Listomania Sunday: Best Documentaries

A coworker once asked me if all documentaries are left wing propaganda.  I guess the only documentary filmmakers he heard of were Al Gore and Michael Moore.  I had to tell him that most documentaries are not political at all and in fact there are some right wing documentaries also. But of course Hollywood is know for being liberal and there do tend to be more left leaning documentaries nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards but that doesn't mean all documentaries are like that.  I decided to make a list of my favorite documentaries which recently has become one of my favorite types of movies to watch.  Especially at Sundance there are usually some amazing ones.  Although it seems like a lot of the good documentaries at Sundance are picked up by HBO and shown on TV and never make it to the big screen to be eligible for the Academy Award.  But here is my list. 

1.  Super Size Me
2.  Grizzly Man
3.  Waiting for "Superman"
4.  Bowling for Columbine
5.  Spellbound

This was a tough list to make as I have a lot of favorite documentaries.  Others that just missed the top 5 are Encounters at the End of the World, Restrepo, Jesus Camp, and A Small Act.  And if you love nature docs you should check out March of the Penguins, Microcosmos and Winged Migration.

Two Cent Tuesday: Hot Coffee

I have thought about canceling HBO since I got Netflix and don’t watch HBO much anymore.  One of the reasons I don’t want to get rid of HBO is because every year they pick up some of the most interesting documentaries from Sundance.  Hot Coffee was on my list of movies I wanted to see this year at Sundance but didn’t get a chance too.  So I was excited to see it on HBO. 
 
Hot Coffee is about our court system in the United States and Tort reform(not torte as in the cake).  Now I have heard that term tort reform before but never knew what it meant.  This movies starts with the most notorious case of “frivolous” lawsuits the spilled McDonalds coffee case.  Director Susan Saladoff interviews the members of the family and lawyers of the victim.  They talk about how the public is misinformed about the facts of the case.  After showing pictures of the third degree burns and skin grafts that the lady received from the coffee it is clear that it is not a simple case of a little burn.  When the lawyers were doing their investigation they learned that McDonalds used a practice of keeping the Coffee at a constant temperature of 180 degrees.  An extremely dangerous and unnecessary temperature.  So when it turned out that McDonalds was aware of the dangers of keeping the water that hot and did nothing to fix it the Jury decided that they were negligent and ordered them to pay $2.9 million(the amount of total sales McDonalds makes on coffee in a day) but was reduced to $480,000.  After hearing all the facts it is hard to argue the final outcome.  But in the 15 years since that happened you never hear the facts about how McDonalds was negligent. 
 
Most tort reform supporters want to put a cap on how much money can be awarded to an individual that sues a company.  The argument for tort reform is that these “frivolous” cases are clogging up the court system and costing millions of dollars.  Of course it turns out that the biggest supporters of tort reform are the giant companies like McDonalds and the tobacco industry who don’t want to pay out large sums of money even they are at fault.  Saladoff uses numerous examples of people being harmed and not being able to do anything to those responsible.  One case where an OB/GYN missed a problem during a pregnancy that resulted in a child being born with developmental issues the parents sued for malpractice. After winning the case and being awarded almost $6 million by a Jury to help pay for years of therapy for the child they found out that tort reform had passed in their state and there was a cap on how much they could get.  Now instead of having those responsible for his harm paying for his care they are on Medicaid.  How does that save the tax payers money?  The other thing it does is makes the Jury inconsequential.  They Jury system is basic tenant of America and the movie makes the case that we should trust the Jury to come to the correct decision after seeing all the facts.  If it is a frivolous lawsuit the jury will decide no politicians. 
 
The movie was very eye opening.  Like I said I never knew what tort reform was and from the way politicians talk about it, it does sound like a good thing.  But seeing some of the consequences of the reform definitely makes me think otherwise.  I love learning new things from documentaries and this definitely did that.  What it did not do was give a balanced argument.  As my co-worker will probably say just another one of those liberal documentaries as it does paint the Republicans as being in cahoots with big business and as being the bad guys.  The movie  was very one sided but effective. Rating B+

Top 10 of 2010 Part 2 Documentaries

Top 10 Documentaries


1. Waiting for “Superman” - Definitely the highlight of Sundance 2010 for me. I didn’t have a ticket for the movie but managed to get waitlisted and get in. Really was an eye opening movie for me. It seems the school system has been broken for a while and no one seems to be able to fix it. This movie proposes some radical ideas and shows what some parents go through to get their child into a good school. If anything this movie is a great movie just because it starts the conversation. I would love to hear some feedback from teachers if they have seen the movie and how they feel about the ideas talked about in it.

2. Restrepo - A fascinating look into the life of a platoon in one of the deadliest parts of Afghanistan . The movie really captures the real experiences of an American Soldier from the highs to the lows.

3. The Tillman Story- Another fascinating look at the military. This one deals with the controversial death of football star Pat Tillman. More about government propaganda then about the military it gives a glimpse how the government tried to use the death of a celebrity to promote the war.

4. Best Worst Movie- One of the funniest documentaries of the year. It looks at the cult following of Troll 2 which is considered the worst movie of all time. It is directed by one of the stars of the movie as he interviews other cast members and fans of the film. Two interesting points of the movie are how people get obsessed with their own celebrity and the director who thinks it’s a great movie and doesn’t understand why everyone is laughing at it.

5. A Small Act- A real touching movie about how making a little donation can change someones life. The movie is about a man who grew up in Kenya and had his education sponsored by a charitable organization and an unknown women who gave money to the organization. After going to school in Kenya he ends up getting a scholarship to Harvard and ends up working for the United Nations. He eventually seeks out the women who made the donations and finds out she is a Swedish women who he eventually becomes friends with. He has now started his own charitable organization to help other school children in Kenya . The point of this movie is to show that what we might consider a small donation can go a long way.

6. Catfish- A somewhat controversial documentary because some claim it is really not a documentary. About a guy who becomes friends with a family on facebook but things isn’t always what they seem. I don’t want to ruin the ending but it is an interesting look at how we connect through technology.

7. Exit Through the Gift Shop- This movie had been getting great reviews but the premise didn’t sound at all interesting. I finally watched it on Netflix streaming and was pleasantly surprised. The movie is a documentary about a guy making a documentary about street artists. Sound ridiculous but the people in this movie are some unique they make it work. Banksy a world famous street artist whose identity is unknown flips the camera on the guy who was making a film about him. Basically because the guy ends up being a bad filmmaker. I heard on the DVD is the original documentary the guy made but turns out his is the more interesting story.

8. Gasland- This is one of those muckraking movies that sets out to expose a dangerous practice of a corporation. Josh Fox finds out that energy companies are using a technique called “fracking” to get natural gas out of the ground. And while it works and could lead to lower energy prices the practice has a lot of hazards. The corporations are using their government connections to create loop holes that allow them to keep doing despite some evidence that it is harming the environment and people.

9. The Red Chapel- This is one of the funniest and sad documentaries I saw this year. Basically this comedy troupe from Denmark gets invited to North Korea to perform their routine. The leader of the troupe Mads Brugger brings two Korean comedians with him and documents the whole experience. The point of the movie is to get a sneak peek into the world of the North Koreans. He does things purposefully to get a reaction from them and the two comedians with him struggle with what the injustice they see around them and the crazy things Mads want them to do.

10. Marwencol- Interesting documentary the delves into the mind. The movie is about a man who was beaten within inches of his life and makes a recovery but now suffers serious brain damage. Unable to work he creates war scenes with his toy soldiers and pretty much lives in this fantasy world of Marwencol where he can be a brave soldier. He takes a lot of pictures of his soldiers in action and has elaborate sets. These pictures end up taking him to an art show where they become instantly praised and he struggles to figure out how this new found reality fits into his fantasy world.

I did not see Inside Job or A Film Unfinished two of the best reviewed documentaries.

Top 5 Short Documentaries

1. Born Sweet - Definitely the best documentary short I saw at Sundance and now has the chance of being nominated for an Academy Award. It is about a village in Cambodia whose wells have been poisoned by arsenic. The movie shows the struggles of one boy with effects of the arsenic.


2. Quadrangle –The story of two couples who end up swinging in the 70’s. The story is made by the daughter of one of the couples and she gets her parents to be very frank about their experiences as they try to explain it to her. http://www.quadranglefilm.com/ Quadrangle will be premiering on HBO 2/16 check it out.

3. The Poodle Trainer – The title pretty much says it all. About a Russian lady who trains poodles for circuses. I don’t know what is more fascinating how smart the dogs are or how crazy she seems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwwb_G_92tk


4. Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No – An animated short about one of the craziest baseball feet’s in history. Doc Ellis tells how he ended high on LSD and still ended up pitching a no hitter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14

5. Lets Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates – A 2 minute animated documentary that is both disturbing and thought provoking. Since my dad had a heart transplant this subject is very near to my heart and makes you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJkpDNwM0lk