23 documentaries on Netflix right now that will make you smarter

• Jason Guerrasio
 

• Nov. 12, 2016, 8:10 AM
• 1,434,725

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Drafthouse Films/"The Act of Killing"

One of the great things about Netflix is that it has brought thoughtful, compelling documentaries to a much wider audience, which filmmakers could only dream of a decade ago.

And with binge-worthy titles like "Making a Murderer" and the vast ESPN "30 for 30" library being just a click away, you can get a lot of great nonfiction viewing any night of the week. You'll learn a lot more about the world, but don't worry — you'll also be entertained.

Here are 23 documentaries we think you should stream right away on Netflix:

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1. "13th"

Netflix

Director Ava DuVernay looks at the history of the American prison system and shows how it relates to the nation's history of racial inequality.

2. "30 for 30" ESPN movies

ESPN

Pretty much any "30 for 30" title is worth your time. The documentaries that highlight moments in sports that you may or may not be aware of are both entertaining and filled with emotion. A few we highly recommend: "No Crossover: The Tale of Allen Iverson"; "June 17th, 1994," which looks at everything that happened in the world of sports at the time of O.J. Simpson's Bronco chase; "I Hate Christian Laettner"; and most likely available in 2017 will be ESPN's new masterwork, "O.J.: Made in America."

3. "The Act of Killing"

Drafthouse Films/"The Act of Killing"

Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar-nominated doc looks at the Indonesian genocide by having death-squad leaders reenact their mass killings. The results are both comical and heart-wrenching. 

4. "Amanda Knox"

Amanda KnoxNetflix

The murder trial of American exchange student Amanda Knox (now free) in Italy captivated the world in the early 2000s. Now this Netflix original looks back at the case and gets the perspective of Knox and others closely involved.

5. "Blackfish"

Magnolia Pictures

Why is Sea World going to end killer-whale shows? It’s because of this incredible movie that looks at the abuse these magnificent creatures have endured for decades.

6. "Cocaine Cowboys"

Magnolia Pictures

Cocaine invaded Miami in the late 1980s, and the world has never been the same. This documentary looks at the blood-soaked era and the people who were responsible.

7. "Food, Inc."

Magnolia Pictures

This powerful look at how the food we put into our mouths is really produced is shocking and scary. You'll probably want to change your eating habits after watching it.

8. "Hell and Back Again"

New Video

There has been no more honest look at what it feels like to be a solider who has come home from war than this visually stunning work by director Danfung Dennis.

9. "Indie Game: The Movie"

Cinedigm

There’s a world of gamers outside those who play "Call of Duty" and the "Madden" NFL games. Here we look at the creators behind indie games and the struggles they go through to make work that's different but also profitable.

10. "Into the Inferno"

Netflix

Director Werner Herzog travels to the corners of the world (including North Korea) to examine the beauty and danger of active volcanoes.

11. "Janis: Little Girl Blue"

Jess Mills/FilmRise

The legendary singer Janis Joplin is examined with help from the many letters she wrote amid her sudden rise to fame.

12. "Killing Them Safely"

Courtesy of Nick Berardini

A movie that gets more topical as the months pass, director Nick Berardini's doc examines the excessive use of the Taser stun gun by US police departments.

13. "Last Days in Vietnam"

PBS

This Oscar-nominated doc by director Rory Kennedy looks at the final weeks of the Vietnam War and the exodus of Saigon by not just American soldiers and diplomats but also the South Vietnamese who helped the US during the war.

14. "Life Itself"

Magnolia/Life Itself trailer

Steve James gives a touching look at the life and work of film critic Roger Ebert, capturing his final months alive.

15. "Lost in La Mancha"

IFC Films/"Lost in La Mancha"

Terry Gilliam’s doomed attempt to make "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" makes for an incredible all-access look at filmmaking at its most chaotic.

16. "Making a Murderer"

Netflix

This true-crime tale about the murder case of Steven Avery became an instant Netflix binge when it hit the streaming service. Filmed over a 10-year period, it will no doubt prompt your own theory about what's really true.

