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"  Our friend Roger Ebert is right: We are in the midst of a great era for documentaries. His list of the ten best from last year is, as he points out, only a choice selection from a very big basket of goodies. More evidence of the happy cornucopia: his list and the Oscars&amp;#039; share only a single entry. (It&amp;#039;s Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens&amp;#039;s The Cove; we liked it, too.) Ebert and we also liked Anvil: The Story of Anvil, though we&amp;#039;re on our own in highlighting the decidedly more somber Which Way Home, which, if you&amp;#039;re looking to win that pool on Sunday, is probably a sure thing for Best Documentary. (Other good places to look are here for the biggies, here for the not-so-biggies, here for the props, here for the buzz, and maybe here for some crazy.) The great thing is, a lot of the nominated docs will be playing near you this weekend and over the coming few. Oscar season gives the whole industry a bump, not just the billion-dollar boys, and for smaller outfits it&amp;#039;s often the excuse to use up that last shred of distribution money.  You&amp;#039;re encouraged to help them make some of it back. And we&amp;#039;d be remiss if we didn&amp;#039;t mention that, thanks to a grant program just created by Roger and his wonderful wife Chaz, there will be at least one more great documentary coming your way soon. Enjoy the big weekend. Click here for Esquire&amp;#039;s guide to Oscar Night 2010 and stay tuned for the 2010 Oscars best-dressed list live! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a7099/best-documentary-2009/>