Documentaries that made a difference

"The Inside View of the Abortion Industry"

 

Au contraire, it's one of the funnest things to do.

 

Let me deviate a bit from our latest Iraq War debate to add another candidate to the list:

Probably a bit old-school for some in the sandbox... "Scared Straight."

It came out in 1977 and -- aside from winning the Oscar for Best Documentary -- forced cities to look at the way it handled its juvenile criminals.

 

Here's a list of the top 100 grossing docs:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=documentary.htm

Two things jump out that point to the impact F 9/11 had: it grossed almost $120 million, almost 6 times that of Columbine.

Columbine opened in EIGHT theatres and ended up playing in 248.

F 9/11 opened in 868 theatres and played in over 2,000.

That's what I mean by driving the trend.

And I'd probably agree that Columbine was a better flick.

 

Titicut Follies needs to be much higher, and though I'm sure they were loathe to include two docs by Frederick Wiseman, High School needs to be on there as well.

For good or bad, all undercover reports go back to Titicut and all reality television go back to High School through the Real World.

 

I'd like to throw in a vote for "Murder on the Staircase". This was a 10-part documentary about a writer whos wife died falling down the stairs at home or was murdered by her husband. The film maker had unprecedented access and followed the case from almost day one. It was a riveting look at the justice system and the effects of an event on real people. Can't recommend it highly enough.

 

What was the actual impact of bowling for Columbine? I mean, other than it made Michael Moore a lot of money?

 

Again, I'm not telling you that that's not in there, I'm sure it is if you say so, but it's not on the cover of the magazine.

 

What's your fave?

 

And as for 9/11, I think it let people know that there were others like themselves questioning the war and gave their questions some validity. I'm not saying the movie was 100% accurate or anything, but it was very significant to a large number of people.

 

What's the actual impact of any film/novel/song other than they may change people's perceptions of the world? Kind of a nihilistic question.

And you make it sound like Michael Moore is a bad boy for making money.

 

There was just a thread about the best action movies (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20042607,00.html) with Die Hard at the top spot right as the new one is coming out.

I second the disappointment that Hoop Dreams isn't on there. I thought up until five or so years ago it WAS considered the best documentary.