17. "Man on Wire"

Magnolia Pictures

Winner of the best documentary Oscar in 2009, it gives a powerful retelling of Philippe Petit's illegal high-wire walk across the Twin Towers in 1974.

18. "What Happened Miss Simone?"

Netflix

This Oscar-nominated doc by Liz Garbus looks at the powerful career of Nina Simone, who went from chart-topping singer to rights activist. 

19. "The Overnighters"

Drafthouse Films

Jesse Moss explores the modern-day gold rush: Men desperate for work who head to the North Dakota oil fields to find it. Many come with just the clothes on their backs and troubled pasts. A local pastor is the only one who will take them in, but he has demons of his own. 

20. "Room 237"

YouTube/havas79

You think you know everything about Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining"? Once you see this incredible look at almost every theory that has been devised about the movie, you'll sing a different tune — and appreciate the original masterpiece even more.

21. "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"

Magnolia Pictures

If the biopic "Steve Jobs" didn't give you the insight you wanted, give this Alex Gibney doc a try. Gibney uses archival footage and interviews with those who knew Jobs best to examine his life (which was in many ways his work).

22. "Super Size Me"

Roadside Attractions

Morgan Spurlock's directorial debut that looks at the dangers of fast food, in which he eats only McDonald's for a month, didn't just make him an instant star. It also caused the fast-food chain to eliminate its supersize menu. 

23. "The Thin Blue Line"

The Criterion Collection

Before "The Jinx" and "Making a Murderer," there was Errol Morris' groundbreaking investigation of a man wrongly convicted for the murder of a police officer in Texas. The new findings in the movie led to the release of the man.

Still want more? Here are others to check out:

"Biggie and Tupac."Roxy Releasing

"Biggie and Tupac" — A look back at the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop rivalry that resulted in the deaths of two icons.

"Happy Valley" — A look inside the crumbling of the Penn State football program and the legacy of head coach Joe Paterno following the sexual-abuse charges against a former assistant coach.

"The Hunting Ground" — An emotionally powerful account of rape crimes on US campuses and the cover-ups that take place so the schools can save face.

"Kumaré" — Before becoming a Vice correspondent, Vikram Gandhi made this documentary in which he impersonates an Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. The reveal at the end is something the best screenwriter couldn't come up with.

"Meet the Patels" — Actor Ravi Patel is through with the "American" way of finding a wife, so he turns to his family, which puts him through the traditional Indian way.

"The Wolfpack" — Confined to their apartment for most of their childhood, six brothers learn everything they know about the outside world through the movies they watch and then reenact with homemade costumes.

SEE ALSO: All the 'Avengers' and Marvel fans who nailed their cosplay at Comic-Con

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5 easy ways to make your home look more expensive, according to 2 top real estate brokers in New York City

• Sarah Jacobs
 

• Nov. 6, 2016, 10:28 AM
• 54,568
 

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Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.Image Courtesy of Douglas Elliman

Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlonare big players in the New York City real estate world. As stars of HGTV's "Selling New York," the two are known for their innovative marketing tactics and have closed $1.5 billion in residential sales. 

One of their most valuable tactics for selling property quickly and at its estimated market value is staging: reorganizing and designing rooms within a home to help potential buyers envision what it might look like if they were to move in.

While Postilio and Conlon generally work with a stager on massive projects that can cost up to six figures, the two have a number of valuable tips for sellers who want to try it themselves and are on a budget.

We got five of their most important tips on how to ready your home before it goes on the market:

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Get your windows washed.

Unwashed windows like this don't look prettySarah Jacobs

"The first rule is wash your windows," Conlon said. "The first thing that [potential buyers] do is gravitate toward the view. [If it's not washed] it's like looking at the world through dirty eye glasses."

Declutter by throwing things away, not stuffing it into a closet.

Photo Courtesy of Douglas Elliman

"Declutter," Postilio advised. 

Conlon agreed: "People have 400 bottles of shampoo on the floor of their shower, and you've just got to clear that stuff out. Instead of putting it in closets, throw it out, because storage is another important thing for [potential buyers]. If they don't feel like there's enough for their stuff, you're selling yourself short."

Make sure all bedrooms are staged as bedrooms.

