Documentaries

Watched the Challenger doc on Netflix over the weekend. Had finished the amazing book on it over Christmas, and this was a great follow-up to that.

Saw the Jerry Springer one on Prime, too. Not sure what I expected, but the "We were all fucked up and did anything we could in the name of ratings" didn't exactly bring out my shocked face.

 

Watched the Little Steven documentary on Max. Having read his autobiography it didn’t come as much of a surprise, but boy does it overstate his importance in the rock and roll pantheon. He’s obviously someone who is well respected and has a vast knowledge of music history. Understanding that he maybe didn’t get the public acclaim that he maybe should have, it treated some of the real minor stuff which he did like all time classics.

 

They were a little before my time, but pretty excited about "Becoming Led Zeppelin" that is coming out soon.

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025) | Documentary, Music

 

Thanks for linking the trailer -- I will definitely be checking that out!

Crazy thing I learned after moving to the Pacific Northwest: Before they played their famous shows at the Filmore West in 1969 (referenced in the trailer), LZ had a handful of earlier shows on its first U.S. tour. Including a gig at Gonzaga University in Spokane!!!

 

Really looking forward to this one too.

 

Oh, hell yes.

 

In my opinion, the OJ: Made in America is probably the greatest documentary of all time. So well done.

I was hesitant, then, to watch the American Manhunt offering on Netflix. Watched the first two episodes last night, and it's outstanding. They somehow touched on evidence that wasn't collected/presented at trial, but I hadn't heard about before. Like when they went in his house on the night of or morning after the murders, there was a cupboard at the top of the stairs standing open, full of open packages of medical bandages, tape and supplies, and blood everywhere. Witnesses that have not been heard from before (or at least publicized), like the driver who encountered Simpson in his white Bronco, running a red light, driving up on the median and exhibiting road rage behavior between the murder scene and his house, right about the time of the murders.

The Simpson attorney Carl Douglas had a great analogy talking about their strategy from the start. Like if you have a huge bowl of spaghetti and you're digging in, eating it, then see a cockroach crawl out of it. What are you going to do? Throw the whole thing out, right? Then they showed a bowl of spaghetti, with a close-up of a cockroach in the bowl, then flashed up a photo of Mark Fuhrman. Very striking.

 

I was just coming here to ask of that doc was worth watching. Made in America is such a triumph that I was hesitant. I'll give it a shot. Thanks, Burns.

 

I felt the exact same way! I guess I'll give it a try, new voices is interesting BUT bear in mind, that's not sworn testimony in a court of law subject to perjury.

 

Started the 3rd episode tonight, which starts with jury selection and the trial. Not as big a fan of this episode - feels like it's a rehash of everything we've heard a million times before.

 

E4 of "OJ: Made In America" is such a devastating piece. That's the most haunted I've ever been of a doc. Those photos and interviews - good god.

What a travesty, but also, to the effectiveness of MIA, it all made sense to me. I get why it happened now.

 

I should give Made In America another chance sometime. I made it through two episodes and maybe not all of the second. It was meticulously done and interesting but I just remember it being a devastating time suck at a point I didn’t have bandwidth.