Favourite documentaries

[Colback's Orange Tufts]

I have been living in the US for the past 4 years and the vast majority of suicides here are by gun. This country has a typical 12,000 murders a year by gun and even more suicides than that by gun. Research has tended to suggest that suicide is generally an impulse act so given that the US has more guns than people they have far more access to an almost guaranteed deadly means.

In Britain up until the 1950's and into the 1960's the bulk of suicides were by gas which tailed off to zero as the country gradually switched over from poisonous coal gas to natural gas which is non poisonous Now some might argue that if someone wants to kill themselves they will simply do it another way but in Britain once the gas was gone Suicide rates fell by 40% and stayed that way ever since.

The gas was just as deadly and arguably even more deadly than a gun. Just a few whiffs and you will be unconscious then dead inside a minute or even less so if not found almost immediately after beginning the act it's guaranteed death. Vastly more people survive attempted overdoses etc. than ever did suicide by gas while around one in ten survive a shot to the head.

It's known that it's most often an impulse act from studies of survivors. As an example one guy survived a jump from a bridge and it may even have been the golden gate bridge I can't recall but when talking to psychiatrists about it at a later time he said that he had been feeling down but hadn't been thinking about killing himself. It was an impulsive thought that popped into his head as he crossed the bridge so he jumped.

He said that virtually the instant he had stepped over and began to fall he already regretted it and wished he hadn't and that story is a familiar strand coming from many who have survived a suicide attempt. Take away a guaranteed means such as deadly gas or erect barriers at jumping spots and suicide rates fall. They aren't falling in the US because guns are ubiquitous and the people who sell them don't care how many people die for their profits. The gravy train must keep on rolling.

I can't remember if it was Freakonomics or This American Life who did a really good episode on this. Also considered how there's huge disparity in suicide rates by race in the US (even accounting for anecdotal 'suicide by cop')

[skalpel]

Just noticed Style Wars hasn't been mentioned in here. Absolutlely love that film.

[P.T.N]

Does anyone know when the Louis Theroux Scientology documentary comes out on general release? I can't wait to finally watch it. Some of the reviews I read in the Daily Telegraph etc have been really positive.

[Donkey Toon]

Does anyone know when the Louis Theroux Scientology documentary comes out on general release? I can't wait to finally watch it. Some of the reviews I read in the Daily Telegraph etc have been really positive.

Can't seem to find a release date for the UK. It was released in Netherlands on 5th May and in Belgium on 11th May according to imdb, but other than the London premier nothing for the UK or rest of the world.

BBC probably saving it for tv?

[P.T.N]

Does anyone know when the Louis Theroux Scientology documentary comes out on general release? I can't wait to finally watch it. Some of the reviews I read in the Daily Telegraph etc have been really positive.

Can't seem to find a release date for the UK. It was released in Netherlands on 5th May and in Belgium on 11th May according to imdb, but other than the London premier nothing for the UK or rest of the world.

BBC probably saving it for tv?

I doubt they'd put it on TV tbh - It's supposed to be feature length isn't it? I guess they may be waiting for a time like Christmas when there are major ratings battles or are going to put it on DVD.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were some legal issues about it in the UK. I know those pesky scientologists can be pretty ruthless with stuff like that.

There is a Scientology church (?) in Manchester, and I am very tempted to go and get a personality test to see what its like. Knowing my past though, they would find a treasure chest of stuff they could hold against me

[Donkey Toon]

The Art of Killing just starting on Sky Atlantic.

Give it a go if you haven't seen it. It is up there with my favourite documentaries.

[Mifune]

The Art of Killing just starting on Sky Atlantic.

Give it a go if you haven't seen it. It is up there with my favourite documentaries.

The part where that fat guy is brushing his teeth freaks me out.

[golasambi]

yeh donkey agree wit u ther m8. act of killin is fantastic. herzog exec producer tho wasnt involved bt u can c y he put his name to it. in my top 3 docs of 2013. saw it 3 yrs ago n it still feels fresh in my mind

[Seagull]

The Death of Yugoslavia (six episodes split up into 10 minute videos on youtube, lasts nearly 5 hours in total).

Brilliantly detailed and informative insight into the breakup of Yugoslavia and the conflicts that followed. If you're interested in this period at all then I would definitely give it the first few videos a try because I couldn't recommend this enough .

3 and a half years later and this still reigns supreme.

[golasambi]

yeh agree rly interesting n thought provokin. easy to understand and honest x

[skalpel]

Does anyone know when the Louis Theroux Scientology documentary comes out on general release? I can't wait to finally watch it. Some of the reviews I read in the Daily Telegraph etc have been really positive.

Can't seem to find a release date for the UK. It was released in Netherlands on 5th May and in Belgium on 11th May according to imdb, but other than the London premier nothing for the UK or rest of the world.

BBC probably saving it for tv?

Watched it. It was probably his worst documentary to be honest. No focus, no meat, no clear objective. Style papering over a lack of substance.

[Chappy]

Can't seem to find a release date for the UK. It was released in Netherlands on 5th May and in Belgium on 11th May according to imdb, but other than the London premier nothing for the UK or rest of the world.

BBC probably saving it for tv?

Watched it. It was probably his worst documentary to be honest. No focus, no meat, no clear objective. Style papering over a lack of substance.

Agreed. Wasn't really paying much attention to it but that's because it wasn't drawing me in.

It's on Netflix for anyone that's interested.

[golasambi]

yeh it felt wierd. wasnt funny, didnt tell me anythin new n jus felt off tonally. was rly disappointd cos id been lookin forward 2 it for years. i actualy prefered him tlkin 2 jo rogan more than the doc lol

[skalpel]

It's a shame because some of his recent documentaries have been among his best. He was just trying too hard to put a new spin on an already over-documented subject, as well as a subject which pretty much fails to shock: there's nothing you can say about Scientology that will raise brows any more.

[Donkey Toon]

That's a shame about the Theroux Scientology doc, was looking forward to that. I'll still be checking it out mind you.

I take the point about the subject having been done to death though. Nothing more to say about them really is there?

[Cal]

That's a shame about the Theroux Scientology doc, was looking forward to that. I'll still be checking it out mind you.

I take the point about the subject having been done to death though. Nothing more to say about them really is there?

Which I think is why this went more for entertainment over exposé. In the Q&A that followed the simultaneous screening they touched upon how Going Clear had already done a tremendous job of covering Scientology's more nefarious side.

I enjoyed it.

[skalpel]

That's a shame about the Theroux Scientology doc, was looking forward to that. I'll still be checking it out mind you.

I take the point about the subject having been done to death though. Nothing more to say about them really is there?

Which I think is why this went more for entertainment over exposé. In the Q&A that followed the simultaneous screening they touched upon how Going Clear had already done a tremendous job of covering Scientology's more nefarious side.

I enjoyed it.

How do you rank it along side the quality of his other work?

[golasambi]

very low m8, rly wasnt keen at all. u guys seen tickeld thats gd

[skalpel]

Gulag.

Exceptional documentary following first hand accounts of the impact of Stalin's reign of terror over ordinary people. It's like the stuff of the worst kind of dystopian fiction: tens of millions of people arrested for no reason and forced to confess to mysterious crimes before being forced into slave labour by their own country to build canals, railways, etc. until they became so worn out that they were shot in the head and dumped in the cement with whatever they were building. Children tortured physically and mentally and forced to accuse their parents of conspiracy. And it's all real .

[overseasTOON]

Gulag.

Exceptional documentary following first hand accounts of the impact of Stalin's reign of terror over ordinary people. It's like the stuff of the worst kind of dystopian fiction: tens of millions of people arrested for no reason and forced to confess to mysterious crimes before being forced into slave labour by their own country to build canals, railways, etc. until they became so worn out that they were shot in the head and dumped in the cement with whatever they were building. Children tortured physically and mentally and forced to accuse their parents of conspiracy. And it's all real .

I've been meaning to watch that. Hopefully be able to watch it on Friday when I'm off work.