The documentary genre + my all-time favorites

UPDATE: Among the ones that got away: Metallica: some kind of monster, Hoop Dreams, Roger and Me, Wordplay, Comedian, Capturing the Friedmans, Why we Fight, The Kid stays in the Picture and Jesus Camp (just in case you needed a summer documentary viewing list - :-))
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Being a biography nut, I've always been fascinated by the documentary film genre. According to reports, the genre itself supposedly is in peril, thanks to reality TV and a transition from its more rigid roots to 'documentarians as entertainers'... plus the grim fact that only 76 documentaries (in the past 60+ years) have grossed over $1M in gross ticket sales (wonder if that statistic is adjusted for inflation!).

The documentary genre is not really new (the doc. Oscar category has been around since 1942). Culling from a list assembled during the months I have been working on Tapestries of Hope, and to commemorate Gonzo's release this weekend, here's a shorlist - in no particular order - of my all-time favorite documentaries (Warning: highly subjective).

1. Grizzly Man: The true story of Timothy Treadwell, made by one of my all-time favorite filmmakers (Werner Herzog). Notwithstanding the controversy around the movie not being nominated for an Oscar (owing to the rule that nominees cannot be made entirely out of archived footage), this is one of the best docs. there is. Also memorable is the haunting soundtrack featuring british singer Richard Thompson.



2. The Corporation: The movie itself is wicked and well made. Don't miss the special features talking about the movie's unique marketing campaign during the Toronto Film Festival premiere (featuring the devil drawings out of chalk!). The movie prominently features Noam Chomsky among others and came at a time when other docs. like Outfoxed followed.



3. Control Room
The Arab-speaking cousin of the highest-grossing and one of the best documentaries ever, Fahrenheit 9/11 (also one of my favorites), Control Room talks about post 9-11 media and governmental misgivings from the Al-Jazeera standpoint. The use of Aerosmith's Dream On cannot be missed.



4. When the Levees Broke
As they say, this one's a Spike Lee joint. His requiem to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina featuring the human, economic and social sides of the tragedy is one for posterity. Part of me felt like it could have been 30-60 minutes shorter. See Spike Lee's warning to viewers of the movie prior to a screening (wish I had known before watching this!)



5. Deliver us from Evil
Father O'Grady's startling revelations on the Catholic Church's child-abuse scandal. Director Amy Berg's deep dive investigation (starting from her CNN days, which she discusses below) and truths she is able to show on camera raise the level of what a documentary is capable of doing to an issue. The recent Papal apology and meetings with some victims can be directly attributed to efforts like Amy's. Tip of the hat!



6. Born into Brothels
The story of Calcutta's red-light district and 8 kids who are growing up in that environment learning to see the world through the lens of a camera. It took me a while to get used to seeing the documentarian so much on camera, though I liked that about Werner Herzog being on-camera in Grizzly Man (grin!).



7. Road to Guantanamo
The true story of the Tipton Three (three British Muslims who go to Pakistan for a wedding), as well as the unforgiving camera of maverick British filmmaker Micheal Winterbottom (the same style of filmmaking can be seen in his adaptation of the true story of Daniel Pearl's killing in the Angelina Jolie starrer A Mighty Heart)... similar themes are covered in the A-rated docs. Taxi to the Dark Side and No End in Sight, but I liked the non-American perspective of this film.



8. Bowling for Columbine
Probably the best single documentary ever made, bar none! Everything fell in place... the gravity of the issue, the deep analysis, the classic cartoon - 'A history of America' - and the startling conclusions. This is what makes a documentary a documentary!



9. of course, An Inconvenient Truth
I had the good fortune of actually being at Sundance when it premiered in 2005. Also caught the screening a second time and attended the post-party at the Santa Barbara Festival just before the Oscars. Roger Ebert's review of the movie was probably unlike anything written for any other movie. Ever. Every honor for this movie was well-deserved.



10. Super Size Me
Director Morgan Spurlock's self-destructive documentary probably single-handedly led to McDonalds' discontinuing their Super Size fries! It also was the basis of the recent TV Series, 30 Days. The comparisons to Micheal Moore in terms of the movie being more performance art is right on.



11. Fog of War
One of the most hard hitting documentaries, featuring one of the most prolific and controversial figures of the 20th Century. Errol Morris rocks.



Tip of the hat to three docs. worth mentioning, which probably have not gotten the recognition they deserve because of the time period they came out in or because of being overshadowed in a good year for docs. (don't miss them if you get a chance):

- Times of Harvey Milk (1984): The story of San Francisco's first openly gay controller. The topic is gaining a lot of buzz with Sean Penn's upcoming biopic titled Milk.

- Tupac: the resurrection (2004)... lost out to Born into Brothels, the dark-horse of that year. Not surprisingly this is one of the largest grossing docs. ever!

- Harlan County (1976), made by the multiple Oscar winning Barbara Kopple (co-director of the recent disappointing Dixie Chicks doc.)

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