The 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die series on Current TV has generated a fair amount of controversy... nothing on the list predates 1988, and it's heavy on English-language films, for example. I have posted the list here with links to the NYPL BiblioCommons catalog so that you can read descriptions and put any of the DVDs on hold.

I didn't watch the series (I don't get this channel) but I know I am not alone in thinking WHERE IS GREY GARDENS?! What is your favorite documentary film? How many of these have you seen? What is missing from this list?

1. Hoop Dreams (1994)
2. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
3. Roger & Me (1989)
4. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
5. Supersize Me (2004)
6. The War Room (1993)
7. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
8. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
9. Trouble the Water (2008)
10. Grizzly Man (2005)
11. Paris Is Burning (1991)
12. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
13. The Fog of War (2003)
14. Dark Days (2000)
15. Crumb (1994)
16. Bus 174 (2002)
17. Street Fight (2005)
18. Food, Inc. (2008)
19. Touching the Void (2003)
20. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
21. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
22. Shut Up & Sing (2006)
23. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
24. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) (see Marie's blog post about the WM3)
25. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
26. Murderball (2005)
27. Tarnation (2003)
28. Gasland (2010)
29. Man on Wire (2008)
30. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
34. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
37. Inside Job (2010)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
39. Biggie & Tupac (2002)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
42. Catfish (2010)
43. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
44. Burma VJ (2008)
45. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
46. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
47. One Day in September (1999)
48. The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
49. Truth or Dare (1991)
50. Spellbound (2002)