BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die

Subject: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Wesley S
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 08:55 PM

From Artsblog:


Completing a monthlong countdown on Current TV titled "50 Documentaries to See Before You Die," Morgan Spurlock will name the Top 10 in the final episode on Tuesday night. The widely beloved "Hoop Dreams," Steve James's 1994 film about high school basketball players in Chicago, seems like a noncontroversial choice at No. 1. (Though in its time it wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for the best documentary feature.)

We are interested in your thoughts about Current's selections, from "Hoop Dreams" on down to "Spellbound" at No. 50. (The entire list appears at the end of this post.) Is there a ranking or a choice you'd quibble with? Something missing? Let us know in the comments.


As he has throughout the mini-series, Mr. Spurlock points out in the finale that he had nothing to do with the selections. He takes particular pains to do so when introducing his own "Supersize Me" at No. 5. The choices were made by a panel that included Michael Renov, a University of Southern California film professor; Eddie Schmidt, president of the International Documentary Association; and Brian Graden, former president of programming for MTV Networks. (Mr. Graden's participation was appropriate given how closely "50 Documentaries" as a television program followed the VH1 film-clip-and-talking heads pop-culture countdown model.) Another film that presented a possible conflict-of-interest issue, "An Inconvenient Truth" featuring Al Gore, the Current TV chairman, came in at No. 8.

The title "50 Documentaries to See Before You Die" carefully avoids the implication that these were the best 50 ever made, though Mr. Spurlock appears to be making a larger claim when he says on-screen, "These are the 50 documentaries you need to see before you die." He is categorically wrong because nothing released before 1988 was included: no Frederick Wiseman, no Maysles brothers, no Michael Apted, no Emile de Antonio.

This focus on "the modern documentary" goes hand in hand with a relentless preference for the story-based or issue-based films that people now seem to think define the documentary field. It's hard to imagine a more abstract or idea-based filmmaker like Andy Warhol or Chris Marker in this company. The emphasis throughout "50 Documentaries" is on content rather than form, brought home in Tuesday night's finale when Mr. Spurlock sits down with Mr. James and his subjects, William Gates and Arthur Agee, and says, "I want to pick up where the movie left off." "Hoop Dreams" may be No. 1, but it's already old news.

50. Spellbound (2002)
49. Truth or Dare (1991)
48. The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
47. One Day in September (1999)
46. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
45. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
44. Burma VJ (2008)
43. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
42. Catfish (2010)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
39. Biggie & Tupac (2002)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
37. Inside Job (2010)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
34. Brother's Keeper (1992)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
30. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
29. Man on Wire (2008)
28. Gasland (2010)
27. Tarnation (2003)
26. Murderball (2005)
25. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
24. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
23. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
22. Shut Up & Sing (2006)
21. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
20. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
19. Touching the Void (2003)
18. Food, Inc. (2008)
17. Street Fight (2005)
16. Bus 174 (2002)
15. Crumb (1994)
14. Dark Days (2000)
13. The Fog of War (2003)
12. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
11. Paris Is Burning (1991)
10. Grizzly Man (2005)
9. Trouble the Water (2008)
8. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
7. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
6. The War Room (1993)
5. Supersize Me (2004)
4. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
3. Roger & Me (1989)
2. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
1. Hoop Dreams (1994)


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Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 09:08 PM

Nothing before 1988?

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 11:40 PM

Yeah, when I saw the thread title, I thought, what a silly concept documentaries have a limited shelf life as the world changes. Documentaries need to be current to be good. "To see before you die?" come on don't be silly Morgan. But we are in a golden age of documentaries. There are a lot of good ones out there currently.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 08:23 AM

'The Falling Man' about identifying the tragic soul captured on a photo on 9/11. It isn't on the list, but IMO it should be!
On the same subject, the documentary made alongside the firefighters on that terrible day. (Don't know its name)

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Wesley S
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 09:18 AM

I was in a rush to post this last night. It was time to get the kiddo into bed. I had just seen the last 20 minutes of the TV special and had just enough time to look it up online. Of course the list is very subjective - but what list isn't? But at least it gets a dialogue started.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: GUEST,TIA
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 09:21 AM

Missing from the list...

