Happy Sunday, everyone!
Today I’d like to share a few links to a few documentaries that I’ve watched this year.
They’re not new, but I think they’re interesting even if some of them are slow-paced. (They’re thought-provoking, so they’re well worth the time investment.)
If you don’t have time to watch them all, I suggest The Code and Helvetica in particular. 🙂
You should be able to watch any of them if you’re in Canada, although I’m not sure if my readers outside Canada can view the documentaries. *Crosses fingers*
Here are the links to some documentaries you can watch for free online:
- The Code – Significant numbers that appear in the natural world
- Helvetica – The power of typography
- The Dark Side of Chocolate – Sombre look at child trafficking & child labour in the cocoa industry
- Exit Through the Gift Shop – The movement of street art
Note: The image used in this post was a screen capture I took from the Helvetica documentary.
What was the last documentary you watched? Do you have any documentary suggestions for me? (I particularly like documentaries about pop culture, marketing, psychology, and feminism.)
Yay! Thanks, I was just looking for new documentaries to watch. I love documentaries of all sorts, from silly conspiracy theories to history 😛 The last one I watched was the Dark Ages one from the History Channel.
This one is really thought provoking too (and short) – http://fstoppers.com/video-proof-that-many-war-images-are-staged
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Hey Iris!
You’re welcome – glad that you appreciate it. And thanks for including a link to the one you mentioned. I’ll check it out. 🙂
The last documentary I watched was “A Man Called Pearl.” It was featured on Oprah’s show Super Soul Sunday, which is sort of an inspirational program. The documentary was about a man who keeps an amazing and beautiful garden. I would definitely recommend it.
Another one I would recommend is “Being Elmo,” about the puppeteer who plays Elmo on Sesame Street. It’s really interesting and very heartwarming.
Hey Samantha!
Ohhh yeah! I saw a trailer for Being Elmo. Thanks for reminding me – that’s one I need to watch! 🙂
Yay! Someone else who loves documentaries 😀
I’m all about conspiracy theories, crime, music, and some pop culture now and then and I do like almost all of Michael Moore’s stuff.
I’ve heard good things about Helvetica and have been wanting to watch it for a while. I probably will do it now since I’ve been looking for documentaries to watch.
Lately I watched The Corporation and I was rewatching Dear Zachary (which is super amazing by the way, if you like crime-related documentaries)
I have so many recommendations, but they’re all over the place. For now, I will say to watch, Super Size Me (the famous McDonald’s documentary), Loose Change (conspiracy theory about 9/11 being an inside job), Dear Zachary (crime/murder documentary intended to be made for the murdered person’s son), Zeitgeist (conspiracy about religion/the future/the government), or there’s Superheroes (documentary about modern-day heroes across america)
Hey Lawren!
Oh man! I remember when I first saw Super Size Me. I was so disgusted how that guy’s health went down the drain so quickly. He was brave, but also pretty crazy to do that experiment on himself. Haha! It really drove home the message, though.
Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂
I know! And he was in such good shape to begin with. I’m sure he recovered by now, but brave definitely covers it!
No problem (:
Also, I can’t believe how he was able to keep up the regimen of eating McDonald’s for every meal, every single day. Just thinking about doing that makes me sick.
I watched “The Dark Side of Chocolate” a few times. My college’s Culture Club held a screening of it, and my anthropology class had to watch it. It was really heart-breaking for me. I have pledged to buy only fair trade chocolate.
Have you seen “Journey of Man”? Geneticist Spencer Wells tracks down DNA markers to link the start of the human race to Africa.
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Hey Chris!
Good for you for buying fair-trade chocolate. It really makes a difference! Before seeing The Dark Side of Chocolate, I was ignorant about all the child labour and trafficking. I don’t eat much chocolate, but now that I’m aware of the problem, I’m also going to try to purchase only fair-trade chocolate, too.
No, I haven’t seen Journey of Man, but it sounds like something that would interest me. Thanks for mentioning it. I’ll try to check it out. 🙂
Last doc I watched was the 3rd installment of the 3 part series PBS had been broadcasting on Winston Churchill. I really like to watch documentaries & used to (yrs ago) work for a production house that was known for their documentary production wing. I have seen of the ones you watched listed above – Helvetica & Exit Through The Gift Shop.
Meant to ask before I posted above – where do you ‘go’ to watch things on line for free like the above docs? I do see a lot for free that are in various on line libraries with PBS.org Netflixs has a lot to watch, but of course they are not free.
A lot of times I’ll try to watch the documentaries free online. Occasionally, I’ll rent it through Rogers On Demand. (I think Becoming Elmo is on there, and that’s one I have to see. Thanks to a lovely reader who mentioned it and reminded me! :D)
Hey beachgal!
What did you think about Helvetica and Exit Through the Gift Shop?
After seeing Helvetica, it really made me pay more attention to fonts everywhere. And I’ve always been intrigued by street art, so Exit Through the Gift Shop was interesting.
Oh, I love a good documentary! Off hand I can’t think of the most recent one I’ve seen but it was probably something from Discovery or National Geographic. The only thing about these sorts of films is that people should take everything they see with a grain of salt. It’s so easy to manipulate the POV to create a better story sometimes, that it’s not always fair to the subject matter involved. My vacation addled brain can’t recall the exact film in question but it became a huge “movement” just recently, even trending on Twitter. Problem was, the entirety of the situation wasn’t completely understood by the people who were part of the “movement” and were all solely based on the documentary that started it all. Just a cautionary note, really. 🙂 Anyway, I’m off to bookmark these links. Thanks, Mary!
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Hey Carmela!
Haha, the documentaries that are full of propaganda are the ones that I view as comedies and find myself laughing through. 🙂 There are always at least two sides to every story, so keeping a critical eye open is important.
If you end up watching any of these documentaries, please let me know what you think!
I’m keeping this post of yours on my to-watch list.
I do like me a good Documentary and you have yet to lead me astray both with polish and overall opinion 😀
thank you for the suggestions 😀
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Hey Marta!
Oh my! *Blush* Thanks for the high praise. Now I’m nervous about steering you in the wrong direction. Hehehe! Hope you enjoy these documentaries, and if you ever come across ones you think I’d like, please let me know. I’m always open to seeing new documentaries and making this mushy thing upstairs work harder. 😉