Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)
Martin Scorsese directed this unusual film about Bob Dylan, though he didn’t film the Rolling Thunder tour himself back in the 1970s. Instead, he created Rolling Thunder Revue by combining concert footage with clips and scenes from the fictional movie Dylan made at the time, the seldom-seen Renaldo and Clara. The film also features new interviews with many people involved, including Dylan, who reportedly discusses his work on camera for the first time in ten years. In the opening moments, he jokingly admits, “I don’t remember a thing about Rolling Thunder! It happened so long ago, I wasn’t even born.”
Rolling Thunder Revue is a fun and imaginative film presented as a documentary. It’s not quite This Is Spinal Tap– obviously Dylan and his tour were real – but it’s likely more similar to that type of movie than many viewers will expect… if anyone can even find it hidden within Netflix’s catalog.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Don’t be put off by the long title or the fact that this movie is based on a singing competition that wasn’t well-known in the US until recently. It’s easily Will Ferrell’s funniest film in a decade. He has great chemistry with Rachel McAdams, who is just as funny as he is. They play a pair of platonic (and Icelandic) friends who unexpectedly get the chance to represent their country in the yearly Eurovision Song Contest. The contest itself is hilarious, the songs are surprisingly memorable and amusing, and Ferrell and McAdams are both fantastic. If you don’t enjoy it, well, that’s just silly.
High Flying Bird (2020)
Watching movies with intelligent characters is always enjoyable. When movie characters are clever, they keep us guessing because their actions aren’t predictable. Generally, you only find truly smart characters in compelling films – it’s hard for less skilled filmmakers to write them well. High Flying Bird is one of those films, filled with bright characters and brought to life by director Steven Soderbergh and writer Tarell Alvin McCraney. Moonlight‘s André Holland stars as Ray Burke, a basketball agent searching for a way to resolve an NBA lockout that threatens his star player’s career. The film feels like an Ocean’s movie, but set within the high-stakes world of sports business – and it’s incredibly intelligent.
Descendant (2022)
Documentary filmmaking involves both carefully watching events and asking insightful questions, and Margaret Brown excels at both. She knows how to ask the important questions to the right people, and she skillfully combines their responses into a wide-ranging look at a community in Alabama dealing with the discovery of remains from the Clotilda, the last ship that brought enslaved Africans to the U.S. Brown also understands when to simply film someone and let things happen naturally. Many Netflix documentaries are quickly made to take advantage of current events. Descendant is different.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Richard Linklater returned to animation after 15 years with a film exploring the blurry line between dreams and memories, and how dreams can sometimes feel more vivid than reality. Apollo 10 1/2 shows Linklater remembering his childhood in Houston, near NASA, and playfully imagining being chosen as the first boy in space. This happened because a problem during construction created an Apollo capsule too small for adult astronauts. By recreating the atmosphere, visuals, and sounds of the late 1960s, Apollo 10 1/2 felt like a personal journey through the mind and early life of a talented filmmaker.
Leo (2023)
Netflix quickly gained a major supporter in Adam Sandler, and he’s been responsible for many of the platform’s biggest hits, including Murder Mystery and Happy Gilmore 2. He also helped bring Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories to life with his star power. More recently, he voiced a character in Leo, a surprisingly good animated film about a grumpy classroom pet who decides to break out and experience the world before it’s too late. While it could easily have been overly sentimental or silly, Leo is actually heartwarming and quite humorous (and it’s a musical!). What really stood out was how accurately the movie portrayed kindergarteners – as the endlessly energetic and chaotic little people they are.
Rebel Ridge (2024)
As a huge movie fan, I really think Aaron Pierre deserved way more attention for his incredible performance as an upright Marine caught in a mess with corrupt police officers in Rebel Ridge. It came out on Netflix in September 2024 along with a ton of other new releases, and sadly, it didn’t quite get the buzz it deserved. But let me tell you, Pierre was absolutely sensational. And Jeremy Saulnier, the director known for Blue Ruin and Green Room, delivered another fantastic action film – it felt a lot like First Blood, but seen through the lens of today’s complicated world.
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
Growing up, I was really captivated by how the song “We Are the World” was made, and I would repeatedly watch the documentary about it – We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song – . This new documentary blends recent interviews with Lionel Richie and other prominent artists who participated in “We Are the World” with incredible footage from The Story Behind the Song. Now that I recognize everyone, watching the recording of “We Are the World” feels like looking back at a fascinating snapshot of 1980s pop music, rock, and fashion. (Lindsey Buckingham’s hair! It’s just incredibly… big and shaped!) It’s also interesting to observe how all those famous people interacted with each other, especially with so little support staff around. Who naturally stepped up as the leader? Who seemed anxious? Did anyone have a little too much to drink? Who got upset when someone suggested singing in Swahili? If you enjoy watching those kinds of dynamics, you’ll really like this film, even if you don’t particularly love the song “We Are the World.”
