Just the coordination with the actual killers on this doc alone is legendary, like how tf?! It speaks volumes to the power of human arrogance, ego, and corruptness.
I wish every American would watch this to realize how quickly corporations would love to make every employee an indentured servant and how necessary unions are to the fabled American Dream.
For me it's disturbing and I didn't really remember what the docu is about except for the scene where the big dude brush his teeth with obama on TV, I guess it's because my brain think of it as a traumatic experience and choose to erase the memory
I watched this on acid, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life (the acid only improved the experience, I just haven't gotten around to watching it sober yet).
That doc is so well researched and crafted with almost zero talking head interviews, IIRC, it's a must-watch for any documentary lover.
I just walked by a huge Mr Brainwash gallery opening in Sweden earlier this year, so if it’s performance art, he’s been in it for the long haul
https://preview.redd.it/zf9ubr05pr7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de47d8cab9b84877265625c1c2fbdf17997de476
The subject matter itself is of course riveting and heartbreaking.
But I can't be the only person who feels like this is not that good of a documentary purely because of how it was edited and put together? So many edits and effects that feel like they are more appropriate for a straight-to-dvd thriller.
I agree, it's such a powerful subject matter that people tend to gloss over the fact that it's just not very well produced. It's deeply personal since it was a friend of the father but also very amateurish at the end of the day.
You’re probably right, but I am going to be so annoyed if this ends up getting the most upvotes.
EDIT: I am glad the community is upvoting documentaries that are way, way more deserving than Dear Zachary.
There are a lot of good documentaries out there. Many very engaging but all dealing with different content. A true crime doc can be very good, such as In Plain Sight, and so good a doc about corporate greed, such as The Corporation. But what makes a documentary one of the best? It can’t be just content related.
I would say Exit Through the Gift Shop but since it's been already mentioned I'll say Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, which is more of an experiment on narrative than a documentary about something specific but I think still qualifies.
The Act of Killing
This is the one
Just the coordination with the actual killers on this doc alone is legendary, like how tf?! It speaks volumes to the power of human arrogance, ego, and corruptness.
Hell yes, the best documentary I ever saw
Arguably the greatest movie of all time, full stop.
Hearts of Darkness?
Way better than Apocalypse Now
Love you
And that statue out there, that's just wrong, man.
You think he was a kind man? You think he was a wise man? Bullshit man!
I loved you in.... In.... IMDB
Cool cool cool
F for Fake
Won’t win but killer choice
 This is the correct response.
Finding Frances
I’m a ding dong daddy from Dumas.
This has to be it
Samsara
*Grizzly Man*
When i worked at Blockbuster, this movie was always rented out
STRONGLY agree, I was looking for this one. it sticks with you so closely for so long.
American movie
Coven sounds like oven, man
Man on Wire , probably the most beautiful and cinematic documentary in my opinion.
Grey Gardens
Finally someone is saying it
Paris is Burning
OPULENCE!!!!!
Mopping… Mopping is stealing.
The Fog of War
Harlan County, USA
I wish every American would watch this to realize how quickly corporations would love to make every employee an indentured servant and how necessary unions are to the fabled American Dream.
Free Solo
Meru
This documentary is so incredibly good!
This gets my vote
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Are we still considering OJ: Made in America a movie? Cause if so, that.
TV miniseries IMO
Might I interest you in the 30 for 30 doc June 17th, 1994. Found footage doc of the sports world coping with the OJ chase. 10/10 film
Definitely Hoop Dreams
Gotta be this!
I voted for **Shoah**, but I LOVE **Hoop Dreams**, it's in my Top 15, I'm down for this to be picked. :)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
So good that, unlike alot of documentaries, it actually resulted in real-world action.
The Imposter
Fantastic movie
I was blown away the first time I saw it… didn’t know documentaries could look and feel like that.
The Act of Killing
Anyone who's seen this never forgets it.
For me it's disturbing and I didn't really remember what the docu is about except for the scene where the big dude brush his teeth with obama on TV, I guess it's because my brain think of it as a traumatic experience and choose to erase the memory
Arguably the most important film of the 21st century, considering its real-world implications.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Aint Billy Mitchel just a scam artist?
Baraka (1992) definitely.
Searching for Sugarman
Carl Sagan Cosmos
The Last Waltz
*Koyaanisqatsi*
Waiting for Guffman
Blackfish
Icarus (2017)
Shoah
I was hoping for someone to have mentioned this one
*Man with a Movie Camera*
Also one of the most enjoyable movies to watch
Senna
I watched this on acid, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life (the acid only improved the experience, I just haven't gotten around to watching it sober yet). That doc is so well researched and crafted with almost zero talking head interviews, IIRC, it's a must-watch for any documentary lover.