Photo Courtesy of Douglas Elliman

These two advise against making one of a home's bedrooms into a media room or home office during the staging process. "We're always of the mind set for the resale value and getting the most that we can for our seller, and we want [potential buyers] to be able to [see] all the bedrooms [as bedrooms]," Postilio said.

"It's easier [for the potential buyer] to imagine the reverse," Conlon said.

Move belongings that are in the way of a room's main selling feature.

Photo Courtesy of Douglas Elliman

"Walk into a room, close your eyes, envision that you've never been there before, and open your eyes; if the first thing you're seeing is not the feature of that room, whether that's a view or a fireplace or some great woodwork, then something's wrong. Figure out what's getting in the way of that," Conlon said.

Don't overdo it.

Sarah Jacobs

Doing a complete remodel of a bathroom or kitchen can be a big waste of money. "You don't always get your full return on those kinds of [renovations]," Conlon said. 

"Instead of ripping apart your bathroom, just reglaze the bathtub or put in new grout, and clean it up," Postilio said.

SEE ALSO: 2 of New York's top real estate brokers share their best tactic for selling a home faster and for more money

More: Features Visual Features Real Estate New York City 

11 countries with the best quality of life in the world

• Leanna Garfield
 

• Nov. 10, 2016, 11:19 AM
• 619,458

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Stockholm, Sweden.Flickr/Chas B

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released its 2016 Better Life Index of countries with the best quality of life.

To do this, the OECD studied 34 countries across 11 parameters of well-being, including work-life balance, financial wealth, safety, education, and environmental quality. It uses data from the United Nations, National Statistics Offices, and the Gallup Organization.

Check out the countries that scored the highest across every category.

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11. Netherlands — This country boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world. The OECD found that students in the Netherlands score above-average in math, science, and reading comprehension tests.

Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands.Wikipedia Commons

10. Iceland — The country fell eight spots from last year's index. The percentage of Iceland's labor force that has been unemployed for a year or longer is at nearly 0.7%, lower than the OECD average of 2.6%.

Reykjavik, Iceland.Shutterstock

9. The United States — Though it fell four spots from last year's Index, the US comes out on top in areas of housing, income, and wealth. The average household disposable income is $41,071 per year, the highest in OECD's study.

New York City commuters.Flickr User Barn Images

8. Finland — In Finland, 4% of employees work long hours, which is much lower than the OECD average of 13%.

Esplanade Park in Helsinki, Finland.AP/Lehtikuva, Martti Kainulainen

7. New Zealand — Rising two spots this year, New Zealand prioritizes the environment. Greenhouse emissions are relatively low in the country, mainly due to its low population.

New Zealand.TripAdvisor

6. Sweden — People in Sweden have a high level of civic engagement. In the most recent election, 83% of residents turned out to vote for its parliament.

Voter ballots from last year's election.Reuters

5. Canada — This country ranks high in affordable housing. In the 2000s, Toronto and Vancouver's government rezoned all single family neighborhoods, so that homeowners could rent out extra rooms (thus increasing the amount of affordable rent available).

Wikipedia CommonsMarkham suburbs in Toronto.

4. Switzerland — The unemployment rate in Switzerland hovers around 3.1%, one of the lowest in the world.

Zurich, Switzerland.Shutterstock / Andreas Zerndl

3. Denmark — The country jumped 7 spots from last year's index, and ranks high in paid vacation time, averaging 5 weeks off per year. On average, full-time workers report devoting 66% of their days to "personal care" (i.e. not working).

Slette Strand Beach in Denmark.Stig Nygaard

2. Australia — Although Australia ranked as number one for 2013 and 2014 (then fourth in 2015), it is second in this year's index. The OECD found that people feel a strong sense of community in Australia: 95% of Australians believe they know someone they could rely on.

Sydney, Australia.Good Free Photos

1. Norway — The country also scored highest last year. People are living their best lives in Norway, where a majority have paid jobs, a high level of education, and live an average of 82 years.

