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50 fabulous documentary films, covering hard politics through to music, money and films that never were...
Thanks to streaming services such as Netflix, we’ve never had better access to documentaries. A whole new audience can discover that these real life stories are just as thrilling, entertaining, and incredible as the latest big-budget blockbuster. What’s more, they’re all true too. But with a new found glut of them comes the ever more impossible choice, what’s worth your time? Below is my pick of the 50 best modern feature length documentaries.
I’ve defined modern as being from 2000 onwards, which means some of the greatest documentaries ever made will not feature here. I’m looking at you Hoop Dreams.
50. McConkey (2013)
d. Rob Bruce, Scott Gaffney, Murray Wais, Steve Winter, David Zieff
Shane McConkey was an extreme skier and Base jumper who lived life on the edge, and very much to the full.
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50 fabulous documentary films, covering hard politics through to music, money and films that never were...
Thanks to streaming services such as Netflix, we’ve never had better access to documentaries. A whole new audience can discover that these real life stories are just as thrilling, entertaining, and incredible as the latest big-budget blockbuster. What’s more, they’re all true too. But with a new found glut of them comes the ever more impossible choice, what’s worth your time? Below is my pick of the 50 best modern feature length documentaries.
I’ve defined modern as being from 2000 onwards, which means some of the greatest documentaries ever made will not feature here. I’m looking at you Hoop Dreams.
50. McConkey (2013)
d. Rob Bruce, Scott Gaffney, Murray Wais, Steve Winter, David Zieff
Shane McConkey was an extreme skier and Base jumper who lived life on the edge, and very much to the full.
- 11/12/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Werner Herzog’s normally poetic, abstract documentary style finds itself in somewhat restrained form in Into The Abyss, and appropriately so. While the man has never been shy about expressing his dismal, pessimistic view of man, he’s never tread it into territory so potentially explosive or overtly political. But rather than pontificating at length about its philosophical or social implications, Herzog’s voice is nearly absent from Abyss; instead, he cedes it to those affected by the death of Michael Perry and those whose murders he is charged with.
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- 4/25/2012
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
Chicago – No matter which side of the capital punishment debate you fall on, Werner Herzog’s “Into the Abyss” is a masterful documentary, one you simply must see. It brilliantly reflects the complexities of one of the most divisive issues of our time. Herzog is vocally against the death penalty but he doesn’t present a case that would help solidify his arguments. He could have made a film about someone wrongly convicted. Instead, he dares to tell the story of someone who arguably deserves to die and then makes the emotionally difficult case that he still should not.
Blu-ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Into the Abyss” is a complex, somber, daring film, easily one of the best documentaries of 2011. And Herzog’s visual eye makes it a great fit for Blu-ray, something that doesn’t always happen with “smaller” Sundance Selects films, and so it was nice to hear that the work...
Blu-ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Into the Abyss” is a complex, somber, daring film, easily one of the best documentaries of 2011. And Herzog’s visual eye makes it a great fit for Blu-ray, something that doesn’t always happen with “smaller” Sundance Selects films, and so it was nice to hear that the work...
- 4/13/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Prolific is barely the word for Werner Herzog, whose latest profound, existentialist documentary, Into the Abyss, is released in UK cinemas today. Meanwhile, a four-part companion television series (the more pragmatically titled Death Row) is midway through its airing on Channel 4. Add to that the fact that he’s narrated an upcoming, and slightly surreal, dinosaur documentary (Dinotasia) and recently filmed his role as the main villain in an upcoming Tom Cruise movie (cheerfully describing himself as a “paid stooge”). It’s a fact that almost (if not quite) makes it understandable that the veteran filmmaker has most certainly made more films than he’s ever seen.
“I’m a working man, let’s face it. I’ve done six films last year and I’ve acted in a movie and I run my Rogue Film School and all sorts of other things as well,” says the man who...
“I’m a working man, let’s face it. I’ve done six films last year and I’ve acted in a movie and I run my Rogue Film School and all sorts of other things as well,” says the man who...
- 3/30/2012
- by Robert Beames
- Obsessed with Film
There wasn’t a whole lot on offer last week with Hunger Games unequivocally eclipsing all the other releases. It’s received fairly unanimously positive reviews and looks like being the first box-office smash of the summer. Meanwhile both The Kid With a Bike and Wild Bill have received their own fair share of plaudits and would appear to be well worth seeking out.
