Films About People
by BoozeLite | created - 15 Apr 2014 | updated - 09 Feb 2020 | PublicFilms that focus on the dynamics of PEOPLE and not just the action or whatever
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1. Down by Law (1986)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Votes: 55,318 | Gross: $1.44M
9/10
2. Frank and Cindy (2007)
73 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
"Frank and Cindy" is a deeply-personal documentary about Frank Garcia, an '80s one-hit wonder musician, and his blonde bombshell wife Cindy, who makes him live in the basement.
Director: G.J. Echternkamp | Stars: Cynthia Brown, Frank Garcia
Votes: 390
6/10 not voyeuristic at all... nice
3. Withnail & I (1987)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown
Votes: 47,917 | Gross: $1.54M
not my favorite, but I can see why someone would like it
4. Bottle Rocket (1996)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three friends plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd, Shea Fowler
Votes: 83,542 | Gross: $0.56M
7/10 exaggerated but real.
5. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,600 | Gross: $3.17M
6. I Am Divine (2013)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
How Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, became John Waters' cinematic muse and an international drag icon.
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz | Stars: Divine, Michael Musto, Mark Payne, Greg Gorman
Votes: 3,126 | Gross: $0.06M
7. Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A profile of the noted and extraordinarily cheerful veteran New York City fashion photographer.
Director: Richard Press | Stars: Bill Cunningham, Anna Wintour, Michael Kors, Editta Sherman
Votes: 5,670 | Gross: $1.51M
8. The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Not Rated | 85 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A series of vignettes depicting the lives of the original Franciscan monks, including their leader and the bumbling Ginepro.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Aldo Fabrizi, Gianfranco Bellini, Peparuolo, Severino Pisacane
Votes: 4,046
9. Surfwise (2007)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Sport
Doug Pray explores the life of surfer Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz.
Director: Doug Pray | Stars: Juliette Paskowitz, David Paskowitz, Jonathan Paskowitz, Abraham Paskowitz
Votes: 1,641 | Gross: $0.27M
10. Guest of Cindy Sherman (2008)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary
A documentary on art-scene commentator Paul Hasegawa-Overacker's relationship with enigmatic photographer Cindy Sherman.
Directors: Tom Donahue, Paul Hasegawa-Overacker | Stars: Cindy Sherman, John Waters, Eric Bogosian, Danny DeVito
Votes: 240
11. Hated: GG Allin & the Murder Junkies (1993)
Not Rated | 52 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Documentary about notorious punk rock performer GG Allin.
Director: Todd Phillips | Stars: GG Allin, Merle Allin, Brian Unk Hunter, Shireen Kadivar
Votes: 3,522
12. Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)
R | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A look at the history of fame in the world through the eyes of pop star impresario, Rodney Bingenheimer.
Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Rodney Bingenheimer, David Bowie, Joey Ramone, Exene Cervenka
Votes: 1,646 | Gross: $0.26M
13. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
R | 104 min | Drama, Music
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund
Votes: 163,547 | Gross: $13.24M
14. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama
Follows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg
Votes: 90,470 | Gross: $7.36M
15. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,660 | Gross: $25.59M
16. Man on the Moon (1999)
R | 118 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Gerry Becker, Greyson Erik Pendry
Votes: 137,532 | Gross: $34.58M
17. Ghost World (2001)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
Two eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro
Votes: 126,871 | Gross: $6.22M
18. Dark Days (2000)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
A cinematic portrait of the homeless population who live permanently in the underground tunnels of New York City.
Director: Marc Singer | Star: Marc Singer
Votes: 7,183 | Gross: $0.43M
19. 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: 27,143 | Gross: $3.12M
20. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
R | 104 min | Drama
Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert
Votes: 61,777 | Gross: $6.40M
21. Alice Neel (2007)
Not Rated | 81 min | Documentary
The life and work of Alice Neel (1900-1984), American portrait painter. Part of the narration is chronological, part consists of interviews with friends, other artists, scholars, and family... See full summary »
Director: Andrew Neel | Stars: Alice Neel, Michel Auder, Phillip Bonosky, Chuck Close
Votes: 152 | Gross: $0.05M
22. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller
Votes: 313,308 | Gross: $52.36M
23. Ten Canoes (2006)
Unrated | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Australia's Northern Territory, a man tells us a story of his people and his land. It's about an older man, Minygululu, who has three wives and realizes that his younger brother Dayindi may try to steal away the youngest wife.
Directors: Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr | Stars: Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu
Votes: 5,112 | Gross: $0.28M
24. Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine (2008)
Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary
A journey inside the world of a legend of modern art and an icon of feminism. Onscreen, the nonagenarian Louise Bourgeois is magnetic, mercurial and emotionally raw-an uncompromising artist... See full summary »
Directors: Marion Cajori, Amei Wallach | Stars: Pandora Tabatabai Asbaghi, Jean-Louis Bourgeois, Louise Bourgeois, Guerrilla Girls
Votes: 154
25. How to Draw a Bunny (2002)
90 min | Documentary
Interviews with Christo, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Judith Malina, James Rosenquist and others help illuminate the life and work of Warhol contemporary Ray Johnson.
