The MoFo Top 100 Documentaries Countdown

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Some said it would never happen. Some said it was a lost cause. And then there were some that fought the good fight and never gave up! Here we are, we have a documentaries list, and I have to say I like it. Sure it's spread out, but it's still a solid list. The ongoing tradition of these countdowns is to get a group consensus of what the forum likes, a forum that we spend a lot of time on, and to help influence where the forum is going. It's all about movies.

We had a total of 51 lists submitted, producing 478 different documentaries. 35 full lists, 16 partial. Working through the lists and entering them in the spreadsheet I could see the HOF's influence. I also noticed that while most lists had the usual suspects it was the other entries that made it personal and I think I learned a bit about each person in the process. Okay, enough of this sentimental hogwash. My personal list is devoid of sentimentality. It's cold and bitter and real. So let's get on with it then.

First off I would like to thank Rodent for all the work he put in on making the quality graphics you will see in this thread. I cannot thank him enough, pretty sure I've said thank you about 50 times over the last few months, but one more time: thanks!

I'd also like to thank Camo for his support and for sending out PMs to people encouraging them to submit a list.

Of course I thank Daniel M again for the use of his spreadsheet, which helped me greatly both for the 90s and for this countdown.

Let's also thank Yoda for the fine website he has created that allows us to get together and do these things.

And last but not least I'd like to thank every one of you that took the time to watch some documentaries, encouraged by this countdown, and for sending in a list and participating. This is your list. if you don't like it it's your fault!

As usual, two a day until the top 10. Then one a day until the final two. Do not share your list until the countdown is finished.

THE LIST SO FAR:

100. Anne Frank Remembered
99. Touching the Void
98. Earthlings
97. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
96. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
95. Dogtown and Z-Boys
94. March of the Penguins
93. Listen to Me Marlon
92. Isle of Flowers
91. The Missing Picture
90. Jackass: The Movie
89. Spellbound
88. Histoire(s) du cinema
87. Haxan
86. Sicko
85. The Times of Harvey Milk
84.
J2ckass
83. Salt of the Earth
82. The House Is Black
80. The Seven Five
80. Salesman
79. Dark Days
78. Brother's Keeper
77. Koyaanisqatsi
76. Harlan County U.S.A.
75. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
74. Burden of Dreams
73. Catfish
72. That's Entertainment!
71. Indie Game: The Movie
70. Little Dieter Needs to Fly
69. Nanook of the North
68. West of Memphis
67. Woodstock
66. For All Mankind
65. Roger & Me
64. The Fog of War
63. Hearts and Minds
62. Religulous
61. The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
60. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
59. Close-Up
58. Capturing the Friedmans
57. Deliver Us from Evil
56. Last Train Home
55. My Best Fiend
54. Beauty Day
53. Pumping Iron
52. The Cove
51. Titicut Follies
50. Restrepo
49. In the Shadow of the Moon
48. Going Clear
47. The Last Waltz
46. Triumph of the Will
45. Gimme Shelter
44. Senna
43. Cocaine Cowboys
42. Dont Look Back
41. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
40. Anvil: The Story of Anvil
39. Crumb
38. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
37. Jesus Camp
36. Baraka
35. This Film Is Not Yet Rated
34. Olympia
33. My Winnipeg
32. Encounters at the End of the World
31. Fahrenheit 9/11
30. The Imposter
29. Grey Gardens
28. Searching for Sugar Man
27. Jodorowsky's Dune
26. Super Size Me
25. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
24. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
23. Food, Inc.
22. The Up Series
21. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
20. Sans Soleil
19. Life Itself
18. Blackfish
17. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
16. F for Fake
15. When We Were Kings
14. Shoah
13. Man with a Movie Camera
12. American Movie
11. Man on Wire
10. Waltz with Bashir
9. Hoop Dreams
8. The Act of Killing
7. Bowling for Columbine
6. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
5. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
4. Night and Fog
3. The Thin Blue Line
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop
1. Grizzly Man
__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."



