documentaries
Latest
'We Met in Virtual Reality’ finds love in the metaverse
We Met in Virtual Reality paints an endearing picture of a VRChat community.
Netflix is testing a linear-style TV channel in France
The beauty of Netflix is that you can watch anything anytime you want, but what if you don’t feel like making a decision? That’s the idea behind Direct, a new linear-style channel that Netflix is testing in France.
Criterion will stream notable titles by black filmmakers for free
Criterion Collection announced a few steps it’s taking to fight systemic racism, including lifting the paywall on select titles from black filmmakers.
Netflix puts free documentaries on YouTube for students and teachers
To help teachers and students learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Netflix is making a handful of documentaries available for free on its Netflix US YouTube channel. At the moment, there are 10 documentary films and series available, including 13th, Babies, Chasing Coral, Knock Down the House and Our Planet. Each comes with educational resources, like discussion questions, ways to take action and more info.
YouTube TV will carry PBS and PBS Kids
PBS and PBS Kids are coming to YouTube TV. Beginning sometime this year, PBS member stations who choose to participate will have their programming streamed on YouTube TV's live TV and on-demand subscription service. The move will bring both educational and local TV to the platform, and it marks the first time PBS has partnered with a streaming service in this way.
'Awaken' takes time-lapse filmmaking to new heights
If you're a fan of wordless cinematic meditations on modern society, like Samsara and Baraka, Tom Lowe's Awaken should be on your radar. Filmed over the course of five years in more than 30 countries, it's a documentary that explores humanity's connection with technology and nature with some gorgeous imagery. It's also a showpiece for new time-lapse cinematography innovations by Lowe, including gimbal technology that allowed him to shoot astrophotography scenes from a moving helicopter. The trailer alone shows off some astounding imagery, including a starry scene from the Sierra Nevada at dusk and a camera zooming above Dubai's skyline.
Hulu will offer live TV in early 2017
That talk of Hulu getting into live TV? It's real. Company chief Mike Hopkins has announced that you'll see live entertainment, sports and news on the streaming service in early 2017. He didn't say which networks were involved or what it might cost, but the Wall Street Journal leak had suggested that at least Disney and Fox (including channels like ESPN and FX) were signing on. You'll hear more about Hulu's plans over the course of this year, Hopkins says.
New Steve Jobs doc examines the myth of the man who made Apple
Director Alex Gibney wraps up his latest documentary, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, with an apt encapsulation of the Apple co-founder's conflicting persona: "He had the focus of a monk, without the empathy." Jobs, who passed away in 2011 of pancreatic cancer, was the genius who transformed Apple into a pioneer of the PC era; and was then kicked out of his own company before returning to revolutionize the way we listen to music and use phones. But he was also a man who, in the pursuit of fortune, infamously ran away from his responsibility as a father, and is generally known for being a tyrant. So how do you reconcile these two extremes? Gibney's doc (available today on iTunes and other streaming services) doesn't settle on an answer, but throughout its two-hour runtime, he explores what made Jobs tick, and what made millions of consumers admire him. And while The Man in the Machine covers plenty of familiar territory -- how many times do we need to see the Apple origin story, really? -- Gibney still manages to give us fresh insight into Jobs through newly unearthed footage and interviews.
