Mockumentaries/Speculative documentaries

[TheScooper]

Nigger let me tell you a story.

Raymond Briggs, the author of When the Wind Blows had beforehand written another little graphic novel starring the same elderly couple called Gentleman Jim which was a light hearted story of the old man trying to escape the drudgery of his life as a toilet cleaner by becoming a highwayman.

I read this when I was young and quite liked it, and was happy to find that we had the sequel book, which was called When the Wind Blows and thus I happily started reading it....and halfway through was introduced at the age of 6 to the concept of nuclear holocaust, and how radiation and the breakdown of society slowly and mercilessly kills two terrified old grandparents after putting them through living hell of shitting blood, losing their hair, being eaten by rats, and then dying after deliriously wrapping themselves in impromptu bodybags.

My only comparison would be if there was a Bernstein Bear book that halfway through dumped the bear family in auchwitz and had them each die slowly and agonizingly with every bit of suffering spelled out in colourful pictures

It was made into a lovely animated film.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Let me stoke the fire with this one:

Full movie is on YT and the usual places. Very disturbing and I believe it's semi-accurate to the time. Recommended for all fans of exploitation cinema.

 

[cactus]

Wow, I am so disappointed by the lack of What We Do in the Shadows. I love vampires and I thought this was funny and it had some cute moments. Taika Watiti is making a sequel about the werewolves seen in the film called We're Wolves.

I was a big fan of Life After People. The art episode nearly gave me an aneurysm with me internally screaming "NOT THE ART!".

 

[Cats]

I wanted to bump this thread because I was about to make one talking about these. I saw A Mighty Wind for the first time ever a few days ago but I have been a fan of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries since I was a kid. I love these movies, even if they are only "allegedly" filled with a ton of improv. The regular stars of these usually tend to be masters who know exactly how to nuance their comedy and it is something you don't find in many forms of comedy, definitely a worthwhile niche.

Jane Lynch and Parker Posey are two really good examples of women who are actually funny and don't adopt the modern cookie cutter set most comediennes these days do of where they just talk about being a gigantic slut and say gross out shit about their cooch.

When Christopher Guest said there were no holes in the records The Folksmen produced (because their producer/distributor was so shitty) I almost cried from laughing so hard. That guy was born to make movies like these. He might be one of my favorite comedic film actors.

 

[Big Fat Frog]

I don’t know if anyone knows what I’m talking about but I remember seeing a couple mockumentaries a long time ago but I don’t know if anyone knew what I was talking about or what they were called.

One was about this research group basically finding out about these lines on the Earth that intersect and match up with points where there’s hotspots of strange ship and plane disappearances. They try digging in the ground to reach one of these lines and the whole crew gets fried and turned to ash.

The other one was basically a reality show similar to Survivor where a bunch of teams try to survive and compete in challenges in the wilderness and some crazy shit happens. I don’t remember much, just remember laughing at a couple episodes with my buddy but it was an interesting concept.

Besides that I still love the original Blair Witch movie. As Above, So Below and Chernobyl Diaries were also alright. Kinda shitty but interesting concepts nonetheless. Trollhunter was also pretty good.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

The Great Martian War 1913-1917 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Great Martian War is a documentary about the Martian Invasion of the world, and the ensuing war to stop them, during the period of 1913 to 1917. It...

archive.org

The Great Martian War 1913-1917
The History Channel in 2013 looks back a hundred years ago to bring you the story of the time the Martians invaded
actually a The History Channel joint with all the The History Channel bells and whistles

 

[Flaming Carrot]

Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America is a mockumentary suggesting the CIA interventions in South America are a result of a secret war with aliens.

The Hellstrom Chronicle is an insect documentary that's also features a fake scientist warning that insects are going to take over the world. It won an Academy Award and inspired a novel by Frank Herbert.

 

[Lunch Lady]

I love all the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, especially Waiting for Guffman and of course Spinal Tap, they never get old.
There‘s an amazing IFC series called Documentary Now, if you haven’t seen it you should check it out, it’s a lot of fun.

Documentary Now series trailer

Links to a couple of my favorite episode, Sandy Passage, which is a fucking hysterical riff on Grey Gardens and Final Transmission, a brilliant send up of Talking Heads Stop Making Sense.

Sandy Passage

Final Transmission