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Author Topic: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion  (Read 11448 times)

sdedalus

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2011, 11:51:50 PM »
Should've known the Holocaust would win.  Holocaust docs always win.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2011, 11:54:20 PM »
It's more than just a holocaust documentary. While the subject matter certainly does factor into why it works so well, I think it's also a film that is an honest examination of the limits of the documentary medium, while also pushing the edge of the medium.

MartinTeller

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2011, 12:03:52 AM »
I was most struck by some of the low scores, especially on...

For All Mankind
The House Is Black
Jesus Camp
Encounters at the End of the World
My Kid Could Paint That
Baraka
Crumb
Capturing the Friedmans
American Movie
Salesman
F for Fake
Harlan County USA
Man With a Movie Camera
Hoop Dreams

Who are you people who hate good movies?  Were some of you rating on a 5-point scale instead of a 10-point scale?

I'm just really, really happy that Exit Through the Gift Shop didn't take the #1 spot.  I like the movie, but it's way overhyped at this point.

Oh, and I've seen 74  of the top 100.  Highest not seen: #17, The Up Series (it's been on my todo list for a long time).
« Last Edit: May 03, 2011, 12:08:18 AM by MartinTeller »

Sandy

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2011, 12:05:29 AM »
I'm....speechless.

(The time and respect pixote and Bondo put into this compilation is overwhelming.)

sdedalus

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2011, 12:16:26 AM »
Who are you people who hate good movies?

Bondo.

I believe he covered this.
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ProperCharlie

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2011, 01:09:37 AM »
Happy with Night and Fog winning, but I'm shocked with how high/low some films are.  Glad to see my hobby horse made it into the top 100, from me being the only person to have seen it at the nomination stage.  :)

Thanks Bondo and pix for the amazing job you've done on this.

pixote

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2011, 01:16:19 AM »
Let me know what kind of stats you're all interested in. I'll see what I can put together.

As I said in chat, I hope that, over multiple iterations of this list, we'll work towards a Top 100 where every film has a raw average of at least 7.00. If we'd apply that standard to this list, these lesser seen films would have made the cut:

Welfare
Primary
The Weather Underground
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
La Soufrière
Children Underground
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
Eyes on the Prize
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
Shut Up & Sing
Deep Water
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Paris Is Burning
Scratch
The Battle of Chile
Public Housing
Near Death

And these films would have dropped out:

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Super Size Me
Encounters at the End of the World
Gates of Heaven
The Last Waltz
Jesus Camp
Restrepo
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Catfish
An Inconvenient Truth
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
24 City
Fahrenheit 9/11
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
Trekkies
My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski

Some interesting tradeoffs, there.

Should've known the Holocaust would win.  Holocaust docs always win.

...making the absence of The Sorrow and the Pity from the shortlist even more odd.

pixote
« Last Edit: May 03, 2011, 01:18:13 AM by pixote »
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pixote

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2011, 01:26:09 AM »
Here are the films that were in the Top 100 in the shortlist voting but didn't make the final Top 100:

101. The Two Escobars (Shortlist Rank: 90)
102. Welfare (Shortlist Rank: 71)
104. No End in Sight (Shortlist Rank: 89)
107. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (Shortlist Rank: 83)
108. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (Shortlist Rank: 90)
109. La Soufrière (Shortlist Rank: 96)
110. The Corporation (Shortlist Rank: 68)
111. Children Underground (Shortlist Rank: 75)
112. Bigger Stronger Faster* (Shortlist Rank: 64)
114. Eyes on the Prize (Shortlist Rank: 93)
117. Jackass: The Movie (Shortlist Rank: 86)
120. The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (Shortlist Rank: 98)
121. The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (Shortlist Rank: 72)
123. Paris Is Burning (Shortlist Rank: 66)
125. The Aristocrats (Shortlist Rank: 46)
133. Religulous (Shortlist Rank: 59)
141. Land of Silence and Darkness (Shortlist Rank: 96)
144. Vernon, Florida (Shortlist Rank: 84)
145. Looking for Richard (Shortlist Rank: 87)
148. At the Death House Door (Shortlist Rank: 90)
154. Night Mail (Shortlist Rank: 56)
165. Daguerréotypes (Shortlist Rank: 99)

I'm saddest about Welfare, Eyes on the Prize, Children Underground, The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes, and Paris Is Burning.

pixote
« Last Edit: May 03, 2011, 01:30:24 AM by pixote »
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sdedalus

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2011, 01:38:14 AM »
The Sorrow and the Pity is barely about the Holocaust.  As I recall, it's almost entirely about France during the war, the fascists and the Resistance.

Hotel Terminus and Shoah though. . .
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pixote

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Documentaries 2011: Comments & Discussion
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2011, 01:39:34 AM »
The Sorrow and the Pity is barely about the Holocaust.  As I recall, it's almost entirely about France during the war, the fascists and the Resistance.

Hotel Terminus and Shoah though. . .

Oh yeah, good point. I should have said Hotel Terminus. It was on my shortlist, but I don't think anybody else voted for it. (The Sorrow and the Pity only did slightly better, getting just two votes.)

pixote
« Last Edit: May 03, 2011, 02:11:22 AM by pixote »
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