Doc Corner: 'Mavis!' and 'We Are X' Spotlight the Music
Every year there are so many documentaries about musicians that it sometimes feels as if we will surely run out. We of course all know that will never be the case, and in this landscape of film distribution, documentaries like these are the easiest sells so it’s hard to blame the makers. In 2016 alone we’ve see films about The Beatles, Nick Cave, Oasis, Frank Zappa, and the late Sharon Jones. Jim Jarmusch has released Gimme Danger about Iggy Pop and The Stooges and there has even been yet another Rolling Stones doc called The Rolling Stones Ole Ole Ole!: A Trip Across Latin America that I never knew existed.
This week we’re looking at two more that are on this year’s Oscar eligibility long-list and which focus on polar-opposite worlds of music: rhythm and blues icon Mavis Staple and Japanese hard-rock phenomenon X.