To be more specific, I don't think I've seen enough of 2005's well-received docs to form a solid opinion. There's one I didn't mention which aired on the BBC in 2002 and got released in NYC theatres last summer. It's called The Century of the Self and it got uniformy excellent reviews. Not on dvd yet. But my fave doc of the year is out on dvd. I'm excited about a second viewing.

I'm usually reluctant to generalize and make lists and stuff when I've missed so many films, particularly docs.