|
I couldn't find the old thread, so I figured I might as well get some discussion on these now that they're on Netflix. 30 for 30 is a series of documentaries made by ESPN initially for the 30th anniversary of the network. Despite the fact that ESPN's original programming usually sucks and the project was headed by SAS bette-noir Bill Simmons, a lot of the films are really well done and on topics not normally covered by sports documentaries. Here are the ones I've seen and how I'd break them down: Must-watch The Two Escobars June 17, 1994 I just finished The Two Escobars after having saved it for awhile and the hype is true. Its easily the best I've seen of the series and I can't recommend it highly enough. June 17, 1994 is about that infamous day when OJ took off in the Bronco, but it also saw the end of Arnold Palmer's PGA career, the first day of the World Cup in Chicago, an NBA Finals game, and myriad other sporting events. The most interesting part is that it is put together only through news and raw footage with no narration and the events all fold together in real time, which really resonated with me because I remember a lot of the OJ shots but was not quite old enough at the time to really process what was going on. Also it's a welcome break from the traditional narrator-footage-talking head format that these documentaries invariably fall back into. The Escobar one has no narration and the talking heads are all in Spanish and subtitled, but I thought all of the interviewees were really fascinating and they have found some stunning footage of the chaos in Colombia. Really good sports documentaries Catching Hell (Bartman) Once Brothers One Brothers is about the fracturing of the Yugoslav basketball team and the relationship between Drazen Petrovich and Vlade Divac. As a Cub fan, Catching Hell was really tough to watch, and the footage of Bartman leaving Wrigley is absolutely terrifying. Enjoyable The U Winning Time (Reggie Miller vs. New York) Pony Excess The Best There Never Was (Marcus DuPree) No Crossover (Iverson) Jordan Rides the Bus The Reggie Miller one was way better than I thought it would be and also brought back good memories of NBA on NBC. Also Ahmad Rashad looks exactly the same. The DuPree one is worth it for the footage of him just destroying everyone in high school and college and makes a strong case for the jheri curl/giant glasses look to come back for running backs. Combined with Pony Excess, it has made the process of football recruiting look even more stomach-churning. Both the U and Pony Excess wore me out with the incessant talking heads, but The U is great because of coinflip staredowns and the greatest football taunt ever recorded by humans. Eh Run Rick Run I like Ricky, but this one was kind of all over the place. What Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? I made it about 10 minutes through before deciding I wanted to strangle the narrator. That is impressive since he goes for the early sympathy play by attempting to interact with the vile Donald Trump. What else should I check out?
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2012 08:04
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:52 |
|
|
Grittybeard posted:I can't remember what I thought at the time (I was 17ish), but I do remember as I was watching the show wondering how OJ would be remembered if he did kill himself. Even if it came out after that he probably killed Nicole there wouldn't have been the huge spectacle of the trial educating everyone about just how guilty he was. I was pretty young at the time, but when Kardashian read that note, I can't imagine anyone thought OJ was still alive. The chase became so surreal that anything seemed possible. I don't remember people going out on overpasses just to watch the car pass, though.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2012 18:30
|
|
|
I'd like to see one on bench guys and scrubs that win rings narrated by Brian Scalabrine.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2012 02:13
|
|
|
I like that the person who made the Iron Bowl one figured that had a pretty good football documentary but all he was missing was a bunch of footage of a guy pretending to play Sweet Home Alabama on the piano while making goofy faces. Also, I saw the Spurlock one on agents. Were we supposed to be rooting for that douchey NFL agent who was hamming poo poo up for the camera, because I laughed when the one dude inexplicably dropped him after he got drafted. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Sep 9, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2012 02:18
|
|
|
I had no idea there was a Marinovich documentary. I can't imagine it not being good unless it was made by a filmmaker with a crazy movie dad that raised his kid from the cradle to make a bunch of movies and then the kid spiraled out of control and submitted a documentary that was nothing but dutch angles, boom mics, and late-period Sting music.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2012 15:52
|
|
|
When Todd Marinovich was caught for possession of meth he wept, for he knew that there were no substances left to smoke, shoot, or snort.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2012 04:05
|
|
|
You know I was growing up in a small town in Austria and I wanted to lift weights and my dad said no you have to drive a tank but I wanted to dream big by being the biggest man in the world and no one else believed I could be the biggest man in the world they had never heard of the body buildings and the posing and all of those things, but I said no I am going to keep body building so I lifted the weights and trained with the army and all of that and then I won the contest and now I have a giant watch and was a governor and all of those things so believe and you can succeed.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2012 04:13
|
|
|
I don't care at all about BMX racing or any sort of X-Games sports, but the Mat Hoffman doc was pretty cool.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2012 06:14
|
|
|
I'll be really disappointed if the Clarett doc isn't called "The Galloping Goose."
