An Impossible Job: ILX's 40 Favorite Documentaries

you cant write it off as a 'clip compilation' though because they shot a shitload of interviews with important dudes for it

true, forgot that. i wasn't writing it off anyway -- some of my favourite... audio-visual things are compilations. like adam curtis's stuff, whatever that is. (again, it seems to me legitimate to include tv documentaries. they've never had good theatrical distribution.)

i guess it's coz my phd is (partly) on documentary in the grierson-flaherty sense.

<3 john grierson

i probably could've done a list entirely of tv docs

If there's one way I could expand what I've seen, it would be to see a lot of TV stuff over the years that aired and then more or less disappeared--An American Family being the obvious example, but there are others.

hah, i didnt even consider that someone would vote for spinal tap. it'd be funny if it placed

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Friday, 12 August 2011 Bookmark

Seems like its all up for grabs w/this poll. No idea if its been nominated or what.

Curtis is what Makavejev sounds like -- video essay. Like Curtis v much apart from the last one. Even less of an argument with not enough golden nuggets in the archives. xxp

i have a fluctuating relationship w/ curtis's stuff. didn't like 'the trap', did like the most recent, even though it was completely mental.

i'd include 'century of the self' in my list of er, non-fiction films

Me too. It Felt Like A Kiss is the one I like best and it is probably the least "documentary"

The World at War is the That's Entertainment! of bombing.

priceless

Urgh, I hated the last Curtis. Bad premises. Loved and voted for The Power of Nightmares, though.

lol

Urgh, I hated the last Curtis. Bad premises. Loved and voted for The Power of Nightmares, though.

― emil.y, Friday, August 12, 2011 7:27 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark

yeah, sort of feel this is 'generation very much in character'. i think the premises of both series are pretty bad, the resulting films good. but people object more to the premise of ALOBMOLG. the last ep is transcendent imo.

woah never seen you get so effusive, maybe take a lie down

I agree with you too! craziness

I must confess I didn't watch the last one, as I'd been so annoyed by the first two.

ALOBMOLG was great

The last one really stood out

*AWOBMOLG

If you're going to praise something, at least get its name right. 'All Licked Over By Machines of Loving Grace'? (lol xp)

Not gonna retread why I hated it in detail, though - pretty sure I posted a few annoyances on the dedicated thread.

I didn't know a thing about Adam Curtis until this conversation started. This is good. (Not sure how I'll see this stuff if it's BBC, though.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.rapidshare.com

most of them are on youtube or google video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlwbaPe2os

Not one for downloading films, and really hate watching anything longer than a short clip off the computer.

^^ 'generation very much in character'

i doubt the good old beeb would sue. like 'la plays itself' i don't think it could be put on dvd even if there were a market, because it uses loads of copyright material. (like broadcast is governed by different rules than dvd or something.)

I voted for one Adam Curtis: The Mayfair Set.

(at least, I think I did)

"la plays itself" is a gay porn film. just sayin'

You did vote for The Mayfair Set, yes. And there is an Adam Curtis film in the top 25.

i haven't seen AOLOLBLOGOMG

Either The Trap or Power of Nightmares, prob. the latter

xp

"la plays itself" is a gay porn film. just sayin'

― A41 (admrl), Friday, August 12, 2011 7:43 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

wrongly naming that film has become just an annoying thing that i do.

It's actually a really interesting film, I mean both of them are. u shld check it out

why do u h8 shermy's march amon

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Friday, August 12, 2011 2:12 PM

not sure, iirc it was really long and the narrator seemed overly-sedate. just total snooze-fest. should i watch it again, its been years since i've seen it

Limp Bizkit is surprisingly front and centre in this thread.

I do keep on getting confused by the auto-embed of TamTam's display name.

i havent seen it in a long time myself, but i gave it 5 points anyway. i need to watch it again

im hoping that it confuses someone into clicking on it looking for a hot documentary clip

Wow, I had no idea this was in progress. "Gleaners & I" is so good, and casually profound. "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" I can't stand. "Winged Migration" I can watch all day. The perfect example of a doc that shows you something common from such a (literally) different angle it changes the way you think about said something, in this case, um, wings. But man, are those flapping/gliding wings so cool.

Wd have voted for LA Plays Itself if I knew we were opening up slots to gay porn.

im hoping that it confuses someone into clicking on it looking for a hot documentary clip

I'm stealing your idea for something.

xpost So we can discuss the "doc"/"not a doc" veracity of full penetration and non-waxed ass.

I showed Winged Migration to my two grade 6 science classes last year, and most of them were pretty attentive through most of it.

The only thing I really remember about Winged Migration is that I bought a bottle of wine and some brie and crusty bread to consume while I watched it.

that really sounds delicious