Avoid bad documentaries, take this advice and be entertained

No one deserves to get half way through a documentary only to discover that it’s awful. To… No one deserves to get half way through a documentary only to discover that it’s awful. To help viewers avoid something so traumatic, I’ve taken the liberty of writing a list of 10 documentaries worth watching. Most of these are available on Netflix instantly.

Here are the first five. Tune in next week for the next half of the list.

10. “Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest”

College-age hip-hop fans often forget that the genre existed before Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa. With song themes including sex, money and drugs, hip-hop fans with a more refined taste in lyrical and musical content might ask: Is there more out there?

Fortunately for these fans, director Michael Rapaport presents the saga of legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, consisting of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi White and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. With interviews from admiring artists such as Kanye West and whimsical Afrocentric animations, Rapaport chronicles the rise and fall of A Tribe Called Quest and the alternative hip-hop scene.

Because of its focus on the intricacies of hip-hop and the trials and tribulations of a group of friends who happened to hit it big, “Beats, Rhymes and Life” is a must-see for fans of The Tribe and music fans alike.

9. “More Than a Game”

For those who have participated in a team sport, the feeling of camaraderie after a crucial win is like nothing else. In “More Than a Game,” director Kristopher Belman examines this bond between teammates by following four young basketball players on their journies to success. It begins with Akron, Ohio’s Amateur Athletic Union squad, the Shooting Stars, and moves to the team’s success at state and national championships in Saint Vincent-Saint Mary’s High School.

Throughout their time together the team members face a multitude of challenges, including racial tension in a nearly all-white Catholic school, the diminutive stature of point guard Dru Joyce III, personal issues of power forward Romeo Travis and eligibility difficulties of teammate and current NBA superstar LeBron James.

The film portrays how coach Dru Joyce II leads the team through its triumphs and tribulations, culminating in one of the greatest amateur basketball teams ever assembled.

8. “Best Worst Movie”

If you were to a read a description of a movie including vegetarian goblins transforming humans into plants in order to consume them, would you watch it?

In “Best Worst Movie,” director Michael Stephenson answers that very question by examining the cult following behind “Troll 2,” a film considered the worst movie ever made. Stephenson, who performed in the film, follows Alabama dentist George Hardy, who starred in the film while working as a dentist in Utah.

Along with the other members of the cast and director Claudio Fragasso, Hardy tours the country to visit screenings of “Troll 2” in front of raucous and adoring fans. Undoubtedly, the most enduring impression of the film is the humility of the movie’s actors and their reaction to the cult fame.

By combining hilarious re-enactments of the film by the amateur actors with real footage from the insanely awful film, the director creates a thoughtful and good-natured chronicle of a group of average joes.

7.  “Bowling for Columbine”

Michael Moore, director of “Bowling for Columbine,” will never be mistaken for a credible journalist because of his lack of balance and professionalism. Despite these flaws, Moore presents a documentary in “Bowling for Columbine” with a curious dichotomy; it’s both hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

Traveling to different corners of the country, Moore exposes the gun-clinging culture in America that factored into the deaths of 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999.

Moore accomplishes this in a humorous manner, opening an account at a bank in Michigan in order to receive a free gun and speaking with members of the Michigan Militia who published a calendar with women holding heavy firearms.

Rather than simply attacking the Second Amendment, Moore examines how news stations disproportionately show murder stories despite a drop in the crime rate over the last 20 years.

Essentially, Moore portrays the indoctrination of fear into the minds of Americans, creating a documentary that appeals to anyone, regardless of his political ideology.

6.  “Maxed Out”

For incoming college students, receiving a credit card represents freedom from paycheck to paycheck purchases. Unfortunately, a majority of these students are unaware of the dire consequences of irresponsible credit card use. Even fewer are aware that this debt is exactly what credit card companies hope to maximize.

Not only does “Maxed Out” explore the predatory practices of credit card companies, it also examines the relationship between the federal government and the financial service industry.

In order to explore the impact of these predatory practices at an individual level, director James Scurlock contrasts the lives of credit card company employees with people who are suffering financial ruin because of the predation.

“Maxed Out” provides a cautionary tale to all who seek the buying-on-credit lifestyle.