Wednesday, January 12, 2005

33 Docs to Watch instead of Michael Moore

I really like documentaries. I really dislike Fahrenheit 9/11. We are in a golden age of documentary filmmaking and this imposter, this agitprop political cartoon, demeans the genre when it's referred to as "the most successful documentary of all time." Cultural lightning rod, perhaps. Documentary, no.

Here's a quick list of documentaries I have watched on dvd in the past few years and rated *7* or better, which is my threshold of confident recommendation. When I get on top of really simple blog technology and transfer over my archives, the list will link to my capsule review for each film. For now it's just titles, but each is available for rental from www.netflix.com where more info is available. This is just a place to start for someone who wants to catch up with the range of superior documentaries being produced these days. The list is not exclusive, and includes only films readily available on dvd (unlike such as, unaccountably, Hoop Dreams.)

32 Short Films about Glenn Gould
4 Little Girls
42 Up
American Movie
Bus 174
Capturing the Friedmans
Control Room
Fog of War
Go Tigers!
Grass
Keep the River on Your Right
Lost in La Mancha
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Moon Over Broadway
Murder on a Sunday Morning
My Architect
One Day in September
Original Cast Album: Company
Rivers and Tides
Running on the Sun
Sherman's March
Sound and Fury
Spellbound
Startup.com
Stevie
Stone Reader
Super Size Me
To Be and To Have
Touching the Void
Wattstax
Weather Underground
Winged Migration
Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

No comments: