find happiness? This extremely personal documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. "William S. Burroughs: A Man Within" is the first and only posthumous documentary about this legendary figure.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

Director:

Benjamin Christensen

IMDB

Review:

Based partly on Christensen's study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts.The film was made as a documentary but contains dramatized sequences that are comparable to horror films. With Christensen's meticulous recreation of medieval scenes and the lengthy production period, the film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made, costing nearly two million Swedish krona.Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden, the film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion.