I am not including films I know are good and haven’t seen, so I might update this list after a few more are watched. =) The Act of Killing and Deliver us from Evil.
Also, Cropsey is at the top of the list, but frankly I am scared. EDIT: the movie as a doc was NOT good and it was like a 48 hours episode built around disingenious “horror” narrative. It tried to tie an urban legend to a real crime and did a disservice to both. ANYHOoo…
I also don’t include some of the greats like Errol Morris’ “Thin Blue Line”, and I’ve no real reason other than the below are my absolute favorites, or ones I find educationally important enough to sort of “signal” as really important, like the first three here:
Profound / Important vs “ya fun” (but engaging and jaw dropping at times):
The first 3 are mandatory schooling and there will be a quiz:
13th – about the 13th amendment and systemic racism in America. This is profound, and vitally important.
I would add “I Am Not Your Negro“, about James Baldwin’s indictment of America incapable of grappling with the legacy of racism and slavery, and incapable of rectifying the problem.
The Fog of War is one of the most important films ever made. Errol Morris on Mcnamara’s lessons from Vietnam. It’s unreal, riveting, and vital in not blowing ourselves to kingdom come.
Into the Abyss – Werner Herzog on capital punishment in America.
Night and Fog (1955) is a horrifying look at the Holocaust, and I can’t say “recommend” vs “important”
About Film, Music, or Culture:
Capturing the Friedmans is a disturbing look at a family falling apart.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog is a ponderous and moving (but slow) documentary about the cave paintings in Lascaux France, the earliest intact drawings humans ever made. It was shot in 3D, and if you can watch it that way, it makes the cave wells come alive and dance.
The Decline of Western Civilization is a look at 70s and 80s punk music, and how the music formed the scene and drove the culture.
Free Solo is a fascinating look at climbing and what makes people motivate and push themselves vs finding addiction in all things. It includes a bit of “Into Thin Air” type ramifications of the actual documentarians impacting the actual documentary with the pressure of the shoot.
Hearts of Darkness: A filmmaker’s apocalypse about the crazy production around Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. This is a film so gripping with drama, tension, and insanity… that it’s almost better and crazier than the actual film.
Hoop Dreams – One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumping-off point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern America
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is about a man giving all of himself to the tradition of making quality sushi at an Omakase spot in Japan.
Jodorowsky’s Dune is one of the most astonishing films I’ve ever seen, which is about the failure of Alejandro’s vision and film adaptation of Herbert’s Dune. It birthed so much in Hollywood. For example… Salvador Dali introduced Giger to Jodorowsky who worked with Dan O’Bannon on the script who met Giger and brought him on board Alien after Dune fell apart. There’s so much history here, and it’s a touchstone middle point of the nexus of the start of Hollywood through now: https://unclefishbits.com/a-free-form-rambling-review-of-jodorowskys-dune-documentary/
The Last Waltz, by Scorcese, about The Band’s last big concert.
Life Itself, about a wonderful and intelligent man, Roger Ebert the Suns-Times movie critic. Also, like I said in past newsletters and posts… do not sleep on his film reviews. They are still profoundly beautiful and relevant.
Lost in La Mancha – Terry Gilliam’s endless quest to film Don Quixote thwarted by, well.. literally everything.
Man on Wire is about a man, his passion, his love for the World Trade Center, and a magical event. Also, the Zemeckis directed film “The Walk”, a fictionalized story of Petit’s journey, is absolutely darling and charming. Also, if you can do the 3D, it’s some of the most effective use of 3D in cinematic history. Probably worth another post, to talk about 3D. I hope it comes back.
Rivers & Tides: Andy Goldsworthy working with Time: an artist who uses nature as his canvas, and his life’s work about temporality, time, art, and our relation to it, nature, and our own existence.
Searching for Sugarman – about Rodriguez, a Detroit musician from the 1970s faded into obscurity, and was rumored to have died. Then? Pre-internet the guy BLOWS UP in South Africa, and is like the Rolling Stones there. The documentary sets out to find out who he was, and how that happened.
Three Identical Strangers is a WILD RIDE, and I’ll leave it at that.
Touching the Void – a harrowing tale of ice climbing gone wrong
When We Were Kings about Ali and Foreman Rumble in the Jungle Free Solo is a fascinating look at climbing, that includes a bit of “Into Thin Air” ramification of the actual documentarians impacting the actual documentary with the pressure of the shoot.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor about Mr Fred Rogers, and how much he did for empathy and even things like racial sensitivity, and educating kids with great moral lessons. Of course, the Tom Hanks fictionalized film is superb, as well.
Wreckage and Rage: Making Alien 3 – For film fans, especially people who appreciate Lost in La Mancha, or Hearts of Darkness, I think this 183 minute, documentary about studio interference and the entire way the studio helped the wheels come off the production, is the greatest documentary about cinema in history (there is an 160+ version that the studio literally interfered with, cutting out commentary critical of studio interference. IRONY!). That’s a bold claim, but I’ll temper it by saying the Alien franchise is a huge part of my life. Also, if you can watch this, you’re probably watching Alien Anthology box set, or maybe Quadrilogy. I am talking to the director about where else you might find it, and will update this later… but 100% watch the original Alien 3 editor’s included “Assembly Cut”, which he re-edited to be in line with Fincher’s original vision before the studio made the Stroheim Greed edit methodology. It’s a REALLY good film. Don’t just trust me: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/22/15660296/alien-3-david-fincher-defense
OH WOW. Check this out… this may be the short version, but still worth it: https://moviesanywhere.com/movie/alien3/bonus/alien-3/extras/wreckage-and-rage-making-alien-3
