My Favorite Documentaries of the Decade

Best Documentaries of the Decade

Toward the end of each year I typically compile a few “best of” lists, but it just dawned on me that not only are we approaching the end of the year, but the end of a decade!

As a frequent and fervent connoisseur of documentaries, I decided to compile a list of my favorite documentaries over the past decade. I originally intended to sort each year’s entries from most-to-least enjoyed, but in the end I decided I enjoyed them all in different ways. Also, I’m lazy. Enjoy the list.


2010

  • Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape: In the 1980s, Britain declared 72 films morally reprehensible and banned them from stores, dubbing “video nasties.” This documentary talks about the era, the effects of censorship, and perhaps more importantly, lists and shows clips of all 72 films.
  • Never Sleep Again – The Elm Street Legacy: This four-hour documentary covers every detail of the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
  • Catfish: The documentary that redifined the word “catfish” and launched an MTV reality series.
  • Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? I was familiar with some of Harry Nilsson’s music (including his work on the Popeye soundtrack), but unfamiliar with his life story.
  • Exit Through the Gift Shop: A documentary about Banksy and other street graffiti artists. Whether or not the film is 100% factual is immaterial.


2011

  • Hot Coffee: There’s more (a lot more) to the story of the woman who sued McDonald’s after spilling a cup of hot coffee in her lap, including a massive movement to “weaken civil justice.” A must watch.
  • Jiro Dreams of Sushi: A documentary about Jiro, an 85-year-old sushi masters, and his two sons. A quest for the perfect sushi is used as a metaphor.
  • The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: A documentary about product placement in films, which was funded by product placement. Morgan Spurlock at his best.
  • Anatomy of a Bigfoot Hoax: A group of Bigfoot researchers purchased the hairy remains of a mysterious creature, frozen in a block of ice. Imagine their surprise when after thawing the ice, they discovered a gorilla suit stuffed with animal entrails. At least they got this documentary out of the deal!
  • Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel: The story of Roger Corman, one of Hollywood’s most infamous DIY filmmakers.
  • I Am Bruce Lee: The story of Bruce Lee, told by those who knew him.
  • Pearl Jam: 20: A fantastic documentary not just about the band, but Seattle and the grunge music scene.


2012

  • My Amityville Horror: The house that haunted Daniel Lutz as a child in the 1970s continues to haunt his adult life today.
  • Bones Brigade – An Autobiography: The story of a ragtag skateboarding team that just happened to include Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Tony Alva, Tommy Guerrero, and others.
  • Bound by Flesh: The life story of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who began life as sideshow freaks and went on to perform on vaudeville and Hollywood before losing everything and working at a supermarket.
  • GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling: The story of the first all-women wrestling market, which inspired the Netflix series.
  • West of Memphis: One of several documentaries about the tragic “Memphis Three” murder case. (For an even more in-depth look, check out the Paradise Lost documentary trilogy.)


2013

  • Rewind This: The 1st of two documentaries about the rise and fall of VCRs, VHS, and home video.
  • Adjust Your Tracking: The 2nd of two documentaries about the rise and fall of VCRs, VHS, and home video.
  • We Steal Secrets – The Story of Wikileaks: A look at Wikileaks and Julian Assange. A good starting point, although much has happened in the story over the past six years.
  • Birth of the Living Dead: Inside the creation of Night of the Living Dead, including lots of interviews with Romero himself.
  • Tim’s Vermeer: This Penn & Teller backed film takes a look at Tim Jenison and his attempt to discover an ancient painting technique. Super interesting.


2014

  • Electric Boogaloo – The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films: A fantastically fun documentary that delves into the formation of Cannon Films, with tons of inside stories and movie clips.
  • Go-Go Boys, The – The Inside Story of Cannon Films: The two men who founded Cannon Films refused to participate in the above documentary, and made their own. Electric Boogaloo is better, but this one does contain first-person interviews not in the first.
  • Meet the Hitlers: A documentary that asks what it’s like to grow up today with the last name “Hitler,” and ultimately asks the question, “what’s in a name?”
  • Barkley Marathon, The – The Race that Eats Its Young: Based loosely on a prison escape, only ten people have finished this race in 25 years. The film is as delightfully crazy as the race.
  • Life Itself – Roger Ebert: A look at the life of Roger Ebert, filmed before he passed away.
  • All This Mayhem: The story of Tas and Ben Pappas, two Australian skateboarders who had and lost everything.
  • Citizenfour: The most complete and unbiased account of Edward Snowden.
  • A LEGO Brickumentary: The past, present, and future of LEGO.


