There are some fairly decent documentary films on Netflix worth the time and effort to watch – these are our picks of the five best Netflix documentaries that we would recommend:

Being AP:

This is the story about the final days of racing for the champion Irish jockey A.P. McCoy. Even if the closest thing you get to horse racing is holding your friend’s hair back as she fertilises the turf at Kenilworth at midnight during the J&B Met every year (or whatever the hell it’s called now) – this is a movie worth watching. There’s drama, suspense, human emotion and it’s brilliantly shot.

Rats:

Morgan Spurlock – the guy that made that Super Size Me movie a decade or so ago – directs a fascinating account of how rats are taking over our cities. It sounds a bit gross, but we found it thoroughly enjoyable to learn a bit more about the real rulers of our urban spaces and the complete nightmare that it has become to keep their population numbers under control. If you have a rat phobia however…watch something else.

Particle Fever:

It’s a bit dated now, but Particle Fever is still a great film for anyone who’s interested in science, the nature of reality and the world’s largest physics experiment / machine. If you consider yourself in any way, shape of form – a nerd, then this one should be at the top of your viewing priority list.

Hello I am David:

His life was dramatically portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in the Academy-award winning film Shine. His name is David Helfgott and Hello I am David is a glimpse of what it is like to be a unique human being with a unique gift of a talent for classical music.

Nobody Speak:

Chronicling the last days of Gawker. com – Nobody Speak is a film about free speech and the big money that is now successfully silencing it. It’s an intriguing look at the very public fight between Gawker Media and billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel – and ultimately about the future of independent publishing, in a largely fact-free world.

Much of what we perceive to be difficult – is not. To endure is to overcome the limitations of our thinking.

A challenge is only a challenge in the mind. There is no such thing as a universally difficult task – only one that you believe to be so.

In a remarkable demonstration of the overcoming of the limited nature of mind – this film, by LA-based director Ivan Olita, brings home the true meaning of challenging our assumptions.

The film explores the spiritual practice of Kaihōgyō, performed by the monks of Mount Hiei, Japan. The 1000-Day pilgrimage has been completed by less than 50 monks in over a century, and traditionally, any monk who cannot complete it must take their own life.

These may may also consider the challenge of remaining patient in Cape Town increasingly diabolical traffic situation as part of their challenge. It’s one that they are almost entirely assured of failing.

You can always tell who the new tourists are in Cape Town that have just arrived in the city – they’re the one’s still waiting for the ‘green man / person’ at the pedestrian crossing.

They haven’t yet learnt that those things are just a suggestion and that waiting there for too long could actually flag you as a idiot who presents as an easy mugging target.

That’s why this idea from KLM, called a Care Tag, is not a bad idea for airlines wanting to avoid the annoying risk of a return ticket home being cancelled, because of death.

The Care Tag is GPS-enabled and is a bit like having one of those friendly, but annoying, air stewards permanently attached to your rucksack – barking fairly obvious instructions at you. Great for tourists from countries that double up as nanny states – and perhaps something the South African government should invest some of their innovation budget into if attracting Euro-spending first-time travellers is in any way a desirable priority.

The KLM Care Tag at first seems like it might be a joke, but all of our usual due diligence doesn’t necessarily suggest that it is. Which is great news if you have trouble seeing that the streets of a foreign city are busy – or that a taxi to an airport will cost you some money.

Many people are led to believe that in order to lead effectively – you need to be a dick.

See, dicks generally command attention, which many see as a sign of confidence, or knowing what the answer to the problem is. But in our experience, having worked with many a dick over the years – this is more often than not, the furthest from the truth.

In this rather entertaining piece of research, filmmaker Max Joseph endeavours to find out whether or not it’s important to be a dick if leading people / or succeeding in life is your goal.

See the problem with following the ‘dick strategy’ – is that even if you succeed at whatever it is that you were trying to get people to do – what they will however remember you for for the rest of time, was what a total dick you really are.

You would think that in an age where kids choke themselves to death with utterly pointless electronica and other mind-numbingly useless forms of modern ‘music’ that a brand like Fender would be struggling to put lines of blow and bottles of Jack Daniel’s on the table.

But in fact, Fender is alive and well and tackling the 21st century with a verve of innovation that’s sure to see young guitar players furiously swinging their products into studio amps in no time.

Fender Play is an online video subscription tutorial service that helps new guitar players learn in instrument in easy to swallow bite-sized lessons.

Shockingly, according to Fender – most kids who start off trying to play the guitar give up pretty easily (we’re certainly not surprised here). “About 45% of the guitars that we sell every year are bought by an absolute beginner,” says Andy Mooney, CEO of the 70-year-old guitar manufacturer. “Somebody who has never touched the instrument before, 90% of those players abandon it within one year.” via

The idea behind the digital school is that new players will hopefully continue their quest to become the next Kurt Cobain and carry on buying guitars and amps from the brand – until, of course, they decide that this world not longer suits their style and exit it via some overly dramatic suicide.

For $20 a month, the world’s best guitar mentors will take you through the basics of cords and techniques that get you playing and practising regularly.

Hopefully the result over time will be better music in the future. We can at least live in hope.

This kind of back-end skills development idea is great for companies that sell a product that requires some level of skill to make use of.

Keith Richards ain’t getting any younger – replacements are wanted.

We know that uncertainty and change is growing exponentially in an ever increasingly complex world. But if the key to dealing with this is to let go of our assumptions, which are routed in outdated and irrelevant history, how can we do this knowing that it is these very tightly held assumptions that got us to this point in the first place?

This process of stepping over the metaphysical ledge, the willful breaching of the edge of the mental cliff face – is what we commonly know as being creative.

This mind-bending presentation by Beau Lotto answers some of these perplexing conundrums. BTW – Beau Lotto is is a professor of neuroscience who specialises in the biology and psychology of perception.

Here he speaks at length about the ontology of creativity and how coming up with new ideas and different ways of thinking isn’t that special at all. It just take bravery.

Our take out from this – creativity is not the seeking of answers – instead it is the asking of really good questions. It’s logical.

Sadly, we don’t know too many people who are comfortable with this uncertain position, maybe we need to get out more.