Documentaries

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Kinda bouncing off Carl Sagan being mentioned in the other thread. I've talked about this YT channel before, but for me the host is the closest we have to an heir to Sagan. Check this one out, for example; a real trip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8p1yqnuk8Y

[astfgyl]

Threw on the first 7 minutes of that there. Sounds a bit like the voice in my head that sometimes leaks out when speaking to random members of the public and all they wanted was for me to help them with the most basic of things.

I'll be back to this lad, I haven't encountered him before. I've actually been neglecting the old PBS stuff of late this might get me back in

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Watched Still tonight, new documentary about Michael J.Fox. Loved it: really entertaining, an enormous nostalgia trip, the man himself and how he has faced Parkinson's. And there's loads more details that really flesh this out into a perfect homage to the full spectrum of his life.

[Caomhaoin]

It's good alright.

[Caomhaoin]

Jesus Christ that Cleopatra...what an absolute load of shite. Knowingly passing off pure fiction and pish and bollocks as a DOCUMENTARY. I enjoyed Roman docudrama they did but what is the point of this bullshit?

Ha ha, priceless
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna83771

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I suppose they've kinda gotten a little side-tracked in the interim, but did Russia ever make "their version" of Chernobyl when they were all up in arms over it? I'd be curious to watch it.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Great PBS documentary on the Reconstruction Era of US history (post-civil war, 1865 - 1877) here for any history enthusiasts:

https://youtu.be/btV1ovf560g

A long one, I watched it in a few 30-40 minute sittings, but a really fascinating period for political experiment and resistance. Assassinate the "right" person (Lincoln) and the shockwaves really can last into the centuries.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Also went through Shiny Happy People, new documentary on Prime about one of the fundamentalist christian homeschooling movements in the US, one family of which were the stars of a reality TV show via Discovery. Pretty successfully shines a light on the stranglehold any kind of fundamentalism can have on agency and intelligence, both individual and collective, even in the face of rampant physical and sexual abuse.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Also, since the notion came up in one of the other threads, if anyone is looking for objective approach video essays on political and social questions, then this guy's channel is pretty much the closest to that which I've come across so far:
https://www.youtube.com/@realryanchapman/videos

Videos on loads of interesting topics, all (based on the four or five I've watched) properly and explicitly sourced from the relevant horses' mouths.

[astfgyl]

Objectivity!?

How the fuck am I supposed to be outraged at that?

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Just watched the documentary on Noel Browne that RTE aired last night:
https://www.rte.ie/culture/2023/0731/1397415-the-seven-ages-of-noel-browne-inside-the-new-documentary/

Up on the player for all ye back home, and I found a torrent of it for myself fairly handy today. Not an amazing film in itself, but he's someone all Irish people should know about. The timing of its airing is interesting too, in the wake of O'Connor's passing and everyone already revisiting her battles with the church and combats for women's rights, etc.

[Carnage]

Just watching it now, by pure coincidence. Someone I was vaguely aware of, but the specifics I've forgotten. I suppose I should pay attention now.

Edit: Well worth a watch, that. Yet another illustration of how far back we were held as a nation by the catholic church.

I didn't realise how high the mortality rate for TB was in the '40s (90%). My father had it as a child around then, he was bedridden for a long time and was lucky to survive, it seems - this was a family trait: his father had a ticket for the Titanic as a young man, but missed the sailing from Cobh.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Watched the documentary about Oppenheimer, To End All War, last night. Good but not great, does accompany the movie well though, and Christopher Nolan is actually one of the talking heads in it. I bought Ray Monk's biography of Oppenheimer (so that's not the biography the film is based on) years ago but only dipped into the bits that directly interested me, mainly about the McCarthy era stuff. Would love to find time to read the full thing though, before watching the movie a second time.

[Carnage]

I (re)watched the BBC Storyville documentary on him after seeing the film, the one with David Strathairn (who might have the most anmoying voice I've heard) playing him in the security hearing reenactments. Focussed mainly on his being cast out after crossing Strauss, it's worth a look. Watching To End All Wars now, it's alright.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5FKzyvzNco

Interesting little doc about an almost forgotten chapter of modern Irish history, the Tailteann Games, which most of us may have heard about, but I didn't know much myself about the details.