GOG.com adds movies to its lineup
DRM-free game distributor GOG.com has expanded its online catalog to include a selection of gaming documentaries, announcing that it will seek partnerships with major studios to feature additional TV and film offerings via download and streaming. Twenty gaming-themed documentaries are now collected under GOG.com's new "Movies" tab, including the world premieres of Gamer Age, The King of Arcades, and Pixel Poetry. The service currently offers two of its featured films -- Art of Playing and TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard -- free of charge of registered users. GOG.com hopes to entice major studios to join its catalog with the strength of its initial offerings, but GOG's VP for North America Guillaume Rambourg notes that getting Hollywood to embrace the service's DRM-free stance is an uphill battle. "Our initial idea was to start with the big guys, but the process is not easy," Rambourg said. "In our first round of talks, the response was largely, 'We love your ideas, but we do not want to be the first ones. We will gladly follow, but until somebody else does it first, we do not want to take the risk.' Most studio officials agreed that DRM is pointless, but were quick to add that the lawyers would not allow them to get rid of it." New DRM-free film releases will hit GOG.com weekly. [Image: GOG.com]
Age of Wushu shows off a documentary from its Chinese testing tour
If you're a potential player in America, it's Age of Wushu. If you're in Europe or China, it's Age of Wulin. Wherever you're located, it's an upcoming free-to-play game focusing on wuxia-style combat in the same style as Chinese action films. And if you can't wait to see more of the game in action, you're in luck -- Snail Games USA has released a new documentary on the game focusing on its seven-city testing tour in China last year. The documentary mixes in developer presentations, player impressions, and some live gameplay footage from this large-scale beta event, all of which combine to paint a picture of the game as it continues development. The full documentary is 15 minutes long and embedded just after the cut, so if you can't wait to see more of the game, check it out and keep your eyes peeled for more updates as the game approaches localization and launch.
Free for All: Old Second Life documentary still highlights truths
So I was working on this week's Free for All last night when a buddy of mine asked me if I had seen a certain older Second Life documentary. I didn't think I had before, but it turns out that my usual record of consuming everything MMO still stands, and it was fun to re-watch the older documentary again for several reasons. One of the most important things I noticed about the film was just how universal to MMO gaming the documentary was. The issues it brought up are still issues, the problems with virtual worlds are still problems, and the fact that any technology older than six months looks laughable on film is still true. It was also encouraging to see how well Second Life has aged since 2007, but it's slightly depressing to see just how horrible MMO documentaries can be at showing the entire picture.
New documentary follows the Race to World First
MMO players, have you ever thought that your in-game exploits were worthy of a feature film? Well, they probably aren't, but at the very least they're worth a documentary! An upcoming documentary film by the name of "Race to World First" is about the World of Warcraft guild Blood Legion and its journey to become the number one guild in the world. The only catch is that the current numero uno guild is the internet-famous Paragon. The full documentary can be watched at Looking for Group Productions' website for the meager fee of $2.99. If you'd like a peek at what you'd be getting yourself into, follow on past the cut to watch the documentary's trailer.
Chiptunes documentary "Reformat the Planet" now available to watch in its entirety on Hulu
You may or may not know that chiptunes have a very special place in our hearts. Regardless, the documentary about the people behind this intriguing genre, Reformat the Planet is an enthralling watch for music fans and nerds alike -- it's a film we seriously really enjoyed. Well, now you can watch it on the internet -- Hulu, to be specific -- where it belongs. In fact, we're so crazy, we've embedded it after the break. Woohoo!
Get your Mac history lessons on Netflix
Although there quite a few old guys like myself who have been around since the early days of the Mac, there are a heck of a lot more people who have switched to the platform in the recent past. As such, those new to the platform might want a refresher on Mac history. In 2008, the documentary Welcome to Macintosh appeared on the scene, introducing a new generation of Mac fans to some of the early luminaries in the Mac universe like Andy Hertzfeld and Guy Kawasaki. At Macworld Expo 2009, another documentary premiered called Macheads. This second film was tagged "a fanboy documentary," and it explored the good and bad sides of Mac love through interviews with hard core fans like Violet Blue. I received a tip yesterday just before the start of TUAW TV Live that Macheads is now available in the Netflix Watch Instantly category along with Welcome to Macintosh. That's right -- you can watch either of the movies instantly on your Mac, or download the free Netflix iPad app and watch 'em on your newest Apple gear. Having lived through all of this history, I hadn't watched either of the movies, but since I'm a Netflix subscriber and the movies are included in the cost of admission, I've now seen them both. Neither of the documentaries warrant repeated viewings, but they're definitely worth seeing at least once if you're a Mac fan. If you're a Netflix customer, you can now get 'em both on demand for no extra cost.
