4. King Lines (2007)
If you cant spare much more than an hour, King Lines is a cool documentary that you can knock out in the early afternoon, or even on your lunch break. The documentary follows the international pursuits of Chris Sharma, a professional rock climber who climbs the most challenging and unforgiving rock formations on earth. Not only is the audience treated to some of the most picturesque and visually arresting landscapes on earth, but the film is a dwarfing experience that can open your eyes to the sure grandeur that this planet has to offer. Ostensibly, the film sounds like a boring sports video that just follows some kid who goes around and climbs rocks, but it is truly remarkable to see a (comparatively) tiny human being scaling massive walls of stone that have likely been erected for millions of years. Despite how dangerous the activity is surely a single misstep could be fatal in some instances Chris moves with confidence and delicate grace as he crawls along the faces and bellies of these enormous geographical structures. The documentary also highlights a specific goal the main character wishes to accomplish, which gives the audience a nice narrative frame of reference and contributes to the general cohesiveness of the feature. Whats so baffling, though, is how close Chris comes to fulfilling this goal, but how many times it has (literally) slipped out of his fingers. His work and sheer persistence makes the films conclusion all the more gratifying.