This time out though there’s a wide range of releases hitting the screens ranging from big-budget mythological blockbuster and animated piracy adventure to hard-hitting prison documentary and a ghastly looking vampire spoof.
If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.
The Pirates : In an Adventure with Scientists *Pick of the Week* Iframe Embed for Youtube
The latest offering from Aardman Animation sees them...
This time out though there’s a wide range of releases hitting the screens ranging from big-budget mythological blockbuster and animated piracy adventure to hard-hitting prison documentary and a ghastly looking vampire spoof.
If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.
The Pirates : In an Adventure with Scientists *Pick of the Week* Iframe Embed for Youtube
The latest offering from Aardman Animation sees them...
- 3/30/2012
- by Rob Keeling
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Though it starts with squirrels and ends with hummingbirds, Werner Herzog's latest documentary effort "Into The Abyss" is easily the most straightforward of his career, but is no less powerful as a result. The film investigates a triple homicide from all angles, with Herzog not only interviewing the perpetrators including the charismatic Michael Perry, but also the relatives of the victims, and surprisingly, the wife of one of the three charged with the crime who only met her husband after he landed in jail. Well, there's going to be lots more to come. Last fall, Herzog revealed that he had actually made four films based on death row inmates, and it looks like we'll get to see them soon. At the Television Critics Association, Herzog told Deadline that the films will be coming to Investigation Discovery later this year in a series titled "On Death Row." The films will...
- 1/17/2012
- The Playlist
Yesterday I read this in an article in the British Guardian newspaper:
"Twelve of the last 13 people condemned to death in Harris County, Texas were black. After Texas itself, Harris County is the national leader in its number of executions.
"Over one third of Texas's 305 death row inmates - and half of the state's 121 black death row prisoners - are from Harris County.
"One of those African Americans, Duane Buck, was sentenced based on the testimony of an expert psychologist who maintained that blacks are prone to violence. In 2008, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal resigned after sending an email message titled 'fatal overdose,' featuring a photo of a black man lying on the ground surrounded by watermelons and a bucket of chicken."
I could pause at this point, type "case closed," and consider this a blog entry. But that would be too simple. White people are also executed...
"Twelve of the last 13 people condemned to death in Harris County, Texas were black. After Texas itself, Harris County is the national leader in its number of executions.
"Over one third of Texas's 305 death row inmates - and half of the state's 121 black death row prisoners - are from Harris County.
"One of those African Americans, Duane Buck, was sentenced based on the testimony of an expert psychologist who maintained that blacks are prone to violence. In 2008, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal resigned after sending an email message titled 'fatal overdose,' featuring a photo of a black man lying on the ground surrounded by watermelons and a bucket of chicken."
I could pause at this point, type "case closed," and consider this a blog entry. But that would be too simple. White people are also executed...
- 1/7/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Why not fold documentaries into my list of the "Best Films of 2011?" After all, a movie is a movie, right? Yes, and some years I've thrown them all into the same mixture. But all of these year-end Best lists serve one useful purpose: They tell you about good movies you may not have seen or heard about. The more films on my list that aren't on yours, the better job I've done.
That's particularly true were you to depend on the "short list" released by the Academy's Documentary Branch of 15 films they deem eligible for nomination. The branch has been through turmoil in the past and its procedures were "reformed" at one point. But this year it has made a particularly scandalous sin of
omission. It doesn't include "The Interrupters" (currently scoring 99% on the Tomatometer), which has received better reviews and been on more critic's Best lists than any other.
That's particularly true were you to depend on the "short list" released by the Academy's Documentary Branch of 15 films they deem eligible for nomination. The branch has been through turmoil in the past and its procedures were "reformed" at one point. But this year it has made a particularly scandalous sin of
omission. It doesn't include "The Interrupters" (currently scoring 99% on the Tomatometer), which has received better reviews and been on more critic's Best lists than any other.
