A look back at an exceptional year for documentaries at the local cineplex, and my picks for the best of the year that was ...
5. DiG!
Ondi Timoner chronicles two Sixties-flavored alt-rock bands, the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, in this unvarnished look at the ascent of the Warhols' Courtney Taylor-Taylor and simultaneous disintegration of the BJM's self-destructive mastermind, Anton Newcombe. A fascinating glimpse at the car wreck that passes for rock 'n' roll.
4. Control Room
This documentary of Al-Jazeera fudges some when it comes to the obvious ideological bent of the Arab world's answer to CNN. Still, this work by top-notch documentary-maker Jehane Noujaim is an important balance in a post-9/11 political climate that has all but demonized the controversial TV news network.
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore's savage, bitterly funny anti-Dubya screed has as much to do with documentaries as shrapnel has with salad dressing, but it still ranks as a brilliant piece of propaganda. Yes, it indulges in specious conspiracy mongering, but its in-your-face images of war's atrocities are also an important reality reminder. In a divisive political year, 9/11 was a passionate rallying cry for opponents of the war — even if, in the long run, it didn't change a thing.
2. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry
Obviously created to bolster the senator's ill-fated bid for the White House, this is nevertheless an intensely involving and powerful telling of Kerry's Vietnam War heroics and subsequent anti-war activism. Regardless of what you thought of Kerry as presidential candidate, this George Butler-directed documentary should have been required viewing in light of the venom spewed by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
1. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
What a terrific surprise this movie was. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky ended up with unprecedented access to the weird, dysfunctional and endearing world of perhaps the planet's best heavy metal group. From therapy sessions with a touchy-feely "performance enhancement" coach to James Hatfield's post-drug rehab transformation, this is the best kind of documentary, one that set out to be one thing but instead stumbled upon a wonderful slice of humanity.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
great stuff chase. agree totally about SKOM and control room, but i would have Outfoxed over Fahrenheit 9/11. Also, i would have searching for the wrong eyed jesus in there. I ain't seen the kerry one, and Dig! ain't cameo ut round these parts yet, but looking forward to it.
I would reccomend Beautiful Dreamer - Brian Wilson And The Making Of SMiLE. That was a great flick too.
2 - MrPC
I find it interesting that Super Size Me didn't make the list.