Steamy Streaming: 5 Docs
From McQueen to Basquiat to The Beatles
The holiday season is hurtling forward, so we’ve got some great documentaries across all genres to keep you grounded this weekend, to provide some perspective before the Christmas spirit completely overwhelms us. Here are some of our favorite docs available for you to stream right now.
Fashion: McQueen (Amazon)
One of the most legendary names in the world of modern fashion was Alexander McQueen, one of the hottest and most visionary designers around. The world was rocked by his unexpected suicide in 2010 at the young age of 40, and this documentary serves as a fitting tribute to the man and his work.
Music: The Beatles Made on Merseyside (Hulu)
The Beatles are the greatest band of all time. wannabe critics accuse them of being “overrated.” The truth is, The Beatles are overrated; but even factoring that, they’re still the best there ever was at what they did. They changed pop culture forever, and had an effect on history which will never be fully understood. This documentary goes back to the time before they were globally recognized icons and traces their power to its roots in Liverpool and the discovery of the “mersey beat” sound.
Art: Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Hulu)
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a graffiti artist who became renowned for his art, and was just about to secure his place as a pop culture legend before dying of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. He was a hurricane, who came, ripped up the foundations of the art world, and then disappeared, leaving the world different from when he arrived. This film shines a strong lens on an integral part of his short life, his profound impact, and his forever-growing legacy.
True Crime: Killing for Love (Hulu)
“True Crime” documentaries are the latest exploitation craze; for whatever reason, we’re obsessed with real stories of small-town murder, and of watching people lose their composure in front of cameras in lingering shots of emotional breakdowns. It can be pretty icky, but it’s undeniably compelling. Killing for Love, about the 1985 murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom, is sure to sate our troubling appetite for this type of content, especially after the underwhelming second season of Netflix‘s Making a Murder failed to impress.
Sex: Voyeur (Netflix)
A unique film which does tremendous things with its format, Voyeur follows journalist Gay Talese as he follows the tale of Gerald Foos, the owner of the Manor House Motel, who infamously spied on the guests of his motel, deriving sexual pleasure from his voyeurism. A documentary which plays like a fast-paced thriller while dissecting the very journalism which serves as the foundation of the story. Simply put, this is a documentary which you can show to people who would otherwise throw a temper tantrum at the prospect of watching a documentary.
