What are the greatest documentaries ever made?

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

Tomorrow night, Channel 4 are showing a 3 hour long show called "The 50 Greatest Documentaries" which got me wondering about what I'd like to see included.

Here's my top ten:

10) Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
9) The Luckiest Nut in the World
8) American Movie
7) Stevie
6) Crumb
5) Roger and Me
4) The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off
3) When We Were Kings
2) Hoop Dreams
1) Heart of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse

(that's not really a definitive order, except Heart of Darkness is definately #1!)

[Seabiscuit]

1. "Watergate" - almost a decade ago, narrated by Daniel Schorr.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

2. That was great

It gets repeated every 6-months or so on 'UK History'.

[Seabiscuit]

3. I taped it when it was originally broadcast on PBS here and just watched

it again the other day. Very thorough and very well put together.

[taterguy]

4. This Is Spinal Tap n/t

[terrya]

5. "The Fog of War" has to be included in that list.

It's superb, timely and very thought provoking.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

7. A well deserved oscar for Errol Morris nt

[ghostsofgiants]

6. I don't watch many documentaries, and these probably aren't "the greatest"

But some of my favourites:

The Corporation
Westway To The World
The Fog of War
I've Been 12 Forever

I think "The Short Films of David Lynch" is pretty close to being a documentary too, so I'll count that as well.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

10. wow, I didn't realise there was a documentary

about Michel Gondry. Hopefully it'll turn up as a DVD extra one day.

[ghostsofgiants]

13. It's on his Directors Label dvd...

The box set comes with those three dvds, a bonus dvd and a poster. Each dvd has an accompanying 52-page booklet as well.

http://www.directorslabel.com

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

17. Man,

that's one hell of a tasty looking DVD series. Thanks!

[ghostsofgiants]

18. I bought the box set with Volumes 1-3...

Best $60 I've ever spent.

[lpbk2713]

8. Edward R Murrow made a documentary about 30 years ago

about the plight of migrant farm workers. He brought a number of things to the public consciousness that hadn't been considered before. This was before Cesar Chavez was a household name.





Ed: I did some research .... The Murrow documentary was entitled Harvest of Shame and it was aired 45 years ago.

Link: http://www.nytco.com/subsites/nyttv/press/press-030105.html

[Cannikin]

9. I vote for the Aileen Wuornos documentary also

[mitchum]

11. "Salesman" David and Albert Maysle

[billyskank]

12. Don't you think C4 go a bit overboard with their

"Top 100 x" programs?

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

15. Yeah,

it's become somewhat of an obsession with them.

Jimmy Carr .... check
Asinine celebrities .... check
etc

I've got high hopes for tomorrows show though. They've promised to revisit some of the documentaries & provide updates (hopefully with those involved).

[tjwmason]

26. Can you think of a cheaper way to fill 3 hours of Sunday evening?

Perhaps we should have a "Top 100 D.U. Threads" thing here. :shrug:

[MnFats]

14. "Hearts and Minds" dissected the Vietnam errors..

a heartbreaking film rarely seen these days.

[peekaloo]

16. The Sorrow and the Pity, Fog of War, Bowling for Columbine.

[ucmike]

19. Ken Burns' Baseball Documentary

the best.

[hickman1937]

20. A long time ago I saw one called The Thin Blue Line.

Knocked me over. Have not seen it since, and can't remember much, except that it stunned me.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

22. Errol Morris again

and a truly great work at that.

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade has made two good documentaries recently on the US criminal justice system -- "Murder on a Sunday Morning" (about a black teenager wrongly accused of murder) and "Death on a Staircase" (following in great detail the murder of novelist Michael Peterson's wife and Michaels subsequent trial). However neither of these can claim to having helped acquit an innocent man!

[hickman1937]

23. I googled Randall Dale Adams and got this.

http://www.rtis.com/touchstone/summer00/06execut.htm

[Cult]

21. Hm....

Shoot, have I SEEN 10 documentaries?

10. Roger & Me
9. Scratch
8. Fahrenheit 9/11
7. Step Into Liquid
6. That 'Seas Of Life' series
5. Bowling For Columbine
4. Nope. I haven't seen 10.
3.
2.
1.

[LostInAnomie]

24. Paradise Lost

It is a documentary about three teens who are railroaded in a murder trial by fundamentalists because they wore black clothes and listened to Metallica.

See the link in my sig line if you want to find out more.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

25. I've had this

on my wish list for a while -- you get can both the original & the follow-up for £15. I know next to nothing about the case though, so thanks very much for the link.

[anarch]

27. Does Band of Brothers count as a documentary?

b/c I thought that was really pretty good. Maybe I'll think of some more later, once the caffeine takes effect....

:hangover: