The best Kurt Cobain’s documentary movies

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain

20/02/1967- 05/04/1994
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Kurt Cobain’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Kurt Cobain.
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Soaked in Bleach

Soaked in Bleach
7.3/10
Twenty years ago, Kurt Cobain was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The world was told it was a suicide, but evidence would lead many people to believe it might be otherwise. The film investigates the possibilities that exist that Kurt Cobain's death might not have been a suicide, that the Seattle Police Department rushed their verdict, and the global media perpetuated lies and misinformation fed to them by Courtney Love that created the belief in many that Cobain killed himself—but when revealed to be lies—lead many to now question what happened.

Cobain: Montage of Heck

Cobain: Montage of Heck
7.5/10
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.

Kurt & Courtney

Kurt & Courtney
6.1/10
  • Genre: DocumentaryMusic
  • Release: 27/02/1998
  • Character: Himself (archive footage)
After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people. Portraits emerge: a shy, slight Kurt, weary of touring, embarrassed by fame, hooked on heroin; an out-going Courtney, dramatic, controlling, moving from groupie to star.

27: Gone Too Soon

27: Gone Too Soon
4.9/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 26/03/2018
  • Character: Himself (archive footage)
Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a "27 Club" began to catch on in public perception, reignited with the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011. Through interviews with people who knew them, such as music stars, critics, medical experts and unseen footage, the lives, music, and artistry of those who died at 27 are investigated with a bid to find answers.

Hype!

Hype!
7.6/10
This documentary examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation. Building from the grass roots, self-promoted and self-recorded until break-out success of bands like Nirvana brought the record industry to the Pacific Northwest, a phenomenon was born.

Nirvana: Unplugged In New York

Nirvana: Unplugged In New York
9.4/10
A live album by American rock band Nirvana, the album features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on 18 November 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.

Kurt Cobain: About a Son

Kurt Cobain: About a Son
7.2/10
An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood. Written by AJ Schnack

Nirvana : Live at the Paramount

Nirvana : Live at the Paramount
8.6/10
Recorded in Seattle, WA on Halloween Night, 1991, Live at the Paramount is the only known Nirvana live show recorded on 16mm film. Now released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's watershed album.

1991: The Year Punk Broke

1991: The Year Punk Broke
7.3/10
David Markey's documentary of life on the road with Sonic Youth and Nirvana during their tour of Europe in late 1991. Also featuring live performances by Dinosaur Jr, Babes in Toyland, The Ramones and Gumball.

Nirvana: Live At Reading

Nirvana: Live At Reading
9/10
Live At Reading is a live CD/DVD by the American grunge band Nirvana released on 2 November 2009, chronicling its 1992 performance at the Reading Festival in Reading, England. Bootlegged for years following the performance, the new issues present the performance for the first time mastered and color corrected.

Nirvana: Live and Loud

Nirvana: Live and Loud
1. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter 2. Drain You 3. Breed 4. Serve The Servants 5. Rape Me 6. Sliver 7. Pennyroyal Tea 8. Scentless Apprentice 9. All Apologies 10. Heart-Shaped Box 11. Blew 12. The Man Who Sold The World 13. School 14. Come As You Are 15. Lithium 16. About A Girl 17. Endless, Nameless Live and Loud is a live video released by American grunge band Nirvana in September 2013. It was released as part of the 20th anniversary of the band's third and final studio album, In Utero. It showcases the entirety of the band's December 1993 live performance at Pier 48, Seattle which was recorded by MTV for "Live and Loud".

Freaks, Nerds & Weirdos

Freaks, Nerds & Weirdos
7.4/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 16/08/1994
  • Character: Self
Documentary that gives a voice to the percentage of youth that were outcasts/non-conformists in the 90's. Interviews many famous musicians and other celebrity personalities, who talk about their being outcasts as youths, in school etc., leading up to their successes in adult life, and how being an outcast/non-conformist played a role in their artistic expression.. Also touches upon the topic of teen suicide & depression.

The Work of Director Anton Corbijn

The Work of Director Anton Corbijn
7.6/10
Legendary photographer and director Anton Corbijn is responsible for many of the most indelible and important images of the past two and a half decades. His recently released book U2 & I is a photographic retrospective of his 25 year collaboration with U2. Later this year, Anton will direct his first feature film, Control, based on the life of the late Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis.

Welcome to My Castle!

Welcome to My Castle!
Over 5 hours of full-length interviews with Nirvana, Tommy Chong, Sonic Youth, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Ron Jeremy, and many more. Includes videos of Nardwuar's band, The Evaporators, along with all sorts of bonus material!

Hit So Hard

Hit So Hard
6.8/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 20/04/2012
  • Character: Self (archive footage)
When Nirvana burst onto the scene in 1991, the music they played spoke directly to an angry and disenfranchised generation. As grunge took over MTV and radio, the music industry was transformed overnight. But just three years later, the drug-related deaths of several musicians, capped by the suicide of Kurt Cobain, closed the books on an all too brief era. Hit So Hard follows the rise to fame (and the near-fatal fall from it) of Patty Schemel, drummer for Courtney Love's seminal rock band, Hole. Given a Hi-8 video camera just before Hole's infamous Live Through This world tour, Patty captured stunningly intimate footage of the scene that has never been seen... until now. Not just an all-access backstage pass to the music that shaped a generation, Hit So Hard is a harrowing tale of overnight success, the cost of addiction, and ultimately, recovery and redemption.

(This is Known as) The Blues Scale

(This is Known as) The Blues Scale
8/10
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Release: 12/09/2004
  • Character: Himself
While planning the eventual DVD release for "1991: The Year Punk Broke", Dave Markey cut a 40-minute film out of unused footage to create a companion piece to include. The film was also shown to a handful of lucky audiences before the DVD's eventual release in 2011. It's an awesome bonus with tons of great footage that could have easily been in the film. These songs were probably the best to leave out of the full-length film, since 2 were brand new and still quite shaky. The only tour staple not accounted for in either film is "Mary-Christ". Here are the sources I could determine: Inhuman - ?? White Kross - 08/27/91 Bremen Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit - 08/24/91 Koln In Bloom (Nirvana) - 09/01/91 Rotterdam Eric's Trip - 09/01/91 Rotterdam (but spoken intro is from 08/25/91?) Tunic snippet - 08/27/91 Bremen Chapel Hill - 08/27/91 Bremen

25 Years of Punk

25 Years of Punk
7.5/10
Lou Reed narrates this Television special that takes a look back at the beginnings of the punk rock movements in New York & England, the underground punk scenes in the 70's & 80's, and the punk resurgence in the 90's. A collaboration between VH1 and Spin magazine.

When Nirvana Came To Britain

When Nirvana Came To Britain
A look at the special relationship between Nirvana and the UK on the 30th anniversary of their seminal album Nevermind, including the role Britain played in paving the way for their success.

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