Accidental Documentaries

July 2, 2005 8:59 PM

Dogs in Space was an Australian film released in 1987 starring Michael Hutchence of INXS before they cracked the states. It's about a band living in a share-house in Melbourne in 1979. The lifestyle, the personalities, can still be found today, 26 years on. What other movies, despite their fictions, serve as documentaries of lifestyles that will probably remain unrecorded?
posted by hifimofo to Society & Culture (13 answers total)

What other movies, despite their fictions, serve as documentaries of lifestyles that will probably remain unrecorded?

Dark Days
posted by ericb at 9:54 PM on July 2, 2005

Dogtown and Z Boys
posted by ericb at 9:56 PM on July 2, 2005

The Cockettes
posted by ericb at 10:01 PM on July 2, 2005

Alone in the Wilderness
posted by ericb at 10:17 PM on July 2, 2005

<obvious>He Died With A Felafel In His Hand</obvious>?
Lowenstein did Dogs In Space too, didn't he?
posted by Pinback at 11:48 PM on July 2, 2005

Slacker
posted by pomegranate at 6:15 AM on July 3, 2005

The ice fishing scenes in Grumpy Old Men.
posted by LarryC at 6:43 AM on July 3, 2005

I second Dogtown and Z-Boys and add Riding Giants, which I found more compelling than Dogtown. Worth seeing just for Greg Noll.

Also:

Year of the Bull

Gotham Fish Tales
posted by kortez at 8:22 AM on July 3, 2005

This American Life has an episode entitled "Accidental Documentaries."
posted by waldo at 8:45 AM on July 3, 2005

A good source for documentary films is Kevin Kelly's book "True Films" which is available online or can be purchased for $3 as a PDF.
posted by FakeOutdoorsman at 11:47 AM on July 3, 2005

I'm a little confused by the 'probably remain unrecorded' part, but This is Spinal Tap? Gummo?
posted by box at 12:21 PM on July 3, 2005

Last night I finally got around to seeing Rize, the David LaChappelle documentary about clowning/krumping in South Central L.A. Of course it's not fiction, though, so...
posted by pomegranate at 1:37 PM on July 3, 2005

Erskineville Kings
posted by Chimp at 1:39 PM on July 3, 2005