An Impossible Job: ILX's 40 Favorite Documentaries

yeah but it's not really about video games

perhaps not, but you have to look at some

The Metallica film also got three votes. Again, not enough points.

gross!
xpost

I came to The King of Kong as someone who had literally never played a video game in my life--regular pinball back in high school, yes, but not video games. That was a large part of its fascination, the idea that this world still existed in 2011.

The peaks of the Metallica film are super high, but there are enough valleys to detract from them. Some of my fave stuff is in the deleted scenes, like Kirk in driving school or Lars whining that no one ever throws him birthday parties.

THE METALLICA FILM IS CALLED "SOME KIND OF MONSTER".

*ahem*, sorry.

smh at this list

<3 U

smh at this list

― ✇ (Tape Store), Monday, 15 August 2011 19:27 (1 minute ago) Bookmark

u were gone tape store, watch what happened. what is yr top ten

Well, you should have voted--I spent two-plus weeks trying to solicit votes. Morbius and Eric at least voted.

Man On Wire was my no.1, you philistines

Mine too. Glad to see it get a decent placing.

ILX Members of the Academy

god i don't know, xxpost

but very quickly, a tiny handful of the many major omissions on this list:
seventeen, demon lover diary, portrait of jason, fucking fred wiseman!!!, a married couple, en construccion, west of the tracks, in vanda's room, godspeed you! black emperor, sans soleil, sayonara cp, close-up, on the bowery, the seasons, perfumed nightmare...

Three of those received votes, plus four or five Wiseman films. To make the Top 40, a film needed 20 points/2 votes minimum. Seventeen and Sans Soleil you could have moved into the Top 40 for sure, probably top 25.

just to be clear, clemenza, i don't think anyone is attacking you--it's cool that you put this together, it was bound to disappoint me (half of the list i just posted is pretty hard to find, unless you belong to the right website or have money to buy from overseas)

I wouldn't put Close-Up and On the Bowery as docs, m'self

I've felt very much under assault today. I've been commiserating with Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich on Facebook.

Serious question, Tape Store: have you seen most/all of the results so far and are dismissing them because yours are better or do you just not like the look of the results? I'm asking because the discussion on the ballot thread and so far here shows me that there's a *lot* of documentary films that I've never seen.

(clemenza, you've done a stand up job with this poll and I've enjoyed the useful contributions to this thread plenty)

Yeah, Clemenza, it's not your fault or anything, but these results are pretty wan.

Even by ILX film poll standards.

I am just gonna listen to ten albums this year (up from 2 last year) and vote in the year-end ILM poll

Bill, I've seen 24 of the films on this poll (I'm not big into music films).

I'm just kidding about feeling under assault. 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. I'm also not sure why Morbius assumes that voters haven't seen lots of documentaries. The assumption really comes down to, "I know you haven't seen many documentaries, because if you had, you'd of course be voting for the same films as me." Why would you think that? (And for what it's worth, 10 of your 20 made the Top 40--seems like a pretty good percentage to me. Only two of mine made it, and I'm okay with the results.)

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.

THIS.

yeah same

I don't get why people bitch about ILX film polls as though they were published lists in Sight and Sound or whatever. I prefer to treat polls like this one as: "Here's what a bunch of people who have similar tastes and interests as I do (given that we post on the same message board) think are some good documentaries." (And since ILX is not principally a film board, I would hardly expect to find a list teeming with old, obscure, and foreign-language titles.)

xposts, so yeah, I agree with the last few posts

I don't get why people bitch about bitching on ILX film polls as if they should be so markedly different from the bitching that goes on on ILM polls.

ilm doesnt have anything to do with this?

i dont usually read ILM polls though i recently participated in my first, and it was a really civil thread. maybe cuz u werent posting in it?

#1 should be future ILX documentary

Suggested title: The Sorrow and the Pity.

xxpost Maybe because the results were better?

More well informed?

Eric, don't you get it, movies are JUST FUN! They're not something where any kind of expertise or aspirations toward completism factor in at all.

SB'd u and me for still being here.

I don't get why people bitch about bitching on ILX film polls as if they should be so markedly different from the bitching that goes on on ILM polls.

They're not! I roll my eyes at Lex, too!

agree with people who are treating this casually; kinda seemed to be devised that way throughout its genesis, too, just an informal poll that might define a few consensus picks - us all going, damn, that mining strike film is good - & throw out some recommendations.

seventeen, demon lover diary, portrait of jason, fucking fred wiseman!!!, a married couple, en construccion, west of the tracks, in vanda's room, godspeed you! black emperor, sans soleil, sayonara cp, close-up, on the bowery, the seasons, perfumed nightmare...

this is a great list, however, even if a few are on the other side of the wall from my documentary definition. i was v tempted to vote for perfumed nightmare, but sorta think of it as pure cinema, in its deployment of technique and creativity, rather than intentional, recorded documentary. is demon lover diary good? i think for some reason i thought it would be underwhelming. & the diptych of en construccion & west of the tracks (which bravo for even having got through) seems really interesting. i'm helping out programming a season of films on cities at the moment and hopefully will show the former, i'm glad to hear someone testify that it's great as i've not seen.

Eric, don't you get it, movies are JUST FUN! They're not something where any kind of expertise or aspirations toward completism factor in at all.

If clemenza had said, "You shouldn't vote in this poll unless you consider yourself an expert on film and have seen at least X amount of documentaries," then only like five people would've voted.

xxpost Maybe because the results were better?

― third-generation stripper (Eric H.), Monday, August 15, 2011 3:24 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

More well informed?

― third-generation stripper (Eric H.), Monday, August 15, 2011 3:24 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

no, it was definitely the You factor

Let me just The Index of ILX Film Snobs

Required reading if we're to continue with this discussion.

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

Civil?! FUCK THAAAAAAAT!

:knocks over salt shaker:

I wouldn't put Close-Up and On the Bowery as docs, m'self

Or Perfumed Nightmare =)

They're not something where any kind of expertise or aspirations toward completism factor in at all.

TBF I'm only really interested in making lists, not so much watching movies.

^adapted from Metropolitan?

Dunno. Never watched it.

ha
xp