'50 Documentaries To See Before You Die' premieres 8/2 on Current TV

I liked the whole list and I didn't disagree with too many of the rankings. I didn't like that 'Supersize Me' was so high on the list, it seemed a bit conceited to have Mr.Spurlock host it and have his film so high on the list as well.

Would've liked to have seen 'Mayor of the Sunset Strip' on there, a very interesting doc about Rodney Bingenheimer. Also would have liked 'American Drug War: The Last White Hope' to make the list as it's a very informative documentary on our country's corrupt and failed "War on Drugs". Too bad that the film 'Senna' hadn't come out by the time they filmed this program. Besides that, it was a pretty good list of 50.

I just watched "Hot Coffee" about the woman who sued Mcdonalds because her coffee burnt her. I was reluctent to watch, because I had made up my own mind about this case thinking that she's a fool and money hungry. Now I feel bad, it's so much more then that particular lawsuit and goes into the effect that case had on our courts. I think the only doc that pissed me off more was maybe gasland or maybe the cove. Anyway WATCH it.
It was on HBO

This is a fantastic series. I am hoping "Dear Zachary" is in the Top 20. A gut-wrenching tale, so sad it is true. I am thinking "An Inconvenient Truth" is number one?

I just watched the first episode and it looks like it is going to be a great series. No arguments about the choices so far. Just one question, though. I live in Central Florida and I would really like to know where that seafood stand is - where he buys the lobster roll. It appears to be along A1A, but where? Does anyone happen to know? Thanks!

Anvil, The Story of Anvil

I can not believe that I forgot that.

Thank you for creating a show that highlights the lasting contributions of documentary filmmakers from around the world. The English Patient, Capturing the Friedmans, Manda Bala, Hoop Dreams, Murder Ball, Grizzly Man, Deliver Us From Evil, Valentino The Last Emperor, Tarnation...just a few of my favorite films! Can't wait to see what made the cut!

"Harvest of Shame"

Hmm Ill give 4 ... Death on a factory farm (everyone should and no one has yet to mention that one) religulous, an inconvenient truth (even go gore is a hypocrite still very informative) food Inc and loose change

this documentary won the oscar and the golden globe in 1975
it's outside the 25 year limit, but, it's important to revisit because of Afghanistan
American History is repeating itself:

Hearts and Minds
directed by Peter Davis
release November 1974

The film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as their own film and interviews.

A key theme is how attitudes of American racism and self-righteous militarism helped create and prolong this bloody conflict.

The film also endeavors to give voice to the Vietnamese people themselves as to how the war has affected them and their reasons why they fight the United States and other western powers while showing the basic humanity of the people that US propaganda tried to dismiss.

this is going to be controversial for "50 Documentaries to See Before You Die"
but
this documentary/propaganda film is arguably the most influential film in history:

Triumph of the Will
directed by Leni Riefenstahl
release 1935
B/W

it's on the 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally of the Third Reich

before the Third Reich became the scourge of the world and the film
fell into the nebulous zone
it won awards globally, including in the United States, France and Sweden

Riefenstahl created innovative techniques that included: moving cameras, the use of long-focus lenses to create a distorted perspective and aerial photography
also
she developed a revolutionary approach in the use of music with cinematography
so
there ya go...

The Tillman Story.

@ mjsmith11 : Nothing wrong with liberal propaganda if it reflects truth and scientific facts. A good film is a good film regardless of what your political beliefs are... interesting that you chose not to mention one single documentary that shows the other end of the spectrum, I've heard of some good ones you should see:
1. Damn, that Kool Aid sweet!
2. The Convenient Lie
3. Rupert & Me

That being said here are some of my favorites:
1. Fuel
2. Bhutto
3. Standing In The Shadows Of Motown
.... and pretty much all movies of Michael Moore, Spurlock, Al Gore and Bill Maher

It looks like the word, or term, "documentary" is not people used properly. This should really be titled, in order to accuratley reflect the list, "50 Liberal Propaganda Films We Want to Shove Down Your Throat!"

1. Dark Days
2. King of Kong
3. Exit through the Gift Shop

4. No end in sight

the fog of war; the times of harvey milk; for the bible tells me so; enron, the smartest guys in the room; common threads: stories from the quilt and thirst, are but a few of the documentaries that have touched my life.

