Some are trash, some are brilliant; some are relevant, some are mere products - I thought I'd like to start a thread about documentary films and shows. Whether they are attempting to be unbiased and "pure", or blatant infotainment, documentary films have the potential to reach, teach or preach about any conceivable subject.

I'm a big fan of the genre when they are done right - I was brought up my entire life with David Suzuki's "The Nature of Things" (Running strong since 1960!) which has covered almost everything in it's run, and was huge in voicing environmental concerns in Canada way before the average person had any idea that it was an issue. David Suzuki is a National Global treasure. I know there was a link to one of the Nature of Things episodes about the Intelligence of Crows in another thread, and for those who have watched it, it's a good example of the quality of this show.  

Recently I was impressed with Morgan Spurlock's "Greatest Movie Ever Sold" which, in a nutshell, is a movie about making a movie about product placement where the movie is funded by product placement. The film is not well received on IMDB, especially in the review and comments section, but I found that it was well done, and I don't find Spurlock's personality as grating as many others do. Thanks to this film, I now want to visit Sao Paolo Brazil, which I learned has banned all outdoor advertising; It's a stunningly brave and beautiful concept. The film shows the mechanics behind product placement in films and tv shows, and is critical about the process for the most part, but also shows some potential benefits, such as providing funding for projects which may or may not get made without the revenue from product placement. Still, the film is slyly slanted away from the positive and maybe I liked it so much is because it mirrors many of my own thoughts on the subject, which is that most advertising is pretty sleazy, and is becoming more so with new technologies.

On the less impressive side, I also recently watched a doc called "Modify", about body modifications. My issue with the film is that I think it went out of the way to show extreme examples of body mods (3D implants, tongue splitting, etc...) for pure shock value. The most redeeming feature of the film is showing the gorier side of cosmetic surgery and presenting it as being no different in principal from "Modern Primitive" style body mods (Of course Jim Ward and Fakir Musafar were showcased in the film). I enjoy and admire many body mods, but if this film would have been my introduction to the subject, I might not have been so attracted to the concept of body modifications as I had been by other sources.

Well, this is just a start - What docs have left impressions on you, for good or bad? Can or should docs strive to be objective? Are there unwritten responsibilities for documentary filmmakers as there is supposed to be for news outlets?