Director: John W. Walter | Stars: Joseph Ialacci, Richard Feigen, Frances Beatty, Mort Janklow
Votes: 610 | Gross: $0.00M
26. Tomboy (2011)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama
A family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.
Director: Céline Sciamma | Stars: Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani
Votes: 22,284 | Gross: $0.13M
27. Louie Bluie (1985)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary, Music
About the obscure country-blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Yank Rachell, Ikey Robinson
Votes: 900
28. Eva Hesse (2016)
PG-13 | 108 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Documentary feature film focusing on the life and times of Eva Hesse, a ground-breaking artist who was active in New York and Germany in the 1960's.
Director: Marcie Begleiter | Stars: Selma Blair, Bob Balaban, Patrick Kennedy, Julia-Maria Köhler
Votes: 182 | Gross: $0.11M
29. Danny Says (2015)
Unrated | 104 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The life and times of music manager and publicist Danny Fields, who worked with some of the biggest acts of the '60s and '70s, including the Doors, Cream, Lou Reed, Nico, Judy Collins, the Stooges and the Ramones.
Director: Brendan Toller | Stars: Mx Justin Vivian Bond, John Cale, Judy Collins, Alice Cooper
Votes: 850 | Gross: $0.04M
30. Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film The Killing Fields (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Spalding Gray, Sam Waterston, Ira Wheeler
Votes: 2,380 | Gross: $1.09M
31. All This Mayhem (2014)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Brothers Tas and Ben Pappas become the kings of professional skateboarding, but their hedonistic ways lead to a hard fall from grace.
Director: Eddie Martin | Stars: Tas Pappas, Ben Pappas, Tommy Caudill, Lance Conklin
Votes: 3,788
32. Two Days, One Night (2014)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama
Liège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée, Baptiste Sornin
Votes: 50,553 | Gross: $1.44M
33. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
R | 98 min | Drama
A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg
Votes: 40,571 | Gross: $19.40M
34. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Cleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck
Votes: 27,323
35. Vagabond (1985)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
A young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Méril, Stéphane Freiss, Setti Ramdane
Votes: 13,674
36. The Gleaners & I (2000)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: François Wertheimer, Agnès Varda, Jean La Planche, Bodan Litnanski
Votes: 8,809 | Gross: $0.15M
37. Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (2017)
103 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history.
Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana | Stars: George Clinton, Robbie Robertson, Gary Giddins, Martin Scorsese
Votes: 1,080 | Gross: $0.23M
38. Dealt (2017)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, Biography
Sixty-two year old Richard Turner is renowned as one of the world's greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. This is an in-depth look at a complex character who is one of magic's greatest hidden treasures.
Director: Luke Korem | Stars: Richard Turner, Johnny Thompson, Max Maven, Armando Lucero
Votes: 1,955 | Gross: $0.03M
39. Bill Nye: Science Guy (2017)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary
A famous television personality struggles to restore science to its rightful place in a world hostile to evidence and reason.
Directors: David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg | Stars: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Ann Druyan, Heather Berlin
Votes: 1,298 | Gross: $0.07M
40. Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)
TV-MA | 103 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Musician Cat Power narrates this documentary on Janis Joplin's evolution into a star from letters that Joplin wrote over the years to her friends, family, and collaborators.
Director: Amy Berg | Stars: Cat Power, Janis Joplin, Karleen Bennett, Laura Joplin
Votes: 5,641 | Gross: $0.41M
41. The B-Side (2016)
R | 76 min | Documentary
A look at the life and work of photographer Elsa Dorfman.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Elsa Dorfman, Jorge Luis Borges, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg
Votes: 842 | Gross: $0.07M
42. The Other Side of Everything (2017)
100 min | Documentary, Biography
For Serbian filmmaker Mila Turajlic, a locked door in her mother's apartment in Belgrade provides the gateway to both her remarkable family history and her country's tumultuous political inheritance.
Director: Mila Turajlic | Stars: Srbijanka Turajlic, Mila Turajlic, Mira Boskic, Mladen Kostic
Votes: 1,262 | Gross: $0.00M
43. Jane (II) (2017)
PG | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
The life and work of the renowned primatology scientist, Jane Goodall, especially on her research about chimpanzees.
Director: Brett Morgen | Stars: Jane Goodall, Hugo Van Lawick, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick
Votes: 5,667 | Gross: $1.72M
44. The Florida Project (2017)
R | 111 min | Drama
Set over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Walt Disney World.
