Tuesday, August 30, 2011

IF I DON'T MAKE IT, DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME: Current TV tries to count down the most must-see documentaries of all time, only "all time" apparently starts in 1988 and therefore doesn't include Frederick Wiseman's classics like Titicut Follies and High School, Dgiza Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera, or for that matter any of Michael Apted's Up series.  Or, as a friend pointed out via email, Shoah.

That said, they got #1 right.

33 comments:

  1. D-Mac8:04 AM

    What, no "Nanook of the North"?!

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  2. JosephFinn8:52 AM

    Interesting that Trouble The Water outranks When The Levees Broke, both of them fantastic pieces of work with different perspectives.  Also of interest to me is that there doesn't appear to be one WWII documentary; no Shoah, as mentioned, no Remembering Anne Frank, and for pete's sake, really, no Night and Fog?

    That said, if you had to make a list like this with the artificial 1988 limit, this is a pretty damn good list.

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  3. It seems like they kept it to feature-length pieces rather than multi-part things made for TV, which is why Ken Burns' work (and "Levees") is absent from the list.  Also, want to give particular credit to "Jesus Camp," which is a relative rarity in today's era--a documentary that works without any narrator.

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  4. Others missing, come to think of it:

    Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
    Woodstock (also: Stop Making Sense count?)
    The Sorrow and the Pity
    Atomic Cafe
    Koyaanisqatsi
    Sherman's March
    Life and Times of Harvey Milk

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  5. Anonymous10:08 AM

    No Maysles?  Fuck that noise.  

    This list is everything that's wrong with pop docs today.  

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  6. Dan Suitor11:06 AM

    I'm a big proponent of these two thematically similar docs: <span>Anvil! The Story of Anvil and American Movie. Both deal with down-on-their luck artists, from much maligned genres, persevering through obscurity and poverty because of their great passion for their craft. American Movie actually won the Sundance Grand Jury prize for documentaries in '99, and Anvil! was much celebrated a few years back (there was some consternation when it didn't get an Oscar nomination).</span>

    <span>Anvil! tells the story of a Canadian heavy metal band that had some promise in the '80s as they try to bootstrap their 13th album, often by playing gigs with only two or three people present. I say this because it sounds like a repellent setup, but I found the people involved to be sincere and winning and the movie does have a very satisfying payoff.</span>

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  7. girard3111:19 AM

    Anyone know whether "Catfish" has been outed as a fake officially? I've seen conflicting fews on it.

    That being said, it is one of the most achingly real view of the worlds people create around their sad circumstances I've seen.

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  8. girard3111:19 AM

    I meant conflicting views.

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  9. Benner11:25 AM

    Harlan County, USA seems like a decent selection, going back a few years.

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  10. Anonymous12:01 PM

    Basically, it looks like they went back to the date when The Thin Blue Line was released and went forward from there. 

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  11. Watchman1:07 PM

    No Gilligan's Island?  Seriously?  What kind of historical programming list is this?

    (Those poor people....

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  12. Christy in Philly1:49 PM

    No Dear Zachary which has to be my most watched documentary. I don't know why I've watched it three times but I have. It broke my heart every time.

    I've seen 11 of the 50 (and consider myself a documentary fan) which seems kind of lame. I mostly see documentaries streaming on Netflix though and some of these were not available the last time I checked. I'll need to check again as they have been expanding their streaming options.

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  13. GoldnI1:54 PM

    I'm glad "Waltz with Bashir" was near the top of the list--definitely well worth seeing.

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  14. isaac_spaceman2:16 PM

    Didn't Boogie Nights borrow, or steal, liberally from a documentary about John Holmes? 

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  15. I kind of love that Grizzly Man came in so high (10).  But only kind of.

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  16. Watts2:24 PM

    Anvil was terrific.  I was afraid it was going to be a "Haha, let's laugh at these people, like it's a real-life Spinal Tap." But it's not and it's great.

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  17. Watts2:29 PM

    They left off the only documentary to get a 10 from me on imdb: In the Shadow of the Moon.  As a documentary, I'll grant that it's not remarkable in form or format. But I walked out of it with a sense of wonder and awe and wanted to go somewhere and think deep thoughts for a while.

    If you lament the curtailing of our space exploration program, go go rent this movie - those men that have stepped on the moon ... their stories, their thoughts, just utterly engrossing.

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  18. The list has no credibility because it leaves off the highest-grossing documentary of all time: Jackass.

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  19. Maret3:42 PM

    I really really need to see In the Shadow of the Moon. I actually really really need to see a lot of these on the list. I always forget about how much I enjoy documenttaries until I watch one. I get scared of being made so mad or depressed by them that I forget that even if they make me mad or depressed I still very often adore them.

    I watched Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 this weekend actually, as both are on HBO On Demand and HBO Go right now. The first one, especially is wonderful, and I'm glad to see it made the list. And I'm wondering how much access to the West Memphis 3, the lawyers and courtroom and the families of the murder victims they had for the forthcoming Paradise Lost 3...what I thought 2 was missing was the same access they had in the first film.

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  20. Yes, The Times of Harvey Milk should definitely be on there.  As should something (anything!) by the Maysles.  And of course Hoop Dreams is great, but I would have loved to see Steve James' later work Stevie on the list somewhere.

    But as said, it's a "best of the last 25 years or so and we have short memories."  I've seen 29 out of the 50, but easily half of those I'd replace with earlier stuff.

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  21. Watts3:58 PM

    Maret, In the Shadow of the Moon will neither depress or make you angry - it'll make you proud of what mankind can accomplish.

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  22. The Pathetic Earthling4:43 PM

    I've seen about 10 of these, but my favorite was probably "Touching the Void"

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  23. The Pathetic Earthling4:46 PM

    Atomic Cafe is a great movie, although I hardly think it counts as a documentary.  It was done expressly for Strangelove-esque laughs.  It does, however, have an appearance by freshman Congressman Lloyd Bentsen.

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  24. Adam C.5:42 PM

    26/50 for me, and from the defined period I'd also want to find a way to include Restrepo, Spike Lee's 4 Little Girls, The Long Way Home, Buena Vista Social Club, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Winged Migration, and The Cove.

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  25. Adam C.6:08 PM

    Yeah, PTA acknowledged using Exhausted: John Holmes, the Real Story as inspiration for several plot points and even cribbing from Holmes's interviews in the doc for some of Diggler's lines. 

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  26. Marsha6:13 PM

    Catfish was a fascinating little movie. I almost don't want them to confirm that it's fake, even though it has to be.

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  27. Seeing "Touching the Void" on the list made me literally sigh and think how I really need to see that wonderful film again.  it's so amazing -- you obviously know how things came out in a broad way, but there's real suspense in the watching of it.

    The doc on the list I love, lurve, luff, out of all objectivity?  Murderball.

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  28. JosephFinn7:02 PM

    Levees is on the list, #43.  

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  29. JosephFinn7:04 PM

    American Movie is one of my favorites as well; could have been a hah-hah, but it's an affecting piece of work where you're chearing this guy on.<span> </span>

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  30. Anonymous9:29 AM

    4 Little Girls is really excellent. Must see for the George Wallace interview alone.

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  31. Anonymous10:12 AM

    On the other hand, it did make me investigate the musical heritage of Boney M, which was probably unnecessary.

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  32. Murderball was wonderful.

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  33. Glad to see "Paragraph 175" on the list.  That is one of my favorite documentaries.  Suprised that "Exit Through The Gift Shop" was on the list and "Restrepo" was not.  I was not a fan of "Exit".

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