Documentaries

Since I posted one the other day I might as well list my top 10. Anything in my top 10 I would consider absolute must-watch. To the extent where if I showed one of these to someone I considered a friend and they didn't like it or at least couldn't even understand why i liked it, then they would be unceremoniously replaced in my myspace Top 8 by Tom.

1. Style Wars - 1982, New York Graffiti

2. Word Wars - Competitive scrabble playing

3. Pumping Iron - Arnie returns to bodybuilding for one last Mr Olympia

4. Searching for Sugar Man - Story of a humble musician not appreciated in his home country.

5. King of Kong - Competitive Donkey Kong

6. Dogtown and the Z boys - The birth of backyard pool skateboarding

7. Riding Giants - The birth of big-wave surfing.

Nope, actually I'm just going to give a top 7 because after those I can't honestly put them in a meaningful order. These are the ones that I can watch over and over again. However honourable mention must also go to 'Mission to Lars' which I watched last night and brought a tear to my eye. Very moving film about a brother and sister doing all they could to make their disabled brother happy. Also, Grey Gardens which explores the relationship between a very unusual mother and daughter living in a dilapidated mansion and 'Grizzly Man' mainly because i feel like a novice for not including a Herzog documentary and this is probably my favourite, and also the best known. It's about a dude who goes to live with bears.

Just to be clear, this list isn't about which is the best made documentary. It's about documentaries i happen to like. If it was about the best made ones I would put King of Kong much higher since, to me, a good documentary makes anyone care about the subject matter and the relationships and personalities within it even if it's of no interest to the viewer whatsoever. King of Kong is amazing in that respect because I, and most people, could not give a shit about competitive Donkey Kong and yet by the end of it, every fibre of your being is willing Steve Weibe to win. In fact I would argue that a synopsis of a truly good documentary should make you think 'Nah that sounds boring' and then after you've watched it you're thinking about it a week later.

If I've not included your favourite documentary or you think I'm a moron for including Pumping Iron then let me know and I'll ridicule you over the internet and then go and watch whatever you've suggested.