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Jonah Hill recommended American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) in Movies (curated)

Satan & Adam (2018)
Movie Watch
SATAN & ADAM chronicles the unlikely pairing of legendary one-man-band Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee...

Erika (17789 KP) rated The Sparks Brothers (2021) in Movies
Jun 25, 2021
When I first saw the preview for The Sparks Brothers, I was instantly intrigued, and eagerly counted down until the release date, 18 June. Then, when I checked the showtimes, I realized it was not playing at the theaters that had advertised it, and I would have to drive 45 minutes to see it. As luck would have it, I got an email at 2PM on Thursday from Focus Features, inviting me to an online screening that started at 7PM that same day.
The band ‘Sparks’, sounded familiar, but I couldn’t exactly remember where I knew them from. I decided to go into the documentary film blind because I wanted to enjoy it. Many of the talking heads in this documentary were some of my favorite musicians, like Beck, Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, and Nick Rhodes and John Taylor from Duran Duran.
The Sparks Brothers are Ron and Russell Mael, who seem to be notoriously elusive. Honestly, the entire time, I didn’t know if these guys were being serious, or just messing with everyone. The documentary takes you through the brothers’ early life, then their massive, five-decade career. Apparently, all my favorite bands were inspired by the Mael bros, so that’s probably why their music sounded vaguely familiar in the movie trailer.
This is Edgar Wright’s first documentary, and I liked his approach. I watch a lot of documentary films, and sometimes they’re really hit or miss. Wright’s was a hit for me. It ebbed and flowed naturally and kept me engaged for the entire runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The variety of talking heads was diverse, the brothers, musicians, actors, longtime fans, former producers and bandmates, as well as Wright himself, were all great contributors. I don’t think the Mael bros would have chosen to do a documentary with any other filmmaker, and that it was a true collaboration. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and I am so glad I got the invitation at the last minute.
The band ‘Sparks’, sounded familiar, but I couldn’t exactly remember where I knew them from. I decided to go into the documentary film blind because I wanted to enjoy it. Many of the talking heads in this documentary were some of my favorite musicians, like Beck, Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, and Nick Rhodes and John Taylor from Duran Duran.
The Sparks Brothers are Ron and Russell Mael, who seem to be notoriously elusive. Honestly, the entire time, I didn’t know if these guys were being serious, or just messing with everyone. The documentary takes you through the brothers’ early life, then their massive, five-decade career. Apparently, all my favorite bands were inspired by the Mael bros, so that’s probably why their music sounded vaguely familiar in the movie trailer.
This is Edgar Wright’s first documentary, and I liked his approach. I watch a lot of documentary films, and sometimes they’re really hit or miss. Wright’s was a hit for me. It ebbed and flowed naturally and kept me engaged for the entire runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The variety of talking heads was diverse, the brothers, musicians, actors, longtime fans, former producers and bandmates, as well as Wright himself, were all great contributors. I don’t think the Mael bros would have chosen to do a documentary with any other filmmaker, and that it was a true collaboration. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and I am so glad I got the invitation at the last minute.

Wayne Coyne recommended Cocksucker Blues (1972) in Movies (curated)

Radio Film School: Stories About Filmmaking, Creative Arts & Pursuing Your Passion
Podcast
This is the radio documentary anthology series about filmmaking, cinema, and the creative arts....

Kim Pook (101 KP) rated Dolly Parton: Here I am (2019) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Admittedly I have never been much of a dolly fan, nothing against her but I'm not into country music. Saying that, I did go into this with an open mind.
From the moment she is on screen she comes across as very likeable and down to earth, she even makes fun of her plastic surgery which sadly has ruined her looks, but we all know it's what's inside that counts.
She's definitely passionate about her work and very political, she also seems to be a very private person. The documentary has interviews with a few big names including Kylie minogue and Jane fonda but nobody had any dirt or juicy gossip, in fact this is the only documentary I've watched so far where's there's been nothing negative about the celeb. It does leave you wanting to know more.
From the moment she is on screen she comes across as very likeable and down to earth, she even makes fun of her plastic surgery which sadly has ruined her looks, but we all know it's what's inside that counts.
She's definitely passionate about her work and very political, she also seems to be a very private person. The documentary has interviews with a few big names including Kylie minogue and Jane fonda but nobody had any dirt or juicy gossip, in fact this is the only documentary I've watched so far where's there's been nothing negative about the celeb. It does leave you wanting to know more.

Ed O'Brien recommended Live at Carnegie Hall by Bill Withers in Music (curated)
JB
Justin Bieber's Believe (2013)
Movie Watch
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu moves beyond the spotlight and the attention-grabbing headlines to give pop...

Anna Meredith recommended Queen: Days of Our Lives (2011) in Movies (curated)

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Leaving Neverland (2019) in Movies
Mar 8, 2019
Haunting
I’ll start by saying that I’ve never really been an MJ fan. Yes I like some of his music, but that’s about it and I have always wondered whether there wasn’t something a bit off about him. Similar to the likes of Jimmy Saville - MJ definitely had a weird creepy air about him. This documentary for me only helped reinforce what I’d already suspected, and it’s a harrowing thing to watch. These are stark, no holds barred accounts of abuse that these two men suffered as children to the point where nothing is held back. These accounts are very explicit, and for me this just made them seem more real and accurate. And the fact that it also digs into how this affected all of their family members too makes it even more haunting - it doesn’t just focus on the men as individuals but their relatives too. This definitely isn’t a documentary for the faint hearted although I did think that the 4 hour run time is a little too long.
Yes this is a one sided documentary, but for me it doesn’t make it any less believable. And strangely what I found most disturbing about this is the reaction of the MJ super fans to Wade. How these people can say such horrific things about another human being, just because they don’t like what’s being said about their idol, is truly disgusting. What saddens me though is that these people will have the same reaction to this documentary.
Yes this is a one sided documentary, but for me it doesn’t make it any less believable. And strangely what I found most disturbing about this is the reaction of the MJ super fans to Wade. How these people can say such horrific things about another human being, just because they don’t like what’s being said about their idol, is truly disgusting. What saddens me though is that these people will have the same reaction to this documentary.