Four Bloggers' Top Docs

While TV viewers are scanned, probed and codified with regularity, bloggers are still largely a mystery. This issue, we consider recent studies that have tried to put a face to those that read blogs. Regardless of who they are, however, the opinions of those who write blogs matter to your bottom line. Below, see what a few media bloggers said their favorite film was in the last year. For more on blogs, see Flogged on page 10.

Sarah Jo Marks - Documentary Insider
www.documentaryinsider.com
Linas Phillips' brilliant personal journey doc Walking to Werner affected me. It hadn't played anywhere yet. I popped it in my temperamental DVD player and was mesmerized. The DVD crapped out halfway through, but that didn't stop me from finishing on my laptop. I see about 400 films a year and when a DVD dies, it's done, but not when it's as illuminating and spiritual as this.

Chris Willis - HypergeneMediaBlog
hypergene.net/blog
It would have to be Bonhoeffer [produced by Journey Films]. This documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the brilliant theologian in Nazi Germany, has haunted me ever since I saw it. It reminded me of how good documentaries go beyond the story of the person and give testimony to the idea they embodied.

Doug Block - Around the Block
www.dougblock.com
My favorite doc of the past year is Caveh Zahedi's I Am A Sex Addict. And I'm not sure I would have seen it but for the controversy and buzz masterfully stirred up around the film by Caveh on his blog. I know from first-hand experience how hard personal films are to pull off, and I think Caveh took on a really risky subject and came up with a brutally honest, funny and unexpectedly poignant film.

Agnes Varnum - Agnesvarnum.com
agnesvarnum.com
The humble people doing extraordinary things portrayed in So Much, So Fast (by Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan) awed me. As I watched them move their mountains, the superb storytelling sparked new perspectives on my own life, which is a grand feat for a film.