The Overnighters
Incredible film
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
Hoop Dreams
Bowling for Columbine
Harlan County USA
https://preview.redd.it/sds5hu1dip7d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b69fb63d160fb6dab2b4dc2347dd333c1c7bca45
The Beatles: Get Back
not gonna win but i agree
Gorgeous. Probably the definitive Beatles movie unless Mendes absolutely crushes it.
A Hard Day’s Night and Yellow Submarine are prime cinema too though
Paris is Burning
Blackfish
Man with a Movie Camera or The Act of Killing
Exit Through the Gift Shop
This is the one. Although the persistent rumors that Mr. Brainwash was basically Banksy performance art might make this a mockumentary
I just walked by a huge Mr Brainwash gallery opening in Sweden earlier this year, so if it’s performance art, he’s been in it for the long haul https://preview.redd.it/zf9ubr05pr7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de47d8cab9b84877265625c1c2fbdf17997de476
Absolutely
This could go in comedy too.
You're right I think about the "Life is a game of chess and I don't know how to play chess" line all the time and laugh at it every time.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Tickled
The Jinx
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Not a documentary?
Letterboxd class it as one
It is.
I mean maybe in the sense that it is not scripted and there are people in front of a camera. Concert films are their own genre
Concert films are documentaries.
If I told you that I want to watch a documentary, and you suggest me Taylor Swift Era's Tour. You're an asshole and we can't be friends.
Yea, but if Stop Making Sense was suggested I'd be like "fuck yea!"
Ken Burns’ Civil War
Ken Burns Vietnam clears
Dear Zachary
The subject matter itself is of course riveting and heartbreaking. But I can't be the only person who feels like this is not that good of a documentary purely because of how it was edited and put together? So many edits and effects that feel like they are more appropriate for a straight-to-dvd thriller.
I agree, it's such a powerful subject matter that people tend to gloss over the fact that it's just not very well produced. It's deeply personal since it was a friend of the father but also very amateurish at the end of the day.
You’re probably right, but I am going to be so annoyed if this ends up getting the most upvotes. EDIT: I am glad the community is upvoting documentaries that are way, way more deserving than Dear Zachary.
Dear Zachary is the saddest, most frustrating film I’ve ever watched, and cemented my dislike of most of humanity. It totally deserves this spot.
28 Up and the rest of this series
Grey Gardens, the GOAT documentary
I know it won't win but shoutout to Shirkers!
Streetwise
Fucking love this movie. Makes all these other documentaries pale in comparison.
Sans Soleil
Night and Fog (1956)
The Act of Killing
Woodstock (1970)
OJ Made in America The Last Dance
20 Days In Mariupol
Pumping Iron (1977)
American Movie
Planet Earth
That’s not a movie
That’s a show not a movie
Exit through the giftshop
https://preview.redd.it/uv01me5ckp7d1.jpeg?width=697&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c305ddf34c7ffcde37014c7c7c27bf2d34f9503d
Icarus (2017) https://boxd.it/fmje
The Last Dance (2020)
Hoop Dreams
When we were kings
Hands on a Hardbody
Stop Making Sense
Land of Silence and Darkness - Werner Herzog
There are a lot of good documentaries out there. Many very engaging but all dealing with different content. A true crime doc can be very good, such as In Plain Sight, and so good a doc about corporate greed, such as The Corporation. But what makes a documentary one of the best? It can’t be just content related.
The Gleaners & I
Gates Of Heaven
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
Koyaanisqatsi
Hearts of Darkness
Batman and Bill
Salesman (1969)
Borat
The Weather Underground
Lessons of Darkness
citizenfour
Gates of Heaven
The Decline of Western Civilization
Minding the Gap
Harlan County, USA!
Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Edge of Democracy
Man with a Movie Camera.
Baraka
Crumb
F for Fake
Inside job
Planet Earth
Fyre
Fahrenheit 9/11
My Octopus Teacher
Feels good man
Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Into the Abyss
Streetwise (1984)
Oh my God! This is probably the most cliched and predictable list of all time. I love it. LoL
Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
fire of love
This is already the most Reddit list I’ve ever seen, so the documentary needs to be Idiocracy.
The volunteers
Tokyo Olympiad
I would say Exit Through the Gift Shop but since it's been already mentioned I'll say Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, which is more of an experiment on narrative than a documentary about something specific but I think still qualifies.
orozco the embalmer
Manufacturing Consent
Last train home 2009
The Endless Summer
American movie
Grey Gardens
Winter on Fire
Grizzly Man
American Movie
Mostly saying this for the controversy, but Bowling for Columbine, if a bit misguided at times, is still a fascinating look into American gun culture.
Iuventa
The Thin Blue Line
Ken Burns Vietnam
Haxan (1922)
Company: Original Cast Recording
Grey Gardens
Paris is Burning
The Act of Killing or The Last Narc
Carts Of Darkness
Hoop Dreams