2015

  • Doomed – The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four: The crazy story of a film that was never intended to be completed or released, and never was… officially.
  • Back in Time: A look at thirty years of fandom surrounding the Back to the Future trilogy.
  • I Am Chris Farley: – The story of Chris Farley’s life.
  • Amy: The story of Amy Winehouse’s life.
  • Cobain: Montage of Heck: The story of Kurt Cobain’s life and his band, Nirvana.
  • Soaked in Bleach: An investigating look into the death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
  • Jaco: The story Jaco Pastorius, one of the most influential modern bassists.


2016

  • Gringo – The Dangerous Life of John McAfee: The crazy story of John McAfee — founder of McAfee Antivirus, and on the run for murder.
  • VHS Massacre – Cult Films And The Decline Of Physical Media: The third documentary on my list about VHS, this one focuses on the movie collectors, the death of physical media, and its affect on indie filmmakers.
  • Colossus of Destiny – A Melvin’s Tale: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Melvins in one film.
  • 8 Bit Generation – The Commodore Wars: The story of Commodore computers from the men who were there.


2017

  • Dumb – The Story of Big Brother Magazine: Big Brother, a skateboarding magazine formed in the 1990s, was also the birthplace of Jackass.
  • Gilbert: A look at Gilbert Godfried’s personal vs. professional personas, what life is like for a travelling stand up comedian, and the joke that nearly cost him everything.
  • Love, Gilda: A touching look at Gilda Radner’s life.
  • 30 Years Of Garbage – The Garbage Pail Kids Story: More interesting than it deserves to be, a complete look at the history of Garbage Pail Kids.
  • Jim & Andy – The Great Beyond: To prepare for his portrayal of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon, actor Jim Carrey assumed the identity of Kaufman. A look at Carrey, Kaufman, and method acting.
  • 78/52 – Hitchcock’s Shower Scene: – An entire documentary about the shower scene in Psycho and its affect on cinema.
  • G-Funk: A documentary about the rap subgenre of g-funk, the men who created it, and the men who stole it from them.
  • Muppet Guys Talking: Five original Muppet performers gather in a room to talk about the history of the Muppets and life since the passing of Jim Henson.


2018

  • Meow Wolf – Origin Story: Meow Wolf is one of the premiere art installations in the country. This is the story of how it came to be.
  • Three Identical Strangers: The unbelievable story of adopted triplets who were separated at birth, found one another in their twenties, and the conspiracy behind their separation.
  • Bob Lazar – Area 51 and Flying Saucers: Bob Lazar seems like a perfectly normal guy who claims to have worked at Area 51, specifically reverse-engineering the propulsion systems on a crashed UFO.
  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor: The story of Mr. Rogers.
  • Andre the Giant: A look at the life of one of the most famous professional wrestlers of all time.


2019

  • Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: A look into Ted Bundy’s crimes that includes interviews with him on death row.
  • Weird Paul – Will Work for Views: Weird Paul, perhaps the world’s first video blogger, has been making videos and recording music for more than 35 in his own unique DIY style.
  • Beyond Hoarding: A look into the minds of hoarders; less about “trying to fix them” (like the television shows) and more about trying to understand them.
  • Boy Band Con – The Lou Pearlman Story: Lou Pearlman discovered NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and several other bands before being convicted of running one of history’s largest ponzi schemes.
  • Hail Satan?: An interesting look at modern Satanists and Satanism that is both interesting, entertaining, and at times, humorous. Includes the story about the attempt to get a Satanic statue installed at the Oklahoma state capitol.
  • The Amazing Johnathan Documentary: The mostly (probably) true story of the Amazing Johnathan — his illness, his retirement, and his return.

This list was compiled from blog posts, reviews I’ve written, and notes I’ve kept over the past ten years. It’s certainly possible I’ve left off one or more great documentaries I’ve seen, and even more possible that there are many I haven’t watched yet. See any obvious gaps? Let me know!

2 thoughts on “My Favorite Documentaries of the Decade”

  1. Great lists! While I’ve seen about half of these, there’s a lot here I’ve never heard of before that look awesome. Time to add some more stuff to my never ending Queue Of Death. :)

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