Favorite Documentary of All Time

[RobinFinderson]

I can't think of my 'favorite' doc, but Man on Wire is very good. If you have Netflix you can stream it.

[ERCougar]

I can't think of my 'favorite' doc, but Man on Wire is very good. If you have Netflix you can stream it.

I heard about this one a little while back and it looks interesting. Thanks for the reminder.

[All-American]

Favorite documentary is probably Star Wars.

Close second is the one they did on LaVell.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I can't think of my 'favorite' doc, but Man on Wire is very good. If you have Netflix you can stream it.

We watched this last night and enjoyed it. And the pucker factor when he's lying on the wire between the twin towers is off the charts.

[wuapinmon]

While I am a fan of many documentaries, my favorite has to be Lost in La Mancha, about Terry Gilliam's failed attempt at a postmodern Don Quixote movie starring Johnny Depp. His funding got pulled after a freak windstorm amd flashflood destroyed most of his equipment, the actor playing Don Quixote (astride a horse for most of the film) herniated a disc in his back and couldn't film anymore. Also, in one of the crucial filming areas, NATO jet planes were doing target practice with explosions and sonic booms all the time.

It is a wonderful insight into how hard it can be to make a good film and how weird/cool Gilliam can be.

Supposedly, the movie is back in production now since he was able to repurchase the screenplay rights from the completion bond insurance company.

[MartyFunkhouser]

The Civil War by Ken Burns.

This was a ground-breaking documentary that changed the industry. The period music, narration of letters by actors, usage of photos, paintings, etc. rather than dramatic recreations all defined a unique style that has been widely copied since the series came out in the late '80's.

Maybe Civil War was a good documentary but I refuse to support anything by that piece of crap Ken Burns.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Maybe Civil War was a good documentary but I refuse to support anything by that piece of crap Ken Burns.

Get over it already. You are missing out on some wonderful film-making.

He is soon to release a series on our national park system. Advance buzz indicates that it will be very good.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Maybe Civil War was a good documentary but I refuse to support anything by that piece of crap Ken Burns.

Did Burns somehow slight the A's in his baseball series? Why the hate?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Did Burns somehow slight the A's in his baseball series? Why the hate?

I think it was the jazz series that set him off.

[il Padrino Ute]

Did Burns somehow slight the A's in his baseball series? Why the hate?

It was the Jazz documentary that caused mp to turn on Burns.

I really liked The Civil War and Baseball and am looking forward to the one about National Parks.

[Jeff Lebowski]

It was the Jazz documentary that caused mp to turn on Burns.

I really liked The Civil War and Baseball and am looking forward to the one about National Parks.

Have you seen "The War" yet (his last series on WWII)? I would put it right up there with the Civil War series.

[il Padrino Ute]

Have you seen "The War" yet (his last series on WWII)? I would put it right up there with the Civil War series.

I missed that. Thanks for reminding me that he had done that. I really want to watch it now.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Get over it already. You are missing out on some wonderful film-making.

He is soon to release a series on our national park system. Advance buzz indicates that it will be very good.

The plain fact is that after seeing the hack job that he did on jazz, there is no way that I could trust approach to any subject. What he produced was not a documentary on jazz. If the title was Jazz According to Reactionary Assholes who Cannot Accept Anything but Louis Armstrong, I would be willing to watch another one of his documentaries.

He used as his 2 experts the most conservative "jazz purist" that he could possibly find. Wynton Marsalis is a great player but this is the man that dismisses 90% of the work of John Coltrane. How anyone can do a jazz documentary and completely bypass Ornette Coleman is beyond me. The idiot covered 1960 through 2000 in one episode. Not a single mention of a pure genius like John Zorn. Free jazz and avant garde jazz deserved their own episode, not a 5 minutes mention.

[RobinFinderson]

The plain fact is that after seeing the hack job that he did on jazz, there is no way that I could trust approach to any subject. What he produced was not a documentary on jazz. If the title was Jazz According to Reactionary Assholes who Cannot Accept Anything but Louis Armstrong, I would be willing to watch another one of his documentaries.

He used as his 2 experts the most conservative "jazz purist" that he could possibly find. Wynton Marsalis is a great player but this is the man that dismisses 90% of the work of John Coltrane. How anyone can do a jazz documentary and completely bypass Ornette Coleman is beyond me. The idiot covered 1960 through 2000 in one episode. Not a single mention of a pure genius like John Zorn. Free jazz and avant garde jazz deserved their own episode, not a 5 minutes mention.

And nary a mention of Kenny G! If I ever run into Ken Burns in a dark alley, he won't know what hit him.

[SeattleUte]

Has anyone seen Ken's brother Ric Burns' documentary about the Donner Party? It's one of the all-time greats.