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Tim's Vermeer 2013
Documentary
Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Holland, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artista David Hockney, and eventually even to Buckingham Palace. The epic research project Jenison embarques on is as extraordinary as what he discovers.
The sides of Tim's Vermeer
- An inventor who has never painted
- A room in Texas rebuilt like Vermeer's
- Mirrors, lenses and years of patience
Good for you if
- you like a theory tested with real lenses and mirrors.
- you like a centuries old question about how Vermeer painted.
- you like Dutch painting from the 1600s.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum, and months of painting wear you out.
- you want Penn and Teller's stage comedy. Here they mostly watch a friend paint.
About: art · obsession · patience

Penn & Teller: Bull! 2003
Documentary
This daring original series stars postmodern bad boys of magic Penn & Teller as they question many of our culture's most cherished and widely held beliefs. From the truth about palm readings and TV psychics to the reality behind Feng Shui and Ouija boards, the archly comic masters of misdirection host this eye-opening analysis of the middle-ground between perception and reality.
The sides of Penn & Teller: Bull!
- Two magicians testing psychics and palm readers
- Feng Shui and Ouija boards under the microscope
- A loud, swearing host and a silent partner
Good for you if
- you like Penn ranting and Teller staying silent while they take a belief apart.
- you like real people, real claims and a hidden camera or two.
- you want every claim checked against the evidence.
Bad for you if
- eight seasons of half-hour episodes is too much for you.
- you'd rather not see the nudity in some episodes.
About: skepticism · belief · deception
Waltz with Bashir 2008
Documentary
A film director from Israel interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
The sides of Waltz with Bashir
- An Israeli director who can't remember his war
- Interviews with fellow veterans of Lebanon, 1982
- Animated memories that end on real footage
Good for you if
- you want to know what a war does to the memory of those who fought it.
- you like a director investigating his own past.
- you like dreamlike animated images, like soldiers rising from the sea at night.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not see a war documentary in animation.
- you won't read subtitles. It's in Hebrew.
- you can't take a film about guilt and the dead of a war, seen through a soldier's nightmares.
About: memory · guilt · war
Alien Worlds 2020
Documentary
Applying the laws of life on Earth to the rest of the galaxy, this series blends science fact and fiction to imagine alien life on other planets.
The sides of Alien Worlds
- Imagined planets and the life on them
- Animals on Earth as the model
- Computer-made alien creatures
Good for you if
- you like imagining what life could look like on other planets.
- you like exoplanets and the science of where life could exist.
- you like real animals on Earth used to explain alien ones.
Bad for you if
- you don't like documentaries built on computer-animated creatures.
- you need people and a story to follow.
About: life · evolution · the universe
Another Day of Life 2018
Documentary
In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…
The sides of Another Day of Life
- A Polish reporter in Angola in 1975
- A road trip to the front line of a civil war
- Animation mixed with real interviews
Good for you if
- you want to see a war through the eyes of the journalist covering it.
- you like a true story told by the people who were there.
- you like animation that looks like a feverish dream of the front.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch animated films, even about real events.
- you can't stand scenes of killing at checkpoints and in the bush.
About: war · bearing witness · helplessness
Circus of Books 2019
Documentary
For decades, a nice Jewish couple ran Circus of Books, a porn shop and epicenter for gay LA. Their director daughter documents their life and times.
The sides of Circus of Books
- A Jewish couple running a gay porn shop in LA
- Their daughter behind the camera
- Decades of gay life in Los Angeles
Good for you if
- you like a family portrait where parents and children finally talk.
- you want to see gay Los Angeles from the 1970s on through one shop.
- you like real people with a secret life that sounds made up.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not see the gay porn on the shop's shelves.
- you can't watch the AIDS years, when the shop lost friends and staff.
About: family secrets · gay history · acceptance

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream 2006
Documentary
From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.
The sides of Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
- Six cult films shown at midnight in the 1970s
- El Topo, Eraserhead and Rocky Horror
- Directors looking back on how it happened
Good for you if
- you love the cinema of the 1970s.
- you like the strangest films that ever found a crowd.
- you want the true story of how midnight screenings became a ritual.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not see raw clips from films like Pink Flamingos.
- you want one story to follow, not six films and many interviews.
About: cult cinema · the counterculture · audiences

