Why are documentaries on the rise at the box office?

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Inexpensive to produce like reality TV, documentaries are moving in on the film business. It's no secret that "Fahrenheit 911" has broken records at the box office. Is this a fluke or sign of things to come?

Some say the press has missed the boat by not giving us more prospective on national and international subjects because they failed to ask the hard questions.

Because of this lack of information, the current generation of film goers are putting their money down for a Michael Moore political documentary with hand held camera work and a powerful message. Earlier this year world wide audiences paid 608 million to view the 'reality like' film "The Passion of the Christ". In the documentary "Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock becomes a test subject eating only McDonald's food for 30 days that turns out to be bad news for the big food franchises.

More documentaries on the horizon? Yes, here they are:

"America's Heart and Soul" (To open 7/2: Disney release with shots of ordinary and not so ordinary people along with aerial shots of the USA)

"Festival Express" (Late July: ThinkFilm release--tracing a 1970 rock tour that featured Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and the Band.)

"Tom Dowd & the Language of Music" (about the legendary Atlantic Records recording engineer)

"Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed" (examining Shirley Chisholm's campaign for the White House)

"Tarnation" (Jonathan Caouette's personal chronicle of his mother's mental illness.)

If you know of any documentaries to be released, add to the list.

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Because "Documentary" is becoming more inclusive a term and beginning to have less to do with education than entertainment.

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Times change, films change. Could these documentaries possibly be a response to all the over-produced special effects films that contain minimal content.

The word "documentary":
A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration.

This is a general term "documentary" and does not set limits on what style is to be used in the presentation.

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Many of these documentaries focus on stories that aren't being reported by the major media or not being reported intelligently. In the case of Moore's film, many people are probably going to see a point-of-view that isn't seen much in the major media.

"Capturing the Friedmans" was another good one, as was "The Fog of War".

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I heard good things about "Fog of War" earlier this year but I missed it. I think it is out on video/CD now so I will rent it.

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Fog of War is out on DVD and I thought it was superb. I'm an anomaly, a girl educated and fascinated with politics, etc. I wasn't around for Vietnam and MacNamara's firsthand accounting was brutally candid and compelling in light of our current Iraqi situation. Two thumbs up.

As for the popularity in documentaries in general, I find the free media an abysmal failure these days. Journalists are ill informed, don't thoroughly investigate their stories, and spend more effort on sensationalism and innuendo than facts and education.

Big Media tells us what they want to hear, it is a far less free media than there ever has been.

Having said that, documentaries - regardless of topic - always have the subjective slant of the documentarian. But people who go see a documentary feel full disclosure in that area, while the media still "pretends" to be unbiased.

I hate the media. But can't live without 'em Very Happy

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Just an odd, interesting anectdote . . . i once heard the comedian David Brenner interviewed (he is probably not remembered by those who were not adults in the 1970's); he said that he had been a producer at a Philadelphia television station, and had done a documentary on urban poverty in the early 1960's. Then, about 10 years later, he was sent out to do yet another documentary on urban poverty. He said that he suddenly realized that he recognized many of the people he was interviewing, and that, essentially, nothing had changed for them in a decade.

He said that was when he made the decision to get out of television news, and take up comedy . . .

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"Fog of War" is offered here as a Pay-Per-View and I used a free coupon to watch it. Fascinating documentary with a lot of analysis and opinion contained therein. Purists (a nice word for control freaks) cannot write their own etched-in-stone semantic interpretation of the definition. The dictionary definition only explains a basic description. Documentary film has traditionally had a viewpoint and an intepretation of the facts. Moore, for instance, does not insist on presenting the interpretation of everybody's truth. It's his truth. He has stated he could be right or wrong.

Anybody tracked the box office for the other big doc on the screens "Super Size Me?"

On HDTV there are tons of documentaries many of them, of course, travelogues and animal documentaries. They contain opinions about what you are seeing on the screen. If they did not, you'd be bored. The only exception is the popular "fly over" specials which contain a minimum of narration but unfortunately a lot of second rate New Age scoring.