HONORARY AWARD


(Daniel Lindsay, 2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078603/

While responding to people as they sent in their lists I happened to comment on foster's #1 choice. It seemed unique and I mentioned that I was going to check it out. He then told be that there was a bias for picking this documentary as his #1 and went on to explain how he was in the film. In fact he wasn't only in the film but one of the main people the documentary focused on. The director even went on to win an Academy award for Undefeated a few years later. I asked him if he was interested in sharing some his experience and he sent an excellent write up that I am pleased to share with you all here.

On October 19th 2006 I received an email from Austin, a friend of mine and founder of the local MD Beer Pong organization. He forwarded me information from the producer of some documentary about beer pong.

EMAIL EXCHANGE:
Foster - "Cool, I hope these guys are legitimate.
I was kind of disappointed with the quality of beerpong.tv

Thanks for forwarding the email, it's exciting to be a part of the documentary."

Austin - "Dude, no offense to them, but beerpong.tv sort of sucks.
I like the guys and everything but they cover house parties and ****.
No one cares about that stuff."

Foster - "I feel the same way; they don't even have a light when they film things.
Pretty crappy work, but they still had the motivation to get it together."

----

I didn't know what to expect, but I made arrangements and "Film 101 productions" rolled in deep with a 5 man crew. The interview was intimidating and I stumbled over some words, but I realized very early on that my portrayal was entirely in their hands. They could make me look like an idiot, a villain, a nice guy, etc because that is the power of editing. So I made a leap of faith to place my reputation in their hands and to trust in the director Daniel Lindsay.

I showcased my inventions, my software, and my calculations. I told them that my Pong Shot invention (a practice machine that lets you stand in one place and throw an unlimited number of balls) had some help from my then-GF Jessica. I said I had never used power tools before, such as a table saw, and that Jessica helped me with production of my second prototype and in brain storming the design upgrades. They dismissed it and insisted that it was all me but I countered, and once again told them she deserved some credit too. My parents wanted nothing to do with the documentary and refused to be interviewed. They never gave any support to anything related to beer pong and have never seen me play.

The following week we did a second on camera interview in my office at work, and they tagged along to watch me compete in a tournament. It was one of the coolest moments of my life to walk into a beer pong tournament with a film crew following me like I was a big deal. The whole place was whispering amongst itself, who are these guys, why are they being filmed?

During the tournament Jessica got really jealous of all the attention I was getting. She went in front of the camera and claimed that she had invented the Pong Shot, not me. Like I was some sort of fraud. I was incredibly embarrassed and my mood did a complete 180 from high to low. I wanted to look good on camera, not like a fool. My partner Shawn sat and talked with me to cheer me up. He said this crew were good guys and I could ask them not to include that in the documentary, but I told him I wouldn't do that. It's their project and I won't tell them how to do it, that isn't my place. During this whole conversation I forgot that I was still mic'd for sound, as is often the case with documentary subjects. But I know that they must have heard it and although we've never spoken about it I'm glad that they didn't include all my relationship drama in the documentary.

We won the tournament and later I was told that out of all the teams in the documentary we were the only team to win a local tournament in their presence. Everyone else lost. That was the last time I saw the film crew until the World Series of Beer Pong beginning January 1st 2007.

I had never played in the world series and it was a very different experience. In one match our table was right by the velvet ropes and I had the opponents friends screaming 1 foot from my ear. To the point that it was physically painful and probably damaged my hearing to a degree. The amount of pressure was compounded significantly by being on camera - As if the pressure from my first world series wasn't enough! We did poorly the first day, but pulled it together on the second day and made it into the final competition.

I don't want to talk about the final tournament here and spoil the ending.

