Help selecting documentaries
 

I was hoping you guys could help me out. My wife likes what I would call "weird" documentaries. What she really likes is watching documentaries of eccentric people. This is a list of what she has now:

American Movie - her all-time favorite
The farmers wife (VHS)
Crumb
Starting.com
Manor House
Grey Gardens
Brother's Keeper
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control

I would like some reccomendations of something else to get her for Christmas that fits into this eccentric documentary genre

Thanks

She might like "American Pimp," which is out on DVD. I doubt you have many pimps in Appleton, and pimps are a bit eccentric. Possibly... "Gizmo!"... There's "Vernon, Florida," if you could find it somewhere.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. While browsing Cinemania, there was another suggestion on the page called West 47th Street and that looks like a pretty good match as well

"No Maps for these Territories" - It's basically a 90-minute interview with science fiction author William Gibson.

I wouldn't exactly consider Gibson to be eccentric in the traditional sense, but he's pretty much out of the mainstream.

If you're looking for other documentaries not yet available on DVD such as West 47th Street I'd also recommend Gates of Heaven.

I second No Maps...

Watched it last night, and it is most certainly a non-mainstream title. Enjoyably off center.

Another recommendation:
Sick
Doesn't get much weirder than that.....

Another one just came to me:

Eyes of Tammy Faye.

* Bananas Is My Business

* Weird Weekends (R2/PAL)

. . . :o . . .

A few of my Favorites - all are just mesmerizingly wierd at times....

A must: Hell House

Keep the River On Your Right

General Idi Amin Dada

Stevie

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter, Jr

The Thin Blue Line


Both by Erroll Morris

* Starwoids

. . . :o . . .

Not 100% REAL documentaries, but worth seeing:

Six Days in Roswell

Trekkies

GG Allin's "Hated"
Beyond The Mat
Trekkies

Enjoy! :)

i agree HELL HOUSE is really good- must see..

Devils Playground-- About Amish Teens is great

GG allins hated might be a little too much, but great film.

HAnds on a Hard Body is a great DVD

If she liked GREY GARDENS, there's always SALESMAN by the same directors (the Maysles brothers).

THE BACKYARD, a just released docu about backyard wrestling, has gotten mostly positive notices, although one person I know had severe issues with it.

And if she liked AMERICAN MOVIE, there's always HOME MOVIE by the same director, Chris Smith. Or, in the film making vein, I understand MULE SKINNER BLUES treads similar ground.

And HANDS ON A HARD BODY - recommended.

Thanks a lot guys. You gave me a bunch of films to look at that I never would have discovered otherwise. I appreciate your help. I have to do a little reading on each and decide. I'm hoping to pick up 2-3 of these for Christmas, now comes the hard part of deciding which ones. I'll keep you updated

my best fiend. great documentary about the bizarre relationship between klaus kinski and werner herzog.

I DON'T second this unless you are a fan of one of them. I just found it utterly boring.

Also, Hell House is quite overrated. Not bad by any means, but certainly not as good as it is made out to be.

Salesman is amazing and gets a huge recommendation, though it doesn't really seem along the lines of what you are looking for.

Have you thought about possibly getting her some mockumentaries? I recommend Zelig and This is Spinal Tap and give a slightly lesser recommendation to Take the Money and Run. They are all about eccentric people.

Dan

Salesman
Into the Arms of Strangers
paradise Lost
hearts and Minds
One Day in September
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Atomic Cafe--This is great!!!
Iceman-Confessions of a serial killer


Not on DVD:
The Ten Year Lunch -won the Oscar, still not available :(
Hoop Dreams-Robbed of an Oscar, still not available :(

I do believe that Waco: Rules of Engagement comes out on DVD pretty soon.

West 47th Street is available on dvd for $49 here.

I second the Idi Amin one. What a wack job.

I ended up picking:

Hell House
Keep the River on your Right
Home Movie
Stevie

a few more than what I was going to get but with DDD'd sale who can go wrong. I really do appreciate all your help, I will be using this thread in the future to pick out others.

Thanks Gemenix. I think I will eventually pick up that title. I didn't think it was available on DVD. I wanted to get that as well as Vernon, Florida but Vernon, Florida is OOP as far as I know and not on DVD. Also a little cost prohibitive right now

Dan

I appreciate this thread too. I'm writing down most of the recommendations. I might have to make a 3rd order at DDD. :)

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

Little Dieter Needs to Fly by Werner Herzog

both excellent films


hands on a hard body is fun but not sure of the re-watch factor on it for me.

I'm not sure if it counts as a documentary or not (it's a Q&A session), but I don't believe that anyone has mentioned An Evening With Kevin Smith . . .

Wisconsin Death Trip is out at the end of the month, the film is a wonderful mix of fact/fiction, horrific tales of witchcraft, possesion and mad goings on in Wisconsin in the 18th century, its is humourous and very dry with Ian Holm narrating the film...grab it if u can,,i've ordered mine

Wisconsin Death Trip seesm to be another good one

1) The Man Who Bought Mustique
2) Idi Amin Dada
3) The Sweetest Sound
4) Spellbound
5) Vernon, Florida -- Only on VHS
6) Genghis Blues -- a great sleeper doc that few have seen
7) Roger & Me -- a far better, more personal flick than Bowling for Columbine (IMHO)

The Filth and the Fury
Fetishes
Postcards from the Future: The Chuck Palahniuk Documentary (available at chuckpalahniuk.net) -author of Fight Club
The War Room
Lost in La Mancha
Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
The Confessions of Crumb (sort of like a half-sequel to Crumb that was produced by the Crumbs and covers their transition to life in France)

Crumb came out after and so could be considered the "sequel." It has the stuff about France. I own and recommend both but Crumb is better.

And let's not forget Capturing the Friedmans which just came out.

Another one to add to the list is Smashing Machine. It's HBO documentary about Mark Kerr a mixed martial arts fighter. Excellent. It has lots of extras and I enjoyed the commentary as well.

Not really in keeping with the theme of 'weird' or character documentaries i know...but an excuse to mention one of my favourite documentaries at least :)

One Day In September.

My wife really liked all the documentaries that I bought for Christmas from your wonderful recommendations:

Hell House
Keep the River on your Right
Home Movie
Stevie

So I decided to get her some more documentaries from the above recommendations:

The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Iceman Interviews

I'll update you with what she thinks of these too

Let me second Ghengis Blues. I actually saw it in a theater a few years ago and it was fantastic....and judging from the tastes of your GF, it's smack dab in the middle of her alley.

Thanks for more recommendations, you guys are gonna break me. It does look like Genghis Blues would be on my short list of DVDs to get her next. I don't think she'd be all that impressed with "pimps up hoes down" though - I would think that she'd give me "the look"