An Impossible Job: ILX's 40 Favorite Documentaries

It wasn't even close--almost half the voters (13/30) listed Crumb, and 15% had it as their #1. If anyone wants to post his or her list now, please do.

No problem. I love documentaries, so this was great for me. Thanks for voting.

Yeah, thank you Clemenza!

#1: Land of Hope and Change: The Con of Barack Obama (Michael Moore, 2014)

No way I'm posting my ballot in these shark-infested waters. I am, however, currently compiling a list of the all ones from here I now need to see.

my list:

Crumb - 20 points
Night and Fog - 20 points
The Filth and the Fury - 10 points
The Fog of War - 10 points
Shoah - 10 points
Harlan County USA - 10 points
Histoire(s) du Cinema - 5 points
Salesman - 5 points
High School - 5 points
Burden of Dreams - 5 points

boooooooring

Herzog got votes for three or four other films. When I post the final list of 40, should I also post the other 182 films that got votes (or would that be redundant alongside individual lists)?

Thanks for the work on this one, clemenza!

Oh whatever (also p boring I guess but they're all good!)

Grizzly Man - 30
Brother's Keeper - 30
Grey Gardens - 5
American Movie - 5
Capturing the Friedmans - 5
Little Deiter Needs to Fly - 5
Roger and Me - 5
Don't Look Back - 5
Stop Making Sense - 5
Murderball - 5

WmC: Would you be able to add end-brackets after the date on the first two films posted way above (Salesman and The Filth and the Fury)? I've learned to live with all the stupid typos I make when posting, but I obsess over little things like that.

Man On Wire
Fog of War
Hoop Dreams
The Blue Planet
When We Were Kings
One Night In Turin
Buena Vista Social Club
Power of Nightmares
Winged Migration
Rattle & Hum

Once in a Lifetime: the extraordinary story of the New York Cosmos
Colossus (a Niall Ferguson tv doc)
This Is It (the Michael Jackson one)
What's Happening! The Beatles in the USA
Koyaanisqatsi
The World At War
The Battle of Chile
7 Up series
An Impossible Job - was holding out for this at #1 as per thread title
Hillsborough

snipe away

Aw, I missed the top 10 countdown. Thanks for running this, clemenza.

No way I'm posting my ballot in these shark-infested waters. I am, however, currently compiling a list of the all ones from here I now need to see.

― ladies love draculas like children love stray dogs (ENBB), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 3:49 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cosign times a million (xps - I'm not relenting on this one)

Oh, and thanks clemenza!

i only gave crumb 5 points, but despite that its my favorite documentary ever and one of my favorite movies period. the portrait of charles crumb's mental illness by way of his evolving art is unforgettable and unsettling in the extreme. i often used to wonder if i'd end up more like charles or robert.

in retrospect it probably would've been an even better movie if they could've interviewed crumb's sisters, but at the same time how can you blame them for not talking

heres my ballot

1. Harlan County, USA (1976) (30 points)
2. Streetwise (1984) (30 points)
3. Capturing the Friedmans (2003) (5 points)
4. Crumb (1994) (5 points)
5. Koyaanisqatsi (1982) (5 points)
6. Marjoe (1972) (5 points)
7. Wattstax (1973) (5 points)
8. Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986) (5 points)
9. American Movie (1999) (5 points)
10. Dancing Outlaw (1991) (5 points)
11. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) (5 points)
12. Titicut Follies (1967) (5 points)
13. 30 for 30: Once Brothers (2010) (5 points)
14. The Corporation (2003) (5 points)
15. Sherman's March (1986) (5 points)
16. Hoop Dreams (1994) (5 points)
17. Pumping Iron (1977) (5 points)
18. The Death Of Yugoslavia (1995) (5 points)
19. The Century of the Self (2002) (5 points)
20. Hype! (1996) (5 points)

comics geeks ride again!

this was mine:

Shoah - 20

Hospital - 14

The Sorrow and the Pity - 12

Winter Soldier - 12

Paris Is Burning - 12

General Idi Amin Dada - 8

In the Year of the Pig - 7

Hearts and Minds - 5

Gates of Heaven - 5

Man with a Movie Camera - 5

Law and Order - 5

Stevie - 5

Grey Gardens - 5

Point of Order - 5

Gimme Shelter - 5

Genghis Blues - 5

Sherman’s March - 5

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer - 5

The White Diamond - 5

The Gleaners & I - 5

^^ ha, word (@ emily & enbb). i think i had seventeen, a married couple, cocksucker blues, poto & cabengo, though.

WmC: Would you be able to add end-brackets after the date

oh yeah, meant to do that a few days ago when you first mentioned it. fixed

I can't believe I forgot about Dancing Outlaw. Shit.

