True confession: I don't get out to as many docs as I should. Oh sure, when a buzzy Oscar frontrunner is playing somewhere I'll seek it out, but I always fall into the habit of playing catch-up with the year's other worthy titles (especially the Oscar nominees) in January and February.
Of course, access to those titles is seldom easy. Some of them come and go so fast you have to wait for months until they show up on some online platform. Wim Wenders' The Salt of the Earth won't even get a limited theatrical run until the end of March. (Hey, Sony Pictures Classics/Mongrel Media: If you want my money, release your Oscar-nominated movie BEFORE the Oscars! #BadForBusiness)
Since my viewing queue of 2014 non-fic pics has peaked at eight, I've made this post a one-stop shop for my capsule reactions to all of them, starting off with the five that I myself would nominate for my own Best Documentary distinction: