I love true crime. “The Imposter,” a documentary by Bart Layton, is a true crime story that’s hard to believe. It’s about the disappearance of Nicholas Barclay, a 13-year-old boy from San Antonio, in 1994. He’s found alive in Spain three and a half years later. His sister jumps on a plane to bring him home, but is this boy really Nicholas?

We, the audience, know that it’s not Nicholas. The man impersonating him looks vaguely like Nicholas, but how are the boy’s family members being fooled? There’s a palpable tension as to why the family doesn’t notice that there’s now a stranger living in their home. Soon a private investigator takes interest and this hard to swallow story takes a chilling turn… I recommend “The Imposter” to anyone who enjoys true crime or a good documentary.

At first the documentary The Queen of Versailles seems like an episode of the Real Housewives or Keeping Up with the Kardashians (or any reality show on cable television for that matter).  It follows the timeshare mogul David Siegel and his wife Jackie as they plan the building of their new Orlando home, Versailles.  At 90,000 square feet, their new house will be the largest and most expensive home in the United States. The name of their new estate exemplifies their lifestyle. They have gilded furniture.  They have tigers as pets. They have 17 bathrooms and complain how that isn’t enough.

However, the documentary began filming before 2008.  Siegel’s timeshare business, Westgate Resorts, immediately felt the impact of bad loans and loss of consumer confidence.  The documentary quickly switches its focus to the Siegels tightening their belts by Christmas shopping at Walmart, using an airline instead of a private jet, and trying to unload the half-finished 90,000 square feet mansion.

Poetic justice? If so, I’m not sure whose justice it is. Is it the Siegel’s for their outlandish, decadent lifestyle now faced with flying business class? Or, is it mine?  Because in some odd way, the director Lauren Greenfield was able to make me feel [sort of] sorry for the Siegels. David Siegel is an isolated and lonely man who confesses he cannot derive any happiness from his wealth. Not from his house.  Not from his wife. Not from his material possessions. And Jackie just wants to make her family happy. However, I’m able to immediately push any thoughts of pity aside when I remember they are building the largest house in America and naming it Versailles!  Seriously Siegels, you may wish to rethink the name.

Finally, the culmination of a saga that many have paid attention to for years. Paradise Lost 3 is the final part of a trilogy that documents the trials of three young men accused of the gruesome murders, in 1993, of three young boys in West Memphis, AR. I’m sure that most people are aware of the story and the personalities involved, at least to some degree, as there was a lot of publicity surrounding the case from the get-go. Without giving too much away, though, a brief summary: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were all convicted in court of killing three eight-year-old boys and leaving their bodies in a wooded area in West Memphis. Early in the trial, a link was made between Echols’ preference for wearing all black and listening to a lot of heavy metal music, the nature of the victim’s bodies (they are often described as being ‘sacrifices’) and the notion of an uptick in cult activity among young people. Before you could even say ‘but not all occultists listen to heavy metal’ the three suspects were labeled Satanists, the case blew up in the media, and they were convicted based on a confession made under severe duress, no real physical evidence, a lot of sketchy testimony, and seemingly slick work by the police and prosecutors. Two of them were sentenced to life in prison, Echols was sentenced to death.

Fast forward a couple years, and Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky make their first documentary about the case, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The film focuses on the trials, as well as the community during that time, and brings to light a lot of issues with both. In 2000, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations is released, and introduces some of the new evidence that is being gathered in the appeals process, as well as the growing opinion among people (including some in the community) that the three young men are innocent.

In between then and the events of Paradise Lost 3, that consensus grows, the case gets support from many different groups, and more importantly for them, that support gives them the means to re-test DNA and hire experts. At some point the new evidence and the public support, along with some changes in law that affect the case, build a momentum that is palpable–watching the documentary, you can feel how close those involved are to having a positive outcome, but also how it all seems to hinge on which way the legal wind blows. Other sentiments that come across loud and clear are disbelief and frustration–three young men imprisoned for nearly half their lives, evidence uncovered that all but exonerates them and indicates other suspects, and a judicial system that won’t budge lest it have to admit its wrongdoing.

Watch this–watch all three if you haven’t yet–and let yourself be a little amazed at all of it: the horrific murders, the trials, the sensationalistic nature of it, the total wrongness of it all. And finally, be amazed at the three young men who remain at the center of it, and how they not only cope, but persevere.

I’m a huge geek and comic book fan, but I’ve never gone to a comic book convention, let alone the granddaddy of them all: The San Diego Comic-Con. That’s why I was excited to watch “Comic-Con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope,” a documentary by Morgan Spurlock about the famous nerd gathering. Spurlock follows the story of seven attendees of the 2010 SDCC while intercutting interviews with the upper-echelon of geek-culture such as Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith and Stan “The Man” Lee.

A few of the con-goers come off more obnoxious than endearing (I’m thinking specifically of Anthony, the toy collector), but the overall theme of belonging and the passion that each individual displays is tremendously and unexpectedly affecting. I would recommend this documentary to both die-hard con-survivors and to those with only a casual interest.

I’m going to be honest with you, I was initially drawn to “Safety Not Guaranteed” due to the involvement of the lovely Aubrey Plaza (from my favorite show, Parks & Rec).  I was rewarded with an off-beat, heartfelt indie that won me over despite its misfire of an ending.

The movie follows Darius (Plaza), an intern at a Seattle magazine, who is disinterested and disconnected with her life.  Darius and two other co-workers see a potential story in an odd classified ad from someone who claims to have traveled through time and is looking for a partner to embark on another trip.  They discover that the ad was placed by an intense, but likable, supermarket clerk named Kenneth (played by Mark Duplass).

Darius finds a kindred spirit in Kenneth and soon befriends him.  She’s unsure of his claims, just as the audience is, but you just can’t help but be disarmed by how earnest he is.  Like I said earlier, I wasn’t a fan of the ending (and a quick check on Rotten Tomatoes tells me that it was divisive), but the overall charm of the movie makes it worth watching.