Also I didn't know if Heavy Metal Parking lot would count. I don't know I thought it wouldn't but I wasn't sure.

law & order is a long running tv drama & does not count, actually, morbs

feel like heavy metal parking lot probably got robbed, slightly, with a lot of stuff like it - just nice time-capsule/subculture sorta things. wildwood NJ etc.

My list:

1. Spellbound (20)
2. Heart of the Game (20)
3. Welfare (10)
4. Crumb (10)
5. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (10)
6. Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (10)
7. 28 Up (5)
8. A League of Ordinary Gentlemen (5)
9. Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (5)
10. Phil Spector: The Agony and the Ecstasy (5)

11. The Times of Harvey Milk
12. Mayor of the Sunset Strip
13. Bobby Fischer Against the World
14. Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
15. Arguing the World
16. Stevie
17. The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia
18. Encirclement
19. The Stone Writer
20. Let’s Get Lost

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(things I also considered)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Man on Wire
Dying at Grace
The Weather Underground
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
The Celluloid Closet
Capturing the Friedmans
The War Room
Tyson
My Architect
End of the Century
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
Histoire(s) du cinema
Visions of Light
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
The Year of the Yao
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

if heavy metal parking lot isn't a doc then i don't know what is

if i'd done a list of 20 i'd probably have voted for his lancelot link doc lol

grizzly man: the document of one man's glee that the nincompoop crown of uncritical nature-worship is now his! (previous holder eaten by bear):

x-post - I think because it's so short? Idk. Dumb, I know.

(x-post)I think they've both been surpassed by the guy in Project Nim.

lol mark

stay outta the comedy clubs, schlump.

I'll spare you the list of bad documentaries I've had to review in the last few years. Way worse than Man on Wire.

yeah, this is some other stuff i was considering:

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
30 for 30: The Two Escobars (2010)
30 for 30: The U (2009)
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
Secrets of the Tribe (2010)
The Anatomy of Hate (2008)
Unnatural Histories (2011)
Assault in the Ring (2009)
The Largest Street Gang in America (2009)
New York Doll (2005)
Genghis Blues (1999)
Our Brand Is Crisis (2005)
The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)
Grizzly Man (2005)
Roger & Me (1989)
Looking for Richard (1996)
Skinheads USA: Soldiers of the Race War (1993)

My ballot is a lowbrow embarrassment, I'll just leave it at that.

Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Hoop Dreams

I considered both those as well as King of Kong and Hated.

stay outta the comedy clubs, schlump.

ha, it was just bc you're a fred thompson fan

Just one other technical thing. Before posting, I would test every still on the HTML board as I went along, just to make sure nothing came up blank. I don't know if it makes a difference, but there are about 50 images there that can be removed.

feeling idiotic for missing off glawogger's workingman's death, which'd have made mine i think. underexposure maybe explains it not being a big thing, it is a fine film.

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

^ That is by the same people that did Brother's Keeper, right? I've been meaning to see that.

i also briefly considered trolling the poll by submitting nothing but Shoot Interviews. these would've been my top 2:

1. Brickhouse Brown Shoot Interview (2009) (30 points) - Little-known Memphis wrestler Brickhouse Brown shares a succession of awesome hood anecdotes, brags that he "got Jeff Jarrett his first piece of black pussy."
2. Face Off Vol. 2: Iron Sheik, New Jack & Honky Tonk Man (2007) (30 points) - New Jack, Iron Sheilk and the Honky Tonk Man smoke a lot of crack and talk shit about Benoit for 30 minutes before someone from the Hotel bangs on the door and tells them they're making too much noise and have to leave.

The Paradise Lost films would have made it to the top 40 if votes had been combined (25 points/5 votes). But four of the voters made it clear they were voting for one of them only.

ive completely forgotten the name of the 70s british documentary about a family that lives in the country (surrey?) untouched by modern life

I forgot to send a ballot:

Gates of Heaven
The Gleaners & I
Las Hurdes
Paris is Burning
Capturing the Friedmans
No End in Sight
Grizzly Man
Phantom India
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
The Thin Blue Line
Looking For Richard
Harlan County USA

colby: The Moon and the Sledgehammer?

Looking For Richard owns

No End in Sight was one of a few that surprisingly got no votes. From my own list of runners-up, I would've thought The Celluloid Closet and My Architect would get some votes.

this was mine;
yea looking for richard is really engaging, should be shown in schools

Crumb - 30 pts
Capturing the Friedmans - 30 pts
Genghis Blues - 10
I Like Killing Flies - 10
Land of Silence & Darkness - 5
Forbidden Lie$ - 5
Harlan County, USA - 5
Lets Get Lost - 5

celluloid closet's good, but the book is so much better that i have a hard time rating the doc anymore.

colby: The Moon and the Sledgehammer?

