Best Documentaries?

First topic message reminder :

What are your favourite?

coxy0001 wrote:I'm here all week!

coxy0001 wrote:

I'm here all week!

Will the PGA tour manage without you?

I don't know her real name but I am guessing that it isn't Linda Lovelace. If it is then she is to be commended for finding the right career.

rowley wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

I'm here all week!

Will the PGA tour manage without you?

Their loss is the RFUs gain

coxy0001 wrote:

rowley wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

I'm here all week!

Will the PGA tour manage without you?

Their loss is the RFUs gain

And the G20. I see you managed to get Papandreou to fall on his sword.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

rowley wrote:Couldn't stand the Kemp ones personally, the subject matter tends to be interesting and the access he gets to them is admirable but he is useless. Lacks the intelligence or insight to do much more than comment on the futility of gang life and also find he gets way too excited when handling guns which I find a little disconcerting.

Plus Kemp would get his backside handed to him if Danny Dyer ever lost his rag with the big fat domehead.

I like most WW1 or 2 documentaries. The Second World War in colour was excellent as are many others. Agree that Bruce Parry in the Amazon was good.

There is a very good rugby documentary called The 16th Man which I really enjoyed.

oi i picked kemp and when them two square off it will be a blood bath and only my baldy will be left standing.

traci lords is the underage pornstar she was 15 and was doing the whole cast and crew everyone nailed her and it nearly ruined the pornography industry, sent it into disrepute.

also has anyone seen cocaine cowboys? it was absolutely unbelievable just shocked you every minute - its about how the cocaine industry started in miami basically the real life story of scarface. absolutely crazy gang-drug war between the colombians and the cubans one of the best documentaries i have seen.

Alex I have seen Cocaine Cowboys, like you say is unbelievable, the money that was flowing through Miami in those days made your head spin. Loved the bit when they said if the cops pulled you over with a boot full of coke you'd just offer them bigger and bigger bribes until they let you go, and the fact it worked every time. Definitely worth watching for anyone who has not seen it.

Cocaine Cowboys was cracking.

The follow up was good as well.

Went into a lot more detail on the lady who was the boss of the cartel.

rowley wrote:Alex I have seen Cocaine Cowboys, like you say is unbelievable, the money that was flowing through Miami in those days made your head spin. Loved the bit when they said if the cops pulled you over with a boot full of coke you'd just offer them bigger and bigger bribes until they let you go, and the fact it worked every time. Definitely worth watching for anyone who has not seen it.

theyre actually making a tv show out of it, stars mark wahlberg.

but like you say absolutely shocking my mouth was virtually on the floor by the end. the colombian hitman that was in jail freaked me out he was clearly PROUD of all the murders he did... complete psychopath.

AlexHuckerby wrote:the colombian hitman that was in jail freaked me out he was clearly PROUD of all the murders he did... complete psychopath.

Yeah he was one scary guy, would not want to come face to face with him, even with onetwo behind me, and there are not many folk I'd say that about.

rowley wrote:Yeah he was one scary guy, would not want to come face to face with him, even with onetwo behind me, and there are not many folk I'd say that about.

No homo?

AlexHuckerby wrote:

rowley wrote:Alex I have seen Cocaine Cowboys, like you say is unbelievable, the money that was flowing through Miami in those days made your head spin. Loved the bit when they said if the cops pulled you over with a boot full of coke you'd just offer them bigger and bigger bribes until they let you go, and the fact it worked every time. Definitely worth watching for anyone who has not seen it.

theyre actually making a tv show out of it, stars mark wahlberg.

but like you say absolutely shocking my mouth was virtually on the floor by the end. the colombian hitman that was in jail freaked me out he was clearly PROUD of all the murders he did... complete psychopath.

That's that ruined then. I watched a decent one about Pablo Escobar, I forget the name thought. King of Cocaine, it's on YouTube. Also I read a book, 'Killing Pablo', soon to be a film. Written by the same guy as Black Hawk Down (the book). Excellent read. THAT guy (Escobar) was just leagues removed from the rest in villainy terms. Legendary.

rowley wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:the colombian hitman that was in jail freaked me out he was clearly PROUD of all the murders he did... complete psychopath.

Yeah he was one scary guy, would not want to come face to face with him, even with onetwo behind me, and there are not many folk I'd say that about.

Would you even know if OneTwo was behind you.

Moves like a ghostly ninja he does.

A lot of Escobars exotic animals he kept were running about in the wild, don't know if some still are.

Balti have read killing pablo, is a decent enough read. If you want a really good book about coke in Colombia there is one called Whitewash by Simon Strong I think, is a bit more academic and heavy going but is pretty much definitive on the subject. Think it is out of print and so a bit pricey but if you can get hold of a copy is well worth it.

