Does Capturing The Friedmans make your all-time list?
I’d like to put together an ongoing list or “chart” of the all-time classics in true crime — one for each medium. Feature documentaries, docuseries, TV movies, books, magazine articles, podcasts…hell, we can do a murder-ballads list if anyone’s into that. I might leave the polls open all year, I might make it an annual thing, I still don’t have a catchy name for it that isn’t also utterly tasteless (I just can’t bring myself to use “Number One With A Bullet,” for example) so for now it’s The B.E. Most Wantedand if someone comes up with a clever jury-prize pun we’ll discuss it in chambers. (Suggestions on the categories also perfectly welcome!)
But it’s never too early to start the nominations process, so let’s begin with true-crime documentaries — by which I mean feature-length projects that we think of as movies, not series, though it’s fine if they aired on TV. Documentary “shorts” qualify here; the Paradise Lost trilogy qualifies here; if you’re not sure, just throw it in here and I’ll cull the list later.
Your best, most important documentaries, the ones you’d put on a class syllabus or send into space on Voyager 3. Go. — SDB
There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
Gimme Shelter
Tower
Dear Zachary
I loved Three Identical Strangers but not sure if it would qualify as a "classic"...but it sure is RIVETING.
A recent one - Navalny is excellent
American Murder - The Family Next Door was also very good / haunting
Tales of the Grim Sleeper, The Chesire Murders
The PBS/American Experience- Jonestown
The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris classic
Paradise Lost trilogy
Mommy Dead and Dearest