--- title: Best Documentaries Hollywood Hasn't Made Yet description: With so many documentaries out this year, here are a few subjects that filmmakers should target next canonical: https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/ author: Michael Roffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-15T20:33:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:18:54.618Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Best Documentaries Hollywood Hasn't Made Yet og:description: With so many documentaries out this year, here are a few subjects that filmmakers should target next og:url: https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5408ceb93e751a0a/69868ac9810bbb5b0bc91101/451874407.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stephen King Portrait Session og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Best Documentaries Hollywood Hasn't Made Yet twitter:description: With so many documentaries out this year, here are a few subjects that filmmakers should target next twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5408ceb93e751a0a/69868ac9810bbb5b0bc91101/451874407.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Five Pop Culture Documentaries That Hollywood Should Make > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Michael Roffman](https://time.com/author/michael-roffman/)  ## Michael Roffman Apr 15, 2014 8:33 PM UTC  Stephen King Stephen KingUlf Andersen—Getty Images  by [Michael Roffman](https://time.com/author/michael-roffman/)  ## Michael Roffman Apr 15, 2014 8:33 PM UTC It’s only April and already there’s a rare collection of pop culture documentaries to tickle the mind: Mike Myers squeezed the life out of legendary rock ‘n’ roll manager Shep Gordon with _Supermensch_, Jeff Radice expanded the civil rights history of Dock Ellis with _No No: A Dockumentary_, Charlie Lyne waxed nostalgic over 200 coming-of-age classics in _Beyond Clueless_, Alexandre O. Philippe studied zombies with _Doc of the Dead_ and Frank Pavich brought justice to _Jodorowsky’s_ _Dune_. While there’s also been a handful of vastly important political documentaries — see: _Damnation_, _The Immortalists_, and _The Great Invisible_ — something must be said of the films that manage to teach and entertain at the same time. Those are the documentaries that don’t exactly scare you: for every _Taxi to the Darkside_, there’s also a _20 Feet from Stardom_, and while critics and filmmakers can argue forever on what’s more impacting, both get you in the seats. What’s more, both are equally integral to the form. Here’s a shortlist of subjects that might prove fruitful for any documentarians looking to put the lens on entertainment. ### Bonnaroo Music Festival Founded in 2002, Bonnaroo has since become the go-to North American music festival, rivaled only by Goldenvoice’s Coachella in Indio, CA. Each June, the festival takes over a 700-acre farm in Manchester, TN and showcases the most acclaimed talent in music history. Past performers include Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, The Police, Kanye West, Radiohead, The Beach Boys — the list goes on. While there have been several fan-sourced documentaries over the years, there’s been no authoritative documentary so far. Think about Michael Wadleigh’s breathtaking _Woodstock_, or even D.A. Pennebaker’s classic _Monterey Pop —_ both legendary pictures that captured a movement and a generation. It’s high time someone does the same for the ‘Roo. And properly. ### “The Fatty Arbuckle Curse” For decades, producers have tried to get a proper film going about the violent silent film actor Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. A popular screenplay circulated around Hollywood over time eventually landed in the hands of John Belushi, then John Candy, and _then_ Chris Farley. Notice a trend? Not surprisingly, the series of young deaths has spawned what many refer to as “The Fatty Arbuckle Curse,” since the script popped up so close to each actor’s respective deaths. Similar to _Jodorowsky’s_ _Dune_, it would be entertaining to see what exactly happened with this failed project, and it might come at a good time, too. Currently, HBO is adapting Arbuckle’s life for the small screen based on David A. Yallop’s _The Day the Laughter Stopped_ with _Modern Family_ star Eric Stonestreet at the lead. Fingers crossed? ### Gilda Radner In an era of Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey and Amy Schumer, it would be wise to turn the page back to one of the earliest female comics: Gilda Radner. With the exception of a TV movie and an episode of _E! True Hollywood Story_, in addition to the occasional _Saturday Night Live_ retrospectives, there hasn’t been a proper documentary about the late star. But what a story to tell! Despite an early death, Radner lived one hell of a life, what with her stint at 30 Rock, her one-woman Broadway show, her film appearances and marriage to Gene Wilder. Given that her peers aren’t getting any younger, this is one subject that deserves a little priority. Our advice? Start with Radner’s heartbreaking memoir, _It’s Always Something_. ### Stephen King Forty years later, Stephen King remains just that: a king. The Maine writer has sold over 350 million copies of his books, and he shows zero signs of slowing down. There are many layers to his psyche, whether it’s his fascination with classic rock, his longtime support of the Boston Red Sox or his reasoning for buying the van that nearly killed him… and that’s what would make him such an engrossing subject to study. What’s more horrifying than stepping into the mind of the creator? So far, nobody’s accomplished it: the 1999 documentary _Stephen King: Shining in the Dark_ is both incomplete and inconsequential, while the various one-hour spots on TV don’t even scratch the surface of the famed genre writer. No, someone needs to get intimate with the New Englander, even if it means a visit to _Pet Sematery_, a tour through _Salem’s Lot_ or a drive with _Christine_. ### Alonzo Mourning Few basketball players live a life like Alonzo Mourning. Currently, the former All-Star is Vice President of Player Programs and Development for the Miami Heat and devotes much of his time to charity work in and around Miami. But here’s the thing: He wasn’t always the nice guy. For a long time, he was often considered one of the many bad boys of the NBA, an edge that twice earned him NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and a spot on the NBA All-Defensive Team. (Go read about his 1998 on-court fight with ex-teammate Larry Johnson. It’s wild.) This year, Mourning will receive the praise he deserves when he’s inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Why not accompany the event with a full-length documentary? Who knows — perhaps the Heat’s prospective threepeat might turn some gears for No. 33\. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/"},"headline":"Five Pop Culture Documentaries That Hollywood Should Make","datePublished":"2014-04-15T20:33:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:18:54.618Z","description":"With so many documentaries out this year, here are a few subjects that filmmakers should target next","url":"https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/","keywords":["movies","Sports topic","Stephen King","documentaries"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5408ceb93e751a0a/69868ac9810bbb5b0bc91101/451874407.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Roffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-roffman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5408ceb93e751a0a/69868ac9810bbb5b0bc91101/451874407.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stephen King Portrait Session","caption":"Stephen King Portrait Session","creditText":"Ulf Andersen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/63444/new-documentaries-best-pop-culture/","name":"Five Pop Culture Documentaries That Hollywood Should Make"}}]}] ```