- 12/25/2011
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
I am categorizing this documentary update under Oscar Contenders even though that isn't necessarily accurate. Neither of these documentaries actually made the Academy's documentary shortlist for 2011, but I will certainly be considering both as I turn in my nominations for Best Documentary for the Critics Choice Awards this Sunday. When it comes to the best documentary I've seen this year it is undoubtedly Undefeated, but of the ten documentaries I've seen so far this year I wouldn't call any of them bad. Let's take a closer look at these two... Into the Abyss First is Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss, a look at the events that lead to 28-year-old Michael Perry finding himself on death row and only a few days left to live before he is executed by lethal injection.
Herzog is clearly against the death penalty, but he doesn't push his agenda to tell the story as...
Herzog is clearly against the death penalty, but he doesn't push his agenda to tell the story as...
- 12/8/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog (Cave Of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man) returns with Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life, a riveting examination of a horrible crime which probes the human psyche to explore why people kill – and why the state kills. In intimate conversations with those involved, including 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry (who was scheduled to die eight days after his interview with Herzog), the filmmaker achieves what he describes as .a gaze into the abyss of the human soul.. As he.s so often done before, Herzog.s investigation unveils layers of humanity, making an enlightening trip out of ominous territory.
Wamg has passes to the screening on Tuesday, (11/22), 7pm at the Tivoli Theater. Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life opens at the Tivoli, St. Louis, on Wednesday, November 23rd.
Official Rules:
1. You Must Be In The St.
Wamg has passes to the screening on Tuesday, (11/22), 7pm at the Tivoli Theater. Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life opens at the Tivoli, St. Louis, on Wednesday, November 23rd.
Official Rules:
1. You Must Be In The St.
- 11/17/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
To understand what state America is in, just watch two documentaries about the death penalty and Sesame Street's Elmo
'The more he looks at it, there's nothing there," says John Hughes in what is probably my favourite thing on the whole of the internet: a clip in which he records a commentary over the famous museum scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes, obviously, is talking about the moment that Cameron gets lost in Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, but the description is eerily applicable to the current Republican presidential candidates.
Never before have there been so many Republican presidential candidate debates, which, in turn, has given the campaign the feel of not so much an important political event but rather a reality TV show. Which contestant will flub tonight? And as with Cameron and Seurat's painted child, the more the electorate looks at these candidates,...
'The more he looks at it, there's nothing there," says John Hughes in what is probably my favourite thing on the whole of the internet: a clip in which he records a commentary over the famous museum scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes, obviously, is talking about the moment that Cameron gets lost in Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, but the description is eerily applicable to the current Republican presidential candidates.
Never before have there been so many Republican presidential candidate debates, which, in turn, has given the campaign the feel of not so much an important political event but rather a reality TV show. Which contestant will flub tonight? And as with Cameron and Seurat's painted child, the more the electorate looks at these candidates,...
- 11/16/2011
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
"He always seems to know where to look," Roger Ebert wrote of what Werner Herzog does in "Into the Abyss." The film is the German director's evenhanded, understated and powerful examination of a senseless triple murder in Texas, which sent one man to death row and another to life in prison. "Into the Abyss" is made up mostly of one-on-one interviews that Herzog conducted with the two convicted killers, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, along with their friends and family, family members of the murder victims, and others involved in Texas'...
- 11/12/2011
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Werner Herzog has been making films for 43 years, with 18 features and 25 documentaries to his credit, yet the German filmmaker seems to be going through a sort of career rediscovery at the moment thanks to recent films like the brilliant Grizzly Man and off-the-wall Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. His latest documentary, however, has taken the director in a different direction entirely: Into the Abyss is a somber, at times chilling and at other times incredibly poignant look at a triple murder in a small Texas town and its effects on everyone affected by or involved in it, including the two young men -- Michael Perry and Jason Burkett -- sentenced to death (Burkett's sentence was commuted to life in prison) for the cold-blooded killings. Herzog is less concerned...
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- 11/12/2011
- by Don Kaye
- Movies.com
In his films, Werner Herzog has traveled the Amazon, journeyed to Antarctica and, most recently, descended through time into the caves of France to uncover centuries-old cave paintings. So, his trip to a small town in Texas awaiting the capital punishment of a young murderer might have been less epic were it not for the moral dilemmas, lingering anguish and genuine strangeness he finds there. Eschewing the tropes of typical capital punishment documentaries, Herzog, with his German-accented voice jutting from behind the camera, lends an empathetic ear to the words of not only the killer but his accomplice, the victims’ daughter/sister, his father, and several of the men responsible for his capture, incarceration and, ultimately, his execution. There’s a prison chaplain who goes on a reverie about golfing and the squirrels who race across the course; a “prison wife” who reveals her own version of an immaculate conception; the victims’ relative,...
