An Impossible Job: ILX's 40 Favorite Documentaries

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.

#5: The Sorrow and the Pity (Marcel Ophüls, 1969)

http://pixhost.me/avaxhome/2007-12-06/bscap0033.jpg

70 points/5 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1FXDKE3HWk

blarg i did not need to skim the green river killer wiki at this moment in time

getting better!

i and many other people on this very thread write about music

^doesn't get worse

#4: Harlan County U.S.A. (Barbara Kopple, 1976)

http://ferdyonfilms.com/Harlan%206.jpg

78 points/5 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCiVMngILEI

sorry schlump :(

harlan county was my other first place vote. incredible movie

sorry schlump :(

no it's okay!, you kind of know what you're getting, but just jesus, brutal. there's sorta so much information & such a volume of detail that it kinda obscures what was even happening. terrible.

#3: Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2003)

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=NoelMegahey/friedmans2.jpg

88 points/8 votes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVY4ehqJjAA

well, that's one of mine today.

xpost!

and another I need to see

starting to feel prudish at things i didn't persevere with :/

#2: Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)

http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050817/050817_grizzlyMan_hmed.grid-6x2.jpg

98 points/8 votes/1 first-place vote

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rP5DHbyOwQ

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

Not if you recognize that the rest of us *don't* write about film...?

i didnt vote for any herzog, but i would've gone with grizzly man if i did. i figured it wouldnt need any help placing though

x-post

^ Was one of my two first place votes thanks to a rec from an ILXor. Brother's Keeper was the other.

I do recognize it, jaymc, but nevertheless expect you to see the same stuff.

#1: Long Hard Road Out of Hell: The Making of Good Burger (Strongo Hulkington, 2012)

#1: Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1994)

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/Crumb_movie_image-4.jpg

163 points/13 votes/4 first-place votes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlT4QZchxQw

lol strongo

and there it is then.

I do recognize it, jaymc, but nevertheless expect you to see the same stuff.

Why?

was that the only herzog to place, btw?

bcz critics are not rational ppl, as we learn every day here. xp

bravo clemenza, for taking our polls and taking our shit, you bastard, for orchestrating a poll so unkind to so many directors, goddammit, wtf

no, schlump, the kinski doc placed too.

and yes, thanks clemenza!

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.