***Completed***
Something I love to do personally is make ranked lists of genres, years, countries, directors, etc. It's just a hyperinterest of mine. And so, what I've decided I want to start doing is, every year, I want to put a bit of a focus on certain genres so that by the end of the year, I can be familiar enough with that genre to make such a ranked list.
And so, to start, 2023: Documentaries! I've always tried to get more into documentaries but have never really managed it before joining Letterbox. Even now, most documentaries I've watched have been released since I joined. I wish to correct that. This year, I intend to watch 52 brand new documentaries,…
***Completed***
Something I love to do personally is make ranked lists of genres, years, countries, directors, etc. It's just a hyperinterest of mine. And so, what I've decided I want to start doing is, every year, I want to put a bit of a focus on certain genres so that by the end of the year, I can be familiar enough with that genre to make such a ranked list.
And so, to start, 2023: Documentaries! I've always tried to get more into documentaries but have never really managed it before joining Letterbox. Even now, most documentaries I've watched have been released since I joined. I wish to correct that. This year, I intend to watch 52 brand new documentaries, on top of the ones I've already watched so that at the end of the year, I can make a Top 100 Documentaries List. For fun. Anyone is free to join but this is really just for my own personal interest.
Also, credit to Mike Sean. Many of the lists I'm using for references are by him.
As for the rules:
1. Please tag the lists and reviews with either
"annual genre challenge 2023" or "agc2023".
2. The films must obviously be documentaries. For the sake of simplicity, that'll be by Letterbox definition, even though Letterbox can be weird about genres sometimes.
3. I mostly tried to avoid concert films or featurettes for this, but that's less a hard-set rule and more of just a guideline I tried to follow.
4. The films can be watched in any order.
5. The films must be first time watches. Whole point of the challenge is to be better familiarized with each theme.
And the Challenges!
1. A documentary from the year you were born
2. A 1920's film
3. A 1930's film
4. A 1940's film
5. A 1950's film
6. A 1960's film
7. A 1970's film
8. A 1980's film
9. A 1990's film
10. A 2000's film
11. A 2010's film
12. A 2020's film
13. A documentary about film or television (Examples: Documentaries about Film & Filmmakers, Documentaries about film history and film industry, True Hollywood Story: Documentaries About Film, TV, and Actors)
14. A documentary about music (Examples: Behind the Label: Documentaries About Record Companies, See It Loud: Documentaries About Music, Different Drums: Documentaries on Musical Curiosities)
15. A documentary about any other creative art (Examples: Documentaries About Writers, Poets, Journalists, and Such,Documentaries about video games and game culture, Dance-umentaries: Following the Steps)
16. A documentary about religion or philosophy (Examples: Cult Appeal: Documentaries on New Religious Movements, The Big Picture, The Bigger Questions: Documentaries on Life, documentaries about philosophy)
17. A documentary about science (Examples: Science Non-Fiction: Documentaries on the Universe, Fission Quest: Documentaries About Nuclear Energy, Life Lessons: Documentaries on Biology)
18. A documentary about animals or plants (Examples: Nature Studies: Documentaries on Wildlife, Creature Comfort: Documentaries About Animal Treatment, BBC Nature Documentaries)
19. A documentary about places or traveling (Examples: Living in Oblivion: Documentaries About Unfrequented Places,Armchair Odysseys: Documentaries About Epic Adventures, Travelogues
20. A documentary about the human body or mind (Examples: Life Lessons: Documentaries on Biology, Seeing the Spectrum: Documentaries on Autism, Carnal Knowledge: Documentaries About Sex)
21. A documentary about politics or activism (Examples: Fiscal Examinations: Documentaries About Economics, Candidate Camera: Documentaries on Elections, Revolting Truths: Documentaries About Activism
22. A documentary about crimes or prisons (Examples: Records of Mayhem: Documentaries About Serial, Spree, and Mass Murder, True Crime/Prison/Cult Documentaries, Lock-Up Docs: Looking Between the Bars)
23. A documentary about war or war crimes (Examples: The Docs of War: Vietnam, Soldiering On: Documentaries About War Veterans, War Documentaries)
24. A personal documentary (Examples: The Reflective Screen: The Documentary as Film Memoir, personal documentares/diaries)
25. A documentary about any other topic not yet picked
26. Directed by Martin Scorsese
28. Narrated by Tilda Swinton
28. Directed by Agnes Varda
29. Narrated by Werner Herzog
30. Directed by Frederick Wiseman
31. Narrated by Morgan Freeman
32. Directed by Jonas Mekas
33. Narrated by David Attenborough
34. Directed by Dziga Verov
35. Narrated by Jacques Cousteau
36. Letterbox Top 250 Documentary Features
37. Sight and Sound’s Greatest Documentaries
38. Time Out's Top 65 Documentaries
39. Vogue's Top 78 Documentaries
40. IndieWire's 25 Best Documentaries of the 21st Century
41. Esquire's 38 Documentaries That Will Change Your Life
42. Bong Joon-Ho's Favorite Documentaries
43. Guillermo Del Toro's Recommended Documentaries
44. Edgar Wright's Favorite Documentaries
45. From the Criterion Collection
46. From the National Film Registry
47. Oscar Nominated
48. IDA Nominated
49. Screened at Cannes
50. Included on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list
51. Included on the 2022 They Shoot Pictures, Don't They list
52. Any Off Watchlist
Progress: 52/52
Participants:
Fatmeister, Caleb
This challenge took from January 7, 2023 to September 16, 2023. The average score I gave for this challenge was a 3.9.
The biggest surprise was Lumiere. I knew what the film was about but what it's about and what it actually does are two very different things. It's just about the Lumiere brothers' films, but what it does is present them in a modern critical lens that is absolutely incredible. The biggest disappointment was Three Songs for Lenin. I didn't go in expecting it to be the greatest documentary of all time or anything like that but the specific reason it failed is why it's such a disappointment. I at least expected his usual groundbreaking approach to filmmaking and instead got very generic propaganda.
Top Three:
1. As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2. Shoah
3. When the Mountains Tremble
Bottom Three:
1. Deseret
2. Three Songs for Lenin
3. Leviathan
Other Superlatives:
Most Beautiful: Cusp
Most Thought-Provoking: As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Made Me Cry: When the Mountains Tremble
Most Fun: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