"Exit through the gift shop" is a good film.

I sure hope The Secret and What The Bleep Do I know are on this list; also the documentary about Dr. Emoto and his work with water and our thoughts...its so powerful!!

The Money Masters is all that we need to know.

Tapped
Food, Inc.
King Korn
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
It Might Get Loud
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Yes Men
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
P.U.L.S.E. Live at Earls Court 20.10.94, London
Blood Into Wine
American Drug War: The Last White Hope
The Devil Came on Horseback

and many more.....

No real order here. These are most of the ones that I watched repeatedly or they really struck me after seeing them a couple of times.

1. Loose Change
2. King of Kong- A Fistful of Quarters
3. Heart of Darkness
4. Without Bias
5. The U
6. Fab 5
7. America Beyond the Color Lines
8. Farenheit 911
9. Magic and Bird
10. Once Brothers
11. Biggie and Tupac
12. Welcome to Deathrow
13. Scared Straight (around 30 years old)
14. The Men Who Killed Kennedy
15. Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room
16. Backstage (Def Jam and Rockafella Tour)
17. Atlanta Child Murders (over 20 years)
18. Supersize Me
19. 4 Brothers and Some Soul Brother Music
20. Industry
21. Brick City
22. The Show
23. Fade to Black
24. The Two Escobars
25. Hoop Dreams
26. Through the Fire
27. Best That Never Was
28. And 1 Series and Streetball
29. The Battle Over Citizen Kane
30. Bruce Lee- In His Own Words
31. Four Girls
32. When the Levees Broke
33. Unforgivable Blackness
34. 10 Minute Film Schools by Robert Rodriquez
35. Wu- Story of the Wu-Tang Clan
36. Hooked- Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell
37. Murder of Emmett Till
38. Black Magic
39. More Than a Game
40. No Crossover- Trial of Allen Iverson
41. Pony Excess
42. This is It

Not to mention "Casino Jack and the United States of Money"

My fav documentaries are "I.O.U.S.A, Ingredients and Food, Inc."

Farhenheit 911, Capitalism A Love Story,Food Inc., The Corporation , Who killed the electric Car?, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, King Korn, An Inconvenient Truth, Helen's War: Portrait of a Dissident, The Business of Being Born, Life and Debt, The Cove, The Future Of Food, Vanishing of the Bees, Good Hair,Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, Grass: The History of Marijuana, The Battle of Chernobyl, Chernobyl Heart, Darwin's Nightmare, Genie in a bottle unleashed, Flow: For Love Of Water, The 11th Hour, The World According to Monsanto, Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers, Waco: The Rules of Engagement, Religulous, Fabled Enemies, Inside Job, Winged Migration, The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, The Hemp Revolution,Arsenal of Hypocrisy: The Space Program and The Military Industrial Complex, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, Bowling For Columbine, Crumb, Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story, March of the Penguins, Manufacturing Consent, AKA Tommy Chong, Sicko, Zeitgeist, Zeitgeist: Addendum, Bueno Vista Social Club, American Blackout, Freedom Riders, Affluenza, How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?, Tupac: Resurrection, Trouble The Water, Born Into Brothels, Magic Weed: The Truth About Cannabis Sativa, Walmart: The High Cost Of Low Prices, What The Bleep Do We Know?, Sierra Club Chronicles: 9/11 Forgotten Heroes, ENRON: The Smartest Guys In The Room, Frontline: The Meth Epidemic, Oil On Ice, The ACLU Freedom Files: Drug Wars,Weapons Of Mass Deception, Michael Moore: The Awful Truth (TV Series), Too Hot Not To Handle............

Man this looks great!! Too bad I dont have a damn TV!!!!!!!!! C'mon Current...an online mag with little online content?? Some of us cant afford even Dish much less the overlords of Brighthouse or Comcast. Maybe you'll show this in a couple of years and I'll be able to watch the things I have to watch before I die.....unless I die before you put it online. Dammit

I vote for "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk"

Food, Inc, Supermarket, Inc., King Korn and Fresh should be on the list.

Any chance one of the documentaries will be "Fat Head" by Tom Naughton?