Most people don’t get to see documentaries until they arrive on a home video platform of some kind, whether it’s DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, iTunes, TV, Netflix streaming, etc. So, this may be the most important post of the week for fans of nonfics. Join us every Tuesday for a look at what documentaries and reality programming is recommended by myself and other contributors to the site. As always, if you know of something we missed or should be aware of, drop us an email or a note down below.
Here are our ordered picks for February 11, 2014:
1. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
[New to DVD] — This perfectly timed video release arrives as its subjects, Russian activist group Pussy Riot, continues to be relevant in the news thanks to the Olympics and their popular recent appearance on The Colbert Report. Keep in mind when you rent this, though, that the documentary originally debuted more than a year ago at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, so it’s not an up-to-date account. It was one of Daniel Walber’s favorites of last year at the midpoint (as stated in our fifth podcast episode) and one of Landon Palmer’s five must-see music docs of 2013, writing that while it is “certainly a kinetic and informative document on the band’s history, tactics and controversies, the film illustrates more broadly the conflict between a nation’s gestures toward democracy and its privileging of an orthodox culture. Pussy Riot’s trial, jailing and ongoing repression not only structure this rich essay on culture’s role in creating democratic discourse and realizing truly free speech, but it also captures the uncertain socio-political moment Russia currently finds itself in. Perhaps this documentary’s greatest accomplishment is its promulgation of genuine hope for the future against the incredible difficulties of the present.” Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer also came in at #19 on our 2013 critics poll of the best docs of the year. The DVD from Docurama includes an exclusive interview with one of the formerly incarcerated Pussy Riot members, Katia Samutsevich.
Also on HBO GO
2. The Human Scale
[New to DVD] — Andreas Dalsgaard’s new film is about urban design, looking specifically at architect and urban planner Jan Gehl and the cities of Copenhagen, Chongqing, New York City, Melbourne, Dhaka and Christchurch. In his ★★★★ review of the doc, Daniel Walber compares it to Gary Hustwit’s Urbanized, stating that the two films “elevate each other,” and calls The Human Scale “a widely scoped adventure” and “a tight, compelling and well-designed film about design,” acknowledging “that’s harder to pull off than one might think.”
3. The Price of Gold
[New to Netflix Watch Instantly] — Another perfectly timed release as the Olympics are going on, this 30 for 30 installment by Oscar nominee Nanette Burnstein (On the Ropes) revisits the story of the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan scandal for the 20th anniversary of that pre-Winter Games assault and features a fascinating interview with Harding. The Price of Gold previously topped another Nonfics Home Picks, but since then we’ve published a ★★★★ review by Katie Walsh. She writes that “it expertly utilizes archival footage from the period (the perms and sequins alone are worth the price of admission) and interviews with friends, coaches, reporters and investigators from both sides of the sordid tale. Most compelling of all, though, is Harding, who remains as fierce and brassy as ever, fluttering her long red lacquered nails, and adamantly defending herself. In the archival footage, she has the hardened look of a mean girl straight from a John Waters movie (weep for the missed opportunities), all poofy blonde ponytails and unrefined ferocity, endearing in her hardscrabble determination.”
4. Lenny Cooke
[New to Showtime] — This documentary debut from acclaimed indie filmmakers Ben and Joshua Safdie (The Pleasure of Being Robbed) is about the titular basketball player, who was surprisingly not drafted into the NBA in spite of high expectations. In her A-grade review at Film School Rejects (where she likens it to Grey Gardens), Caitlin Hughes calls it “a gut-wrenching tale of missed opportunities, sheer chance and reconciliation with the past. Very luckily supplied with hours of footage capturing Cooke in the most pertinent moments of his saga, the Safdies bridge the past to the present with excellent vérité-style cinematography and their keen ability to craft a well-drawn out, perfectly-paced film.” Disclosure: Nonfics contributor Robert Greene worked on the film as an editor. I have not yet personally seen it.
5. La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
[Airing on TCM] — I don’t care about whether or not this Oscar-nominated short film from 1935 qualifies as a documentary, there’s a nonfiction element to its comedic and musical all-star promotion of Santa Barbara’s annual Old Spanish Days festival. Besides, not only does it feature my two all-time favorite movie stars Buster Keaton and Harpo Marx in the same film, it’s also one of the closest things to documentary representation on TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar programming this year. Below is a performance by the Gumm Sisters, including 13-year-old Judy Garland.
6. Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
[Airing on TCM] — Last week’s Home Picks included the new TCM doc on the Academy Awards, And the Oscar Goes To…, which airs again this weekend. A fitting pairing is this 1940 short, which airs Sunday morning. It’s basically just a highlight of the 12th Academy Awards, honoring films of 1939, and stars host Bob Hope and the landmark win and speech by Hattie McDaniel.
7. The Armstrong Lie
[New to DVD and Blu-ray] — This entry previously appeared in a Nonfics Home Picks last week. Alex Gibney‘s doc on Lance Armstrong, which started before the cyclist’s confession and continued production after, is available to buy digitally ahead of its DVD release. Daniel Walber reviewed the film for Nonfics, giving it only ★★★ but calls it “an effective, if perhaps overlong, interrogation of imagined heroism and the dreams we choose to believe,” noting that it “shines when Gibney decides to push things just a bit further, and tries to craft a portrait of power. At core, the Armstrong story is not that far off from those tales of institutional corruption that filled Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. The very structure of cycling in the last decade has been propped up by drugs and blood infusions.”