Director: Sean Baker | Stars: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Rivera
Votes: 128,488 | Gross: $5.90M
45. First Person (2000–2001)
Not Rated | 491 min | Documentary, Biography
Amazing series primarily using Errol Morris' invention the Interrotron for unusual people to tell their outré stories directly into the camera to the viewer. Almost every half-hour ... See full summary »
Stars: Errol Morris, Michael Stone, Charles Butler, Antonio Mendez
Votes: 371
46. This Filthy World (2006)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Jeff Garlin's documentary on the work of John Waters.
Director: Jeff Garlin | Star: John Waters
Votes: 1,744
47. Umberto D. (1952)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
Votes: 28,214 | Gross: $0.07M
48. Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America (2016)
96 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Daryl Davis is an accomplished musician who was played all over the world. He also has an unusual hobby, particularly for a middle aged black man. When not displaying his musical chops, ... See full summary »
Director: Matthew Ornstein | Stars: Daryl D. Davis, Kenneth Nwadike, Jeff Schoep, Michael Wood Jr.
Votes: 1,186 | Gross: $0.00M
49. Trouble the Water (2008)
Unrated | 93 min | Documentary
A redemptive tale of an aspiring rap artist surviving failed levees and her own troubled past and seizing a chance for a new beginning.
Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin | Stars: Michael Brown, George W. Bush, Julie Chen Moonves, Ray Nagin
Votes: 2,071 | Gross: $0.52M
50. An Angel at My Table (1990)
R | 158 min | Biography, Drama
Janet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn
Votes: 8,691 | Gross: $1.05M
51. Do the Right Thing (1989)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson
Votes: 112,491 | Gross: $27.55M
52. Tabloid (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Crime
A documentary on a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Joyce McKinney, Peter Tory, Troy Williams, Jackson Shaw
Votes: 7,285 | Gross: $0.68M
53. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
PG-13 | 95 min | Documentary, Biography, History
An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.
Director: Morgan Neville | Stars: Fred Rogers, Margaret Whitmer, Tom Junod, Joanne Rogers
Votes: 27,124 | Gross: $22.84M
54. Force Majeure (2014)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A family vacationing in the French Alps is confronted with a devastating avalanche.
Director: Ruben Östlund | Stars: Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren
Votes: 67,198 | Gross: $1.36M
55. Finding Vivian Maier (2013)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Biography, Mystery
A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.
Directors: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel | Stars: Vivian Maier, John Maloof, Daniel Arnaud, Simon Amédé
Votes: 15,087 | Gross: $1.51M
56. Beware of Mr. Baker (2012)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Ginger Baker looks back on his musical career with Cream and Blind Faith; his introduction to Fela Kuti; his self-destructive patterns and losses of fortune; and his current life inside a fortified South African compound.
Director: Jay Bulger | Stars: Ginger Baker, Femi Kuti, Eric Clapton, Stewart Copeland
Votes: 3,616 | Gross: $0.11M
57. Wyeth (2018)
TV-PG | 87 min | Documentary
WYETH tells the story of one of America's most popular, but least understood, artists. While his exhibitions routinely broke attendance records, art world critics continually assaulted his work.
Director: Glenn Holsten
Votes: 65
58. Find Me Guilty (2006)
R | 125 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
In the late 1980s, a low level gangster named Jackie DiNorscio defends himself in court in what became the longest criminal trial in American judicial history.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Ron Silver, Alex Rocco
Votes: 36,262 | Gross: $1.17M
59. The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)
TV-MA | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
An estranged family gathers together in New York City for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.
Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Adam Sandler, Grace Van Patten, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel
Votes: 54,140
60. Code Unknown (2000)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama
A young man harasses a homeless woman, another man protests, the police arrest both and the woman has to leave the country. What were their various story-lines leading up to this event?
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler, Alexandre Hamidi
Votes: 15,184 | Gross: $0.10M
61. Marwencol (2010)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Biography, Fantasy
Documentary about Mark Hogancamp. After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. Inspired the movie Welcome to Marwen (2018)
Director: Jeff Malmberg | Stars: Mark Hogancamp, Emmanuel Nneji, Edda Hogancamp, Tom Neubauer
Votes: 3,705 | Gross: $0.11M
62. The Beach Bum (2019)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
A rebellious stoner named Moondog lives life by his own rules.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Stefania LaVie Owen
Votes: 24,844 | Gross: $3.49M
63. 20,000 Days on Earth (2014)
Not Rated | 97 min | Documentary, Drama, Music
Writer and musician Nick Cave marks his 20,000th day on the planet Earth.
Directors: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard | Stars: Nick Cave, Susie Bick, Warren Ellis, Darian Leader
Votes: 11,972 | Gross: $0.28M
64. Uncut Gems (2019)
R | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
With his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive.
Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie | Stars: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel, Mesfin Lamengo
Votes: 318,440
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