Another Monday and you might have noticed the big banner on top. It is Documentary Week on My Filmviews. What does that mean? Well, all the reviews this week will be reviews of documentaries just to put a spotlight on this part of movie making as it seems they aren’t watched as much as other movies.
Personally I’m a big fan of them as I like mixing them up with my “normal movie” viewing. The feeling of watching a documentary is very different. I usually watch movies to escape reality. Documentaries though allow me to understand certain real world issues (like Inside Job making the global financial meltdown understandable) or give a fascinating look into something you never knew about. They can be very powerful and have impact on politics or corporations. Examples of this are the effect of Al Gore’s “An Incovenient Truth” on how people think about the environment, the fact that Morgan Spulock’s “Supersize Me” made McDonald’s remove its Supersize option from the menu and add a lot of healthier things or Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” resulting in Kmart stopping the sale of handgun ammunition at its stores.
This week’s question is: What are your favorite or must see documentaries?
To me a documentary is good when it manages to teach you something you didn’t know yet, even if it is a subject you would normally have no interest in whatsoever. There are a lot of good ones out there and if you don’t know what to see I suggest visiting my other blog Just Documentaries, which is basically a collection of all the documentary reviews I’ve done here with a nice overview per subject.
Documentaries which I think are “must sees” (which I have seen myself):
| Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
This is a documentary which you will never forget as the story it tells will break your heart. If I had to compare the emotional impact to a movie, it would be something like Oldboy. |
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| Collapse (2009) Oil has become a product we have become dependant on, but as it is running out it also means that it could have a huge impact on the world and the life you currently live. This is one of those documentaries that will make you think about the way you live and if you shouldn’t be starting to make changes immediately. |
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| Gasland (2010)
Shows that gas drilling in residential areas could have a very big impact on the people living near it. |
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| Inside Job
This documentary succeeded making the global financial meltdown understandable and asking though questions to people responsible for it who were not expecting it. |
These are all very serious documentaries. If you are looking for something with a slightly lighter tone then these are my favorites:
| Exit Through The Giftshop (2010)
This is a documentary which I already watched several times (which doesn’t often happen) because it’s just so entertaining. It shows the world of street art and questions what art actually is worth. |
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| Man on Wire (2008)
If you are looking for excitement in a documentary you have to look no further. This documentary feels like a heist movie as it shows the dream of a man who always dreamt to walk a tightrope between the World Trade Center. |
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| The King of Kong (2007)
Even if you don’t like videogames, this documentary shows the epic battle between two gamers fighting for the top score in the game Donkey Kong. It is very entertainig as it manages to create a great villain in the form Billy Mitchell. |
Do you watch a lot of documentaries? What are your favorite or must see documentaries?
There are a lot of great documentaries I like:
HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE (the story of the making of APOCALYPSE NOW)
AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER (real life interviews on death row with the prostitute who murdered several men)
NANOOK OF THE NORTH (the first ever documentary, released in 1922)
GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog’s story of the grizzly bear fanatic Timothy Treadwell who met a gruesome end)
I can think of more but I’ll stop there.
I did see Grizzly Man, which was indeed a very interesting (and sad) story.
Haven’t seen the other ones, but they sound interesting. Is the Apocalypse Now documentary on the DVD?
Not my DVD. I’m pretty sure it’s sold as a separate documentary. It’s definitely worth seeing though.
I have a special edition of it, so will see if it has it…
Looks great, some of this movies i didnt see so i am gonna watch them now!!
I like 9/11 Fahrenheit and Loose change second edition.
Exit Through The Giftshop (2010) is a verry good movie, and also verry appart!!
9/11 Fahrenheit was an interesting Moore movie. I remember seeing a bit of Loose change, but didn’t like it as it basically only asked questions without really looking for answers.
I love the addition of documentaries to your MyFilms movie blog. I used google good docus, but will definitely check your website for good reviews.
Below 2 links with also lots of good docu suggestions:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/h5e34/what_are_some_mustsee_documentaries/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/comments/b2vlc/
I really need to start making some time again, saw food inc as last one (recommended by you) and I really liked it.