Also available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu and Google Play
New to DVD [and/or Blu-ray]:
The Armstrong Lie (★★★ Nonfics Review) [Also on Blu-ray]
Eminem: The Marshall Plan
Festival Express [Also on Blu-ray]
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme
The Ghosts In Our Machine
The Guitar Artistry of Doc Watson
The Human Scale (★★★★ Nonfics Review)
Legacy of Jesus: Blood of the Nazarene
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (★★★★ Nonfics Rating)
Satyricon: Madness and Glory
Semi Colon
Spies of Mississippi
Spinning Plates
Spirit of the Marathon II
Stolen Freedom: Occupied Palestine
The Summit (★ Nonfics Review)
Who Cares?
The Wildlife of Crystal Cove
Yogawoman
Youngstown Boys (ESPN 30 for 30)
Yukon Men Season One
New to Netflix Watch Instantly:
Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story [Stream Now]
The History of the WWE [Stream Now]
The Price of Gold (30 for 30) [Stream Now]
New to iTunes/Amazon Instant/VOD:
The Art of Compassion [Amazon Instant Video]
Bay City Luv: Singin’ ‘n Livin’ On the Edge [Amazon Instant Video]
Cherry Kingsley: Recognizing the Person [Amazon Instant Video]
Do or Die Season One [Amazon Instant Video]
Duck Quacks Don’t Echo [Amazon Instant Video]
Fast Talk [Amazon Instant Video]
Fuga Island: A Tale of Visionaries, Dreamers & Schemers [Amazon Instant Video]
Girl of the Finger Lakes [Amazon Instant Video]
Hell or High Water: The Story of the Nashville Rollergirls [Amazon Instant Video]
Holding the Sun [Amazon Instant Video]
Karyn Dolan: Life of a Contactee [Amazon Instant Video]
Kim Perez: An Embodiment in Strength & Poise [Amazon Instant Video]
Maria the Korean Bride [Amazon Instant Video]
My Future Baby: Breakthroughs In Modern Fertility [Amazon Instant Video]
The Soil Solution to Climate Change [Amazon Instant Video]
Speaking Out: The Women of Uganda [Amazon Instant Video]
Spinning Plates [iTunes]
Take Me To Your Mother [Amazon Instant Video]
Ultimate Survival Alaska [Amazon Instant Video]
Unseen Tears: The Native American Boarding School Experience in Western New York [Amazon Instant Video]
While No One Is Watching [iTunes]
World’s Weirdest [Amazon Instant Video]
Must-See Nonfiction TV:
Tuesday
Galapagos [2/11 on 3net, 1am, 7am, 10am and 4pm ET]
Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? [2/11 on Free Speech TV, 9pm ET]
Wednesday
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic [2/12 on Showtime, 1am and 4am ET]
Everest [2/12 on HDNet, 3:45am ET]
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists [2/12 on Pivot, 10am ET]
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress [2/12 on Link TV, 1pm ET]
Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? [2/12 on Free Speech TV, 1pm ET]
Chimpanzee [2/12 on Starz Kids & Family, 1:25pm ET]
Food, Inc. [2/12 on Pivot, 7pm ET]
Grizzly Man [2/12 on Starz Cinema, 8:15pm ET]
Thursday
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia [2/13 on Showtime East, 12am ET, and Showtime West, 3am ETu]
Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? [2/13 on Free Speech TV, 3am ET]
Hearts and Minds [2/13 on Showtime Extreme , 4am ET]
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life [2/13 on Showcase, 6:05am ET]
The Loving Story [2/13 on HBO, 10am and 1pm ET]
Primary [2/13 on Pivot, 10:30am ET]
Last Days Here [2/13 on Showtime Next, 1:05pm ET]
Lenny Cooke [2/13 on Showtime East, 6pm ET, and Showtime West, 9pm ET]
Friday
Inside Job [2/14 on Starz Cinema, 8:40am ET]
Under the Sea 3D [2/14 on 3net, 7pm ET]
Woodstock [2/14 on Encore, 11:20pm ET]
Saturday
Rush: Beyond the Lighted State [2/15 on Palladia, 1am ET]
Woodstock [2/15 on Encore, 2:20pm ET]
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party [2/15 on Showtime, 3:30am ET, and on Showtime West, 6:30am ET]
The Other F Word [2/15 on Showtime 2, 4:15am ET]
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara [2/15 on TCM, 7:36am ET]
Food, Inc. [2/15 on Pivot, 12pm ET]
Under the Sea 3D [2/15 on 3net, 1pm ET]
And the Oscar Goes To… [2/15 on TCM, 2pm ET]
Herblock: The Black & The White [2/15 on HBO East, 3:10pm ET, and on HBO West, 6:10pm ET]
Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? [2/15 on Free Speech TV, 4pm ET]
Frank and Ollie [2/15 on BYU TV, 6pm ET]
Pearl Jam Twenty [2/15 on VH1 Classic, 8pm ET]
The Flaw [2/15 on Link TV, 9:30pm ET]
Sunday
The Flaw [2/16 on Link TV, 12:30am ET]
Lenny Cooke [2/16 on Showtime 2, 1:30am ET]
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards [2/16 on TCM, 5:28am ET]
Into the Deep 3D [2/16 on 3net, 8pm and 11pm ET]
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory [2/16 on CNN, 9pm and 11pm ET]
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party [2/16 on Showtime 2, 10:30pm ET]
Monday
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress [2/17 on Link TV, 2am ET]
Into the Deep 3D [2/17 on 3net, 2am, 5am, 8am and 2pm ET]
Deep Sea 3D [2/17 on 3net, 1pm and 7pm ET]
Lenny Cooke [2/17 on Showcase, 8pm ET]
The Flaw [2/17 on Link TV, 8:30pm ET]
Tuesday
Microcosmos [2/18 on HDNET, 7:35am and 1:30pm ET]
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life [2/18 on Showcase, 11:45am ET]
The Flaw [2/18 on Link TV, 1:30pm ET]
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party [2/18 on Showcase, 11pm ET]