Oslo, Norway.Flickr/Éole Wind

SEE ALSO: The 9 best places for Americans to live in Canada

More: Features TI Graphics OECD World 

China is really worried about capital outflows

• Kevin Yao, Reuters

• 6h
• 3,733

Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing on November 3.REUTERS/Jason Lee

BEIJING — Chinese policymakers have been unfazed by the yuan's recent slide, but they are ready to slow its descent for fear of fanning capital flight if the currency falls too quickly through the psychologically important 7-per-dollar level, policy advisers said.

The yuan fell on Friday to an eight-year low of 6.8950 per dollar, extending a sharp decline in the past week and taking its fall this year to 5.8%. If maintained, it would mark the yuan's biggest annual decline since the landmark revaluation in 2005.

Chinese policymakers believe the decline in the yuan since October reflects market trends, especially of late when most currencies have fallen in the face of a resurgent US dollar.

But the yuan's outlook is clouded by the election of Donald Trump as US president because he promised during campaigning to label China a currency manipulator on January 20, his first day in office, and to impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

"The central bank is following the trend as the dollar is rising. It's not necessary for it to resist market forces," said a policy adviser, who declined to be identified when recalling policy discussions.

"Appropriate yuan depreciation will be good for stabilizing market expectations and the economy, as long as there is no sharp, runaway depreciation."

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, declined to comment.

Beijing's biggest concern is that a sharp fall in the yuan will trigger the sort of capital flight that followed August's surprise devaluation of the currency, which sparked fears the health of the economy was worse than Beijing had let on. China's currency reserves slumped by more than $400 billion by the end of January as Chinese moved cash overseas.

Outflows from the $3-trillion-plus reserves, by far the world's largest, have since continued at a much more subdued pace, but the yuan's decline in recent weeks has raised some concerns that capital flight could pick up again if the yuan slides too fast.

"I don't think the breaking of 7 is imminent," a second adviser said. "We may have to wait until next year. If the pace of depreciation is too fast, if it hit 7 before the end of this year, the central bank will control it."

An employee counting money at the last workday of a week at a bank in Taiyuan in China's Shanxi province in 2013.REUTERS/Jon Woo

Bottom line?

The policy insiders said the central bank was likely to intervene in currency markets and enforce capital controls to slow the rate of decline in the yuan. But 7 per dollar is not a line in the sand, the advisers said.

"I don't think it will deliberately choose the 7 level to fight a duel," the first adviser said, in part to avoid wasting currency reserves.

Indeed, traders said large Chinese state banks had offered dollars in the domestic currency market on Thursday in an apparent effort to slow down the depreciation of the yuan. They said there had been no sign of state dollar selling in previous sessions.

This year, the central bank has been guiding the yuan lower by pegging it to the dollar when the US currency weakens and pegging it to a basket of currencies when the dollar rises, analysts said. So in recent weeks, the yuan has held largely steady against the basket.

On a daily basis, the central bank sets the yuan's midpoint versus the dollar based on the previous day's closing price, taking into account changes in major currencies.

Donald Trump. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Uncertainties from Trump

Still, a bigger duel may be beckoning.

Concerns about a sharp slowdown in China's economy have eased to be replaced by worries that Beijing could be heading into a trade war with the US if Trump follows through on his campaign rhetoric.

Trump lambasted China throughout the election, drumming up headlines with pledges to slap 45% tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator.

China was regularly criticized by the US and some other Western governments who argued it used a cheap currency to boost exports. But that criticism has died down in recent years as economic growth slowed and as the government sought to shift away from a reliance on exports and more towards consumption.

"Imposing tariffs on China would do more harm than good for the United States, including its employment, and it has to consider that China could counter with its own measures," a commerce-ministry researcher said.

"I don't think the exchange rate will become an imminent problem. The yuan is depreciating but won't depreciate too much, and many people believe the dollar could fall if Trump takes some radical measures."

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump that cooperation was the only choice for relations between the world's two largest economies, with Trump saying the two had established a "clear sense of mutual respect."

Assuming no major ructions from a Trump presidency, some government economists expect the yuan to fall to 7.2 per dollar by the end of 2017, which would imply a drop of 4.2% from the current level.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Neil Fullick)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

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