what are your favorite documentaries?

[ratpack]

last night i watched one that i really enjoyed.  it was called American Teen.  follows around like 5 different social status'ed kids for their senior year of high school in warsaw indiana. 

my favorite of all time is The Aristocrats.  other tops on my list are Darkon, King of Kong, Trekkies, and American Pimp. 

[ratfink]

The wife talked me into getting "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" on a recommendation from a friend (who's favorite show is Meerkat Manor, apparently) and I really bucked watching it at first, but 5 minutes into it, I was hooked!

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1033470,00.html

Does Spinal Tap count?

[Flower Lady]

Roky Erickson
Arthur Lee and Love
Don't Look Back
Shakin All Over: Canadian Pop Music in the 1960s
Yorkville: hippie haven
Expo '67

[torilla]

You just named 2 of my favorites: Darkon and The Aristocrats....

My super favorite is Crumb, but I also liked The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert. S. McNamara, Jesus Camp (that will screw with your mind), Murderball, The Atomic Cafe and The Most Hated Family in America.

[ratfink]

yeah Crumb is great, forgot about that one!

[vilehelm]

Porky's




... no seriously, Porky's.



Smoke (about Benjamin Smoke from Cabbagetown) is pretty good, also on a local note that one about the kids getting Syphilis out in Rockville is pretty intriguing, if not completely depressing.

Hearts of Darkness about the making of Apocalypse Now is good too.

[Spanky]

Somke, excellent pick!!!

Hamburg Cell (Docudrama, but well worth a watch)

Sundance did one about castration.  Interesting but gross

[Toddler]

Pretty much any film by Errol Morris is worth checking out...
Michael Moore makes a good film, whether you agree with his beliefs/methods or not...

Other notables:
Hoop Dreams
Brother's Keeper
Gimme Shelter
Don't Look Back
The Kid Stays in the Picture
When we were Kings
Grizzly Man
American Movie
Paradise Lost - Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills
Capturing the Friedmans

[DrPhilPhreak4Jesus69420]

The original Paradise Lost is probably my fav.  The sequel kinda ruins it though.
I like ones about well meaning losers and misfits.  Crumb, the one about the real dolls, the pro scrabble circuit, King of Kong.  And the one about the kids spelling bee.
I watch lots of documentaries.  

[torilla]

Paradise Lost - Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills

Oh man...I love both of those. Good call. So sad.

[sideshow mike]

there's a few that EvilGit 'netflicked' that i liked. (i'm sure he can chime in with more info at some point)  i'm sure i wouldn't have seen them, or even heard of them, if he hadn't got them. thanks, git.

Spellbound
Growin' a Beard
Brother's Keeper

[nd]

Surfwise was the most compelling documentary I have seen in a very long time. I still can't stop thinking/talking about it.

[insan0]

I love Crumb!  If you like that check out 'Sick' the story of Bob Flannigan.  

Does the 'Bumfights' series count as a documentary?

Just watched 'Who Killed the Electric Car' and that's up there.

Mondo Cane, The Sky Above the Mud Below, Endless Summer

[Toddler]

Both Stacy Peralta docs - Lords of Dogtown & Pipe Dreams (? - I think that's what it was called)

[DrPhilPhreak4Jesus69420]

Oh, yeah I forgot about Growin' A Beard.  That one just might be my favorite.  It's a little under the radar so if you haven't seen it, you need to.

Also The Corporation - a must see.
Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S Thompson
The Bridge
Standing In The Shadows of Motown
Story of the Wrong Eyed Jesus (Alt Country Artist Jim White comes to terms with his love/hate relationship with the south)
The Life and Times of Harvey Milk
Metallica - Some Kind of Monster (just made me hate them more but it was entertaining)
Helvetica (Yes about the font)
Lost In LaMancha (Terry Gilliam's failure making Man of LaMancha movie)
What the @*%$ Do We Know - A little out there but I liked it.

I also like all the conspiracy theory docs.  Endgame: Global Enslavement, Zeitgeist and other.