MetaChat - The top 25 documentaries

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08 October 2007

The top 25 documentaries as voted by the members of the International Documentary Association.→[More:] Since the fun of a list like this is to pick it apart, here are a few of my initial reactions:

Overall, pretty good. I'd have put them in a different order, but I'm tickled to see "Crumb" in such a high slot. I think "Night and Fog" should be at least in the top three. Also, I'd forgotten all about "Sherman's March," which I ran across on PBS years and years ago. I remember it being really funny.

I'm a big fan of "Koyaanisqatsi" (it even helped kickstart my interest in editing), but I wouldn't have thought of it for a documentary list. It's a beautiful work of art, though, so I'm not gonna gripe.

I don't agree with the inclusion of "Farenheit 9/11"... to me it doesn't feel like a "timeless" doc. I guess only time will tell.

I really, really think that "Dancing Outlaw" should have made the list. People don't seem to take it seriously as a documentary because so much of it is funny, but it's an amazing record of a certain slice of Appalachian life, not to mention a portrait of a man dealing with mental illness.

I also wish they had included "An American Family" and Diane Keaton's "Heaven"... the first for being influential, and the second just for being so damn weird.

Ones on the list that I haven't seen, but want to: "Harlan County U.S.A." and "Capturing The Friedmans." I think I'd like to see "Grey Gardens," too, but it sounds almost too depressing for too little payoff.

So... what's your take on the list?

post by: BoringPostcards at: 06:55 | 19 comments

It's fairly USA Centric, but I am so pleased to see "Sherman's March" - one of the strangest and truest things I've ever seen. A documentary gone out of control. I recommend it.

I'm a fan of "Spellbound". I would have liked to have seen "Truth Or Dare" on there - don't dismiss it if you haven't seen it.

I have seen "Capturing the Friedmans" and it's good, BP.

posted by rainbaby 08 October | 07:31

I haven't seen "Crumb". I will have to rent this. Thanks for the list BP. I always like movie suggestions.

I haven't seen "Capturing the Friedmans" either, but I've heard enough about it to know what it is about and what happened.

"The Fog of War" certainly deserves to be in this list. I'm glad they included it. I finally saw this six months ago and I was riveted.

I love "Hoop Dreams" and a few others on the list, such as "Born into Brothels".

Not on the list, but for some reason, very memorable docs I've seen:"American Dream" and "An Act of Conscience". I don't agree with the subject of the film's politics necessarily, but these were two gripping films. Especially, American Dreams.

Another great documentary I've seen recently is "51 Birch Street". I loved this one. I want to see it again.

posted by LoriFLA 08 October | 07:40

I'd never had an interest in "Truth or Dare," rainbaby, but since you recommend it, I'll give it a chance. :)

Lori, I've never heard of the first two you linked- very interesting! "American Dream" was directed by the same woman who did "Harlan County, U.S.A." That might make a good double feature some weekend.

I'd forgotten about "51 Birch Street," but I heard that director interviewed by Bob Edwards when it came out, and it sounded really intriguing! I'd like to see that one, too.

Definitely rent "Crumb." It's completely fascinating.

posted by BoringPostcards 08 October | 07:51

I've seen 4 of them -- Grizzly Man, Supersize Me, Spellbound, and Woodstock, all excellent. I've tried to watch Michael Moore documentaries but I never get very far. A favorite of mine that didn't make the list is Marjoe.

posted by JanetLand 08 October | 08:00

No Scared Straight?

posted by jonmc 08 October | 08:01

I've seen a ton of 'em. Not a bad list, though it's got some of the usual short-attention-span problems. 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'Super Size Me' are better than 'Salesman' and 'Night and Fog'?

'Truth or Dare' is, indeed, really good. Music documentaries often get short shrift because not everyone likes the music in them, and maybe also because not everyone's convinced that a recording of a live performance is a documentary. Now that I mention it, I don't recall seeing 'The Last Waltz' or 'Straight No Chaser' on that list ('Gimme Shelter' and 'Woodstock' and 'Don't Look Back' all appear, though).

JanetLand: Ooh, 'Marjoe.' No 'Jesus Camp,' either.

posted by box 08 October | 08:03

Jesus Camp is phenomenally disturbing.