They already have been part of the blog for a while, but if you don’t want to miss any check out http://justdocumentaries.wordpress.com. Another great site is the documentary blog, which has a top 50. Recently Morgan Spurlock also presented a show on Current TV called “50 documentaries to see before you die”, which also had great suggestions.
Good to hear you liked Food Inc!
I must admit Nostra, I have never been so good at Docu’s. I always enjoy them when I do watch them, but I always seem to fall into the escape from reality camp when it comes to film viewing…
I will try harder!!
Yeah Scott, can’t remember any documentaries you have reviewed. Time to do at least one 🙂
If you are watching movies to escape reality what does that mean for movies that are based on true stories? 😉
I don’t watch as many documentaries as I feel I should, but I do try to squeeze one in every now and then. You’ve listed quite a few good ones here, especially Man on Wire, The King of Kong and Dear Zachary.
Some other favorites of mine are Unknown White Male (thought-provoking about amnesia), Grizzly Man (which I see in comments that you’ve already seen) and Air Guitar Nation (on the world championship in air guitar, very fluff and lite, but oh so fun to watch).
I always think it is surprising that documentaries aren’t watched as much and don’t get as much attention as main stream movies, even though they can be as powerful or touching as any other movie.
Haven’t seen Unknown White Male or Air Guitar Nation, which both sound interesting. I did see Grizzly Man, which was excellent as a portrait of a man who created his own reality which in the end cost him his life.
That’s a pretty impressive list. Exit Through the Gift Shop and the King of Kong are a couple of my favorites. I really need to check out Man on Wire.
A couple of good options for sports fans are A Player to be Named Later, which chronicles the plights of minor league baseball players, and ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, of which I haven’t seen a bad one yet.
Man on Wire is such a great movie, you will be on the edge of your seat when things are told and re enacted…
I’m not a big sports fan, so haven’t see the documentaries you mention…
You’ve chosen some of my favourite documentaries, there. It’s great to see Collapse getting some love, too; not many seem to rave about it, but those that do shout it out loud! (Like me.)
Eric mentions A Player to be Named Later, a film I’ve been desperate to see for some time but just can’t find.
For sports, try Pulling John. Politics, Countdown to Zero. Human nature, Marwencol. War: Car Bomb or The War You Don’t See. History: Harlan County, USA. Cutesy: Racing Dreams.
That oughta keep you going for a bit!
Nice to hear these are some of your favourites as well. Yeah, I can understand people not raving about it as it is a very depressing message, but if one guy talking for an hour and a half doesn’t get boring then to me that is an amazing documentary.
I don’t review all docs I watch, but from the ones you mention I have seen both Car Bomb (I looked at cars a whole lot differently the day I watched it) and Racing Dreams, like you say an interesting fun little portrait of kids chasing their dreams…
Hooray! another Monday Question!
I like documentaries myself. On top of the ones you listed, I think I would just add Food, Inc, The Cove, and Restrepo.
great topic
Saw all of those, great choices! They didn’t change my opinion, but were interesting docs.
I don’t watch documentaries that often, but I’ve recently watched Waiting for Superman and liked it very much. It is about public education in the United States, and as education is a subject that interests me a lot, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t like the fact that they made some people look as heroes and some people as villains, I think it wasn’t objective at all. However, it made me see many things I hadn’t thought about and encouraged me to believe that a better world is possible.
Welcome to the blog fictionworms! I’ve heard about this documentary, but since I already saw another documentary about this subject I skipped this one (forgot what the name of the other movie was though).
I don’t think that documentaries always have to be objective, they are a tool for a filmmaker to express his thought about something. It’s up to the viewer to question that.
It’s just that I don’t like it when you’re shown a single face and not the whole thing of something. You know, when instead of showing both the good and bad sides of a person, organization, etc. they’re marked as heroes/villains. And I always thought of documentaries as something that should be more or less objective. But I guess you’re right after all, filmmakers are just expressing their opinion, we’re the ones who decide whether to agree or disagree with them. I should start viewing documentaries this way, I think 😛
PS: Actually I had already been at this blog 😀 I remember I left a comment on your review of The Pianist.
Whatever you watch, it is always colored by the vision someone has. It is not really possibly to do otherwise, it’s not a scientific study.
Wow, that was a long time ago, nice to see you have returned…