‘Lorne’ the Documentary the Michaels the Review

April 21, 2026

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Noted. (CREDIT: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.)

Starring: Lorne Michaels, Lorne Michaels’ Friends

Director: Morgan Neville

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 17, 2026 (Theaters)

If Lorne Michaels is the most inscrutable man in showbiz, then why even attempt to make a documentary about him? Morgan Neville answers that by responding: lean into that inscrutability, particularly with Chris Parnell’s drolly measured narration and Robert Smigel’s TV Funhouse-style animation about Lorne’s life. Lorne could have easily just been interviews with Saturday Night Live people, mixed in with a smattering of key SNL clips (and it in fact is mostly that), and it would have felt like home to Studio 8H enthusiasts like myself. But is it too unilluminating to appeal to anyone outside that fandom? Perhaps, but the filmmaking is cheeky enough to deliver satisfying facial contortions to those watching.

Grade: 71 “It’s Like, That Things” out of 103 Righttttts

What’s Up, ‘The AI Doc’?

April 15, 2026

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TFW you’re Co-director Daniel Roher during the production of THE AI DOC: OR HOW I BECAME AN APOCALOPTIMIST, a Focus Features release. (Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2025 All Rights Reserved)

Starring: Human Beings

Directors: Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: March 27, 2026 (Theaters)

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist pretty much confirmed where I’m already at, which is to say:

1. AI doomsayers are out to lunch.
2. AI utopia prophets ought to temper their excitement.
3. Current AI technologies are not going away.
4. It’s up to everyone to wield their influence for the best possible outcome.

So I didn’t need to watch this documentary to become clear-headed about this inflection point in human history, but I nevertheless appreciated the catharsis of getting to see co-director/first-time-father-to-be Daniel Roher working through his anxiety via a creative project.

Grade: 1,000,000,000,000 Gallons of Water out of 8,888,888,888 LLM Prompts

‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ Throws It Back for Full-On Immersion

February 17, 2026

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Based on this evidence, I have my doubts that Elvis ever left the building (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Elvis Presley

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Tobacco Usage and Some Language

Release Date: February 20, 2026 (IMAX Theaters)/February 27, 2026 (General Theaters)

What’s It About?: In the course of turning Austin Butler into a biopic version of the King of Rock and Roll, director Baz Luhrmann unearthed hours of previously unseen concert footage of the real Elvis Presley. Now a good chunk of those performances have been assembled into the cinematic experience EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which mixes the King on stage with interviews and clips from his acting career. You can experience it for yourself on the big BIG screen if you head to IMAX theaters on February 20, or you can wait a week for the less immersive theaters. Or you could wait for the eventual home entertainment release, but this is undoubtedly a presentation that demands to be taken in communally.

What Made an Impression?: The Dream of Rock ‘n’ Roll is Still Alive: There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to the editing order in EPiC, at least none that I could readily detect. It’s more about just maintaining the energy for a feature-length period of time. As we freely weave through space and time, there is a bit of a surreal energy to the proceedings (though not nearly as much as there is in something like the David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream). I think I generally prefer that freewheeling approach to something more straightforward in this genre, and I wish that this outing had been even more impressionistic.
To Leave or To Enter (the Building)?: And now for the big question: is EPiC epic enough to convert the unconverted? I have little doubt that the Elvis superfans will be sufficiently entertained, but as for the rest of us? I enjoy the King well enough when his hip-shaking is right in front of me, but I’ve never had any desire to go off and visit Graceland. And this flick didn’t do anything to move the needle in that regard. So while EPiC is undeniably well-crafted, I wouldn’t call it game-changing. Still, I do have to give it up to the fine jobs performed by the audio and visual technicians restoring all this footage to such pristine quality.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is Recommended If You: Want a little less conversation and a little more action every single day

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sweat Drops

The Documentary ‘Folktales’ Asks, ‘What’s the DEAL with Norwegian Folk High Schools?’

July 23, 2025

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Bow wow wow, yippee yo, yippee yay (CREDIT: Tori Edvin Eliassen/Magnolia Pictures)

Starring: The Students and Teachers of Pasvik Folk High School, Plus a Bunch of Sled Dogs

Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Rating: Unrated (But PG-Level)

Release Date: July 25, 2025 (IFC Center in New York City)/August 1, 2025 (Los Angeles and Other Cities)

What’s It About?: In the most unforgiving stretches of northern Norway there lies a learning institution known as Pasvik Folk High School. Some hardy teenagers choose to attend there for a year to get away from the routine of the modern world and learn how to survive in the wilderness, while also corralling some adorable sled dogs. Folktales tracks the journey of one class from their arrival through months of utter darkness all the way to the tearful goodbyes and reintegration back home, having changed. Through it all, their story is explicitly connected to the Norns, the goddesses of Norse mythology responsible for weaving the strings of human destiny.

