FUBAR (2002)
The Setup: A faintly pretentious helmer thinks he sees a more profound truth underpinning the beer-swigging friendship between two headbanging Alberta slackers.
Why It Rules: As sweetly sad as it is balls-out parodic, FUBAR is indeed an apt acronym for the go-nowhere lives on display. But, mesmeric though Terry and Dean's misadventures are, their language is what makes it. (The Canadian slang, that is, as opposed to the reported 274 f-bombs.)
Man Bites Dog (1992)
The Setup: Pitch-black media satire in which a groundbreaking camera crew follow the life and crimes of a Belgian serial killer, gradually getting their feet a lot wetter (and redder) than they ever planned.
Why It Rules: Benoît Poelvoorde's oddly whimsical sociopath forces us to ask questions that most real shock-docs paper over: why are we watching this, for God's sake? And, moreover, why can't we stop?
Best In Show (2000)
The Setup: Five canine enthusiasts and their pampered pooches compete for the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club title.
Why It Rules: Well, it's another textbook Christopher Guest parody for starters (this time penned with co-star Eugene Levy, for added yuks). What really lifts Best In Show , though, is that it doesn't end at the prize-giving; some of the best footage is captured long after all the doggie dust has settled.
I'm Still Here (2010)
The Setup: Director Casey Affleck conspires with writer Joaquin Phoenix, in a mischievous attempt to convince us that the latter has turned his back on acting to become a bearded hip-hop hobo.
Why It Rules: The idea of spoofing gullible reality TV audiences isn't new, but Joaquin's ballsy (if tragically plausible) insistence on remaining in character for a year prior to release lent the whole hammy ruse a certain twisted gravitas.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
The Setup: Mount Rose, Minnesota is the sort of stifling grief-hole where winning a pageant is pretty much your only route out. This leads to decidedly unhealthy levels of competition, as a camera crew soon learn...
Why It Rules: Killer cast, killer gags, and...well, killers. Imagine a goofy little sis to Heathers , and you're close. Shame Kirsten Dunst wasn't allowed to play a bit more noir - her role's too Cinderella for this to gain the cult cred it (nearly) deserved.
Waiting For Guffman (1997)
The Setup: In a hicksville Missouri town, am-dram flouncer Corky St. Clair coaches a gaggle of sub- Got Talent dingbats awaiting a visiting Broadway reviewer.
Why It Rules: Spinal Tap deity Christopher Guest nails it as St. Clair, despite aiming at more vulnerable targets here than the poodle-rock narcissists of his masterwork. Corky's tantrums are utterly sublime - "I hate you, and I hate your ASS FACE !" is still the best phone cuss we know of.
David Holzman's Diary (1967)
The Setup: A fretful wannabe filmmaker decides his underwhelming life might achieve greater focus by aiming his dusty camera at his own daily failings.
Why It Rules: Director Jim McBride essentially spawned the genre with this hazy, is-it-or-isn't-it (it isn't) slab of monochrome fabricated reality. L.M. Kit Carson excels as Holzman, sending up modern man's self-regarding malaise while making it seem wholly justifiable.
Punishment Park (1971)
The Setup: US militia 'supervise' a group of hippie conscientious objectors, traversing a desert wasteland in a barefoot endurance 'game' as penalty for dodging the draft.
Why It Rules: Tapping directly into the pulsing jugular of anti-Vietnam sentiment, Peter Watkins' extraordinary footage captures unknown actors improvising in harsh conditions - and often appearing confused as to where the line between film shoot and genuine threat was being drawn.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
The Setup: A month in the cursed/blessed lives of histrionic Brit hair-metallers Spinal Tap, viewed through the lens of director Rob Reiner as the long-suffering helmer charged with capturing it.
Why It Rules: No other film fakeout has packed so much mock into one pseudo-doc. Reiner and writer Christopher Guest's evident intimacy with the scene they’re ripping on elevates sneery parody into true art - this one most assuredly goes to 11.
Lake Mungo (2008)
The Setup: A teenage girl drowns while swimming at a local dam in rural Australia. Soon after her burial, the grieving family start to experience strange happenings at their home and call in a parapsychologist to investigate...
Why It Rules: Yeah, that's right. Number 1. As glorious as Spinal Tap is, we've all seen it at least 18 times. But Lake Mungo is both hugely underrated and criminally underseen.
The TV doc set-up is beautifully crafted, the acting subtle and always convincing and the story cranks and slows and twists and accelerates, aided by some magnificent sound design and spine-prickling spooks.
It's a film that manages to grip tightly without overplaying or over-fussing, pulling off the rare horror trick of delivering on scares but retaining a solid base of humanity.
Lake Mungo is out now on DVD. Get it. Get it. GET IT!!! And then tell everyone you know to get it...