― emil.y, Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:07 AM

thanks thats the one! i clean forgot, even tho i bought the (bootleg?) dvd earlier this summer, but havent got round to watching yet

For all the bitching, I was expecting the Morbs list to be some truly esoteric shit.

Just want to post the final list as easy reference before ducking out:

#40: Salesman (Albert Maysles/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin, 1968) -- 20 points/3 votes
#40: The Filth and the Fury (Julien Temple, 2000) -- 20 points/3 votes
#40: The Gleaners & I (Agnes Varda, 2000) -- 20 points/3 votes
#40: The Times of Harvey Milk (Rob Epstein, 1984) -- 20 points/3 votes
#39: Être et Avoir (Nicolas Philibert, 2002) -- 21 points/2 votes/1 first
#38: Inside Job (Charles Ferguson, 2010) -- 22 points/3 votes
#36: Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin, 1970) -- 24 points/3 votes
#36: Winged Migration (Jacques Perrin/Jacques Cluzaud, 2001) -- 24 points/3 votes
#34: Spellbound (Jeffrey Blitz, 2002) -- 25 points/2 votes/1 first
#34: The World at War (Hugh Raggett/John Pett/David Elstein/Ted Childs/Michael Darlow/Martin Smith, 1973/74) -- 25 points/2 votes/1 first
#33: Los Angeles Plays Itself (Thom Andersen, 2003) -- 26 points/2 votes
#32: Sherman's March (Ross McElwee, 1986) -- 25 points/4 votes
#31: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi, 2008) -- 26 points/2 votes
#30: The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978) -- 26 points/4 votes
#29: WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Dusan Makavejev, 1971) -- 27 points/2 votes/1 first
#28: The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003) -- 27 points/3 votes
#27: My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog, 1999) -- 29 points/3 votes
#26: Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985) -- 30 points/2 votes/1 first
#25: Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990) -- 32 points/3 votes
#24: Winter Soldier (Fred Aronow/Robert Fiore/David Gillis/David Grubin/Jeff Holstein/Michael Lesser, 1972) -- 32 points/4 votes/1 first
#22: The Century of the Self (Adam Curtis, 2002) -- 35 points/2 votes
#22: Hype! (Doug Pray, 1996) -- 35 points/2 votes/1 first
#21: Don’t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967) -- 35 points/3 votes/1 first
#20: Grey Gardens (Albert Maysles/David Maysles/Ellen Hovde/Muffie Meyer, 1975) -- 35 points/5 votes
#19: Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982) -- 35 points/6 votes
#18: Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984) -- 38 points/5 votes
#17: Brother’s Keeper (Joe Berlinger/Bruce Sinofsky, 1992) -- 40 points/2 votes
#16: Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) -- 41 points/6 votes
#15: Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1955) -- 48 points/3 votes
#14: The Up Series (Michael Apted/Paul Almond, 1964-2005) -- 48 points/5 votes/2 firsts
#13: Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008) -- 49 points/4 votes
#12: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Seth Gordon, 2007) -- 49 points/5 votes
#11: When We Were Kings (Leon Gast, 1996) -- 52 points/4 votes/1 first
#10: Streetwise (Martin Bell, 1984) -- 53 points/4 votes
#9: The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988) -- 53 points/5 votes/1 first
#8: Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris, 1978) -- 61 points/5 votes/1 first
#7: American Movie (Chris Smith, 1999) -- 64 points/8 votes/1 first
#6: Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994) -- 68 points/8 votes
#5: The Sorrow and the Pity (Marcel Ophüls, 1969) -- 70 points/5 votes/1 first
#4: Harlan County U.S.A. (Barbara Kopple, 1976) -- 78 points/5 votes/1 first
#3: Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003) -- 88 points/8 votes
#2: Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005) -- 98 points/8 votes/1 first
#1: Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1994) -- 163 points/13 votes/4 firsts

I'm not Glenn McDonald, but I'll probably compile a few basic stats on which directors totalled the most overall points, and which got votes for the most number of films.

1. Brickhouse Brown Shoot Interview (2009) (30 points) - Little-known Memphis wrestler Brickhouse Brown shares a succession of awesome hood anecdotes, brags that he "got Jeff Jarrett his first piece of black pussy."

holy shit

For all the bitching, I was expecting the Morbs list to be some truly esoteric shit.

The bitching came from: you guys really didn't hafta try that hard. Just hang up on the Dem phone marketers and you'll have time to watch Shoah.

big ups to d*m p*ss*nt*no for the shoot recs

I'm sure I would've included "truly esoteric shit" that I've just plumb forgot some bcz they're not constantly talked about in the cultural conversations I hear. I'm just as susceptible to that as anyone, moreso with the death of my middle-aged brain cells.