Sup Doc: The #1 Podcast About Documentaries!
Binge Worthy Docs
Hands On A Hard Body – Dir Brett Morgen (ep102) talked to us about Hands on a Hard Body a ’97 film documenting an endurance competition that took place in Texas. The competition pits contestants against each other to see who can keep their hand on a truck for the longest amount of time. This is a classic doc during one of our favorite times in documentary filmmaking! Check it out!
MarJoe – Occasionally on Sup Doc host Paco Romane talks about “MarJoe” the documentary that got him into docs. His “gateway” doc. MarJoe won an Academy Award in 1972 then disappeared. Check out this doc about “The World’s Youngest Preacher” w/ themes of money, hustlers & con-men. You can watch it on iTunes or Amazon Prime. Read this interesting VICE article!
Capturing The Friedmans – In 2003, Andrew Jarecki was making a short documentary about New York City clowns. In interviewing one of the better-known entertainers, Silly Billy (known to his friends and family as David Friedman) the director found something even more fascinating. What he captures is something out of a horror movie. You see up close and personal the family’s arguments and struggles with coming to terms about the father and son being accused of multiple counts of sexual abuse committed against minors. Capturing The Friedmans is not an easy watch but you see the divisions and alliances that enhance the film’s ambiguity and make it such a captivating and disturbing watch. What makes this documentary a classic is it does what amazing documentaries do. It presents a subject matter and protagonists to be argued over and to allow viewers to make arguments. Not to declare that their subject is the one innocent or guilty. Read director Andrew Jarecki’s reflections on Capturing The Friedmans. CTF is currently on HBO.
Too Funny To Fail – If you’re a fan of comedy, comedians or comedy shows this documentary is for you. Too Funny To Fail tells the story of The Dana Carvey Show that lasted one season on ABC, and one season is a stretch as it aired only seven of its planned 10 episodes. From the start this show had all the makings of a giant hit. At this period in time no comedian was hotter than Dana Carvey. So you add a envious time slot on primetime, a roster of the best comic minds in the cast and writers room (Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Robert Smigel, Charlie Kaufman) and it had all of the makings of a huge television success story, but it failed miserably. Too Funny To Fail tells the story of how the most anticipated comedy show was pulled off the air and almost ruined the careers of the comedians that were part of it. Too Funny To Fail is on HULU.
Three Identical Strangers – This is one of those docs where you catch yourself saying “WTF” a lot. This surreal doc starts with some amusement that these three guys Bobby Shafran, David Kellman and Eddy Galland find themselves in an unbelievable situation. When they first reunited at age 19 they realized that not only were they separated at birth but they also shared many of the same things: Marlboro cigarettes, wrestling and even the same type of woman. This story is definitely a rollercoaster of a tale and plays into a theme of “fractured fairytales”. What began as a miracle as three long lost brothers find each other by sheer circumstance spirals down into a dark and twisted tale of lies and immorality. Three Identical Strangers is on Amazon Prime, iTunes.
Anvil: The Story of Anvil – You you wouldn’t be wrong if you thought this was a follow up to Rob Reiner’s classic mock-umentary This Is Spinal Tap. But this rockumentary is all too real. Tom Waits is quoted as saying “after watching Spinal Tap I didn’t laugh I cried all the way through”. This is exactly how I felt after watching this documentary. For anyone with a dream unfulfilled this documentary will make you feel right at home. Anvil follows the early heavy metal band Anvil as the take on irrelevance, age, a dreadful tour and a new album. Formed many years ago in Toronto by frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner, they had a moment of fleeting recognition in the mid 80s and, 25 years later, and they’re holding on with everything they got. This doc is so well made you root and cheer on Anvil as this story spins and spins whether you like them or their music. Anvil: The Story of Anvil is on Netlix, iTunes.
Searching For Sugar Man – If you haven’t seen Searching For Sugar Man you are in for a treat. This is a story about a talented singer-songwriter from The D – Detroit. Back in the day Sixto Rodriquez was so good that he signed a multi-album record deal without any fame or exposure. Unfortunately neither of his albums sold well and his contract expired and the story could’ve ended there but his albums were being listened to and loved half a world away. Bootleg copies were being sold and traded in South Africa and his songs became the synonymous with the apartheid movement. In South Africa Sixto became as loved as the Beatles but unlike the mop-topped quartet nothing was known about Mr Rodriquez. We’ll leave the rest of the story for you to watch and enjoy. Searching For Sugar Man is on Netflix
The Staircase – Whoa. Be prepared for this documentary series. The Staircase is a masterful documentary true-crime series and many of todays best true crime documentaries (Making A Murderer, The Jinx, and The Keepers) have followed in its footsteps. Anyone that loves true crime and a crazy, dramatic building documentary will fall hard (no pun intended) for The Staircase. Netflix was very savvy in picking up the original 10 part series and then adding 3 more episodes to catch viewers up to what has happened to Michael Peterson and his family. As in any great true crime docs you have conflicting stories, divided families, and a protagonist/antagonist that you emotionally swing back and forth wondering if they could possibly committed the crime. Not many docs pour over details and go so deep with footage and information as The Staircase. The Staircase is on Netflix.
Hoop Dreams – This documentary from 1994 is an iconoclastic documentary for so many reasons. It is a multi-leveled look at race, sports, competition, ambition and a touching story about the daily lives of two teenage basketball players from Chicago. This doc spans almost 7 years in the lives of William Gates and Arthur Agee. There are many long roads both figuratively and literally in Hoop Dreams as we follow William and Arthur from early morning commutes and towards their dream of playing in the NBA. Hoop Dreams is much than just a doc, it is an experience. The filmmakers shot 250 hours of film over many years so you witness many twists and turns in these young men’s lives. This classic documentary can be seen on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play and iTunes.
Grizzly Man – In our opinion no doc list would be complete without this Werner Herzog documentary. Our “hero” is Timothy Treadwell who loves the wild bears he has gotten to know during the 13 summers he has lived in Alaska’s Katmai National Reserve. If you think this is just another nature documentary you are in for a shocking surprise. Herzog pieced this doc together by using video footage that Treadwell shot himself and interviews with his friends. Treadwell come across as a “free spirit” that could charm people and bears he was also complex and that is witnessed in some of his ‘on camera’ talks recorded while he was alone in the wild. Herzog has made a career out of documenting madness, ecstasy and darkness. This doc has a very famous scene where in Werner listens to a tape of the attack that left Treadwell and his girlfriend dead. Another compelling look at the human condition, recklessness, courage and chaos. Grizzly Man is on YouTube, Amazon Prime, iTunes and Hulu.
