The story of Southern rocker and lifer Kevn Kinney is told with this superb documentary.
Scarred But Smarter: Life N Times of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ (Shanzing Films)
The Melvins: Across The USA in 51 Days: The Movie (Ipecac Recordings)
This short film captures The Melvins during their 2012 “51 shows in 51 days tour,” and is less a tour documentary than a collage that wonderfully captures the mindset of a band on the road with a lot of spare time on their hands. In other words: twisted, demented fun. In other words, The Melvins!
Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
This 2015 biopic is a no-holds-barred look at one of the founding groups of modern rap music, and is easily one of the finest hip-hop biopics to date.
The Honeymoon Killers (Criterion)
Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers is a true-crime/horror/film noir masterpiece based on actual events, but its backstory is so convoluted that the making of the film is equally as engaging. Criterion’s recent reissue of the DVD brings this classic to light, reintroducing it to a new generation of movie buffs.
Rifftrax: The Wizard
This hilarious take on one of the most egregious examples of corporate exploitation of youth culture is delightful, snarky, and yet, oddly thought provoking.
Five-Eight: Weirdo Reborn
A mini-documentary about a band righting a musical wrong that was inadvertently thrust upon them twenty years ago by their record label.
Every Other Summer (TrixieFilm/dBpm)
Every Other Summer is a documentary film of the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival, and this film about the 2013 edition highlights what makes this a different kind of festival experience.
Errol Morris Gates Of Heaven/Vernon, Florida/The Thin Blue Line (Criterion)
Documentarian Errol Morris’ first three films have been reissued by Criterion, and all three show the portrait of a young man growing into one of the country’s most important documentarians.
The Family Jams (Factory 25)
The Family Jams captures Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom in the days shortly before both became internationally known, as they tour America in 2004.
Hoop Dreams (Criterion)
Twenty years after its release,the three-hour sports documentary that Roger Ebert named as the best film of the 1990s remains one of the best sports films and best documentaries ever made.
