Documentary

Mr. McMahon – Junior

  • Title: Mr. McMahon – Junior
  • IMDb: link

Mr. McMahon - Junior

Filmed primarily prior to the allegations which eventually drove Vince McMahon from the wrestling empire he built, the first episode of Netflix’s Mr. McMahon feels more A&E Biography than Dark Side of the Ring. Largely toothless, the episode briefly mentions the allegations before moving into an episode that champions McMahon taking over the wrestling territory from his father and forcing his way across the country poaching stars and stealing talent from other promotions. As Vince puts it, he doesn’t know if was good for the industry but it was certainly good for him which the documentary chalks as a win. Those familiar with McMahon’s story won’t find much new here, except perhaps some commentary about his strained relationship with his father.

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Cover Your Ears

  • Title: Cover Your Ears
  • IMDb: link

Cover Your Ears

Narrated by Kate Moss, Cover Your Ears examines the topic of censorship in the music industry over the years for a variety of reasons including racism, culture shifts, obscenity, violence, sex, religion, politics, and protest, activism, and revolution. The film sets out to examine how music can be a mirror for the world, reflecting the good and bad of the times, and how censorship of music really only tackles a symptom pointing out a disease rather than the disease itself.

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Runaway Radio

  • Title: Runaway Radio
  • IMDb: link

Runaway Radio

Director Mike McGuff‘s documentary looks back at the history of Houston’s KLOL 101 FM featuring interviews with DJs (Jim Pruett, Dayna Steele, Crash, Outlaw Dave, Grego, Levi Booker, Jennifer Reyna, and others) and celebrities (including Lyle Lovett, ZZ Top‘s Dusty Hill, Melissa Etheridge, and Sammy Hagar) whose lives were changed by the station’s underground and progressive rock of the 1970s leading it to become one of the top-rated AOR stations of the 80s.

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Remembering Gene Wilder

  • Title: Remembering Gene Wilder
  • IMDb: link

Remembering Gene Wilder

Built from interviews, clips, and the audio from Gene Wilder‘s 2005 autobiography, Remembering Gene Wilder takes a look back at the life and career of the actor best known for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory along with his collaborations with Mel Brooks in Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and Blazing Saddles, and his roles with Richard Pryor in Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

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Power

  • Title: Power
  • IMDb: link

Power

Director Yance Ford‘s documentary examines the history and historical impact the rise of police power has had in the United States. While not all of the various threads work equally well, the film does a solid job in explaining the genesis of police in terms of methods of stability and control of the status quo which have almost always been at odds with the needs of the disenfranchised. The film pulls in interviews from several authors and experts on the subject, including spending time on the job with an African-American police officer, as well as making us of various archival footage.

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