An Impossible Job: ILX's 40 Favorite Documentaries

you guys have driven me and Eric back into a coalition of the damned.

you guys have driven me into a coalition with Morbs

This is true. Still, I see the opening to act the jerk and I'm gonna take it this time.

ha. you gotta post up your top ten when this is through; i am curious, & will make a concerted effort to atone for my un-rigorous, semi-frivolous list by eating some of the greens that pepper your list.

i don't even like 'sans soleil'... or 'grin without a cat'

but id like to see more of his old ones

Based on what I've read about it, A Grin Without a Cat is one of the things I most want to see from the ballots that came in.

speaking as a dude who watches tons of documentaries and thx to some vote tally problems already knows that only 2 of my 40 make the list, so u can all shut it imo xposts

i don't even like 'sans soleil'... or 'grin without a cat'

but id like to see more of his old ones
--cloud computing, robotics, 3G wireless connectivity, Skype, (history mayne)

You are disgusting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Pb9nykjQA

I quite liked Grin Without a Cat but mostly remember Fidel trying to move that microphone. I also recall liking Sans Soleil... and don't remember anything from it.

And c'mon, World at War and Eyes on the Prize are longform TV shows, pure and simple.

it's partly that the 'grin' we have is some revisionist 1993 cut, i wanna see the original

not *that* much though

ok, let's be civil and wait to see if the wrong Herzog doc and the wrong Spike Lee doc finish 1-2.

had no idea Morbs was a booster for "Kobe Doin' Work"

World at War and Eyes on the Prize are longform TV shows, pure and simple.

I meant to link to this list of sports documentaries: http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-06/13/gq-film-best-ever-sports-documentary-movies/review. I wish'd I'd voted for Burns' baseball film after I looked at it.

I'm sure everything that's wrong with grin w/o cat stems from that disastrous decision to revise in 1993.

That's the only version I've seen.

Was thinking 4 Little Girls, DJP.

ah, I was hoping you'd run with that joke

(I should watch more documentaries; "4 Little Girls" has been on my list for a long time but I almost never want to watch or read about real-life events outside of news media)

I've only seen the original Grin Without A Cat, on a crusty VHS belonging to one of the filmmakers who polled above (/namedrop)

(/hint of namedrop)

namedrop of filmmaker awarded low-ranking poll-place in widely condemned internet vote

hahaaaa

The top 10. I expect the nature of today's complaints will have to do with predictability--past #10, which came out of nowhere on the last few ballots to arrive--there aren't really any surprises.

I found this Time Out list of the greatest documentaries: http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/film/599047/the-50-best-documentaries-of-all-time?page=0,1. They've got Shoah at #1 and Sans Soleil at #2--thank god for small miracles--and after that, a list that looks a lot like this one. Except ours has The King of Kong and theirs doesn't, so obviously this one's better.

#10: Streetwise (Martin Bell, 1984)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1z0V0tDtO7w/TIba_Mu20UI/AAAAAAAAAFc/z7CVeqcnvhI/s400/25411601.jpg

53 points/4 votes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcCFdPZ4IGI&feature=related

I will not comment on this thread today. You're welcome.

I gave Streetwise a first place vote. great movie

clemenza sets the stage for a predictable finish, only to unveil one behind-the-scenes musical dvd extra placing after another

that was a good one, I recall

I honestly don't understand getting the least bit worked up over the results when you're dealing with such a small sample size, though. Maybe I'm just too open-minded when it comes to documentaries--much more so than with narrative films--but I look at the list so far and I see a lot of good films of those that I've seen, and a few more that look really interesting of those that I haven't.

Totally OTM.

3 of mine have made it so far and I now have a lot of others I'm excited to watch. I had no idea that all documentaries are supposed to be such serious business. Just don't get why some people seem to get a rise sucking all the fun out of a casual poll.

#9: The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)

http://ctcmr.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/the-thin-blue-line-1988-630-75.jpg?w=320&h=185

53 points/5 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoJq8IflYB4

Just kidding around, Eric--your commentary is very welcome.

Just don't get why some people seem to get a rise sucking all the fun out of a casual poll.

hi, it seems you just arrived at ilxor.com. pull up a chair, there's some shit we need to go over before you decide to stick around or not. 1.) ned raggett...

look guys, Eric and I write about film. It shouldn't be that surprising that we have more historically-oriented expectations, right?

TTBL is an entirely respectable choice, I just went for Gates of Heaven.

I've never even heard of "Streetwise" but just read the description and it sounds amazing and like something that I, for various personal/professional reasons, would be very interested in watching so thanks thread!

lol Jess I know, I know

(and let's not dwell on the World at War voter who thought it sounded good) xxp

#8: Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris, 1978)

http://media.jinni.com/movie/gates-of-heaven/gates-of-heaven-1.jpeg

61 points/5 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjEZv6y_YO4

"look guys, i and many other people on this very thread write about music. but i'm not gonna go take a big drama queen dump all over the beach boys poll when "good vibrations" takes no. 1 over some side b album cut from surf's up."

big drama queen dump

lol

Strange--you can find lots of YouTube clips for Gates of Heaven, but almost nothing for The Thin Blue Line.

btw is looks like all of Streetwise is up on Youtube.

yeah i'm psyched for streetwise, too, & hadn't heard of it. the anecdote i just read looking it up is interesting, too:

The first night of shooting, Bell was able to earn the trust of the kids by doing something unexpected. They were filming in the Dismas Center, a facility that provides food, counseling, and recreation for kids. Suddenly Chrissie, a sixteen-year-old street kid, became very angry with Bell for filming her. To everyone's amazement, Bell opened his camera magazine and gave her the exposed roll of film. Chrissie stormed out, holding the roll of film, which was later found crumpled on the sidewalk. After that incident, whenever Chrissie saw Mark and Bell on the street, she wanted to be filmed and to be their friend. By giving Chrissie the exposed film, Bell showed her and the other kids that he was not trying to steal something from them. If the kids wanted to be part of the film that was fine, but if they didn't want to, that was OK. too. Bell understood that it was hard for these kids to trust anyone, but he hoped they would learn to trust him enough to make the film.

slightly confusing for britishes on being by a martin bell however.
psyched gates of heaven placed

#7: American Movie (Chris Smith, 1999)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hOImVOiGPo8/S3IiQ3w52AI/AAAAAAAAA_c/NAwVA_5An1A/s400/americanmovie1.jpg

64 points/8 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cugo51RqZWI

Oi! xps

x-post - Yeah that anecdote is really interesting. I filmed some at-risk teenagers for a video project during an internship a couple years ago so stuff like that is really interesting to me. One of the things I found that got them talking/opening up was giving them the camera and letting them film each other but, yeah, that's very neat.

there's a chilling scene in Streetwise where tiny's talking to roberta about how dangerous hooking is ("girls get killed out there"); roberta was later killed by the Green River Killer. also the opening shot is extraordinary

#6: Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994)

http://blog.whatmovieshouldiwatchtonight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/hoop-dreams.jpg

68 points/8 votes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWUYDZzwybc

x-post - seriously? I'm also vaguely obsessed by the Green River Killer's story. Fuck. I know what I'm doing tonight.

I've been trying to post short clips (or, if stuck, trailers) rather than full-length films, because I figure they're going to get pulled at some point.

i have not seen so many of these films, both the nomination process & the results have reminded me how sketchy i am w/docs

Oh also, I'm happy to see American Movie even though I figured it would show up today.