Best Documentary (2002) The purpose of a documentary is to provide a factual record or report on some aspect of life. And, whatever your stance on gun control, we should all be able to agree that Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine did not do that. Over time, it's been proven that just the opposite is true. Several key scenes from the lauded documentary have been debunked or, at the very least, recognized as misleading. Moore plays muckraker for the entirety of his documentary's runtime, and seems less worried about presenting the important facts about gun control and America's history of violence than he does with inserting himself into the national dialogue. It's painfully obvious that Moore doesn't want the attention to fall entirely on the film itself, but also on the whiny, shouting director who's supposed to be behind the camera. What makes this one so hard to include on the list is all the potential it had to open up a genuine discussion about gun violence. But most of that potential was wasted in favor of cutesy cartoon scenes, controversy baiting, and the type of bullhorn chastising that belongs at a poorly thought out political rally.
