7. Cinema! Cinema! Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde's Man Bites Dog
Man Bites Dog is a French mockumentary about a camera crew that follows around a serial killer. The crew finds the killer to be so charming and likable that they eventually help him in his chosen profession. A dark comedy that questions not only the idea of objectivity in documentary but the inherent participation of a documentary crew in what they are filming, Man Bites Dog has a unique spin on the violent anti-hero. The movie's narrative seems almost too ridiculous (the killer even gets the crew to dump bodies with him), but the insistence on following documentary film techniques make the movie seem real enough. The musical scene that makes it on to this list follows the crew and the killer getting drunk at a bar. The killer is kicked out for being too rowdy and in a moment of inebriated wisdom shouts out "I AM CINEMA!" He then begins to sing as the crew follows him out of the bar on to the street in one continuous shot, and he gets the similarly drunk crew to sing along with him. He is cinema: violent and crude, with a certain mixture of pretension and stupidity, yet somehow he is charming and compelling. The crew follows him because he is where the action is, and although his despicable nature becomes more and more apparent throughout the film the cinema of Man Bites Dog commands your attention.