Paste Magazine makes an interesting observation to introduce its list of the Top 25 documentary films of the decade:
Living in an information-rich society, we’ve all become skimmers. Reading a book from cover to cover, is a luxury that fewer people indulge in, yet the headlines, sound bites, viral videos, and tweets that season our daily ambiance don’t have the depth to help us understand an increasingly complex world. Bridging that paradox is the documentary film: short enough that it doesn’t require a major commitment but long enough to make a complex argument without interruption.
Whether you think they’re full of holes or iron-clad, films like An Inconvenient Truth, Sicko, Bowling for Columbine, Expelled, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, The Corporation, and The Fog of War—all made in the past decade—present arguments that develop only with time and concentration.
25. Food, Inc. (2009)
Instead of filling his film with scary, hard-hitting footage, Kenner made a well-reasoned documentary that politely pushes you towards its viewpoint. This lack of radicalism has made the film one of the most effective propellers for expanding the farm-to-table movement.
24. Dig! (2004)
23. Gleaners and I (2000)
21. No End In Sight (2007)
After several years of fine and varied documentaries on Iraq, Ferguson came along to sum up the American side of the debacle—the fear, hubris and missed opportunities—with great efficiency. It’s an especially good, if infuriating primer for those who’ve grown exhausted of following daily reports from the Persian Gulf.
20. No Direction Home (2005)
…Scorsese creates an immersive filmic collage that does as much to create further intrigue around its shadowy subject as peel back the curtain and offer a glimpse of the mysterious man pulling the strings. Steve LaBate
19. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
In a cautionary tale of corporate greed, negligence and diffusion of responsibility, the leaders of Enron defrauded employees and investors out of millions, encouraging others to stay aboard a sinking ship while they were quietly bailing themselves out… The unexpected wit and verve with which this documentary tells its infuriating tale is what sets it apart. Emily Riemer
18. Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008)
The story of a hugely influential but largely forgotten Canadian heavy-metal band now in their fifties, might seem like the Spinal Tap sequel, complete with aging rockers suffering through demeaning gigs, the memory of the big show in Japan, the visit to Stonehenge, even an amp that actually goes to 11.
17. The White Diamond (2004)
16. God Grew Tired of Us (2007)
This stirring documentary follows the trials faced by the Lost Boys of Sudan, both before and after their integration into American society. While their plight is dark, the film is ultimately an uplifting example of the adversity the human soul can face while still maintaining hope.
15. Super Size Me (2004)
14. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
13. Jesus Camp (2006)
This hard-to-watch film follows three children who attend a charismatic Christian summer camp called Kids On Fire in North Dakota. The kids speak in tongues, believe global warming is a political conspiracy, and bless a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush. There’s no need for a narrator or editorial opinion—the footage says it all. It’s no surprise that the camp closed after the film’s release.
12. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
11. Born into Brothels (2004)
10. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
9. Murderball (2005)
8. Spellbound (2002)
7. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans spawned thousands of stories, and Spike Lee fits as many as he can into this film’s swift and lively four hours—tales of humor, passion, fear and anger, from the city with a broken heart.
6. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
5. Bowling For Columbine (2002)
4. The Fog of War (2003)
For those who lived through the ‚Äô60s, the name Robert McNamara provokes an entire range of emotions and experiences… the film raises enough issues, provokes enough questions and challenges enough assumptions to make it essential viewing.
3. Grizzly Man (2005)
2. Iraq in Fragments (2007)
Applying the full spectrum of cinematic technique to a nonfiction film, Longley made one of the most striking movies this year, an immersive view of life in Iraq; a record of opinions and faces from across the country, all captured at close range.
1. Man On Wire (2008)
Petit’s stunt was both an engineering challenge and a test of, well, a test of something that most of us don’t possess in this much quantity. Filmmaker James Marsh uses standard documentary techniques, combining new interviews with a satisfying pile of footage and photographs, but his film has the suspense of a caper movie.