King Korn

Home

Winged Migration

Mean World Syndrome

Restrepo

Why We Fight

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: autolycus
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 09:32 AM

I also object to the fact that there's nothing from before 1988.

Quality documentaries don't date.

The Times of London, among others, did the same sort of thing at the end of the last century. They listed the greatest goals ever scored in Association Football. Yhen they added, wtteo, we have started at 1970. As there'd been no great goals before then.

Way to kill our memory.

I'd add this doc. about the BBC, which i think quite fascinating on its subject.

This is the BBC

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 09:37 AM

Claude Lanzmann's 'Shoah'

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Bettynh
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 11:35 AM

I like documentaries that follow unlikely people;


The Devil and Daniel Johnston



I Like Killing Flies

Netflix streams "I Like Killing Flies" (for the moment, anyway, in New Hampshire, USA).

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 05:10 PM

I haven't seen very many on the list. Here's one I liked:

"My Kid Could Paint That" --about Marla Olmstead a 4-year-old girl whose abstract paintings sold for thousands of dollars—until someone raised the suspicion (unproven) that her father was "helping" her with her paintings, and then the bottom dropped out of the market for her work. It raises several philosophical questions: Why should it matter who made an piece of art? Isn't good art still good art no matter who made it? What is art anyway, and how do you put a value on it? No matter what you think of her paintings, it's a fascinating portrait of a remarkable girl, an an exposé of the fickleness of the art-buying public.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 11:32 PM

One of my favorites was a black-and-white flick called "Below Knee Surgery." I saw it when I was in the Army, and I'm glad it was in b&w.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: GUEST,Bluesman
Date: 05 Sep 11 - 02:52 AM

One documentary I would love to see again is, The Sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald. It was excellent. A very sad story.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Stu
Date: 05 Sep 11 - 04:09 AM

The Cove - love the dolphinarium? Watch this and enjoy.

Shoah - it starts with calling people names and demonising them (i.e. Dale Farm, Islamophobia etc) because of a lack of understanding, tolerance and compassion, and ends up with this. We're heading down this road again. In many places we're there. Required viewing for all of humanity before we finally forget how and why this happened.

Encounters from the Edge of The World - From the genius of Werner Herzog, an insightful and thoughtful meditation from Antarctica. There is real wisdom here.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Ed T
Date: 05 Sep 11 - 05:27 PM

I enjoyed this, documenting the struggles with building the Panama Canal

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Joe_F
Date: 05 Sep 11 - 08:41 PM

-- and after than, I suppose, there'll be a *long* list of ones to see in hell.

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Ed T
Date: 05 Sep 11 - 09:56 PM

"list of ones to see in hell"
I suspect it may be way too hot in Hell to watch 'em:)

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: michaelr
Date: 06 Sep 11 - 12:51 AM

Watch fifty documentaries?

Life's too short!

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 06 Sep 11 - 02:07 AM

I have been trying for years to get hold of a copy of the drama-documentary 'Ill Fares The Land' a superb BBC 4 film made by Bill Bryden in 1984 on the evecation of the Scottish island of St Kilda, with a traditional music sound-track by John Tams to die for.
Have found out from the British Film Industry that there is only one existing copy, which is in their archive and is taken out and dusted down occasionally to be shown to visitors - criminal!!
Will have to make do with our tatty VCR version I suppose!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: 50 Documentaries to see before you die
From: autolycus
Date: 06 Sep 11 - 04:56 AM

Come to think of it, one of the best ever BBC ducs was discovering the identity of B.Traven, author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. And blow me but

here it is to (re-) enjoy

I never understood why he didn't make lots more. This is quality and gripping - a reason there is enough time in life. :-)