Cosmos 2014
Documentary
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson provides clarity for the vision of the cosmos as he voyages across the universe with never-before-told stories that delve into the scientific concepts of the laws of gravity and the origins of space and time.
The sides of Cosmos
- The history of the universe compressed into one calendar year
- A ship of the imagination
- Scientists who changed how we see the sky
Good for you if
- you like feeling small in front of billions of years and galaxies.
- you like black holes, the birth of stars and the size of the universe made visible.
- you like the true stories of scientists like Newton or Clair Patterson.
Bad for you if
- you can't take the cartoon scenes that tell each scientist's story.
- a narrator in awe of everything makes you roll your eyes.
About: science · curiosity · time
Titicut Follies 1967
Documentary
Employing methods of direct cinema–observation, limited stylization, and non-intervention–this stark look into the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts shows its denizens, who were often kept in barren cells and infrequently bathed, forced to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and the indifference and bullying by many of the hospital's staff.
The sides of Titicut Follies
- Bridgewater State Hospital in 1967
- Patients and guards with no narration
- A variety show put on by staff and inmates
Good for you if
- you want to see a real prison hospital with no narrator telling you what to think.
- you like raw black and white footage from the 1960s.
- you want to see what total power over patients looks like.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch patients stripped, mocked and force fed.
- you need some hope by the end.
About: confinement · dignity · cruelty

The Universe 2007
Documentary
From the planets to the stars and out to the edge of the unknown, history and science collide in a wondrous yet deadly adventure through space and time.
The sides of The Universe
- The planets of the solar system
- Black holes and dying stars
- Astronomers explaining the cosmos
Good for you if
- you like feeling small next to galaxies and black holes.
- you want a tour of the solar system and far beyond.
- you want real astronomy explained by scientists.
Bad for you if
- nine seasons is too much for you.
- you need characters to follow, not planets.
About: the cosmos · time · scale

National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe 2008
Documentary
In one single, epic camera move we journey from Earth's surface to the outermost reaches of the universe on a grand tour of the cosmos, to explore newborn stars, distant planets, black holes and beyond.
The sides of National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe
- One continuous trip from Earth outward
- Black holes, newborn stars and distant galaxies
- A narrator guiding the tour
Good for you if
- you like feeling small in front of the size of the cosmos.
- you like flying past planets, stars and black holes.
- you want a space trip to watch with curious children.
Bad for you if
- you need people and a story to follow.
- you don't watch animated films. Every planet and galaxy here is computer-made.
About: the cosmos · scale · discovery
History of Swear Words 2021
Documentary
This proudly profane series explores the history and impact of some of the most notorious bad words in the English language.
The sides of History of Swear Words
- Nicolas Cage introducing one swear word per episode
- Linguists and comedians on bad words
- Short episodes on words like the F-word
Good for you if
- you like comedians riffing on the words you weren't allowed to say.
- you like learning where the F-word and its cousins came from.
- you like Nicolas Cage hamming it up as host.
Bad for you if
- you want something to watch with your kids.
- you'd rather not hear crude talk about sex.
About: language · taboo · culture
Love Meetings 1965
Documentary
Pier Paolo Pasolini sets out to interview Italians about sex, apparently their least favorite thing to talk about in public: he asks children if they know where babies come from; asks old and young women if they support gender equality; asks both sexes if a woman's virginity still matters, what do they think of homosexuality, if divorce should be legal, or if they support the recent abolition of brothels. He interviews blue-collar workers, intellectuals, college students, rural farmers, the bourgeoisie, and every other kind of people, painting a vivid portrait of a rapidly-industrializing Italy, hanging between modernity and tradition — toward both of which Pasolini shows equal distrust.
The sides of Love Meetings
- Pasolini with a microphone across Italy
- Children asked where babies come from
- Questions on divorce, virginity and homosexuality
Good for you if
- you like ordinary people answering questions they never get asked.
- you want to see Italy in the sixties, torn between old and new.
- you like interviews where the hesitations say as much as the answers.
Bad for you if
- you won't read subtitles.
- you find black and white documentaries dated.
About: sexuality · tradition · modernity · morality
Life After People: The Series 2009
Documentary
Life After People is a television series on which scientists, structural engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of Earth should humanity instantly disappear. The featured experts also talk about the impact of human extinction on the environment, and the vestiges of civilization thus left behind.
The sides of Life After People: The Series
- Cities without a single human
- Engineers predicting how buildings fall
- Nature taking back the streets
Good for you if
- you like imagining the world going on without us.
- you like watching plants and animals take back a city.
- you want experts explaining what would really happen to steel and concrete.
Bad for you if
- you need people and a story to follow.
- you'd rather not spend an evening on a world where humanity is gone for good.
About: time · extinction · nature
NOVA 1974
Documentary
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
The sides of NOVA
- The science behind the headlines
- Scientists at work in labs and in the field
- Space, the body, the planet and technology
Good for you if
- you want science explained carefully by the people who do it.
- you like the feeling of understanding something huge about the universe.
- you like episodes on animals, volcanoes and the planet.
Bad for you if
- you can't face a series that has run for over fifty seasons.
- you want characters to follow, not a new subject every episode.
About: discovery · curiosity · knowledge
How the Universe Works 2010
Documentary
A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.
The sides of How the Universe Works
- The Big Bang to black holes
- Astrophysicists explaining the cosmos
- Computer-animated planets and stars
Good for you if
- you like learning how stars, planets and galaxies are born.
- you like feeling very small under the night sky.
- you like exploding stars and colliding galaxies on a big screen.
Bad for you if
- you can't commit to 11 seasons of episodes.
- you need people and a story, not a science lesson.
About: the cosmos · physics · origins

Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking 2010
Documentary
Hawking gives us the ultimate guide to the universe, a ripping yarn based on real science, spanning the whole of space and time -- from the nature of the universe itself, to the chances of alien life, and the real possibility of time travel.
The sides of Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking
- Stephen Hawking's ideas about the cosmos
- The chances of alien life
- Whether time travel is possible
Good for you if
- you like imagining the universe from the Big Bang to its end.
- you like wondering what alien life might look like.
- you want big questions grounded in real physics.
Bad for you if
- you need people and a story, not a guided tour of the cosmos.
- you need things to happen, not ideas explained over CGI.
About: time · the cosmos · curiosity
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool 2019
Documentary
An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).
The sides of Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
- Miles Davis and his trumpet
- Jazz from bebop to fusion
- Musicians and family remembering him
Good for you if
- you want to hear Kind of Blue and the records that changed jazz.
- you like a portrait that shows a genius and his darker side.
- you're curious about racism in America through one musician's life.
Bad for you if
- you can't face drug addiction and abuse of a wife on screen.
- you can't spend two hours admiring a man you wouldn't root for.
About: genius · reinvention · racism

Seven Deadly Sins 2008
Documentary
The series traces the history of the seven deadly sins, how they became part of religious doctrine, and looks at historical figures who have been the worst perpetrators of each. Each of the seven sins is explored, from their origins and nature, their opposing virtue, and their corresponding punishment.
The sides of Seven Deadly Sins
- Seven sins traced back to their origin
- Historical figures held up as examples
- The virtue set against each sin
Good for you if
- you like a walk through medieval doctrine and the figures the church pointed at.
- you want real historical cases rather than a fiction about greed.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum and this one takes its time with each sin.
- you want people to follow, not a subject explained sin by sin.
About: guilt · religion · history
Man with a Movie Camera 1929
Documentary
A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
The sides of Man with a Movie Camera
- A cameraman filming Soviet cities in the 1920s
- A day of city life from waking to work to play
- Split screens, slow motion and fast cuts
Good for you if
- you like seeing camera tricks invented before your grandparents were born.
- you like silent black and white film.
- you like the thrill of trams, factories and crowds cut to a rhythm.
Bad for you if
- you need a story and people to follow. There is no plot and no actor.
- you need words. It is silent, with no intertitles.
About: the city · modernity · cinema itself