3 Best Documentary Releases on Apple Tv Plus

Sidney Poitier lived an incredible life. He was undeniable in every sense of the word. Even a quick glance at his biography reveals the depths of his star power, his acting prowess in films throughout the 1960s and 1970s (A Raisin in the Sun, In the Heat of the Night, etc.), and his impact, with an Oscar, a Grammy, a BAFTA, and knighthood to his name. Sidney, a new documentary from Reginald Hudlin, is a down-the-middle biography of the late actor. Poitier’s gravity makes it watchable, but its filmmaking leaves much to be desired.  Continue Reading →

To listen to the Velvet Underground today is to marvel at how very much its own thing it was. Their droning, dirge-like songs, often accompanied by the discordant squeaking of a viola, addressed such unsavory subjects as drug addiction and sadomasochism, and seemed to be designed for listeners who neither identified with hippie folk or rebellious rock and roll. They were so far ahead of their time that even more than five decades later no one else has sounded quite like them yet. Todd Haynes’ documentary, just called The Velvet Underground, captures their lightning in a bottle moment in music history, eschewing the tropes of the genre in favor of a dizzying sound and visual landscape. Continue Reading →

When Billie Eilish met with director R.J. Cutler to discuss her documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, she had an odd request: “I want it to be like The Office.” Eilish, known to be a stan of the NBC comedy (she sampled dialogue from the show in her song “my strange addiction”), wanted to drop the audience into the world of her and her family as she rises from a 13-year-old viral video sensation to a 18-year-old Grammy winner. Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry is an epic journey of the on and offstage life of the musical prodigy. Continue Reading →