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"Super Size Me" is only at about 10M which is a little better than average for a documentary and profitable for the filmmaker.

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We saw Super Size Me in the theatre. It was lol hilarious. I think Spurlock has a natural sense of wit and humor that helped pass the message on without the bitter taste that sometimes Moore invokes.

We all know McDs is bad for you; I found the segments on school lunch programs and Sodexho and GMA fascinating yet troubling. Kids reach a point where they're a goober if they 'bring their lunch' and aren't old enough to leave campus for lunch (and even if they did, it would be fast food lol). So when a kid has choices of junk junk and more junk, what kinda nonsense was that lady talking about when she said we want to teach the kids to make the right choices for themselves. What a dunderhead, that lady was.

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I think "Super Size Me" will probably do well in the rental market if it gets a good shelf position.

"Super Size" is doing much better at the box office than "Fog of War". "Fog" was released in Dec. 2003 and it's box office take to date is 4.8 million

"Super Size" has only been playing since May and it has already taken in 10.7 million. It probably won't reach 20 million because it's not a hot button issue like MM covers in "F911".

Other comparisons:

2003: "Winged Migration" (French) migratory birds flying over continents brought in 32 million with the bulk of the sales from overseas.

2001: "No Man's Land" (Docu-drama) about two wounded soldiers, a Bosnian and a Serb, confront each other in a trench in the no man's land between their lines (from a true story) took in 1 million.

1999: "Mr. Death" Errol Morris's documentary about Fred Leuchter, an engineer who became an expert on execution devices grossed $507,000.

1988: "The Thin Blue Line" Errol Morris's film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas. In my opinion it is one of Morris's best documentaries to date but it was only released to 23 theaters and took in 1.2 million.

I think if "The Thin Blue Line" had been released in today's market it would have better theater coverage and would easily take in 10 million.

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"No Man's Land" was a riveting example of dark humor and made the folly of war look like the devil directing the Keystone Kops.

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"No Man's Land" (by Yugoslavian writer/director Danis Tanovic) had enough truth to keep you on the edge of your seat and enough humor so you could not determine what was going to happen next.

The Bosinan War seems so long ago now that we are involved in our current struggle in Iraq.

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couzz wrote:

Times change, films change. Could these documentaries possibly be a response to all the over-produced special effects films that contain minimal content.

ie. Because the vast majority of movies being produced these days are crap.

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Wilso:

A few good films slip in on occasion. The problem is you have to do your homework (reading reviews) to find them and hope they are playing in your town.

A good website to use is:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup

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A new documentary opened recently in limited release--"Broadway, The Golden Age" . It is playing in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas.... (Check your local theaters)

BROADWAY, THE GOLDEN AGE
Directed by Rick McKay, who traveled across five continents during the documentary's production, Broadway: The Golden Age is both a celebration of current Broadway stars and a tribute to Broadway legends past. Through a wide range of interviews and archival footage, McKay presents a variety of factoids, anecdotes, and memories from over 100 Broadway actors, writers, and directors. The careers of Laurette Taylor, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy, and Marlon Brando are all animatedly retold, as is some of the Broadway "lore of olde," such as Angela Lansbury's struggle to land a role in Mame and the shocked reaction to West Side Story on its opening night. In addition to footage and discussion regarding highly successful Broadway stars, a variety of actors recount their experiences and struggles in finding even a small amount of critical recognition. The cast includes Shirley MacLaine, Bea Arthur, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard, and many others.

Related website:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/broadwaythegoldenage/

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Lot's of us forgot that Brando made it on the stage and I'm sure the Broadway producers and directors were sad to see him go to Hollywood. This movie is playing at two of our local art houses.

BTW, "F9/11" is doing very well in good ole conservative Orange County. It opened on the Newport Peninsula at the Lido Theater, right in the core of the Republican fortress. Everytime I've passed the theater at box office times, it's a long line.

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Why are documentaries on the rise at the box office?

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