Best Documentary of All Time

T

The Mud Doctor

What is, in your opinion, the greatest documentary of all time? Or at least your favorite. My favorites are Harlan County, USA and Hoop Dreams.
 
I gotta do five:

BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982)
THE FOG OF WAR (2003)
STOP MAKING SENSE (1984)
THE LAST WALTZ (1978)

And the very best of all time:
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1935)

Seriously. Even with all our knowledge and understanding of history
and the horror, watch this movie and you will believe that being a
Nazi is a good thing. Talk about persuasive.
 
Hmm... tricky.

I like Werner Herzog's documentaries (and documentaries about him, see Burden of Dreams) but my favourite is probably Grizzly Man (honourable mention to Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D).

2011 is the year of the sports documentary and there have been some really good ones: Senna, The Referees, TT3D, Fire in Babylon, From the Ashes...etc.

That's where my head's at this moment.
 
F for Fake - Orson Welles' last effort, it's a tour de force of editing and cynical whimsy
The Fog of War - Errol Flynn's greatest work, it's essentially just an interview, but it's so, so revealing and wonderful
American Movie - the definition of heartbreak if you're a filmmaker

EDIT: Speaking of documentaries about filmmaking, I caught the second half of Audience of One on Sundance the other day, and sheeeeit. I've never felt so uncomfortable in my life.
 
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I've only seen a few but my favorite would have to Religulous.

I'm looking forward to the new Beatles documentary directed by Martin Scorsese. I think it's coming on HBO in a few weeks.
 
Great thread. For no other reason than I now want to watch all of these documentaries that have been mentioned, that I haven't yet seen.

brianluce said:
Hoop Dreams.
And the one about the Ali v. Foreman in Zaire. I think it was called "We Were Warriors"?
Click to expand...

"When We Were Kings" is the title you're searching for. AWESOME movie. You don't have to be a sport-fan, or even give a damn about boxing. You will undoubtedly leave this movie loving Ali.

My favorites?

"Born into Brothels"
"Why We Fight"

For something a little more recent, I do highly recommend "The Cove". But I also STRONGLY recommend that you look away, when the gruesome scene comes. It won't catch you off-gaurd, you will definitely know when it is about to begin, and the auditory experience should be strong enough to move you.

You DO NOT want that gruesome image painted on the back of your eyelids. I wish I could un-watch that scene. I like the movie, overall, and I think it's terrific that the movie actually made a difference in government policies. But I didn't need to literally see such real-life horror, in order to understand how horrific the situation is.
 
Oh, and if you want to talk about a documentary that packs a mighty punch, try "Dear Zachary". You can read the synopsis, and what you'll read is basically an accurate description. However, it's not until the last few minutes of the movie when you realize what THE ENTIRE FILM has actually been about, and it's simply beautiful. It's a love-letter, for sure.
 
I think my favourite documentaries would have to be...

Earthlings - about the main ways human exploit other beings.
And
Lords of Dogtown - the birth of skateboarding.

Yep. Those are my choices ^_^
 
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