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2012 19:07
|
|
|
I swear the guy who wrote the voice-over for the little league documentary had some sort of bet about how many awful, over-wrought cliches he could force out of a gravelly-voiced actor. I dare you to get more than 15 minutes into it without getting incredulous that those sentences are happening to you.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2012 07:14
|
|
|
Bo was pretty bad for the Sox, but I remember that nobody cared because Bo Jackson was playing for their team. As far as I'm aware, there is still a big Bo Jackson poster at the Cell, and he was a part of the awesome pre-game montage as well, and Sox fans are still pretty jazzed that they got to watch Bo play, even if he was kind of crappy.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2012 16:36
|
|
|
I'm finally getting a chance to catch up with the new batch. I liked the Fab Five documentary quite a bit, although it really suffered without Webber's participation. Broke was pretty boring and obvious and the presence of Curt Schilling and Sean Salisbury were particularly galling. I think it showed that The U's greatness was much more a product of its subject than the filmmaker. I would have preferred Broke if it was called "Andre Rison Talks for 80 Minutes." The real injustice is that Netflix doesn't have You Don't Know Bo yet. I honestly don't care what the doc is about as long as it has Bo engaging in important Boz-trucking, wall climbing, and Tecmo dominating activities and mentions how he teamed up the Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky to solve crimes after Wish Kid was over.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2013 07:19
|
|
|
The Bo Jackson one didn't really do anything surprising or interesting, but it was great because Bo Jackson is so ridiculously awesome that there was no need to gussy it up much. The only artistic touch was the presence of some Dark Crystal muppet labeled "Chuck Klosterman" that talked for what seemed like 20 minutes. I'd trade those 20 minutes for an additional 20 minutes of Bo Jackson highlights. In fact, watching a bunch of these 30 for 30s, I'm consistently mystified why they keep interviewing people who did not know the subject or have any connection to him or her other than watching on television. None of these people adds anything whatsoever.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2013 19:59
|
|
|
Just saw that Knuckleball went up on Netflix if you're like me and want to watch the Dickster knuckling the poo poo out of people.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2013 00:22
|
|
|
Just saw the Price of Gold and it really took me back to being just old enough that a figure skater being associated with hired goons who whacked another figure skater in the knee was completely absurd. Now I want to see a 30 for 30 on the time Katerina Witt got assassinated in Paris by an associate of Stellan Skarsgaard while being pursued by the Super IRA.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2014 01:06
|
|
|
Declan MacManus posted:The Price of Gold was really good and it's something I have vague memories of as a kid. I wish they had somehow gotten Gillooly or Kerrigan on camera for the interview (but Gillooly's gone underground and Kerrigan gave NBC the exclusive iirc). Deadspin tracked down Gillooly and had an interview with him.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2014 07:32
|
|
|
Anyone see the Harding and Kerrigan documentary on NBC? I'm curious how it stacked up to Price of Gold.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2014 02:54
|
|
|
soggybagel posted:Having seen neither do you think it had to do with the fact that NBC had full access to olympic archives? NBC had access to Kerrigan.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2014 03:33
|
|
|
I've been watching some of the soccer stories, and I'm pretty disappointed. The Brett Ratner one on the Rimet trophy was awful-- just terrible narration from Ed Norton over b-roll of Nazis goosestepping around and some auction footage. Hillsborough is probably the best of the lot, but I've only made it halfway through. Also, I watched the Bad Boys and it was well done, but there was no way in hell that anyone could ever get me to sympathize with Bill Laimbeer and my favorite parts of that movie were any time something bad happened to Bill Laimbeer such as him losing games or getting punched in the face.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 7, 2014 23:30
|
|
|
Niwrad posted:I thought the trophy one was OK mainly because I'm a dumb American who didn't know any of the history of it. I actually watched it, and it's fine if you like Gary Oldman feverishly narrating 1990 World Cup highlights, video of English people getting teargassed, game footage intercut with filmed soccer impersonators' knees, and Maximum Gazza.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2014 19:07
|
|
|
I'd like a documentary on the '89 Indians and their unexpected pennant win with a bunch of cast-offs and unknowns despite their owner's attempt to lose enough games to move the team to Florida.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2014 03:48
|
|
|
Watched the Boz one and this may be evil, but it was kind of funny when he's tearfully regaling his son about all of the mistakes he's made in his life but the object that's making him mist up is a t-shirt that says "National Communist Association Against Athletes Welcome to Russia."
|
|
#
¿
Nov 23, 2014 08:28
|
|
|
Intruder posted:His son afterward wanting to wear the shirt to school was also pretty funny It's a really funny shirt.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2014 03:27
|
|
|
Rand University is on Netflix now, motherfuckers. Could have used an extra halfhour of Moss NFL highlights though. Also just sort of half-watched From Elway to Marino and while I fully support the right of any American to tell Robert Irsay to gently caress himself, it's also incredible how far out of his way Elway went to comport himself like the villain in a John Hughes movie. Also, a daily reminder that Dan Marino is barely able to string words together yet got to make millions from appearing on television and in isotoner ads.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2014 05:25
|
|
|
WHAT THE HELL WHY IS SILLY BEARDFACE DROOPY VOICE CHUCK KLOSTERMAN ROLLED OUT ON MULTIPLE 30 FOR 30S e: I don't have any interest in tennis, but I'm watching the Jimmy Connors one and he is hulking up against McEnroe's Brother and I that is an incredible fist pump game he's got going. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Dec 24, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2014 04:55
|
|
|
that was less a why from a logistical and practical standpoint and more of a why as in why is this happening to me
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2014 21:49
|
|
|
DJExile posted:http://youtu.be/P4DLvI6LehE I hope there's Herzog narration: I've read hockey is a game of great skill, grace, and courage. But when I look at it what I see is ice murder.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2015 23:39
|
|
|
he like this
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2016 08:07
|
|
|
the XFL people better have gotten Rashaan Salaam and Jesse Ventura
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2016 08:07
|
|
|
algebra testes posted:I find the season/team ones interesting like the Houston team that imploded (lol buddy is such trash) and the last Browns season in Cleveland, and the ones about coaches to be generally good. a few years ago they were all on Hulu and I watched almost all of them. Dilfer is amazing in the Ravens one, he is so defensive and talks himself up as a star quarterback with zero self-awareness and this was before he was on TV all the time so that was novel.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 30, 2016 02:18
|
|
|
RIP Rashaan Salaam
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2016 17:40
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:52 |
|
|
Chromatic posted:Ventura is actually a really good announcer but I don't think he knew much about football itself which probably hurt the product. that owned, it was like pappy o'daniel doing the hillbilly flour radio hour from the governor's mansion
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2016 01:41
|
|