I recommend this to everyone who asks me for a good documentary to watch. Talk about someone that just lived life purely, simply and fearlessly. I liked it even more than Free Solo which I thought was great.
The Pez Outlaw on Netflix. I love quirky little documentaries such as this one about an ordinary guy who made a lot of money bringing rare Pez dispensers from other countries into the US and selling them. I don't want to spoil but the documentary is full of amusing details about Pez collecting, the man himself and his love for his wife/family, his terrible factory job before he got into Pez, his travels to Europe, mental health issues, etc. Recommended.
Netflix vs the World (2020) on Prime Video. Basically the history of Netflix from their start as just an internet DVD rental business through the present day and their rivalry with Blockbuster Video and other retail giants. I don't know if I enjoyed it quite as much as The Last Blockbuster documentary on Netflix but still an entertaining watch.
I love a good documentary, but I statistically avoid music docs which do not (usually a sign it's unauthorized by the artist/copyright holder, or simply too expensive) feature the artists' original music. Weak muzak copies are the first sign. Or covers that vaguely remind the viewer of the original music. Ugh. Typically, the docs with the music included are made very well and pass all of my checkpoints. Tom Petty Netflix doc Eagles Netflix doc Jaco doc Laurel Canyon doc w/ Henry Diltz Dio doc (amazing) Rainbow Bar & Grill doc...Lemmy... Various Grateful Dead/Bob Weir docs
The Matchbox Man. From the cover blurb “The story of one man’s obsession with cars... really really small cars.” A 22 minute short about Charlie Mack and his collection of 42,000 plus Matchbox cars.
I've been into music documentaries lately- the most recent being the making of Aja, but in the last few weeks have watched documentaries about (don't recall all of the exact titles): Laurel Canyon (was watching the night I heard David Crosby died) Allman Brothers The Doors Randy Rhodes Bad Company The days before the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash The making of Dark Side of the Moon
Got a copy of Lambert and Stamp last week. Origin story of The Who. Great story, maybe not what some people expect. There is a Rashomon-like aspect in that what the movie presents is the story told from a particular perspective, but the interviews are great. Only people who were directly involved. Great archival clips too.
My father apologized (he got me the DVDs for Christmas) about the beginning and how boring it was and when I started it last night I was pleasantly surprised how interesting it was. The first half hour is awesome. And we're decades away from Willie, Waylon, and Cash. It's about histories, guitars, banjos, fiddles, radio, and gramophones.
Shadowland on History. I really can't go into it without referencing politics. It was very good at detailing personal impacts people were experiencing.