Must-See Documentaries

Please take a break from idiotic "reality" shows like The Hills, The Simple Life and The Real World.....they are killing your brain cells!!!!  Watch these documentaries that I have listed below and actually learn something.  Wow, watching television and movies for educational purposes.....that is an amazing new concept!

Three 8 year old boys mutilated and murdered in a creek in West Memphis, Arkansas is the starting point of this enthralling documentary. That is sickening enough but what is just as disturbing is way the investigation of this horrific crime was carried out.

Three anti-social teenagers were arrested for the crime with little evidence. One of the boys (who is mentally slow) cracked under the hours of interrogation and confessed, implicating himself and the other two suspects with the murders. They are tried and convicted of murder.

I first saw this doc years ago on HBO. I knew nothing about the case and began watching it from the perspective that the suspects were guilty. While watching, I began to change my mind. I remember turning to my wife and asking, "Is it just me, or is there really no direct evidence linking them to the murders?"

This movie and the sequel Revelations will anger and frustrate you but they are worth watching.  Paradise Lost 3 is being filmed and should air next year on HBO.

A group of eight Palestinian terrorists stormed into Munich Olympic Village in the middle of the night and forced their way into an apartment housing Israeli athletes on September 5th 1972.

This documentary recalls that day in detail, from the breaking early morning news to the tragedy later that night. Very informative and thought provoking.

A facinating in-depth interview and bio of Robert McNamara, the secretary of defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

McNamara details his role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War with brutal honesty.  

Great documentary! A must watch for any history and/or political buff.

This doc will piss you off. It details the wasteful spending our government is doing in Iraq. War profiteering companies such as Halliburton, CACI, and KBR are the major focus...and profit they surely do!

No-Bid contracts, outrageous pricing on services and totally corrupt practices are just some of the details in this documentary that will enrage the viewer. You will want to refuse to pay your taxes after watching this movie!

A documentary profiling the history and strife of the punk rock band The Ramones. Made just after the death of Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, End of the Century is an insightful, interesting and often touching movie. You do not have to be a fan of the band to enjoy this doc. If you are a fan and you have not seen this then what the hell are you waiting for?!?!?!

One of the best rock doc I have ever seen. Great interviews with the members, collegues and friends of the band (look for Johnny's interviews...interestingly solemn, total lack of emotion...almost disturbing).

Unfortunately, Johnny Ramone died of prostate cancer a year after this film was made.

The Civil War by Ken Burns is a true masterpiece. This is probably my favorite documentary of all time. With original photos, writings from major players to the common foot soldier, and interviews with Civil War experts (most notable is Shelby Foote) this doc sucks you in and makes you realize how horrible, dramatic and important the American Civil War really was.

A little trivia: Shelby Foote was such a good interviewee and storyteller that he actually received marriage proposals in the mail from women taken by his southern charm. 

This incredibly moving documentary details the World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks just weeks after September 11, 2001.  New Yorkers needed something to distract them from the grief, and cheering for the Yanks seemed to be just the right thing. 

You don't have to be a Yankees fan to cheer for them in this great documentary. 

Very interesting and in-depth documentary of the JFK assassination.  This doc series explores the different conspiracies related to that tragic day in Dallas, November 22 1963. 

The Men Who Killed Kennedy details the CIA, mob and Cuban connections.  Compelling interviews throughout this doc include:  eye-witnesses to the assassination and autopsy, forensic pathologists, ex-CIA agents, Oswald's family and co-workers, and many more.

This documentary will make you believe that there was a conspiracy to kill the President of the United States. 

Hear and Now details an elderly deaf couple that decide to get a cochlear implant. This doc helped me understand the miracle of hearing.

****Slight Spoiler*****

Very interesting development in this movie. The wife could not adjust to hearing. She did not have the ability to discern between background and foreground noise. This made me realize how much we take our sense of hearing (and our ability to not hear) for granted.

To the wife, everything sounded like a bunch of noise. We hear so many different things at one time, so when you think about it, I could not imagine hearing all of that and not have the ability to distinguish different sounds and tune out the unimportant sounds. It would drive me insane.