When it was all said and done I met with Jessica back at our hotel room and she was crying and fiercely shaking. I didn't know what had happened but I feared something terrible such as a sexual assault. I couldn't get her to talk and I got a call from the Director. They had everyone together and they were filming the end of the movie! I told him that I couldn't make it, much to his disappointment. I don't want to call it a hard choice, but it was certainly a heavy hearted one to miss the ending and to let down the film crew like that. After a few minutes I found out that Jessica had gotten laid into by my Aunt for the way she was acting. It was a really bad experience because Jessica looked up to her, like being torn apart by your role model, but I was relieved. When she calmed down enough I went to the location to be a part of one shot at the end. I had a quick heart to heart with the director where he opened up to me and said that he didn't know what I was going through but he was really glad I was there.

I don't know what he must have thought. Perhaps that I was upset about the game or something to do with beer pong. I didn't say and he didn't ask. They took a long time to edit the film - I'm told because they played a lot of beer pong during the editing process - but it did get finished a couple years later. It premiered at Cinevegas in las vegas, but my flight was delayed and I missed the red carpet. God damn air travel to make me miss the only red carpet event of my life. But I was able to make it to the theatre halfway through it's screening and do a Q&A with the audience afterward.

I attended a cool after party with dennis hopper and britney spears. It was on a rooftop with a pool in vegas. Definitely a fun experience. Years later in 2011 it had it's national premiere on Spike TV. So I went out to the only bar in Towson that had a beer pong table, had them put it on TV with subtitles and invited anyone at the bar to challenge me. It was a fun night and I got some attention from the ladies but I think my terrible dancing ruined any prospects. I'm actually pretty sexy when dancing in drag but for some reason dancing as a male effectively eludes me.

At the world Series I met a guy that was manufacturing the beer pong tables during all of this, and we talked about teaming up to sell my Pong Shot with his tables. I thought perhaps I would be able to parlay all of this into something lucrative but it never happened. The guy didn't have a non-competition agreement with his factory in china, and once people found out where the tables were being produced they bought them factory direct and undercut his prices. They didn't have all the up-front investment costs to recoup, they simply bought the tables for cheap and put him out of business.

So what happens when you're in a documentary on national television? Existentially speaking - Two Facebook friend requests. That about sums it up. I've never been recognized in person, I didn't make a dime, I received no benefits of any kind as far as I can tell. Regardless of how intelligent or creative I am shown to be, no one will ever take it seriously because it's about beer pong. Hell I've been a member here on a film forum for nearly 3 years here and I don't think anyone has bothered to watch it. No MoFie's for me. But I did get two Facebook friend requests.

The director's next film, Undefeated, won an academy award for best documentary of the year. That really inspired me and made me believe that film making isn't just a pipe dream. Perhaps it's something where I could see some success. It is also what put me on the path to dress in drag, if you see the movie you will understand. I haven't produced much but I've done a fair amount of writing. I have a crime thriller web series that I'm currently filming for youtube, as well as a superhero action comedy that I want to submit to film festivals. That will likely be my final short film and I'd like to move on to a feature. I'm hoping to win an award first and have a feature length script at the ready.



Yeah make no mistake, that doesn't mean it's definitely on the list.


I've still not had the full list off Harry yet, I made the header image a couple weeks ago using basic documentaries.



That banner is very gaudy. It looks like a picture frame you'd find at Elton John's house.



It's art-deco. I thought your kind knew about art
Is this the Documentaries Countdown or The Liberace Museum?





I once posted this on Movie Forums not even realizing that girl was Anne Frank. Dexter Riley got all pissed off at me. Here it is again.
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Loving the posters, great work Rodent

I'm sure i've seen an Anne Frank documentary but i don't think it was that one since i would have noticed Branagh and Closes voices i think.

Touching the Void looks interesting think i'll check that out.



Thanks, Camo.
I hope they look how they supposed to. They're sort of art-deco billboards you'd find outside a 1930s cinema. With a few tweaks and additions in design by me of course.


Hope they work out.



Who the hell did you think it was?
I just thought it was some macabre little girl who had set her family on fire and killed them, then laughed about it. I dunno. It amused me. I really didn't realize it was Anne Frank.