Knowing myself as I do I figure it's never too early to begin with a few Year End lists and what-not. There's really nothing preventing this. I wanted to take on several categories when the year began but as it happened I didn't make it to my first theater viewing until late May and Terminator: Salvation! That won't do in most cases, yet I'm resolved to accept that I don't get paid to watch movies or write this stuff. A given. That being said, I plan to make hay with the measly twenty 2009 films I actually saw, half of those theater views, but quite a bit more can be drawn from the dozens of small screen choices in the realm of horror, documentary, foreign, etc., and the various minglings thereof. Maybe a "bottom 5" (have come across some terrible ones this year) or television list? Anything is possible. I certainly wouldn't rule out a Top 10 of the Decade, as it appears to be an apropos time for one.
But until then, I'll get this rolling with The Top Ten Documentaries of the Decade, in no particular order:
Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) What's frustrating about this doc is the air of blame swirling throughout; in an era of effortless finger-pointing, no one comes out ahead. The rewarding part is the frankness and discussion on behalf of former pro skater turned entrepreneur & director Stacy Peralta and the film's producers that allows the doc's participants to bare all and/or take long, hard looks at themselves.
I.O.U.S.A. (2008) As a stand-alone doc concerning the woes of institutional borrowing, leveraging, and obligations of every degree, this one is one of the best. To explain why it's one of the most important of the last ten years is to state the obvious. As I said before, this should be required viewing in basic economics classes. I mean, the things I learned in grade school I assumed were taught to everyone...
My Kid Could Paint That (2007) Whether or not a little girl painted what many have paid thousands and tens of thousands of dollars for is almost of secondary importance to what this doc's viewer's ideals may or may not be. Could these parents be little Madoff's, or simply stewards of a little girl's imagination and financial future?
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) Well, this doc attempts to expose just who and/or what political agenda not only shut down a popular, growing, seemingly viable technology, but also set back a movement by a couple of decades. It also touches on the fact that the term "energy independence" is a myth and simply a tool that politicians of any degree (past & present) use for fodder. You may be surprised.
Jonestown: The Life & Death of Peoples Temple (2006) The most in-depth look into modern history's most unbelievable human tragedy since the holocaust. Both gripping and disgusting.
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) Not everyone can be as bold as Bob Dylan, and it's beyond fascinating to discover slices of his life's journey corroborated by pictures and words from the most unlikely sources. When a man chooses to be free it's a powerful and misunderstood set of circumstances that he himself may not truly appreciate - Dylan's made it look easy.
Unser täglich Brot (Our Daily Bread, 2005) A picturesque and fascinating peek into greater Europe's food industry. While I don't believe the entirety of Europe conforms to the standards shown in this doc, I can appreciate the mix of clinical methods and earthly methodology used by the companies involved. No narration.
Grizzly Man (2005) Weird and wild would be an understatement in describing Tim Treadwell as he practically begged the Alaskan grizzly population to kill him for thirteen years. In tragic fashion he got his wish. Quite possibly the nearest thing to a snuff film to ever be in wide release. A documentary like none other.
The Cult of the Suicide Bomber (2005) Sure, Clooney's character in Syriana was based on Baer himself, but Baer's actual journey into radical Islam's recent history to learn the origins of the contemporary kamikaze is one not easily forgotten. All things being equal, this is a balanced look that may frustrate as soon as enlighten.
Un coupable idéal (Murder on a Sunday Morning, 2001) The title's literal English translation is "An ideal culprit"; pretty much summing up the doc in those three words. The crux being - much like the 1976 Dallas area murder in the documentary The Thin Blue Line, a person is quickly named in the crime to the exclusion of all others and evidence - very much unlike the former, widespread institutional corruption takes a back seat to a small clutch of overzealous yet similarly driven offices and officials as an absence of evidence is poised to convict the perfect suspect. The chances of drawing a public defender like this is the difference between everything and nothingness.
2 comments:
Friday, November 20, 2009
My documentary exposure has always been embarrassingly low, but I will check these out. Did you see The Cove? I wanted to, but then I heard mixed things.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Don't be alarmed, I chose these ten from the only 37, give or take, that I've seen in ten years. I might have done a more ambitious top twenty, or gotten them all in there but after ten my own eyes glaze over. Come to think of it, a few of the docs prompted such a condition.
Have not seen The Cove. The trailers do a fine job of selling it as a nail-biting piece of investigative journalism, but I suspect that angle is a small part and it's more a "look at me I'm a Star and I care about dolphins" type of doc. I hate being sold a bill of goods. Especially when it's supposed to be real life. But I digress.
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