A while ago I promised to post my five favorite docs, so, here goes (in no particular order)…
This is not a documentary I was expecting to like. I wasn’t expecting to dislike it, but I was curious because it had been playing in the same movie theater in Austin for over a year and Kevin couldn’t stop talking about it. I was not expecting what sounds like a reality TV show premise (A bunch of folks have to stand touching a truck. Last person standing wins it.) to turn into a “human drama” and one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Period.
2. Spellbound
Probably the most tension I’ve ever felt watching a doc, much less one about a spelling bee. Also the first movie review I ever had posted online, so a bit of a sentimental pick (the site’s gone now). The director of this film went on to do the criminally underseen narrative feature Rocket Science in 2007.
3. Why We Fight
I suppose the reason this analysis of the military-industrial complex resonates with me so well is that it fits my fairly cynical world view when it comes to conflict. With lines like “When war is that profitable, you’re going to see a lot more of it,” and facts like every part of a stealth bomber being built in a different state so no senator dare oppose it, Eugene Jarecki draws a fairly dismal, albeit complex picture, with the Iraq War as only the latest iteration of a very old routine. More here.
It’s not the best rock doc ever made. It’s probably not even in the top twenty. But I love it anyway. Phil Jouanou’s energetic camera really captures the epic scope of this period of U2′s evolution. And the music doesn’t suck, either. This is the movie that got me into U2 in the first place. After seeing it at the Senator theater in Baltimore I went and got pretty much everything they’d done. And to this day, I’m still their bitch.
This is the one documentary that fills me with unfettered patriotism. It does this without pandering, stating just the facts. In most docs, that’s a recipe for depression. But this manages to present the moon landing in a context that provides hope for the future, taking something that I figured was a dead issue and turning it into a rallying point for a new tomorrow. More here.
no capturing the friedmans? nothing by errol morris?
I debated Thin Blue Line, but Spellbound beat it out. Capturing the Friedmans was tremendously disturbing but didn’t quite make the cut. Another disturbing contender was Stevie by the guy who did Hoop Dreams, yet another strong contender for this list. Fuck and The Kid Stays in the Picture are other honorable mentions.
Fog of War and Fast, Cheap and Out of Control are also pretty awesome, getting back to Morris.