Sunday, December 03, 2006

Political Films: Documentaries Vol. 1

Being a film guy (I am still debating on starting a film blog), I thought I would share with you some of my thoughts on some political films.

For this first post on the subject I thought I would start out with some of the favorite politically themed documentaries.

1. Bowling for Columbine: This is a great example of what a documentary should be. It's not all people talking to the camera, it has humor to it, it makes you cry, and it gets it's point across. I don't always agree with everything the man says, but Micheal Moore sure made one hell of a documentary here. By the way, if you ever get a chance to go hear him speak live, go do it. He is a very good live speaker.

The rest aren't really in any kind of order, but they are all at the top of my list of good political docs.

-An Inconvenient Truth: As far as a film about a Keynote presentation (and the software he uses is Keynote, not PowerPoint, give credit where credit is due. The man is on the board of directors for Apple after all.) goes, I really couldn't imagine doing any better than this.


-Who Killed the Electric Car- Very interesting stuff, and again done the way a good doc should be done, with visuals not just testimonials.

-Roger & Me: Micheal Moore's second best documentary.

Why we Fight: A lot of talking to the camera, but I still dig it.

The War Room
: This is a really interesting peek inside a Presidential campaign. Plus it has James Carville in it before he went even more insane.

Frontline- The Dark Side:
All of Frontline's shows are very talk heavily, but they are still very interesting.

The Fog of War
: I didn't know what to think about it when I first heard about this film, but I am glad I watched it.

Frontline – The Lost Year in Iraq
: A look back at what we did wrong in the first year of Iraq.

Frontline - Is WalMart Good For America
: One of the best documentaries about this controversial store.

Frontline – Karl Rove: The Architect
: This is a much better doc than Bush's Brain (although they bring up a few different points), on a man that will stop at nothing to make sure his candidate wins.

Left of the Dial
: A very interesting look at the beginnings of Air America Radio.

This is no way a comprehensive list of good politically themed documentaries, but these are at the top of my list right now. In the future I will list other good political docs and why they weren't at the top of my list, along with naming new movies to the top of the list.

If you haven't seen any of these flicks, check them out. Most of the Frontlines can be watched online at PBS.org. Also let me know of any good political docs you think I should see.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed Bowling for Columbine, though with all things Michael Moore you need to take it with a grain of salt. Though I disagree with his argument, his movie Roger & Me, is one that should be on your list about General Motors in Flint. That's a great movie. Alexandra Pelosi's campaign movie from 2004 is another one you might want to check out, I can't remember the name of it, but it is pretty fun to watch.

InterrupT said...

I don't always agree with what he said, or how he goes about the subjects, but those two docs are good flicks. I just added the other movie you mentioned to my netflix.