The Wall Street Journal-20080202-WEEKEND JOURNAL- Picks -- Hit List - Morgan Spurlock- The -Super Size Me- Director on Films That Inspired His Work

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WEEKEND JOURNAL; Picks -- Hit List / Morgan Spurlock: The 'Super Size Me' Director on Films That Inspired His Work

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Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker behind the hit documentary about fast food, "Super Size Me," has moved on from McDonald's to the Middle East. In his new film, "Where in the World is Osama bin Laden," Mr. Spurlock goes on a global search to find the al Qaeda leader. The movie -- which blends serious themes, humor and animated sequences -- premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival and opens in April. We asked Mr. Spurlock about the movies that have most inspired his work.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

dir. Elia Kazan

The film follows the story of a radio personality-turned-television- star from Arkansas, Lonesome Rhodes (played by Andy Griffith). "This is the ultimate film about how absolute power corrupts absolutely," says Mr. Spurlock.

Being There (1979)

dir. Hal Ashby

Chance, played by Peter Sellers, is a simple gardener who is thrust into the realm of politics and celebrity. "Chance gets roped into a world of privilege, where he faces power politics -- that's the kind of story I'd like to tell one day, when I move forward into narrative films," Mr. Spurlock says.

Scanners (1981)

dir. David Cronenberg

This sci-fi horror film is about "scanners," a breed of powerful telepaths. In one scene, the top scanner (Michael Ironside) "makes this guy's head explode like a watermelon, and it's awesome -- that was the single moment that made me want to be in the movie industry forever," says Mr. Spurlock, who first saw the movie when he was about 11 years old.

Roger & Me (1989)

dir. Michael Moore

"Had this movie never been made, it would have been really difficult -- impossible -- to get 'Super Size Me' made," says Mr. Spurlock. Mr. Moore's documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant in Flint, Mich., showed people that "a documentary could have a sense of humor and be more than a fly-on-the-wall movie," Mr. Spurlock says.

Brother's Keeper (1992)

dir. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

This "greatest documentary of all time," according to Mr. Spurlock, tells the story of Delbert Ward, who is accused of murdering one of his three brothers, William. All four siblings worked as farmers in the rural community of Munnsville, N.Y. -- a similar town to where Mr. Spurlock grew up, in Beckley, W.Va.