Capturing the Friedmans 2003

True crime documentaries and docuseries. Updated regularly.

Last update: 4/20/2024

This isn't intended to be a comprehensive list. I'm just going to be periodically updating this list with titles from the following IMDB search parameters:

https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=feature,tv_movie,tv_series,tv_episode,tv_special,tv_miniseries,documentary,short,tv_short&genres=crime,documentary

UPDATED: 4/23/24

Every year there are a huge number of movies that fly right under the radar of the average movie fan. movies that are great but just not that well known.

There are plenty of movie gems out there and hopefully this list will help you find some.

Feel free to submit new movies in the comments below.

This list contains movies/documentaries and short films. The list was originally created on IMDb. http://goo.gl/gHles

Well over a century has passed since the Lumière brothers frightened the life out of Parisians with The Arrival of a Train at a Station, and well over a million titles have since been recorded - if the Internet Movie Database is anything to go by.

Out of these million-plus movies, our team of experts has picked what we believe is the essential 1,000 - those that best sum up the dazzling achievement and variety of the movies.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/series/1000-films-to-see-before-you-die

last uptade: apr 2024

Regularly updated list of True Crime documentaries & docuseries about murder, abduction, cults, corruption, corporate, fraud, etc. etc.

A mixture of Murder, Disappearances, Conspiracies and Cults

*updated regularly

This is it. The end of the lists. Finally! So the other day I posted the best documentaries of the decade as selected by a group of acclaimed documentary filmmakers. Now, we’ve got The Documentary Blog’s own top 50 docs of the decade. I was originally aiming for 25 but I just couldn’t cut it down, so 50 will have to do. Let me stress that this list represents my own personal opinion and nothing more. Hopefully some people can use this as a starting point to check out some great films. Feel free to share your own lists in the comments and let me know what I missed! One thing’s for sure; it has been a great decade for documentaries!"

Source: http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com/index.php/2010/01/05/the-documentary-blogs-top-25-documentaries-of-the-decade/. TDB is Jay Cheel who is a Co-Host of the Filmjunk-Podcast.

Since the 2015 TSPDT has released a companion to their greatest 1000 films, consisting of the films ranked 1001-2000. This list contains the most recent version of this list, with all the previous lists in the history.

Source: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_films1001-2000.htm

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (Winners & Nominees)

Over 1,000 films are listed in this visually arresting, full-color celebration of the silver screen. Film personalities, including actors, directors, cinematographers, and animators, write about their favorite films from a variety of angles. Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman, and Nick Hornby are among those who weigh in. Writers are matched to suitable (or sometimes surprising) themes and genres within the wider subject of how films can alter the course of a life. Movie stills and posters, trivia, and top-ten lists make this a book that can be dipped into or read from cover to cover. Great screen moments — endings, beginnings, kisses, death scenes — are given special spreads. The eclectic approach speaks to fans of big Hollywood blockbusters and factoid-reciting film geeks alike.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Time-1000-Films-Change-Guides/dp/1904978738

All the Oscar nominees in the Documentary (Feature) category (1943 - to date, reverse chronological order display).
Winners list > https://trakt.tv/users/oropher_e/lists/academy-awards-best-documentary-feature-winners?sort=rank,desc

Source:
Years 1931-2018 come from:
The New York Times: Book of Movies
the essential 1,000 films to see
2019 ed

Years after 2018 come from NYT website.

work in progress
There are discrepancies between the website and the book, particular for years after 2003. Please leave a comment for any errors you find.

From the book by Jennifer Eiss. The list is arranged by chapter. Each chapter starts with a top 10 (in alphabetical order), followed by the "best of the rest" (in alphabetical order).

#1-83: Dramatic Situatons
#84-133: Gripping Tales
#134-165: Lights, Camera…!
#166-228: Visionary Universes
#229-280: Criminal Underworlds
#281-360: Tales of Terror
#361-432: Cult Humor
#433-453: The Wild Wild West
#454-502: Film Lab

Source: https://www.amazon.com/500-Essential-Cult-Movies-Ultimate/dp/1402774869

Highlights of the genre of non-fiction storytelling.

hbo movies

Rotten Tomatoes - Best of year

Episodes, shows, and movies from the podcast. Does not include Patreon-only episodes.

Missing:
Episode 17 - Captivated
Episode 195 - Escape to Alcatraz
Episode 242 - The Last Call Killer
Episode 300 - Debunking the Myth of Patient Zero (YouTube)
Episode 328 - Catching the Craigslist Killer
Episode 331 - Murder in Mustang

Updated 2/4/2024.

List compiled from: https://www.vogue.com/article/best-documentaries-of-all-time

Ranked as in the list

1: 13th (2016)
2: A Poem Is a Naked Person (2015)
3: The Act of Killing (2012)
4: American Factory (2019)
5: American Movie (1999)
6: Amy (2015)
7: Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
8: Blackfish (2013)
9: Bowling for Columbine (2002)
10: Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
11: Burden of Dreams (1982)
12: Cameraperson (2016)
13: Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
14: Crumb (1994)
15: Citizenfour (2014)
16: City of Gold (2015)
17: Cusp (2021)
18: Dark Money (2018)
19: Disclosure (2020)
20: Don’t Look Back (1967)
21: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
22: Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
23: F for Fake (1973)
24: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
25: Gimme Shelter (1970)
26: The Gleaners and I (2000)
27: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
28: Grey Gardens (1975)
29: Grizzly Man (2005)
30: Harlan County, USA (1976)
31: Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991)
32: Hoop Dreams (1994)
33: How to Survive a Plague (2012)
34: I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
35: Jane (2017)
36: Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
37: Kate Plays Christine (2016)
38: Kedi (2016)
39: Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
40: Man on Wire (2008)
41: McQueen (2018)
42: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)
43: My Octopus Teacher (2020)
44: Nanook of the North (1922)
45: Night and Fog (1956)
46: O.J.: Made in America (2016)
47: Original Cast Album: Company (1970)
48: Paris Is Burning (1990)
49: Pina (2011)
50: The Queen of Versailles (2012)
51: Restrepo (2010)
52: Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
53: Salesman (1969)
54: Searching for Sugarman (2012)
55: Senna (2010)
56: The September Issue (2009)
57: Sherman’s March (1985)
58: Shoah (1985)
59: Spellbound (2002)
60: Stories We Tell (2012)
61: Super Size Me (2004)
62: The Thin Blue Line (1988)
63: The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
64: Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)
65: The Up Series (1964–)
66: Waltz With Bashir (2008)
67: The War Room (1993)
68: Weiner (2016)
69: West of Memphis (2012)
70: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts (2006)
71: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_actual_events

Docs

The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films list serves as a companion to the They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1,000 Greatest Films of all time list which, - by its nature - tends to have very few films from the 21st century in it. The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films list attempts to highlight and honour this century's most critically revered films and act as a sort of 'resting bay' for many great films that are likely to be included in the 1,000 Greatest Films list sooner or later.

Source: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/21stcentury.htm

HollyWood Movies based on Popularity