BALTIMORA wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:

rowley wrote:Alex I have seen Cocaine Cowboys, like you say is unbelievable, the money that was flowing through Miami in those days made your head spin. Loved the bit when they said if the cops pulled you over with a boot full of coke you'd just offer them bigger and bigger bribes until they let you go, and the fact it worked every time. Definitely worth watching for anyone who has not seen it.

theyre actually making a tv show out of it, stars mark wahlberg.

but like you say absolutely shocking my mouth was virtually on the floor by the end. the colombian hitman that was in jail freaked me out he was clearly PROUD of all the murders he did... complete psychopath.

That's that ruined then. I watched a decent one about Pablo Escobar, I forget the name thought. King of Cocaine, it's on YouTube. Also I read a book, 'Killing Pablo', soon to be a film. Written by the same guy as Black Hawk Down (the book). Excellent read. THAT guy (Escobar) was just leagues removed from the rest in villainy terms. Legendary.

Specially like how when the Colombian goverment decided to lock him up he went willingly as long as he could stay in a prison he built himself!!!!

The Galveston Giant wrote:A lot of Escobars exotic animals he kept were running about in the wild, don't know if some still are.

He was responsible for 80% of the world's coke allegedly, and was in the Forbes rich list in '87 or '88. He'd fly 20,000kg at a time...just ridiculous figures.

BALTIMORA wrote:

The Galveston Giant wrote:A lot of Escobars exotic animals he kept were running about in the wild, don't know if some still are.

He was responsible for 80% of the world's coke allegedly, and was in the Forbes rich list in '87 or '88. He'd fly 20,000kg at a time...just ridiculous figures.

The rumours are the Cali cartel were always more powerful but as they were less high profile/mental there was not the pressure on the colombians from the US to catch them, apparently the DEA and colombian government did loads of deals with Cali to catch escobar and whilst they obviously caught him it allowed Cali to consolidate its power and get their hooks into the government, so catching him had no real effect and the deals they did to acheive it actually made things worst. Believe one of the DEA guys went on TV when they caught Escobar to blow the whistle on it all, think his name was Joe Toft or something.

I quite like that Louis Theroux guy but not for his commentary just the mental stuff he covers. Like the one about the Phelps clan - bunch of religious nutters that go around celebrating deaths like in Afghanistan and hold up signs saying "God hates fags", "God hates Jews". Mental but fascinating all the same.

rowley wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:

The Galveston Giant wrote:A lot of Escobars exotic animals he kept were running about in the wild, don't know if some still are.

He was responsible for 80% of the world's coke allegedly, and was in the Forbes rich list in '87 or '88. He'd fly 20,000kg at a time...just ridiculous figures.

The rumours are the Cali cartel were always more powerful but as they were less high profile/mental there was not the pressure on the colombians from the US to catch them, apparently the DEA and colombian government did loads of deals with Cali to catch escobar and whilst they obviously caught him it allowed Cali to consolidate its power and get their hooks into the government, so catching him had no real effect and the deals they did to acheive it actually made things worst. Believe one of the DEA guys went on TV when they caught Escobar to blow the whistle on it all, think his name was Joe Toft or something.

Joe Toft sounds right, he was heavily involved with the US efforts to capture Escobar. You should pick up a copy of Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden. Very good read. I got it in HMV for three quid. Well worth it. I think what also happened was that the other cartels turned on Pablo because he was getting a bit too unruly, killing people willy-nilly. He was responsible for approximately 20 murders a day during one two-month period, and responsible for "30 judges, 457 policemen and a presidential candidate".

Anyone seen Restrepo? Think I'll watch it tonight.

Balti, have read Killing Pablo already mate, agree it is a good read, think I have a few more on the subject at home, will try and dig them out when I get home.

rowley wrote:Balti, have read Killing Pablo already mate, agree it is a good read, think I have a few more on the subject at home, will try and dig them out when I get home.

I'll tell you what else is a good read: The Riverman and Helter Skelter. Oh, and In Cold Blood. Those three are very interesting. If you like reading about murderers.

Have read In Cold Blood, agree is a cracking read, another worth reading on a coke related topic is Snow Blind by Robert Sabbag, about this guy who smuggled coke in the 70's he was not a massive player but the creative ways he found to smuggle were nothing short of genius.

I'll have a shufty on Amazon for it. Helter Skelter's about the whole Manson case and is about as comprehensive as you'll find. Genuinely gripping. My copy is a bit like Jordan. Well-fingered.

Read one on Manson, the name escapes me, come down heavy or something, although I am fairly sure it is not called that. Like you say does not make for particularly easy reading but is fascinating none the less.

FYI "Hippo - Nature's Wild Feast" on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm looks like it could be a good'un.

has anyone read any books by philip carlo he does bios on primarily italian american mobsters like anthony casso - the biggest players in the game and basically he did this one book i read called "the iceman" its about this guy called richard kuklinski who was an outside hitman for the mob and he singlehandedly killed well over 100 people. was an absolute - absolute nutjob killed his first victim when he was like 12 or something just crazy story ended up working with the likes of roy demeo and sammy gravano. great book.

Have read the Carlo book on Casso, my favourite is Five Families by Selywn Raab.

Watching The Cove, about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, is fairly horrible.

seen that the cove just a bit wrong

Japan is a fairly morally lacking nation in general.

weird country... they have an odd fetish for the school girl thing.

AlexHuckerby wrote:has anyone read any books by philip carlo he does bios on primarily italian american mobsters like anthony casso - the biggest players in the game and basically he did this one book i read called "the iceman" its about this guy called richard kuklinski who was an outside hitman for the mob and he singlehandedly killed well over 100 people. was an absolute - absolute nutjob killed his first victim when he was like 12 or something just crazy story ended up working with the likes of roy demeo and sammy gravano. great book.

I've read The Iceman. I think a lot of Kuklinski's claims are dubious.

Two that stick in my mind:

The first is about an Aussie named Andrew Mcauley who kayaked from Tasmania to New Zealand. It can be found online under the name Solo but it had a much longer name, something like Solitary Adventure on the Southern Ocean, when shown on the BBC. He had a camera on his kayak and the footage, plus the crew following his family, makes it a very good watch.

The other is Bulgaria's Lost Children, about the conditions that some orphans and abandoned kids lived in during their time in a Bulgarian childrens home. A lot of them were ok when they entered but slowly went crazy. It was pretty horrific and I couldn't stop thinking about it for about a week after. Very powerful stuff.

They made a follow up to show how things had improved but I haven't seen that.

BALTIMORA wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:has anyone read any books by philip carlo he does bios on primarily italian american mobsters like anthony casso - the biggest players in the game and basically he did this one book i read called "the iceman" its about this guy called richard kuklinski who was an outside hitman for the mob and he singlehandedly killed well over 100 people. was an absolute - absolute nutjob killed his first victim when he was like 12 or something just crazy story ended up working with the likes of roy demeo and sammy gravano. great book.

I've read The Iceman. I think a lot of Kuklinski's claims are dubious.

I'd agree it was all a bit jackanory. Strange how he died though.

trottb wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:has anyone read any books by philip carlo he does bios on primarily italian american mobsters like anthony casso - the biggest players in the game and basically he did this one book i read called "the iceman" its about this guy called richard kuklinski who was an outside hitman for the mob and he singlehandedly killed well over 100 people. was an absolute - absolute nutjob killed his first victim when he was like 12 or something just crazy story ended up working with the likes of roy demeo and sammy gravano. great book.

I've read The Iceman. I think a lot of Kuklinski's claims are dubious.

I'd agree it was all a bit jackanory. Strange how he died though.

definitely a few things that dont add up right? i think he claimed to kill roy demeo but i know for a fact that wasnt true - it was the two cousins that worked closely with roy that killed him but their name escapes me so a few of his big scalps might not be true.

Scottrf wrote:Have read the Carlo book on Casso, my favourite is Five Families by Selywn Raab.

Good call Scott excellent read, John Dickie's Cos Nostra is also excellent

the book on henry hill which used to be called wise guys until the movie came out of it and they changed the name to goodfellas. by nicholas pelligi (sp) good book.

by the way theres a movie coming out about kuklinski... its gonna be the guy who plays the slightly mental policeman in boardwalk empire and has james franco and a few other good named stars.

Has anyone been watching ESPN's recent series 30 by 30?

I've been catching quite a few of these and they're all pretty good. 'Straight Outta LA' about the link between the Raiders (NFL) and the NWA was excellent, and 'The Two Escobars' about Colombia's world cup 1994 campaign, domestic troubles at the time and the shooting of Andres Escobar for his own goal was another.

The Two Escobars would be interesting Sodhat, shame what happenend to him.

It was ridiculous, he was such a humble man on the verge of the biggest move of his career and he was killed for a simple mistake in a football match.

If we are going to be executing people for own goals, Richard Dunne is going to the chair with 9 consecutive death penalties.

Has anyone being watching The Story of Film on More4? 15 part documentary charting the entire history of film across the globe.

If you can get past Mark Cousin's weird accent then it really is excellent and it's certainly given me a long list of films I want to check out.

I kinda wanted to check that out superflyweight but missed the first one so didn't bother! Will check it out now you've mentioned it.

Each episode is relatively self-contained alex so might be worth checking out and there's still a few episodes to go.

Can't remember what the next episode is about - the last one covered world cinema in the '70's and the one before that the rise of Scorcese, Coppola and Polanski in the 70's.

I would imagine that the series will be repeated at some point or may become available on 4OD.

The best one I've seen so far is "Dive Into Danger".

"In March 2002 when filming for a documentary they were making 2 divers Melissa Armstrong and Captain David Tomlinson became stranded in the Pacific Ocean when their boat drifts away from them As they believe help is not coming they decide to swim for shore miles away or die trying "

They tell the story of being 20 miles out and spending 27 hours in the water, encountering being stung by about 200 jellyfish, then attacked by baracudas, then circled by 2 hammerhead sharks. Absolutely terrifying listening to their story.

On the Phobias thread I mentioned being in the sea. This documentry played a big hand in that phobia.

Yeah i would not swim in the sea, Jaws made sure of that for a lot of people. I would swim under the water in the sea, but not on the surface.

Nordic Wild was decent Galveston, cheers.