documentary
Hail Satan? review - the detail of the devilSaturday, 24 August 2019
As Penny Lane’s documentary shows, America and Satanism have a long history. From the Salem Witch trials to the moral panic triggered by the Manson murders and films like William Friedkin’s The Exorcist in the 1970s, mass panic in America of the... Read more... |
The Day Mountbatten Died, BBC Two review - the IRA's audacious strike at the heart of the British EstablishmentTuesday, 20 August 2019
It was a lovely summer’s day in southern England, much as it was in County Sligo. I was with my parents, driving to visit a very elderly relative. We arrived not long after the news of Lord Mountbatten’s death was announced and my great aunt was... Read more... |
Kathy Burke's All Woman, Channel 4 review - warts and allWednesday, 14 August 2019
What’s the next level above national treasure? We’ll need a name for it by the end of All Woman, Kathy Burke’s new Channel 4 documentary. With a big heart and a foul mouth, she’s travelled the country trying to define 21st century womanhood – an... Read more... |
DVD: Are You Proud?Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Ashley Joiner’s expansive documentary Are You Proud? opens with the testament of a redoubtable nonagenarian remembering his experiences as a gay man in World War II. Though followed by the admission that he had to live his later life as a lie, it’s... Read more... |
Inside the Secret World of Incels, BBC One review - involuntary celibacy, violence and despairThursday, 01 August 2019
A sad story of lonely men, Simon Rawles's atmospheric and beautifully shot documentary has no narration, apart from the occasional faint, off-camera question from the interviewer. This makes everything more depressing. We’re alone on a nightmare... Read more... |
The Day We Walked on the Moon, ITV review - it was 50 years ago to the dayWednesday, 17 July 2019
It was on 16 July 1969 that Apollo 11 lifted off from Florida en route for the Moon, and exactly 50 years later, as we nervously anticipate the dawn of commercial flights into space, the event resonates louder than ever. Here, Professor Brian Cox... Read more... |
Inside the Social Network: Facebook's Difficult Year, BBC Two review - how big can it get?Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Not everybody is on Facebook, yet. So far, Mark Zuckerberg’s social media monolith has only managed to scrape together about 2.3 billion users, roughly one-third of the planet. But as this fascinating documentary revealed, Facebook’s plans are huge... Read more... |
The Brink review – behind the scenes with Steve BannonSaturday, 13 July 2019
Donald Trump’s former strategist, alt-right propagandist and all-round provocateur Steve Bannon comes under the spotlight of a smart, dynamic, behind-closed-doors documentary, as he attempts to turn his brand of far-right populism into a global... Read more... |
Armstrong review - the man behind the leapFriday, 12 July 2019
You wait 50 years for a moon landing documentary, then two come along at once! With Apollo 11 still showing in cinemas, along comes Armstrong. But while the former focuses solely on the lunar mission through archive footage, the latter is the wider... Read more... |
Cyclists: Scourge of the Streets?, Channel 5 review - can we make the roads a safer place?Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Healthy, efficient and carbon-neutral, cycling ought to be a transport panacea. But in the dash for lycra, perhaps not enough attention has been paid to letting bikes and motor vehicles co-exist peacefully. This deliberately provocative Channel 5... Read more... |
Inside the Bank of England, BBC Two review - economical with the actualitéWednesday, 03 July 2019
The BBC is pleased with itself for having insinuated a documentary team inside the Bank of England, but was this august custodian of the nation’s finances really going to let slip any juicy revelations? The Bank’s role is too powerful and too... Read more... |
Apollo 11 review - an awe-inspiring leapWednesday, 26 June 2019
How could this story be told again? Director Todd Douglas Miller has found a way: strip away narrative and give the audience the purity of original record. The result is a gripping non-fiction experience that sits in a unique space between... Read more... |
