Documenteers: The Documentary Podcast

It's a bittersweet episode 42 as Bob Sham and Jonni close out Herzog month with a Werner Herzog classic that he shot for German television and can be found on YouTube. We discuss Werner's 1981 film "God's Angry Man" (the direct translation from German is "Faith and Currency")and it's about the prolific and notorious west coast televangelist Pastor Gene Scott. Pastor Scott is often pissed the hell off at the FCC, dog kickers (I get it.), and mostly pissed off at people who won't pledge money to his ministry. They obviously don't know how expensive basic limo maintenance can get. Is Scott a charlatan or a legitimate shepherd of men? Werner lets the scene unfold so we can make our own decision on the matter. It's often strange and surreal and leads to stunning revelations of our snarky hosts. "What is this but a festival of faith? What is faith but a testament to the impossible?" That's a quote from the movie. Enjoy it. Keep on Doccin'®

Beep. Boop. Borp. Thank you for listening to episode 41 of the Documenteers! September is Herzog month on the podcast and for our third week Bob Sham and Stuart Von discuss Werner Herzog's relatively dense 2016 doc on technology, "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World". The film is streamable now on Netflix. We break this film down and there's a lot to unpack. If you have a robot fetish, then this movie is straight up pornographic. Robot 8 will steal your heart and get you horny. That's just one thing. We get into the birth of the internet, an eccentric weirdo on a houseboat, solar flares, Man to bot love, tech sickness, morbid trolling, ho-downs, Hacking, Fortnite, the tech apocalypse, robot dreams, Gaming addiction, screen-savers, Emo Elon Musk, Mars, Monks tweeting, Herzog-isms, and tech-telepathy just to name a few. Bob and Stuart handle it like they always do, with plenty of nonsensical jokes that ultimately deflect our fear of an ever changing technological environment that we understand less and less everyday. Don't kill us, robots. Love us. Love us and Keep on Doccin'®.

Well, we've made it to forty. The spirit of Herzog is keeping us going and we honor Werner Herzog by devoting the month of September to his documentaries. Bob and Drew discuss a sports themed Herzog doc that was a big turning point in the director's career. Walter Steiner is a moody young ski-flying phenom that can bust ramp records on the reg. He also carves wood. A serene film set to some Popol Vuh krautrock. And crashes. Lots and lots of ski-jump crashes. Also, is Werner wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket? This is available on YouTube and if you're like us you will need to turn on the subtitles. If you don't, then good for you Mr./Ms. smartypants. Keep on Doccin'®

WHAT A SHOCKER! We just dropped a surprise episode 39! We take a brief distraction from Herzog month, so that Bob Sham and Angela can discuss a film that is viewable in theaters hopefully near you. We watched Tim Wardle's unbelievable documentary "Three Identical Strangers" and you gotta see it to believe it. A young man goes to college only to find himself in front of someone who looks exactly like him. Then another guy shows up and he looks exactly like those other two guys. It's amazing but also how the hell did this happen? The reasons why are shocking to say the least. Check this tale out in the theaters, and also hear us blab about it on this episode you're reading about right now. Keep on Doccin'®.

HERZOG MONTH CONTINUES! For episode 38, Bob and Ginger learn a little bit about themselves after watching lots of footage of flowing lava in Werner Herzog's 2016 geological/anthropological documentary "Into the Inferno". Volcanoes. They are the magma filled teats of the world. Fascinating in their own right, and the societies that form around them even more so. We travel the world in this one to attempt to understand civilization's boner for these impressive, but deadly, geological structures. We go to Indonesia, Iceland, Ethiopia, even friggin' North Korea! In our journey we encounter the odd world of chicken buildings, God sex-holes, rigid totalitarianism, and Bob's new religion...John Frum. The cargo ships will cum. A beautiful film that you gotta see. At least for all those hypnotic lava shots. Then boot-scoot here with us as we break it all down. Available on Netflix streaming right now. Keep on Doccin'®

Episode 37 begins Herzog month. A Herzog film will be discussed from now throughout September to honor our monotone deity of doc. Werner's birthday is September 5th and we are starting the party off right with his 2011 film "Into the Abyss". Ok, so it ain't much of a party movie. It's about the shattering of lives following a triple murder, and the moral question over the necessity of capital punishment. There's also stories of stabbings, bad jail-bird dads, sociopathy, vengeful hearts, and the circle of life. Bob Sham and Angela set the course back on true crime and take in the tale of a strange man (Werner Herzog) making his way through the turmoil of a strange land.(Conroe, Texas) No one will be the same when it's all said and done. Also featuring dick jokes. Keep on Doccin'®

Episode 36 lays the rock-doc summer to rest with a simple and captivating film about obsessive fans in the world of pop music. The teenage pop singer Tiffany had a big hit in the eighties singing a cover of the Tommy James & the Shondells song "I Think We're Alone Now". Since then she has been a magnet for obsessive personalities. Bob Sham and Akil follow the experiences of two of those fans in Sean Donnelly's feel-good documentary "I Think We're Alone Now". This episode features more laughter than is probably merited in a film about two deluded and troubled individuals. Laughter that is meant to deflect our own discomfort at the bleak nature of the film. Apologies to Andy Hackbarth. You can find this on YouTube and Amazon Prime. A deluded shit-show of madness that you won't forget. Also, Bob tortures Akil with a pre-show segment. Stay tuned to the end for Bob's own take on the iconic titular song. All this combined to make us feel dead inside. Keep on Doccin'®

Once it was nothing but a bunch of pencil neck geeks until the day the University of Miami decided to invest into it's college football program. The Miami Hurricanes (AKA The U) have since been one of the most beloved/hated college football teams ever since. For episode 35, Bob Sham, Drew, and 2 Live Crew present ESPN's first feature length 30 for 30 film "The U" by Billy Corben/William Cohen. The shit gets lit and the party gets going...for an hour and 45 minutes. Drew wanted sick plays and he got em, but is this equivalent to eating the entire giant bag of gummy bears? The beat drops hard in this episode so you better get yourself a drink and get that ass loose. We're going full money. Keep on Doccin'®

Episode 34 presents the third in the Los Angeles music trilogy by Penelope Spheeris. Bob Sham and Jonni discuss the Decline film that the director feels the closest to. "The Decline of Western Civilization Part III". Infected cigarette burns, depression, cum haired egalitarian punk bands, alcoholism, homelessness, squat fires, sad childhood stories, and endless amounts of vintage adolescent 90's snideness. Did we mention this one has sad stories? It does. Watch how shit sucked in a pre-911 world nearly twenty years after the first Decline film was made. Then there's the stark realization that it hasn't really gotten any better. We can get wasted and forget about it. This giant industrial pipe looks fine. Keep on Doccin'®

For episode 33, Bob Sham and Stuart Von continue the classic Penelope Spheeris documentary series with what is often considered the funniest of the films. Spheeris hilariously captures the cusp of the LA Glam metal explosion in "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years". This doc features a cavalcade of classic rock and metal personalities and everybody else is going to make it. Absolutely. New school delusions and old school testimony, but is it all true? Mostly. More importantly, where the hell is Odin? Whatever happened to those guys? Someone please write to [email protected] and let us know. Bang your little head and KEEP ON DOCCIN'®