Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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| No Score Yet | Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb (2018) |
Tyler may be flaky, impulsive, sappy and eccentric, but there's no doubt he's 100% genuine, and 100% about the music, a message the film convincingly hammers home.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Oct 19, 2018
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| 94% | Searching for Sugar Man (2012) |
It is the model of the modern music documentary, which shines a well-deserved light on obscure artists or periods of their lives, and presents it in a way that appeals to broader audiences than mere music obsessives.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Oct 9, 2018
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| 79% | Quincy (2018) |
Quincy is lovingly put together and recounts one of the most distinguished and interesting careers in American entertainment. However, it's almost too much to fit into a single movie.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Sep 24, 2018
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| No Score Yet | Colin Hay: Waiting for My Real Life (2015) |
Hay is immensely likeable, and Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life skillfully tells his story.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Aug 24, 2018
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| No Score Yet | The Grateful Dead (1977) |
Like the band itself, it ultimately succeeds on its own terms, creating an intriguing document of a Grateful Dead show in 1974.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jul 30, 2018
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| 70% | Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits (2017) |
Lovingly done and holds your attention the whole way through. ‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jul 16, 2018
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| No Score Yet | Black Sabbath: The End Of The End (2017) |
A compelling document of heavy metal's lions in winter.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jun 29, 2018
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| 97% | Yellow Submarine (1968) |
Whether the film is a contract filling cartoon cash-in or a masterfully animated psychedelic timepiece is a hard nut to crack. In the end, I think it's actually a bit of both, but that won't stop me from watching it again.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jun 22, 2018
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| 90% | Tokyo Idols (2017) |
Tokyo Idols is a fascinating and well-made look into a world where teenage girls seek fame and fortune and men get first-hand access to the women of their dreams, and the problematic sexual politics that follow.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jun 18, 2018
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| 98% | Beware Of Mr. Baker (2012) |
...essential viewing for classic rock fans and anyone who loves a good rogue of questionable moral character, undeniable talent and a road case full of excellent stories.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 30, 2018
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| No Score Yet | New Wave: Dare to Be Different (2017) |
... suffers from clumsy editing, a wandering narrative, and at times seems unsure whether it's a documentary about the station or the music played on it.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 75% | Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (2017) |
... does an adequate job telling Coltrane's life story, successfully using animation to embellish its narrative, it ultimately can't live up to its subject's stature as an artist, nor fully convey the magnitude of his musical contributions ...‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 71% | A Very Murray Christmas (2015) |
2015's Netflix one-off A Very Murray Christmas seems half-finished, like a good fruitcake recipe that could have used another 20 minutes in the oven.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 50% | Hired Gun (2017) |
Like the musician whose technique overshadows their expressiveness, there's simply too much going on, even if a lot of it is good. ‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 100% | 808 (2015) |
808 is consistently interesting, informative and fun. ‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 86% | David Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017) |
By the end you come away thinking that despite his much ballyhooed different personas, Bowie was in fact one of music's most transparent personalities, the different masks being just different facets of who he really was.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 89% | May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers (2017) |
Though it relies on all the typical clichés, in the end it convincingly portrays the band as real people, who care about each other and draw strength from the bonds of friendship and family.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 69% | Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars (2017) |
... Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars is a laborious viewing experiance, its glacial pace heightened by the film's over-reliance on still photography.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| No Score Yet | Wu: The Story of the Wu Tang Clan (2008) |
... in its own ramshackle way, it is a far more authentic representation of the Wu-Tang Clan than anything HBO might get a big name Hollywood director to produce.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 80% | Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story (2017) |
Rock n' roll is a dirty game, and the plight of Mick Ronson is just one of many hard luck stories to befall talented musicians over the years.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 100% | Trouble No More (2017) |
... an interesting snapshot of the artist at a pivotal point in his life, not content to rest on his laurels, but still looking for a new avenues of inspiration.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Apr 4, 2018
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| 100% | Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me (2014) |
Minutes into the film it is obvious this is going to be a rough emotional ride.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| No Score Yet | Elvis '56 (1987) |
Elvis Presley defined our very idea of rock n' roll; not just how it sounded, but how it looked and what it was about, its attitude and its sense of self.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 31, 2018
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| 100% | Sound City (2013) |
Sound City is filled with the kind of stories that make music nerds weak in the knees.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 89% | Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) |
... effectively paints a three dimensional portrait of Strummer, unafraid to confront his philosophical contradictions, though neither dwelling on his flaws, and showing how by finding his humanity, he ultimately lived up to the ideals he espoused.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 86% | Sign o' the Times (1987) |
... a sad reminder of how much music lost when Prince Rogers Nelson took the ladder to the big erotic city up in the sky.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 86% | George Harrison: Living In The Material World (2011) |
George Harrison: Living in the Material World covers every twist and turn in Harrison's 58 years on this Earth.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 42% | Halloween III - Season of the Witch (1982) |
It's a better movie than it gets credit for and carries all the hallmarks of a classic '80s sc-fi horror thriller.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 86% | Last Days Here (2012) |
...well-made and interesting music documentary about an important and influential band, it is even more impressive as a first hand account of the ravages of drug addiction.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 61% | When You're Strange (2010) |
...it lazily recycles all the same tired myths about Jim Morrison being "like an ancient shaman," and "A rock and roll poet, dangerous and highly intelligent," that we've been reading in solipsistic '60s holdovers like Rolling Stone for the last 50 years.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| 80% | It Might Get Loud (2009) |
...tries to find the common chord that ties together guitarists of different genres and generations but quickly goes flat and is ultimately a discordant mess.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
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| No Score Yet | Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago (2015) |
While at times funny, informative and engaging, the film has the curious problem of being at once too long and not being thorough enough.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Jan 19, 2018
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| No Score Yet | The Last Play at Shea (2010) |
It's cheap, gushy and sentimental, but it works. Kind of reminds me of a Billy Joel song.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2017
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| No Score Yet | To Be Frank: Sinatra at 100 (2015) |
At just under an hour and half, the documentary never lost my attention or had me checking how much time was left, and perhaps most importantly, it left me wanting to know more about Sinatra's music, films and history.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 20, 2017
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| 90% | Miss Sharon Jones! (2016) |
It is bravely unsentimental and avoids cheap clichés about the triumph of the will and all good things happen to those who deserve it.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 20, 2017
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| 100% | Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (2014) |
While the 2014 documentary Mr. Dynamite: the Rise Of James Brown claims to explore Brown's beginnings in its title, it actually goes much further.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| 64% | George Michael: Freedom (2017) |
The end result is a documentary about Michael's life which seems hurried and incomplete.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (2011) |
Unfortunately... Foo Fighters: Back And Forth settles into a rather mundane laundry list-like recounting of each album's creation and the band's achievements.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| No Score Yet | Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World (2016) |
Bowie: The Man Who Changed The World, which came out within 4 months of his passing in January 2016, feels opportunistic and hastily assembled, cribbed together from archival footage and interviews with B-list acquaintances.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| 88% | Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017) |
Music documentaries often peddle the myth that suffering is the hallmark of a great artist, and redemption always lies on the other side of hardship. Whitney: Can I Be Me, on the other hand, is a simple tragedy. ‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| 75% | Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) |
While Gaga: Five Foot Two is engaging enough to satisfy fans, and she is certainly interesting and likeable enough to hold your attention for the 100 minutes, its ultimately a little disappointing. Boring even.‐ Decider
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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