Top Docs

I met Sydney Pollack when he came to New Orleans to introduce and discuss this film. I actually worked at the mall where the cinema was, and I couldn't work up the nerve to say anything at the screening, but the next morning he came into my workplace and I got a tete-a-tete with someone who was very much an academic guide for film theory and history on top of being a brilliant director (with great taste in what colors to wear).

Anyways, this film. Yes. If you don't know Frank Gehry, just think of the oddest building you've ever seen and chances are it is or is derivative of Frank Gehry. For a reference point, Gehry did Bilbao Guggenheim and Seattle's Experience Music Project. Pollack and Gehry have long been friends, and the documentary was filmed as an independent project of Pollack's over the course of a few years and many meetings with his friend Gehry. The two talk of art, design, inspiration, and everyday stuff. Gehry explains his process as an architect. Pollack captures some stunning shots of Gehry's work for just using a handheld diigital. If you like to see a brilliant (and some will say odd) artist revealing the guts and marrow of his profession, this is the film for you.

It's just fab that there are any documentaries as revealing and close to its subjects as 'Paris Is Burning'. An obvious landmark for queer filmmaking, a paradigm examination of documentary subjects - footage of people emoting and expressing raw feelings. Beautiful

I just plain love this documentary. The production crew delves into the lives of classic video games' top players, centering around a rivalry between the first superstar of gaming Billy Mitchell and an unknown newcomer Steve Sanders for world champion of Donkey Kong, a game revered by regular classic game circuit players as perhaps the most difficult of the classic games.
The crew captures many angles of the involved people's personalities, enough that this feels very narrative at points, which is a marker of good doc. I became involved in the politics of this community, this "unusual and relatively unknown" outlet for proving oneself, and was quite intrigued by the gamers' competitive tactics and somewhat archaic score verification process, which looked easily corruptible by personal bias. At the end of this movie, one feels like you've learned something. Even a seasoned gamer like myself didnt know about "Twin Galaxies" though I had heard of the place they run FunSpot. The "referee" of classic gaming is a very interesting person, quite clearly an artistic word-minded soul interested in a very technical math-centered field, and by finding the balance between the two, he created a new career and a new way of viewing video games.
This movie will probably change the way you view video games.

In his first feature on digital film, John Landis tackles something he hasn't before: a documentary.

Landis follows a "mercenary car salesman" and his partners on a trip to Memphis, Tennessee to shift as many cars at a local dealership. Their business is traveling the country as "top salesmen" - selling large quantities of cars at dealerships that, for various reasons, desperately need to get cars off their lot and a temporary sales boost.

The main subject, Michael, is one of the most interesting documentary subjects I've seen and his personality not only carries the movie, but also creates plot where there is simply life being lived. His two friends, try to keep him out of trouble, being a hyperactive alcoholic with a loud mouth that he runs as fast as top sports car, as well as having several other unique traits that I can't peg as I'm not a psychologist.

Besides his "lead", Landis is able to capture a portrait of lower class and middle class America in poorer cities. There are some tear-tugging moments, both out of laughter and sympathy.

Landis said he had trouble working with a doc crew because he is used to setting up shots as opposed to just shooting (and disregarding things like other camera operators or crew members in a shot). However, Landis does get some of his desired set-up shots, and they look just as great as his studio work, but is more powerful in my opinion because of the catching content and the serendipitous execution of documentary.

This is one of my favorite documentaries, not only because I'm a metalhead myself, but because it gives true insight into a large global cultural movement. That this movie was helmed by an anthropologist metalhead increased this full perspective of its subjects. Sam Dunn asks intelligent questions of the "heroes and gods of metal" so that even diehard fans will gain some insight on the art form. Dunn's talent at interviewing also creates some very compelling and full portraits of a spectrum of metal fans themselves. Dunn is also incredibly tactful when dealing with the "bad boys" of metal who just want to curse and fling beer at the camera, or especially the Satanic black metal musicians in Northern Europe (mostly Norway) who advocate violence and have prior committed or advocated terrorist acts of political natures. Overall, Dunn creates a fantastic and extremely informative doc, thorough, and one of the better music docs I have ever seen. This doc works for people completely oblivious to the metal scene as well as the seasoned headbanger. The DVD 2 disc edition is also required to get the best out of this doc. While what had the edited feature stands perfectly on its own and will be enough for some viewers, the extended interviews with metal's legends and revolutionary contemporaries are must-watch for rock fans or musicians.

This movie also introduced me to tons of great metal bands I didn't know about and I've also gotten around to listening to legendary bands that have been on my "discographies to digest" list; Right now I am listening to: Hammerfall and Candlemass in the former category, and Rush and Iron Maiden in the latter. \m/,.\m/

This may be a 5, but it's been since the film's release that I've seen it, so I want to give it another view.

not just a funny film, but an effective documentary as well, this film explores aspects of not only comedy and the comedian's life, it holds a mirror up to society and asks "what's your limit?". The DVD extras are essentially extensions to the film; plenty of interviews to make this a worthwhile rent or buy.

A bold and unflinching examination of an (socially edgy) artist and his equally talented but more troubled male siblings. Deserved its Grandy Jury Prize at Sundance

I love documentaries like this: pick a few very interesting accomplished people and mix their stories together thematically and visually. This is an interesting glimpse into the lives of four very focused individuals: a robot technician, a lion tamer, a topiary gardener, and a mole-rat expert. The parallels lie in their dedication to their professions, what they are trying to accomplish or demonstrate with their career, how these men have all found themselves in these oddly specific fields for the same central lifelong desire of "what's the world all about?", and how their careers mirror many other interesting philosophical and scientific concepts, such as evolution, our status as "dominant species", passion in life, and the human legacy to the world. You will not regret having seen this superior interview-based documentary.