The Challenge: A Tribute To Modern Art

The Challenge: A Tribute To Modern Art is a classic 1974 documentary Narrated by Orson Welles that was nominated for the Academy Award For Best Documentary in it's release year. The film captures modern art at a time when many of the great modern artists were still alive or recently passed and the value of their works was exploding at auction rooms around the world. We get to see these artists, among many others are Picasso (1881-1973), de Kooning (1904-1997), Dalí (1904-1989) and Matisse (1869-1954) at work creating their art and talking about the processes and meanings to them.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 1974 Duration: 1H 40Mins.

Read more »

Banksy: Exit Through The Gift Shop

Exit Through The Gift Shop is the first film by popular street artist Banksy and tells the story of Thierry Guetta an eccentric French man living in Los Angles. This was not the original idea as we learn it was Guetta who obsessed by street art had set out to make a film about Banksy before he became the main protagonist. Guetta had tried for some time to meet and film Banksy and finally got his wish when Banksy; in LA needed help and Guetta was the only option. Guetta follows Banksy back to England and continues to film him after which he returns to LA to start creating his own street art.

In the documentary we find the footage Guetta filmed and cut was unwatchable but this leads Banksy to reverse roles and turn the camera on Guerra (now using the street name Mr. Brainwash) who's own street art back in LA was getting attention.

Trailer Only - The film is not currently available online once it is we will have it back up.

Read more »

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

This is the final film in a trio of documentaries following a heinous crime in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 when three young boys were sexually assaulted and murdered not far from their homes.(I recommend You Watch the other films first, you can here : Paradise Lost 1 and Paradise Lost 2) .

The first film had followed the aftermath of the murders and the trial of three young men charged with and convicted of the crimes.

Following the first films release doubts that were cast by many as to whether the right men had been caught after all; this was the main theme of the second film.

Part 3 Purgatory now quiet strongly asserts the innocence of the convicted men Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. In the second film Revelations from 2000 we found a small number of people that had real issues with the case but now 11 years on there has been a crescendo of support for the men being called The West Memphis Three including from celebrity's such as Musician  Eddie Vedder and Director Peter Jackson and the new wife of the convicted man thought to be the ringleader Damien Echols.

A truly amazing set of films were for all intents and purposes the single documentary Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky set out to make grew into something they never could have imagined. Documentaries are powerful that's why we love them but now and again a documentary can have an effect that changes the course of history.

Read more »

Super Size Me

Nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2004 Super Size me follows one man on a strange mission.With an obesity epidemic across America documentary maker Morgan Spurlock decided to take a strange step to highlight how unhealthy Fast Food is, he ate nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days ! Fast Food restaurants have come under scrutiny with their high calorie meals and super size portions being blamed for a nation with over 60% of Adults overweight.

Spurlock has set himself some rules for the challenge which is completely against the advice of his doctor. He has to eat three meals a day from McDonald's and nothing else, He will not ask for the Super Size but if offered he must accept, He will try to go through every meal on the menu over the course of the experiment and he will try to walk about the average Americans do daily. With that we have a documentary and the results are startling.

Read more »

Enron The Smartest Guys In The Room

Enron was one of the documentaries that got me really interested in the genre online and makes our Must Watch List. While I always loved documentaries before Enron I didn't know how many could be sourced online. I guess what I like most about Enron is director Alex Gibney could have focused on the huge amounts of money involved but he rather put the focus on the people involved. I think most who have not seen Enron The Smartest Guys In The Room yet will be as shocked even after the Financial crisis of 2008 as those who watched it first in 2007.Kenneth Lay, Jeff Skilling and Andy Fastow thought they and Enron were bullet proof this documentary show just how wrong they were.

Read more »