- 11/11/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In “Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life”, Werner Herzog tells the story of a triple homicide that fractured several lives years ago in Conroe, Texas. While he focuses primarily on the perpetrators of the crime, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, he mostly delves into the morally troubling grey area that allows Burkett to live, and Perry to face Death Row. Herzog’s politics are simple, his approach non-judgmental. As he told us during press rounds for the film, “Into The Abyss” doesn’t have, “A pre-fabricated agenda. It’s not an issue film, it’s not activism against the death penalty. I’m a filmmaker, and I am a guest in your country, I do not have the rights of voting [here].” In his approach, Herzog explains, “The film, of course, tries to look deep into the heart of everyone, the abysses of the human soul.
- 11/11/2011
- The Playlist
The subtitle of Werner Herzog‘s searing documentary Into the Abyss — A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life — sets up expectations for a film that is equal parts harrowing and uplifting. Yet as dutifully even-handed as Herzog‘s presentation is, it’s nearly inconceivable to imagine the director’s obvious appreciation for human life washing away the utterly shattering nature of the story at hand. It’s this precisely downbeat message — that, no matter how treasured human existence can often times be, the dark will always overshadow the light — that I took away from the film. And it shredded me to pieces.
Comparisons to Truman Capote‘s seminal piece of true-crime storytelling, In Cold Blood, have already been noted by several critics, and the similar vibes are indeed undeniable. The crime at the center of Herzog‘s examination of the death penalty and its ramifications is apparently just as...
Comparisons to Truman Capote‘s seminal piece of true-crime storytelling, In Cold Blood, have already been noted by several critics, and the similar vibes are indeed undeniable. The crime at the center of Herzog‘s examination of the death penalty and its ramifications is apparently just as...
- 11/10/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
You either love Werner Herzog or you don’t. You either trust that his unique outlook will result in a fascinating film, whatever its subject, or you give him a miss. That said: Don’t give this one a miss, even if you don’t like Herzog (or aren’t sure about him). For here is the mystery and wonder of Herzog: this is simultaneously his least Herzog-y film (in that he does not appear on camera and omits his own usual weirdly perceptive narration, limiting himself to a few mostly straightforward questions asked of those who are on camera) and also the most profound expression of Herzog-ness yet (in that its hard to imagine anyone else taking quite his tack). Into the Abyss ends up as a profound examination of the death penalty in the United States, and not only because Herzog can ask a prison chaplain who officiates...
- 11/9/2011
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
There's a snag of resistance at the start of Into the Abyss, Werner Herzog's new documentary about the execution of Michael Perry, the 2001 triple homicide he was convicted of (but never confessed to) with Jason Burkett, and the relatives of their victims. The film opens with a shot of a cemetery filled with identical white crosses where the unclaimed bodies of inmates are buried, and an interview with the man standing in front of it, Reverend Richard Lopez, a clergyman for death row inmates in Huntsville, Texas. He tears up as he talks about counseling men who are about to be given a lethal injection, about how, with their permission, he holds their ankle as they're on the gurney so that they have the comfort of human contact as they pass.
- 11/9/2011
- Movieline
Death row inmate Michael Perry / courtesy of Cdtv An old friend of this critic, the Pushcart Prize-nominated writer Earl M. Coleman, used to say that one of the keys to writing good fiction was having the ability to display empathy for all of one's characters. 'Victims all,' he called it, for in real life, even the 'bad guys' are victims of something. Never have I seen a film that deals with the notion of 'victims all' as well as Werner Herzog's latest empathy-fest, Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life. Using a case in Texas that led to one man being put to death and another being sentenced to life in prison, Herzog has crafted a nuanced, multi-layered view of all of the lives intertwined by three senseless murders. What is remarkable about the film, as it unfolds, is Herzog's ability to articulate...
