Great documentaries you don’t want to miss
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What makes Ross McElwee’s documentary *Remake* worth watching?
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You're listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour, the podcast that keeps you up to date on the latest in pop culture. And here's a little transitive property for you. You stay up to date on pop culture by staying up to date on the show. And the way you stay up to date on the show is by following Pop Culture Happy Hour on your favorite podcast app. Thank you. We talk a lot about movies on this show, but new documentary films, for whatever reason, can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. So we figured we'd take a beat to highlight some new documentaries that are worth your time. I'm Glenn Weldon, and today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're recommending some great documentaries you don't want to miss. Joining me is my co-host, Aisha Harris.
Hey, Aisha.
Hey, Glenn. Excited to talk about these with you.
Yeah, and I know this first one we're going to talk about is one you really love. You covered it for NPR. Yeah. Tell me about it.
So this is probably one of my favorite movies of the year, to be honest. And it is Remake, directed by the very legendary filmmaker, documentarian Ross McElwee. It's his first feature in 15 years. It's about McElwee sort of trying to get a new project off the ground. This time it's a remake of one of his previous documentaries, like a fictional remake.
But
while he's trying to work on that, he's also reckoning with the dissolution of his marriage and his son Adrian's drug addiction. I do think it's a little important to have a little bit of context. While you don't have to have seen Ross McElwee's films before this in order for it to hit you. It does help, I think, because so much of his filmmaking is self-referential. I don't know how familiar you were with Ross McElwee. This is new to me, but I'm sure you'd come across his work before. Oh,
I was one of those people who saw Sherman's March, the film that he made his bones on, back in the day when I was a young kid. I know his stuff.
Yeah, I did a whole binge on him before seeing Remake because I was like, I've not seen... any of his films. So let's do this. And what I realized while watching some of his films was like, before Mark Cohen and Rent, before Lonely Girl 15, and you know, the countless present day in the life, like content creators who are inviting you to get ready with them or whatever, there was Ross McAuley. Starting in the 70s, he produced films that were very self-conscious, self-referential. Sherman's March, as you mentioned, is sort of this would-be Civil War doc that actually ends up being about the pressure he himself is facing to find someone and settle down. It's really about him and he's constantly in all of his films sort of using footage that he's used in other films and there's a through line.
And so Remake is sort of like born out of the success of Sherman's March. The movie he's trying to remake, that a filmmaker is trying to remake, is Sherman's March. And he sells the rights to a producer.
How does *Remake* blend personal tragedy with a film‑making meta‑narrative?
But then while he's documenting the process, he's rocky relationship with his son, Adrian, is kind of coming to the forefront. And this was filmed over several years. His son passed away in 2016. But you can tell that this is a movie that's been many years in the making. And it really hits you. I don't even really know how to describe it any more than that. It's just a movie you kind of need to sit with and really let it wash over you. I think anyone who's experienced someone who has struggled with addiction, whether it's a family member or someone close to you, it's one of those movies that is just As self-conscious as it is, it also opens it up to all these questions that I think a lot of people, regardless of who you are, will be able to connect to.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What makes Ross McElwee’s documentary *Remake* worth watching?
0:00–3:07
2
How does *Remake* blend personal tragedy with a film‑making meta‑narrative?
3:07–6:13
3
Why is John Wilson’s *The History of Concrete* a fresh take on documentary storytelling?
6:13–8:56
4
What surprising themes emerge from *The History of Concrete* beyond concrete itself?
8:56–11:33
5
How does *Black Zombie* uncover the Haitian roots of zombie mythology?
11:33–15:01
6
What connections does *Black Zombie* draw between zombie lore and colonial history?
15:01–18:11
7
What insights does Sam Green’s *The Oldest Person in the World* offer about aging and mortality?
18:11–21:22
8
Why is Nick Davis’s *You Had to Be There* an essential look at the early Godspell era and comedy history?
21:22–24:02