http://current.com/shows/fifty-documentaries/

8/20/2011 1:15:34 AM

Where's the actual list?

8/20/2011 12:45:31 PM

50. Spellbound (2002)
49. Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
48. The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
47. One Day in September (1999)
46. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
45. Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years (1988)
44. Burma VJ (2008)
43. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
42. Catfish (2010)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
39. Biggie and Tupac (2002)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
37. Inside Job (2010)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
34. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
30. Farenheit 9/11
29. Man on Wire
28. Gasland
27. Tarnation
26. Murderball
25. Enron
24. Paradise Lost
23. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
22. Shut Up and Sing
21. Exit Through The Gift Shop

I don't know that the top 20 have been listed anywhere yet

[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 1:25 PM. Reason : a lot of these are quality picks]

8/20/2011 1:22:22 PM

^ shit, that list reminds me, i still need to see Jesus Camp and Paradise Lost

8/20/2011 1:24:07 PM

I've only seen one of the list posted so far.

8/20/2011 1:26:00 PM

I've seen, of that list...

45. Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years (1988)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
30. Farenheit 9/11
29. Man on Wire
26. Murderball
21. Exit Through The Gift Shop

All of them were excellent, with my favorite probably being King of Kong. Man on Wire, Decline of Western Civilization, and Exit through the Gift Shop were all outstanding as well.

8/20/2011 1:33:00 PM

at Catfish, Tarnation, and March of the Penguins. Otherwise, good list.

8/20/2011 1:34:33 PM

seen almost all of these and Fahrenheit 9/11 should not be included in that list, it is far too biased.




[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 1:38 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2011 1:37:41 PM

nm, they've been posted

[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 1:42 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2011 1:41:12 PM

Quote :

"it is far too biased"

the idea that documentaries are objective is one of the biggest myths in cinema

Fahrenheit 9/11 is no more biased than any other film on that list

[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 2:11 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2011 2:10:09 PM

I said "far too biased", I didn't say that others had no bias. Also many of those documentaries never were played in a cinema.

If you want to watch a 9/11 Documentary watch "Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup"






[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 2:13 PM. Reason : ,]

8/20/2011 2:11:26 PM

been watching this.. whole list isn't done yet cause there's still a couple episodes left

pretty good show... even neater is the end part where Spurlock visits someone from one of the movies and sees what they're doing now

8/20/2011 2:12:53 PM

I imagine Baseball, The War, The Civil War, The National Parks and Jazz will be top-5

maybe replace one with The Cove

8/20/2011 6:17:08 PM

The King of Kong should be WAY higher

one of my all time faves

[Edited on August 20, 2011 at 6:35 PM. Reason : this]

8/20/2011 6:34:58 PM

Obviously, Touching the Void will be on it, as it's in one of the videos but not yet on the list. In The Shadow of the Moon should be there, but may not make it. Hoop Dreams?

8/20/2011 7:12:41 PM

Jesus christ vampire hunter

I'm krallum and I approved this message

8/20/2011 9:14:27 PM

thin blue line

8/20/2011 9:24:05 PM

Ent 201 DE with Clyde Sorrenson

I'm Krallum and I approved this message

8/20/2011 9:26:10 PM

American Movie will most likely be top 10

8/20/2011 9:26:20 PM

Thin Blue Line is a great one

8/20/2011 10:40:07 PM

I love American Movie and Spellbound sooooooooooooo much.

Tarnation is the worst feature-length piece of shit ever committed to iMovie-to-film, and to call it a documentary is a stretch when the asshole is prodding his poor mother for reaction shots the whole time.

I'm worried some all-time classics like Gimme Shelter and Salesman will be left out because of their age.

Finally,

Quote :

"PETS OR MEAT"

8/21/2011 12:07:20 AM

Didn't realize I had Current on TWC...also DVR'ing new episodes. thanks!

8/21/2011 12:13:05 AM

American Movie should be #1.

P.S. all you documentary peeps: go see Tabloid before Thursday. It's awesome. Fucking NOBODY is going to see it. Errol Morris is making awesome movies about crazy rapist beauty queens and nobody cares. SAD FACE!!!

8/21/2011 1:31:14 AM

Quote :

"I'm worried some all-time classics like Gimme Shelter and Salesman will be left out because of their age."

Yeah, they said it was restricted to the last twenty years.

And Devin Orgeron made me watch Tarnation not once, but twice. TWICE.

8/21/2011 1:33:39 AM

I knew Tarnation was pure shit by looking at the plot, so I didn't even bother.

8/21/2011 1:49:53 AM

There might be a synopsis, but there's no plot.

8/21/2011 1:59:28 AM

Quote :

" at Catfish..."

i just saw this the other day. what a weird fucking movie.

i really didn't know what to think of it. at times, it was really giving me the wtf's with all the crazy shit the "mother" was doing and the lengths she did it. but, at the same time, the photographer still seemed like a huge dumbass for falling for all of it.

it was worth my time watching, but no way in hell would i have ever thought it was one of the 50 best docs ever made.

