Music documentaries

T
Teeeee said:
I saw her live once. It was right after the whole Blaine debacle. He was there, on the side of the stage. He kept rushing onto the stage. I'm not sure why, he didn't do anything other than stand awkwardly next to her. She was rather messed up. But she still brought it. Her backing band (the Dap-tones) were amazing, obvi. The scene where she accepts the award over satellite. That's my favorite scene, I think you really see how human she was and how adversely effected by the almost instant and insane popularity was on her.
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That was the scene that really stuck with me too. And it was seeing the footage captured off broadcast that made the biggest impact because you could clearly see that her shock wasn't an act, which a lot of artists tend to do in those moments.
 
Aron said:
My biggest beef with Amy Winehouse was that I never thought she was able to really translate what I was hearing on record to the live setting. When I would see her live performances on awards shows or whatever, she rushed through things, or sounded off. However, the documentary goes a long way in showing that, by the time I was seeing her live on tv, she was already in pretty bad shape. I never got to see her earlier performances where her true talent can clearly be seen/heard. That was one of the cool things about the film. It is tough then watching her slide, and seeing some of those rough performances towards the end.
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Whenever people rag on young celebrities, I try to think about what I would be like at their age with that amount of money and fame. I'd like to think I wouldn't let it change me. But also, I made really really really bad decisions from the ages of 18 - ….. 35? Add a crap ton of money onto that and the adulation of many along with the hatred of equally as many, I'm not sure I'd be any better. And I had a very stable and great upbringing. So, yeah, add in a parent who has dubious motives, it's sad to me. Not worthy of hatred, just sad and a shame.
 
I've got a couple to add to this.

Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks. Really intimate view of the band and their families.

Pearl Jam 20 - Great performance video interspersed with a strong focus of the early years of the band and the impact of Andrew Wood on them.

My personal favorite though remains Urgh! A Music War. Not so much a documentary as performance clips from the 'new wave' era. Great performances from the Police, Go-Gos, Dead Kennedys, Devo, Oingo Boingo, Devo, Cramps, Gary Numan and more...

 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Seconding What Happened, Miss Simone?, The Other One, and Long Strange Trip. And it's not a documentary, more a biopic, but I'm Not There is an essential Dylan watch.
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I actually worked on I'm Not There...awesome film and Todd Haynes is a sweetheart. I didn't really do anything super important, but got to be on set and meet Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and saw Jim James performing Going To Acapulco live!
 
teefer said:
I actually worked on I'm Not There...awesome film and Todd Haynes is a sweetheart. I didn't really do anything super important, but got to be on set and meet Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and saw Jim James performing Going To Acapulco live!
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That's amazing. The Goin' To Acapulco sequence is one of my favourite parts of the movie, and one of my faves on the soundtrack.
 
Dtknuckles said:
Are these streamable?
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Unfortunately, not for free, no. I have been able to find both on various websites online, but it costs like $5 or something to watch them. I think it's worth it and I'll probably do that at some point, I just haven't yet.
 
The recent series on Wu-Tang (Of Mics & Men) was fine, I preferred Hip-Hop Evolution...and I love the old Classic Albums series (fav. episodes Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan)!

For films, I would add the documentary on Jandek and I know it's more of a live show than a doc, but I would also add Homecoming...I'm sure I'm missing a ton of great obvious ones too like Don't Look Back...I'll post them later if can remember.

Edit: I just remembered 3: Madonna: Truth or Dare, Anvil! and 20,000 Days on Earth
 
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avecigrec said:
This is great news.



It's SO good. I'm looking so forward to getting to watch it with my wife.
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Yeah, I watched it the first two times solo, but this third watch was with my mom and sister. We’re all going to see him live in a few weeks, and I think I enjoyed it more this time around because they were getting to see it for the first time. It’s so well done, and covers so much emotional terrain. One of the things it does so well is take you back to that period in the early days of the pandemic where there was so much uncertainty. I love pretty much every frame of it. Sam Jones did a fantastic job with those interview segments.
 
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I finally finished watching the Jason Isbell doc on HBO this morning. It was really good. Like really good. I'm glad to see some folks revisiting Reunions as a result of it and context helping them understand why it was my AOTY of 2020 (lol)
 
I guess I shouldn't be amazed at his and Amanda's willingness to share very intimate information in the movie, but it still shocked me to see how transparent they were with their life during its filming.
 
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