- 11/9/2011
- TribecaFilm.com
Title: Into the Abyss Director: Werner Herzog Starring: Werner Herzog (narrator), Jason Burkett, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler, Kristen Willis Werner Herzog comes in with a documentary about death row; specifically focusing on a triple homicide that occurred in Conroe, Texas back in 2001. The two perpetrators, Jason Burkett and Michael Perry, were found guilty yet only one of them – Michael Perry – was sentenced to the state’s death penalty. Herzog tracks the boys down and has in-depth discussions with both of the convicted twenty-something’s at their current detainment centers in Texas. Initially, the 107 documentary begins with Herzog first meeting with Michael as he probes...
- 11/8/2011
- by joe
- ShockYa
Michael Perry, the man at the centre of Herzog's new film on the death penalty, was executed in Texas for a crime he says he didn't commit. Joanna Walters interviewed him before he died
With a metallic slam, the cage door shuts and is locked behind him, and a young man sits down, thick wire mesh a few inches from his back and bulletproof glass right in front of his cheekily handsome, scrubbed face.
He picks up a chunky telephone receiver attached to the wall, which is wired through to the visitor sitting on the other side of the glass.
"Hello."
This is death row in Texas and the condemned man is Michael Perry, who is now about to become famous or, perhaps more likely, infamous in a documentary about capital punishment by prominent film-maker Werner Herzog.
It would be more accurate to say at this point that the man was Michael Perry,...
With a metallic slam, the cage door shuts and is locked behind him, and a young man sits down, thick wire mesh a few inches from his back and bulletproof glass right in front of his cheekily handsome, scrubbed face.
He picks up a chunky telephone receiver attached to the wall, which is wired through to the visitor sitting on the other side of the glass.
"Hello."
This is death row in Texas and the condemned man is Michael Perry, who is now about to become famous or, perhaps more likely, infamous in a documentary about capital punishment by prominent film-maker Werner Herzog.
It would be more accurate to say at this point that the man was Michael Perry,...
- 11/4/2011
- by Joanna Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – In our latest documentary edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of IFC Films’ “Into the Abyss” from Werner Herzog about why people kill – and why a state kills!
“Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog (“Rescue Dawn,” “Grizzly Man”) stars Jason Burkett, Werner Herzog, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler and Kristen Willis. The film opens in Chicago on Nov. 11, 2011.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Into the Abyss” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog.
Image credit: IFC Films...
“Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog (“Rescue Dawn,” “Grizzly Man”) stars Jason Burkett, Werner Herzog, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler and Kristen Willis. The film opens in Chicago on Nov. 11, 2011.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Into the Abyss” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog.
Image credit: IFC Films...
- 11/3/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Doc filmmaker Werner Herzog, and Doc NYC executive director Raphaela Neihausen and artistic director Thom Powers at the opening night film of Herzog's "Into the Abyss" Wednesday night at Nyu. Herzog's latest follows conversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill. Doc NYC takes place November 2 - 10 in New York City. Check out the lineup here.
- 11/3/2011
- Indiewire
Werner Herzog never makes thing easy on himself. Sitting on the other side of a glass partition talking to a convicted killer in Into the Abyss becomes the tough-minded moral equivalent of the physical challenges in his earlier films, like trudging through the jungle or across Antarctica. “I don’t have to like you,” Herzog tells Michael Perry, and this murderer who has found Jesus looks a little stunned. Herzog’s quickly-made doc has a sense of urgency; he interviewed Perry, on death row in Texas, just eight days before his scheduled execution. But the film’s most powerful feature may be Herzog’s…...
- 11/2/2011
- James on ScreenS
Werner Herzog never makes thing easy on himself. Sitting on the other side of a glass partition talking to a convicted killer in Into the Abyss becomes the tough-minded moral equivalent of the physical challenges in his earlier films, like trudging through the jungle or across Antarctica. “I don’t have to like you,” Herzog tells Michael Perry, and this murderer who has found Jesus looks a little stunned.
- 11/2/2011
- James on ScreenS
Poster, trailer, images for Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life documentary. The film which was seen at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, is scripted, helmed and produced by Werner Herzog and finds limited theaters on November 11th via IFC's Sundance Selects. In his fascinating examination of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas, Werner Herzog probes the human psyche to explore why people kill—and why a state kills. In intimate conversations with those involved, including 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry (who was scheduled to die eight days after his interview with Herzog), the filmmaker achieves what he describes as “a gaze into the abyss of the human soul.” Herzog’s inquiries also extend to the other convicted killer,...
- 10/27/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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