Great Documentaries
by hallebjer | created - 05 Apr 2018 | updated - 08 Dec 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2018 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 259 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Judd Apatow presents an emotional two-part in-depth look at the life, career and complex internal struggles of his loving mentor, the influential stand-up comedian and actor Garry Shandling, based on Shandling's personal diaries.
Director: Judd Apatow | Stars: Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow, Kevin Nealon, Mike Shandling
Votes: 2,178
2. I Know That Voice (2013)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
Several voice actors discuss their art and their careers.
Director: Lawrence Shapiro | Stars: Charlie Adler, Pamela Adlon, Carlos Alazraqui, Jack Angel
Votes: 2,859
3. Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents (2015)
87 min | Documentary, Music
Theory of Obscurity tells the story of the renegade sound and video collective known as The Residents. A story that spans 40 years and is clouded in mystery. Many details surrounding the ... See full summary »
Director: Don Hardy | Stars: Gerald Casale, Les Claypool, Chris Combs, Nolan Cook
Votes: 565
4. Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary, Adventure
A behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
Director: David Gregory | Stars: Richard Stanley, Kier-La Janisse, Michael Gingold, Graham Humphreys
Votes: 4,413
5. An Honest Liar (2014)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
The life and career of the renowned stage magician turned scientific skeptic of the paranormal, James Randi.
Directors: Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein | Stars: James Randi, Penn Jillette, Teller, Ray Hyman
Votes: 10,499 | Gross: $0.12M
6. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015)
Not Rated | 98 min | Documentary, History
A look at the history of the American comedy publication and production company, National Lampoon, from its beginning in the 1970s to 2010, featuring rare and never-before-seen footage.
Director: Douglas Tirola | Stars: Danny Abelson, Judd Apatow, Kevin Bacon, Henry Beard
Votes: 2,552 | Gross: $0.06M
7. Deep Web (2015)
TV-MA | 90 min | Documentary
A feature documentary that explores the rise of a new Internet; decentralized, encrypted, dangerous and beyond the law; with particular focus on the FBI capture of the Tor hidden service Silk Road, and the judicial aftermath.
Director: Alex Winter | Stars: Ross Ulbricht, James Chaparro, Nicolas Christin, Cindy Cohn
Votes: 9,639
8. Burroughs: The Movie (1983)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
Burroughs: The Movie explores the life and times of controversial Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs, with an intimacy never before seen and never repeated. The film charts the ... See full summary »
Director: Howard Brookner | Stars: William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huncke, James Grauerholz
Votes: 795
9. Welcome to Leith (2015)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
When a noted white supremacist moves into their town, the residents of Leith, North Dakota do what they can to prevent him from taking control of the municipality.
Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker | Stars: Ryan Schock, Heather Cook, Lee Cook, Bobby Harper
Votes: 4,461 | Gross: $0.04M
10. The Search for General Tso (2014)
Not Rated | 71 min | Documentary, Comedy, History
Who was General Tso, and why are we eating his chicken? This feature documentary explores the origins and ubiquity of Chinese-American food through the story of an iconic sweet and spicy chicken dish.
Director: Ian Cheney | Stars: Susan Carter, Ian Cheney, Philip Chiang, Andrew Coe
Votes: 1,844 | Gross: $0.01M
11. Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words (2016)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
An in-depth look at the life and work of avant-garde musician, Frank Zappa.
Director: Thorsten Schütte | Stars: Frank Zappa, Steve Allen, Angel, Chuck Ash
Votes: 1,371 | Gross: $0.35M
12. What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
Director: Liz Garbus | Stars: Nina Simone, Lisa Simone Kelly, Roger Nupie, Al Schackman
Votes: 14,834
13. 13th (2016)
TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales
Votes: 37,682
14. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
PG-13 | 79 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
Die-hard gamers compete to break world records on classic arcade games.
Director: Seth Gordon | Stars: Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Mark Alpiger, Adam Wood
Votes: 37,580 | Gross: $0.68M
15. Jodorowsky's Dune (2013)
PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary
The story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
Director: Frank Pavich | Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, H.R. Giger, Chris Foss
Votes: 27,579 | Gross: $0.65M
16. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Not Rated | 107 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
Director: Andrew Jarecki | Stars: Arnold Friedman, Jesse Friedman, David Friedman, Elaine Friedman
Votes: 27,131 | Gross: $3.12M
17. Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
PG-13 | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
Director: Malik Bendjelloul | Stars: Rodriguez, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore
Votes: 72,914 | Gross: $3.97M
18. The Pistol Shrimps (2016)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary
A group of actresses, musicians, writers, comedians, and moms who compete in the Los Angeles women's recreational basketball league.
