R.J. Cutler, a longtime filmmaker, is at the center of a debate in Hollywood over whether documentaries about celebrities are real documentaries.
Category: Documentary Films and Programs
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Martha Stewart Gives Netflix’s ‘Martha’ a Scalding Review
When a reporter phoned about her new documentary, the lifestyle star didn’t hold back: “I hate those last scenes. Hate them.”
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‘Dahomey’: Mati Diop’s New Documentary on the Painful Legacy of Looted Artifacts
Mati Diop examines the fate of 26 treasures — sometimes from their point of view — looted from Benin in 1892.
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The Menendez Brothers: How True Crime Is Re-Examining Old Cases
A thriving genre built on podcasts and documentaries, coupled with younger generations’ more skeptical worldview, helped revitalize interest in this case and others like it.
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Review: ‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’
At 75, Springsteen is doggedly committed to live performance. This documentary chronicles how he keeps up on tour, and why.
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‘My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock’ Review: Director’s Commentary
A richly detailed essay film imagines Hitchcock commenting on his own oeuvre over a mesmerizing daisy chain of clips.
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‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin’ Review: More Real Than Reality
An unconventional documentary tells the story of a Norwegian gamer — and of how we live life on the internet.
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‘Black Box Diaries’ Review: A Public Face for #MeToo in Japan
In a new documentary, Shiori Ito recounts her yearslong crusade for justice in Japan after accusing a powerful journalist of rape.
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In ‘Smile 2’ and ‘Trap,’ Pop Stardom Looks Pretty Terrifying
At a time when the business of being Taylor Swift or Beyoncé is booming, these films examine toxic fandom and what can seem like mass hysteria.
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The Holocaust’s Grandchildren Are Speaking Now
Three generations on, filmmakers, writers and artists are making new meaning from ancestral trauma.
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‘Fantastical’ Is a Catfishing Horror Story About Toxic Fandom
“Fanatical,” an eye-popping film directed by Erin Lee Carr, details the bizarre 16-year ordeal that the duo and their fans endured.
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‘Union’ Review: Amazon Workers Unionize
As this documentary by Brett Story and Stephen Maing chronicles, the efforts to unionize a warehouse in New York were successful — but also a grind.