Theatrical Releases

Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).

Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:


NoBody's Perfect- (no rating provided) Winner of 2009 Lola (German Film Award for Best Documentary), and a contender for 2009 Academy Award selection for Best Documentary, "Nobody's Perfect" follows filmmaker Niko von Glasow, whose short arms identify him as a grown-up “child of Thalidomide”. This film documents his search for eleven other people affected by Thalidomide, to join him in posing naked for a book of photographs. With humour and a surprising lightness of touch, "Nobody’s Perfect" is a portrait of twelve extraordinary characters, from childhood to today. These are people who have gotten used to furtive glances from passers-by, but now they have to stand completely unprotected in front of a camera, and look at their own bodies in a new light. (Rottentomatoes.com)

Best documentaries of the decade!

As 2009 comes to an end, everyone, everywhere, is coming up with their own personal "best of the decade" lists. Now while our lovely website drags its heels on the issue (seriously, we have a list for everything else!), the brave souls over at Cinematical have created a thoroughly in depth look at the best documentaries of the decade.

Now, it's not a straight list like something you'll find on this site, but rather a breakdown of all the different documentary genres out there. It's obviously a very personal list, but it's hard to argue with their opinions (though I'd personally put some of their 'runner's up' as winners in certain categories).

But this story isn't about our site's list, it's about Cinematical's. So check out their Best Documentaries of the Decade and feel free to post your impressions here.

Sundance Film's Announced

While most of us are focused on the end of year holidays, there are some gearing up for the early festival season and there's no bigger film festival in the early months than the Sundance Film Festival starting in January. This is one of the few times independent films get the pop culture treatment and with its rich history, it's no surprise how many film story to enter the festival.

Bur your not here for the films that almost made it, your here to find out which ones will be premiering in Park City Utah in late January. Well you don't have to wait any longer as the festival unveiled their full slate of films, including 17 U.S. documentaries and 13 international documentaries.

After looking at the list, I must say, it's quite impressive (though was their ever any doubt?). Every single film is a world premier and the subjects range from well publicized news stories (Pat Tillman to Benazir Bhutto to Jack Abramoff), to migrant workers in China to female karate kids in Iran. So don't take my word for it, head on over to the Sundance Film Festival website and check out which films will be on display. And if you're able to, buy yourself a festival pass so you can be the first to catch these wonderful documentaries.

'Waiting For Armageddon' Trailer

The documentary team of Kate Davis, Franco Sacchi and David Heilbroner most recent film is of Biblical proportions. Their film Waiting for Armageddon focuses on the Evangelical Christian community's belief in the Biblical prophecies of Rapture and Armageddon.

Obviously, these are two subjects outsiders find of great concern because whether you believe such notions are insane or worth discussing, you can't help but feel the impact these beliefs have on the rest of society.

Waiting for Armageddon tries to understand these beliefs through interviews with Christians, Zionists and Jewish practitioners. The trailer carries a very somber tone, but this may very well be a film that sparks an interesting debate.

The film has already appeared in a few smaller film festivals so don't catch yourself waiting for this one. Go to the film's website, watch the trailer and learn how you can view the film for yourself.

50 Free Documentaries!

The good people over at Online School.net pointed me to their recent article on the top 50 documentaries you can watch for free online. Now usually when the words "free" and "documentary" are used in the same sentence it means a list of rejected History channel films that serve as better torture instruments then enjoyable movies, but this list is surprisingly good.

Admittedly it ignores some fabulous films over at Hulu.com, but it's hard to ignore a list that includes major documentary films like Bowling for Columbine, The Fog of War, The Road to Guantanamo, 11th Hour, Maxed Out, Super Size Me and a whole slew of other notables. Frankly, this isn't just a great list of free documentaries, but a great list of must see documentaries.

If you have some time on your hands and no money to spend, what better way to waste your day then watching a few of these documentaries?

Head on over to Online School.net to see the complete list with links!