Director: Brent Hodge | Stars: Stephanie Allynne, Sarah Balagia, Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Blasucci
Votes: 311
19. Tickled (2016)
R | 92 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
Journalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn't stop him getting to the bottom of a story stranger than fiction.
Directors: David Farrier, Dylan Reeve | Stars: David Farrier, Dylan Reeve, David Starr, Kevin Clarke
Votes: 20,729 | Gross: $0.61M
20. The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
Not Rated | 105 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
The story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26.
Director: Brian Knappenberger | Stars: Aaron Swartz, Tim Berners-Lee, Cindy Cohn, Gabriella Coleman
Votes: 18,040 | Gross: $0.05M
21. TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard (2013)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
An intellectual freedoms documentary based around the interpersonal triumphs, and defeats of the three main characters against the largest industry in the known universe. The media industry.
Director: Simon Klose | Stars: Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Peter Althin
Votes: 13,930
22. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
R | 106 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The history of the independent film company, The Cannon Film Group, Inc..
Director: Mark Hartley | Stars: Sam Firstenberg, David Paulsen, Luigi Cozzi, Menahem Golan
Votes: 5,994
23. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States' 2008 mortgage crisis.
Director: Steve James | Stars: Thomas Sung, Hwei Lin Sung, Cyrus Vance Jr., Matt Taibbi
Votes: 2,942 | Gross: $0.10M
24. Zeitgeist (2007 Video)
Not Rated | 118 min | Documentary, History
Mythology and belief in society today, presenting uncommon perspectives of common cultural issues.
Director: Peter Joseph | Stars: Chogyam Trungpa, Jordan Maxwell, George Carlin, Bill Hicks
Votes: 50,374
25. King Corn (2007)
Unrated | 88 min | Documentary
King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from ... See full summary »
Director: Aaron Woolf | Stars: Bob Bledsoe, Earl L. Butz, Dawn Cheney, Ian Cheney
Votes: 2,089 | Gross: $0.08M
26. Super High Me (2007)
R | 94 min | Documentary, Comedy
Stand up comedian and marijuana user Doug Benson documents thirty days of pot free living and thirty days of non-stop use to compare the effects of both.
Director: Michael Blieden | Stars: Brian Unger, Gary Cohan, Robert Gore, Sean Tabibian
Votes: 13,139
27. Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary, History
A fast moving odyssey into the subterranean world of the rarely explored province of Filipino genre filmmaking.
Director: Mark Hartley | Stars: Roger Corman, John Landis, Pete Tombs, Mark Holcomb
Votes: 1,805
28. That Guy Dick Miller (2014)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Biography
Documentary about veteran character actor Dick Miller, whose career in and outside of Hollywood has spanned almost 200 films across six decades, featuring a diverse range of interviews with directors, co-stars, and contemporaries.
Director: Elijah Drenner | Stars: Dick Miller, Lainie Miller, Gilbert Adler, Allan Arkush
Votes: 529
29. Batman & Bill (2017)
TV-14 | 93 min | Documentary, Animation, Mystery
Documentary about the uncredited co-creator of Batman, Bill Finger.
Directors: Don Argott, Sheena M. Joyce | Stars: Thomas Andrae, Jerry Bails, Otto Binder, Benjamin Zaido Cruz
Votes: 2,271
30. A Respectable Life (1979)
102 min | Documentary
About a couple of friends in Stockholms drug world.
Director: Stefan Jarl | Stars: Kenneth 'Kenta' Gustafsson, Gustav 'Stoffe' Svensson, Eva Blondin, Patric Gustafsson
Votes: 1,232
31. They Call Us Misfits (1968)
100 min | Documentary
The first entry in a series of films about the lives of social misfits Kenneth 'Kenta' Gustafsson and Gustav 'Stoffe' Svensson.
Directors: Stefan Jarl, Jan Lindqvist | Stars: Stefan Jarl, Kenneth 'Kenta' Gustafsson, Gustav 'Stoffe' Svensson, Pundar-Bosse
Votes: 1,606
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