Down From The Mountain is a great music doc, also by Pennebaker.

posted by chuckdarwin 08 October | 08:14

"Marjoe" sounds fascinating. (I'm a fan of "Jesus Camp," too.)

Good point about the music docs, box. The reverse happens, too: I really enjoyed "Shut Up And Sing" (about the Dixie Chicks) and I'll always love "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" (Bowie), because I'm a fan of the artists, but as documentaries go, they're both rather clumsily made.

I just remembered another one that should have been on the list: "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" and its sequel.

jonmc, "Scared Straight" definitely should have been on there! The fact that it aired un-bleeped is pretty amazing. Also, that the kids in that movie did seem to straighten up and fly right after going through that experience... that's pretty powerful.

posted by BoringPostcards 08 October | 08:15

jonmc, "Scared Straight" definitely should have been on there! The fact that it aired un-bleeped is pretty amazing. Also, that the kids in that movie did seem to straighten up and fly right after going through that experience... that's pretty powerful.

Even watching it today (I first saw it at 16) makes my sphincter clench. I couldn't find a clip of 'Dominic' the white guy with the striped shirt ("you got pretty blue eyes..") who is easily the scariest motherfucker of the bunch. You are correct that most of the kids straightened up. In the '20 years later' DVD, only two came to bad ends: one died of AIDS (he was a junkie) and another was a career criminal.

I'd like to second The Last Waltz. Best concert documentary ever, and the Jack Ruby story is a classic moment.

posted by jonmc 08 October | 08:21

The guy in the red and white shirt on this page is Dominic. He scared the shit out of me. According to the 20 years later documentary, he died of AIDS in prison.

posted by jonmc 08 October | 08:25

Hearts and Minds should be in that list.

Also, 15 out of 25 are from the last twenty years and the earliest one is from 1955. Have documentaries gotten that much better recently?

posted by octothorpe 08 October | 08:28

Also Ring Of Fire:The Emile Griffith Story should be there, too. Absolutely riveting to watch and emotionally wrenching.

posted by jonmc 08 October | 08:31

Festival Express is a great music documentary from 1970 that was only released a few years ago.

posted by octothorpe 08 October | 08:32

I agree that An American Family should have made the list; it was seminal.

posted by Miko 08 October | 09:37

Also, I love Emile de Antonio ('Point of Order,' 'In the Year of the Pig,' '1968: America is Hard to See,' 'Milhouse,' etc.), and I'm pretty surprised that he's not on the list, especially since Michael Moore managed to appear, what, three times?

More music docs that I like: 'Scratch,' 'Battle Sounds,' 'Some Kind of Monster,' 'Wattstax,' 'Monterey Pop,' 'A Great Day in Harlem,' 'Imagine the Sound,' 'Searching for Robert Johnson,' 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown,' 'Konkombe,' 'Amandla!' Plenty of others, too, but that's a start.

posted by box 08 October | 10:16

Michael Moore managed to appear, what, three times?

Yeah, like I said, I'm not sure "F 9/11" should have been included. It seems almost more like activism than art, if that makes sense- more along the lines of the stuff Robert Greenwald does. (I think what he does is valuable, but they aren't "great documentaries" by any stretch of the imagination.)

Moore making the list twice would have been about right. I do give him credit for revitalizing the whole documentary genre here in the States, starting with "Roger & Me," and I think "Bowling For Columbine" is his best work.

posted by BoringPostcards 08 October | 10:35

I'm glad Harlan County USA made it up there, although it is as much a polemic as Michael Moore's movies. I've seen most of the movies on that list. Grey Gardens is one of my all-time favourites, as is Salesman.

I wouldn't have described Koyaanisqatsi as a documentary either, mesmerising and unforgettable though it is.

Crumb's a great movie - interesting, funny, sad, too.

I'd have liked to have seen Michael Apted's 7-Up, 14-Up, 21-Up, etc. series included.

Also, I have a huge crush on Morgan Spurlock.

posted by essexjan 08 October | 11:49

Another one I'd forgotten- even though I haven't seen them, I think the "Up" series should definitely have been included.

Also, I have a huge crush on Morgan Spurlock.

He is a cutie.

posted by BoringPostcards 08 October | 12:12

Spurlock's pretty cute. For a fattie.

posted by wendell 08 October | 14:24

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