In Search of Steve Ditko is a 2007 BBC documentary following Jonathan Ross on his attempt to track down the elusive comic book titan, best known as the co-creator of Spiderman. along the way, Ross sits down with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee and more to discuss the man and his classic work.
the MC5. scuzzy Detroit renegades that redefined rocknroll in the 60s. while flower power was the preferred method of protest at that time, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, singer Rob Tyner, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson unleashed a sonic molotov cocktail and lobbed it straight into the heart of the American machine, getting the attention of the White House itself. before they imploded, the MC5 blazed a path for the punks that would appear in the coming years. music was never the same.
here's an amazing clip from 1970
here is a blistering live performance from 1972. the band was already starting to splinter, but there was still a lot of fuel left in the tank, which is what makes their self-destruction all the worse.
the MC5 - A True Testimonal documentary is essential viewing. here is a preview. it's worth trying to dig it up the entire film.
and when you are all done with those, here are their albums.
the greatest director in film history. everything he touched was fantastic.
here are a couple of nice documentaries:
everyone knows his famous films like The Shining or Clockwork Orange or 2001: A Space Odyssey, but his early black and white work is stunning as well and is only recently being dug up and revisited by film scholars.
the full movie Killer's Kiss. stunning black and white photography here, inspired by his photojournalism for Life
Here is a stunning and essential documentary on the history of American cinema with Martin Scorsese. there is a wealth of information on film and storytelling to be gained by absorbing these.
Carl Sagan... one of history's greatest communicators and a patron saint of Head Medicine. please watch his groundbreaking pbs series COSMOS. you will become a better human being by the time it is done.
full length documentary on Krautrock and the history of highly influential bands like Kraftwerk and Can. i'm mostly unfamiliar with this scene, but this documentary really shined a clear light on it. very informative and interesting.
