Top Five Documentaries!

I hear a lot of people complain about not finding anything to watch on Netflix.  To me that is like saying there is nothing to do in New York City. Those people are not doing it right. The Netflix of today has so many TV shows and movies to watch, I usually have to stop adding movies when I hit a certain number of titles before I add more.

This was not the case when I first got Netflix. When I began streaming movies about five years back, I did nothing but watch documentaries. At that time it was really all you would want to sit through. I am thankful for that time because it allowed me to learn what I liked and what I didn't in terms of documentaries. It also made me watch movies I normally would not have. This made me have a great respect for this type of cinema and allowed me to seek out documentaries that I normally would not have. So out of the many I have watched, here are some of the ones that stuck with me as my favorites.

5) When You're Strange

I love the Doors. I love Johnny Depp. These are two great tastes that taste great together. This movie beautifully tells the rise and fall of the band and Depp does a great job telling the story. This movie basically eliminates ever needing to watch the Oliver Stone film starring Val Kilmer. It's just as entertaining but is more realistic and does not stretch the truth for entertainment purposes as the previous film did...and I ought to know. Up until 2000 I had read every book published about The Doors. This film sticks to accuracy while still keeping your attention. A great Rock doc.

4) Spellbound

For a few years I worked at a video store. The cool thing about working at a video store is you get to watch movies before they get released. The week this came out there was nothing else being released so I gave it a shot. This is such a stressful movie! It revolves around eight kids and a spelling bee. I never would have thought this type of competition would be as compelling, thrilling and funny as it was. The eight kids involved are a very interesting study into the minds of these young intelligent kids.

3) Hands on a Hard Body

This is the first documentary in my life I remember choosing to watch. I was a sophomore in college and I was dating a junior. I remember being a tad nervous because we went over to hang out with a group of her friends that I did not know too well and it was in a tiny one bedroom apartment. The plan was to have some drinks and watch a movie. I heard we were going to watch a documentary and I was not looking forward to it. My impression of those kind of movies is what they made us watch in social studies in high school. Man was I wrong! This movie blew my mind. It is about a yearly competition that puts twenty-four contestants against each other to see who can keep their hand on a pickup truck for the longest amount of time. These people were ridiculous! Mind you, this movie was long before the main stream reality television shows. I could see someone watching this now and not understanding its humor because there are so many incarnations of this that exist on television and are not as dated. I have also heard it is talks to become a Broadway musical and also there were a few rumors of an acted film adaptation a few years back.  It's funny, intense and very, very weird. This movie is currently out of print and is not the easiest to locate. So unfortunately I have not seen it in its entirety since the original evening I watched it. But man I want to.

2) Waking Sleeping Beauty

I am a man who grew up on Disney cartoons. The movies, the television shows and everything in between. Waking Sleeping Beauty documents the history of Disney from 1981 to1994. Highlighting a successful period of time known as the Disney renaissance. The film specifically covers the rise and fall of the animation division that brought us movies like The little Mermaid and The Lion King. This film is what is commonly referred to as a "warts and all" documentary. Meaning they are not censored about things that happened. They don't always paint Disney in the best light either. I like this Movie so much because it uses no new on camera interviews, instead relying primarily on old interviews and personal film/videos shot by the employees of the studio. A brilliant portrait of the company rebuilding the Disney animated film legacy.

1) Dear Zachary: A letter to a son about his father

This movie breaks your heart, over and over and over again. Just when you think you are safe this movie rips our your heart again and takes a bite and then puts it back in your chest. It is the story of a film maker whose best friend Andrew Bagby was murdered. After his death his friend now wants to investigate it deeper and get to know the people that Andrew associated with before he died. All of this is being documented for Andrew's infant son. I think this film is nearly impossible to watch and not sob. I have a love hate relationship with this movie. The love part comes because I think it is a brilliant film that has many layers and is highly engaging on every level. But the hate part comes from the way I feel when I am done watching the movie. You feel like crap when it is done. Depressed, sad and sickened by the way that one person could treat another. But I can honestly say this movie changed my life upon viewing. I knew at that moment that you have to be careful who you trust in this world and that your family and the people you love will ultimately be there for you when you need them. Watch this movie, but be prepared to be touched...and not like that sicko.

Honorable mentions: There are plenty of movies I wanted to name here but these stuck out as ones I would have included but I ruled them out for one reason or another. I have two that come to mind that are straight documentaries and two that are a television mini documentary series.

America: The Story of US
An amazing mini-series about Americas creation all the way through to current day. Very interesting reenactments and a new creative way to look at our country.

Brando: The Documentary
This aired on TMC in 2009. When they aired it the first time I put it into my DVR and watched it a few times. My love affair with Brando and watching his rise and fall was massively revealing and also very appealing. I loved learning about the actor who defined a generation of many other actors and the path of his interesting career.

The Battle over Citizen Kane 
This was a movie that revealed why Citizen Kane is so important. Many people now just watch the movie but don't understand its true significance. This doc tells the stories behind the feud of William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles. It also makes you really understand Orson's vision of the movie and why still many years later people regard Citizen Kane as one of the greatest movies of all time.

ESPN 30 for 30 series and ESPN Film Present and ESPN SEC Storied
These are three different tiles for a series of sports documentaries that were originally shown on ESPN but have now been shown on other networks such as ABC.  All of the ones I have seen were on Netflix, and as far as I know most of them still are.  I like some of these so much I probably would have put them in my top five but I tried to keep my list to films released theatrically. There are quite a few of these documentaries and I have listed the ones below that I enjoyed.  I tried to put them in order of my favorites but they are all great. Here you go:

Going Big This is the only one from the ESPN SEC Storied collection.  This is all about Sam Bowie and his rise and fall in college and professional basketball.  A must see for a Portland Trail Blazer fan.
The band that wouldn't die This is about the move of the Baltimore Colts to Indiana and the struggle the city and the team band had throughout the years before the new franchise, the Baltimore Ravens arrived.  Very interesting even for a non sports fan.  The band pushed forward through some tough times.
The announcement This one is all about Magic Johnson's very famous announcement that he was HIV positive.
Straight outta LA All about the Raiders coming to LA and leaving LA.  The cultural impact the Raiders had on Hip-Hop and on entertainment.  It is narrated and hosted by Ice Cube.
Once brothers Probably the most touching and sad one on the list. It's the story of two NBA players (Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic) who were both from the same country and became great friends.  Then something tears them apart and they have a giant feud.  It gets worse from there. 
Jordan rides the bus all about Michael Jordan's retirement from basketball and attempted baseball career.  Not the best documentary but if you are a Jordan fan it is entertaining and a quick watch
You don't know Bo I really liked this one.  I didn't know much about Bo Jackson and I thought this documentary was very well put together.
Winning Time: Reggie Miller VS the New York Knicks there was a time when there was a huge rivalry between the Knicks and The Pacers; Reggie Miller.  Spike Lee was part of this feud.  A fun watch.
Catching Hell this was the story of Steve Bartman the fan who messed up the chance the Cubs had at winning the world Series.  If I was a bigger baseball fan this would be higher on the list.  With that said the story is fascinating and examines how much pressure is put on athletes and fans who make one vital mistake. It showcases a few instances of this happening.