5 Documentaries That Will Change The Way You View Documentaries
When I tell people that I’m a documentary filmmaker I often find that they have preconceived notions of what a documentary is. They remember the educational films they were shown in school or they think of the History Channel. But there is an amazing depth of docs out there, and frankly, they don’t have to be about important issues. I’ve been to 16 major film festivals, and its true, nothing can make you more depressed about life than watching 20 docs about how the world is going to hell 20 different way. That’s why it is such a relief when you find a doc that isn’t about the environment, or the economy, or some evil corporate giant, but is instead just a fun film. Those are my favourite, and those are the kind of films that I try to make. So over the years I’ve been asked many times for recommendations of good docs that aren’t about saving the world, and I’d like to share my top five with you:
King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters
The first documentary I always recommend is King of Kong, the story of two grown men competing to set the all-time high score on the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. Thankfully this one is relatively well known, but if you haven’t seen it, drop everything and watch it tonight. (Then email me a thank you.)
I remember when Oscar season rolled around the year it came out. Some people in the documentary world were upset that it didn’t make the shortlist of 15 films vying for a nomination. One fan of the film defended its snubbing be saying, “It’s a great film, but it’s the ‘Blades of Glory’ of the documentary world.” I beg to differ. ”King of Kong” is the “Rocky” of the documentary world. It is completely captivating and features perhaps the greatest movie villain in cinema history. (He’s so much better than Hannibal or Darth Vader or the Terminator simply because he’s real.)
Air Guitar Nation
My staple for a second film to recommend is an epic called “Air Guitar Nation,” a classic competition doc about the World Air Guitar Championship. Laugh at the idea of it all you want, but watch this film and if you don’t LOVE it, you aren’t human. (Or you’ve never listened to rock and roll which is the same thing.)
The film focuses on two American men who travel all over the world to compete in air guitar contests, and yes you can laugh at (with) them, but I promise they’ll win you over.
Punk Like Me
The third film that always springs to my mind when I make these recommendations is much harder to find. I tried to get in touch with the filmmakers to find a way to get a copy but I didn’t have any luck. I’m going to tell you about the film anyway because I love it that much. It’s called “Punk Like Me,” and it follows the adventures of a Hollywood screenwriter who always wanted to be David Lee Roth, so as a kind of mid-life crisis he conned his way on to the Van’s Warped Tour by claiming to be a writer for Rolling Stone and saying that he had a punk band. Both were lies, but once he got on he had to create a punk band. Watch the trailer to see what happened next:
“Punk Like Me” had the bad luck to premiere at South by Southwest the same year as “Air Guitar Nation.” AGN won the music category at the prestigious film festival and went on to great success. PLM wasn’t really ever seen again, and as far as I can tell it was never released. But I have the strongest memories from the screening I attended. It perfectly captures that feeling of never wanting to grow up. I remember cheering so much that I had to fight the urge to stand up to give it an ovation in the middle of screening.
My Date With Drew
Fourth, a classic romantic comedy of a documentary: “My Date With Drew.” Which of us hasn’t had a slight crush on a celebrity and dreamt of one day meeting them and living happily ever after? ”My Date With Drew” is the story of one man who actually had the guts to try to get that date…with Drew Barrymore. Brian had had a crush on Drew since he was a little kid and saw her in “E.T.” Then as an adult living in LA he competed in a game show, which he won, and the answer to the final question was Drew Barrymore. He took it as a sign and used the money from his winnings to make a film about his attempt to get a date with her. What follows is a sweet film we can all relate to.
Young@Heart
I struggled long and hard to pick a final fifth film simply because there were too many choices. In the end I have to go with Young@Heart, the story of a group of senior citizens singing classic songs from The Clash, The Ramons, Coldplay and many many more. So entertaining, so much fun to watch.
If you take the time to watch any of these, please let me know what you think. And if you have any recommendations for docs that are pure fun, please leave a comment below. Thanks
1 Comment
My Date with Drew is really sweet and it’s also a little about the process of making a doc,or so it seemed to me. I’d also add Mad Hot Ballroom to the list!