8/21/2011 3:45:01 AM

Quote :

"Yeah, they said it was restricted to the last twenty years."

yeah that makes me think that some of the more recent Burns stuff will be left off, too... Not because of the film age, but because of the subject matter... Cause it looks like most of the films are "current" history, too

8/21/2011 9:18:17 AM

If they're leaving out Burns, then I agree American Movie should be #1

but I think, given current events, Restrepo will probably take that title - fair enough, though, as it was outstanding.

The only Burns docs I'd put above American Movie and Restrepo are Civil War and Baseball, though. I love Jazz and The War, but not as much as the aforementioned.


I fully expect "Anvil: The Story of Anvil," "The Gods Grew Tired Of Us," and "Food, Inc." to be on the list.

[Edited on August 21, 2011 at 10:18 AM. Reason : .]

8/21/2011 10:17:08 AM

Netflix has a lot of these, but they should add all. American Movie isn't even available for DVD/Blu-Ray rent.

8/21/2011 11:03:22 AM

I watched Man on Wire last night.

It was very interesting; but far longer than it needed to be and they tried to be too 'artsy' and didnt have as much 'documenting' as it could have.

Between the Folds was considerably more interesting.

8/21/2011 12:44:15 PM

I watched The Cove last night

good, but not amazing like I'd heard

8/21/2011 2:45:32 PM

50. Spellbound (2002)
49. Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
34. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
29. Man on Wire
26. Murderball
25. Enron
21. Exit Through The Gift Shop


alot of the rest are on my Q

8/21/2011 7:19:48 PM

Dancing Outlaw

8/22/2011 1:52:00 PM

^YES

and to follow up with that, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia



I'm mad at myself for forgetting those two...

8/22/2011 3:45:01 PM

I have the Dancing Outlaw deluxe edition DVD (has both Dancing Outlaw and Jesco Goes To Hollywood on it) and the Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia DVD

8/22/2011 3:57:03 PM

I didn't know Dancing Outlaw was even on DVD. My friends made it sound really rare and that it was only on VHS. Also, I didn't know Jesco went to Hollywood.

8/22/2011 11:19:46 PM

I saw Exit through the Gift Shop several months ago but I'm still thinking about it. If you are an artist who has ever pondered about putting a price on your art go ahead and queue it up.

8/23/2011 12:43:11 AM

20-11?

8/23/2011 10:01:40 PM

1. Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

8/23/2011 10:21:27 PM

20. Capturing the Friedmans
19. Touching the Void
18. Food Inc
17. Street Fight
16. Bus 174
15. Crumb
14. Dark Days
13. The Fog of War
12. Bowling for Columbine
11. Paris is Burning

8/23/2011 10:41:26 PM

Harlan County, USA and Don't Look Back will be in the top-5

Thin Blue Line probably will be, too, although i like Gates of Heaven more

Sherman's March will be knocking on the door - that Ross McElwee is a cool dude

i don't know if it'll make the list because its lack of notoriety, but Marjoe is great

and i'd say The Murder of Fred Hampton and Our Brand is Crisis (both unlikely to make the list) are essential viewing

8/23/2011 10:51:10 PM

It'll be interesting to see if Roger & Me is in the final 10. That's always been my favorite of Moore's work.

Also, I think "The Devil Came on Horseback" may find itself in there.

8/23/2011 11:11:29 PM

I was not impressed by Food Inc.

Also Hoop Dreams better be in the top 10.

8/24/2011 2:09:26 AM

Quote :

" Also, I didn't know Jesco went to Hollywood. "

Yes, he went to Hollywood to appear on an episode of Roseanne as Dan's mountain dancing cousin or something.

His scenes were never aired b/c Roseanne Barr saw the swastika tattoo that Jesco has and had him removed from the set.

8/24/2011 10:48:43 AM

When Jesco went to Hollywood to be on the sitcom Roseanne, she immediately noticed the swastika tattoos on the back of both hands. Even though I doubt Jesco even knew why they found it offensive (they are Jewish) he agreed to have them covered before proceeding with the show. According to Jesco himself, they sent a limo for him that took him to the tattoo parlor where he had roses applied to cover the swastikas.

8/24/2011 11:00:11 AM

^, ^^ I got dat torrent. Will be watching as soon as I feel like queuing it up.

8/24/2011 12:03:08 PM

http://current.com/schedule/

8/25/2011 11:40:22 PM

its not a documentary but too big to fail

8/26/2011 2:24:35 AM

Quote :

"the idea that documentaries are objective is one of the biggest myths in cinema"

Yeah this drives me crazy. I think it's because a lot of people think of documentaries exclusively as the kind of stuff that say Ken Burns does.

Sherman's March and Hoop Dreams FTW.

8/26/2011 8:31:04 AM