Added by Mr. Saturn on 17 Mar 2012 01:50

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best documentaries

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Series and Long Documentaries

around 5+ hour documentaries

8.9

Connections

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.8

8.1

7 Up! (1964)

The "Up" documentaries, they're called. Every seven years, the British director Michael Apted revisits a group of people whose lives he has been chronicling since they were children. As he chats with them about how things are going, his films penetrate to the central mystery of life, asking the same questions that Wim Wenders poses in "Wings of Desire" Why am I me and why not you? Why am I here and why not there? - Roger Ebert

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.1

7.9

7 Plus Seven (1970)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.4

8.1

21 Up (1977)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.5

8.3

28 Up

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.6

8.3

35 Up

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.3

42 Up (1998)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.6

8.1

49 Up (2005) (2005)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.9

56 Up (2012)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

238

8.5

8.7

Shoah (1985)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.6

The Shock of the New

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.3

Civilisation (1969)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

7.9

8.2

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty...

8.4

8.2

Cinéma, de notre temps

8.2

7.9

Grin Without a Cat (1977)

8.4

8.6

Jazz

7.5

8.4

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2004)

7.8

8.1

The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)

710

8.7

9.4

Planet Earth

Human Planet

140

8.7

The Blue Planet (2001)

155

8.5

9.3

Cosmos (1980)

7.9

Diary (1983)

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Films and Specials

151

8.2

7.8

The House is Black (1963)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

423

8.4

8.6

Night and Fog (1955)

The effective war film is often the one in which the action begins after the war, when there is nothing but ruins and desolation everywhere: Rossellini’s Germany Year Zero (1947) and, above all, Alain Resnais’ Nuit et brouillard, the greatest film ever made. - François Truffaut

Mr. Saturn's rating:

120

8.6

8.1

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

Mr. Saturn's rating:

261

7.8

Sans Soleil (1983)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

568

8.5

8.3

Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies

8.2

8.5

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies ... (1995)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

320

8.1

8.2

The Act of Killing

Mr. Saturn's rating:

306

7.7

7.8

F for Fake (1973)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

9.2

8.7

Unknown Chaplin

Mr. Saturn's rating:

9.5

9.2

Hollywood

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.7

8.2

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

Stevie (2002)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

310

7.7

8.5

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

158

8.1

7.9

Dont Look Back (1967)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.5

8.9

The Century of the Self (2002)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

8.3

7.8

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

117

8.1

8.3

The Times of Harvey Milk (1985)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

333

7.8

Crumb (1994)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

101

7.8

7.9

Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

6.9

7.2

Of Time and the City (2008) (2008)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.6

8.1

The Kids Are Alright (1979)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

127

8.2

Lessons of Darkness (1992)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

109

7.9

7.4

À propos de Nice (1930)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.6

These Amazing Shadows (2011)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

200

7.3

7.8

Bus 174 (2003)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

259

7.5

7.7

Capturing The Friedmans (2003)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

7.7

7.8

The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)

Mr. Saturn's rating:

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Voters of this movie list - View all

My favorite documentaries and my wish-list. Recommendations are appreciated.

Film Documentaries

Listal's top rated documentaries

Note: Abbas Kiarostami in Close-up and Robert J. Flaherty in his documentaries had the people act out the story of their lives, instead of filming their lives as they happen.

Great Documentaries Not on Listal
★★★★ (Great)
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin - Pitchfork Classic

Documentaries I didn't like as much as most people (unranked)
★★★☆ (Pretty Good)
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema - an interesting documentary applying psychoanalysis to cinema.
Cinemania - a documentary about New York film buffs who see about 2 or 3 films a day.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly - Werner Herzog
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Classic Albums: U2 - The Joshua Tree
I Met the Walrus
An Inconvenient Truth
Death in Gaza
The Most Hated Family in America - this film is about bigots
Outrage - a documentary about closeted bigoted politicians.
Religulous
The Celluloid Closet - the history of gay cinema
Chicago 10, a trial recording of key members of the Chicago democratic presidential convention riots
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains - people who crashed in the mountains and had to eat the bodies of their dead friends and families.
The War on Democracy - the history of US intervention and puppet governments in Latin America
The War Room - a documentary following Bill Clinton's successful campaign to be elected President.

I didn't add mockumentaries.

Highly rated documentaries I didn't add
Sports
When We Were Kings (Boxer Muhammad Ali)
Baseball
Beyond the Mat
Music
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (Progressive Rock)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Metal)
Concerts - I don't want to add to many to the list
Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii (Progressive Rock)
The T.A.M.I. Show (Classic Rock)
Pearl Jam Twenty (Alternative Rock)
Music Documentaries
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (Jazz)
Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (Folk)
Dig! (Rock)
Let's Get Lost (Jazz)
Scratch (DJ)
Hype! - (90's Grunge in Seattle)
Comedy
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Richard Pryor Live in Concert