Today I'll be posting a string of lists that collect quantity more than quality in a few categories that are too often overlooked in Netflix queues and the video stores still out there. The You Missed... lists are my cheat sheets to you the renter/buyer and are a shameless callback to my days as a student film programmer. Little to no justification will follow, but I wouldn't have included these without good reason.
In a Dream
An exceptional portrait of family, art, and madness that questions the nature of each.
Not Quite Hollywood
How to become obsessed with Aussie exploitation movies,
They Killed Sister Dorothy
The power of influential industrialists in Brazil outweighs everything else, including the scales of justice.
The Order of Myths
The old secrets of Mardi Gras culture in Mobile, Alabama are partially uncovered here.
The Top Secret Trial of the 3rd Reich
There was a sham trial after the events portrayed in Valkyrie. This doc contains the film taken at that trial with overdubbed translation.
Dear Zachary
Read nothing about it going in, watch it, and then behold the polarizing reactions of the many who've seen it. There are those who call it (alternately) the most affecting and the most manipulative documentary they've seen in some time, if ever. Hyperbole orbits this movie regularly.
The Town That Was
Dreams With Sharp Teeth
Harlan Ellison: the only words needed to recommend this or not.
American Outrage
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
Like sports documentaries more than sports? Here you go.
You Must Remember This: The WB Story
Great film history in a concentrated dosage.
Trouble the Water
Katrina. Handheld.
Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo: a true patriot who believed in individual rights and the Constitution.
Full Battle Rattle
How to Be a Man/Woman
This was used as actual instruction for young adults and is absolutely hilarious.
New World Order
An excellent doc about conspiracy theory and, primarily, Austin native and Infowars.com founder Alex Jones.
The Way We Get By
Who welcomes the soldiers when they come back? This is a movie set in an airport that I like better than Up in the Air.
Must Read After My Death
A portrait of a family in the boomer era disintegrating, as told by the mother. You thought Revolutionary Road was hardcore? You thought wrong.
The Cove
It's the frontrunner to win Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, but since it's a doc, no one (comparatively) has yet seen it. The best-known title on this list by far.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
This wasn't even shortlisted by the Academy in another astounding misstep.
Discs of the Year is a look back at the year in disc releases and trends, from the best to the worst.