What Made an Impression?: A Star is Born: Folktales focuses on three students in particular: the socially awkward Bjørn Tore; the Dutch Romain, who finds himself anxious and adrift; and Hege, who’s struggling after the recent untimely murder of her father. Their arcs are all pretty predictable – they’re just teenagers going through teenager stuff, even if they are in the wilderness! But Hege’s story is a little meatier than the others, as she takes to the school like a dog in the mush. I think the marketers recognized this as well. That is her on the poster after all, bonding with a howling husky.
A-Roooooooooo: Perhaps the most compelling scene in Folktales (or at least the most compelling to me as a canine connoisseur) is when the students meet the school dogs. Some of them are immediately friendly, others are a little more shy, but all of them are eager to please and run through the snow. I’m a little too old for high school now, but if I were still a teenager, these pups would be the way to convince me to spend months at the tip of Scandinavia.
Connecting to Infinity: After a quick opening segment introducing the Norns, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady mostly settle into a fly-on-the-wall realism approach. But a few visual motifs hang around to maintain the Norse connection, particularly red strings crawling up trees and seemingly stretching everywhere and every when. It underscores the vibe that we’re all connected back to countless generations, a feeling that I’m sure is only amplified at Pasvik Folk.

Folktales is Recommended If You Like: Aurora Borealis, Bildungsromans, A Vicarious Braving of the Elements

Grade: 3 out of 5 Sled Dogs

‘Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie’ Leaves a Lasting Impression

May 6, 2025

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Tom and Rich (CREDIT: Screenshot)

Starring: Thomas B. Kin Chong, Richard “Cheech” Marin

Director: David L. Bushell

Running Time: 123 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 25, 2025 (Theaters)

Will Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie live up to the promise of its title? Well, not for me, because this is in fact the first Cheech & Chong movie I’ve ever seen. Although, I suppose it is possible that I could go the rest of my days without checking out any of their previous co-starring features. But that’s definitely less likely at this point! Promoting the totality of your career certainly isn’t a terrible idea for a documentary, I must say. Especially if it’s tinged with bittersweetness (emphasis on “bitter”) that’ll leave viewers feeling “Hmm.”

Grade: 2 Blunts out of 3 Legacies

‘One to One: John & Yoko’ Captures a Moment

April 9, 2025

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Documentary for the Benefit of John & Yoko (CREDIT: Magnolia Pictures)

Starring: John Lennon, Yoko Ono

Directors: Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards

Running Time: 100 Minutes

Rating: R for Graphic Non-Sexual Nudity and Some Drug Use

Release Date: April 11, 2025 (IMAX Theaters)

What’s It About?: In August 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed the “One to One” concert at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a benefit show for the Willowbrook institution for children with intellectual disabilities, which was notorious for its inhumane conditions. The documentary One to One: John & Yoko tracks the buildup to that show, while also painting a portrait of the couple’s stay in a Greenwich apartment, which they lived in for 18 months from 1971 to 1973. During that time, when they weren’t preparing for the show, the musical couple liked to stay in bed and watch a lot of TV, while also advocating for the freedom of activist John Sinclair, among other activities.

What Made an Impression?: A Reality-Altering Adventure: One to One does not unfold strictly linearly, both in terms of chronology and geometry. Instead, it bounces around from fragment to fragment, often with scratches of static to mark the transitions. In other words, it operates much like human memory, or at least my human memory. No worries if your mind is a little chaotic, though. If you’re someone who’s been alive in the modern world during any of the last several decades, I suspect that you’ll still be able to intuit directors Kevin MacDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ style of mediation within mediation pretty naturally, even if doesn’t follow the typical syntax of documentary cinema language.
A Peek Inside: With its mix of archival TV clips and behind-the-scenes footage, One to One also aims to capture the fleeting essence of what it was like to live as John and Yoko during this era. Perhaps the mind-bending style sounds a little too niche or maybe even off-putting to you. But if you have any affection for these people, you’ll surely find yourself touched by the access and vulnerability. And thankfully it doesn’t feel invasive, but instead like a gift to the world of a little piece of their souls.

One to One: John & Yoko is Recommended If You Like: Experimental documentaries, Intimate documentaries, 1970s talk shows

Grade: 4 out of 5 Benefit Concerts

‘Music by John Williams,’ Review by jmunney

November 12, 2024

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Johnny be good. (CREDIT: Disney Plus/Screenshot)

Starring: John Williams and His Friends, Collaborators, and Admirers

Director: Laurent Bouzereau

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: November 1, 2024 (Disney+ and Limited Theaters)

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you probably know that my reviewing strategy often consists of asking, “Would I like to exist within the parameters of what this movie is all about?” In the case of the documentary Music by John Williams, that question takes the form of: “Would I like one of the most acclaimed movie music composers to compose a soundtrack about me?” And the answer is: of course I would! With such well-documented, extensive talent, I’m sure he could do a good job.

But the trickier question is, would John Williams actually want to write music about me? Obviously, it would be an unrealistically backbreaking workload for him to craft scores for every single one of his fans. But if fate somehow twisted its way towards connecting the two of us, I’d imagine he would have the multi-genre savvy to pull it off. And this documentary is evidence of that.

Grade: 77 Million Emotions out of a Thousand Notes

‘Piece by Piece’ Declares That It’s Time for a LEGO-Style Documentary About Pharrell

October 8, 2024

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Clap along if you feel like you’re going to watch Piece by Piece (CREDIT: Focus Features)

Starring: Pharrell Williams and His Collaborators

Director: Morgan Neville

Running Time: 93 Minutes

Rating: PG for Mildly Explicit Lyrics

Release Date: October 11, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: There was something in the air in Virginia Beach in the 70s and 80s. Or maybe it was just synesthesia. Either way, Pharrell Williams was obsessed with music while growing up in The Old Dominion, and he was lucky enough to connect with a whole crew of other like-minded future professionals along the way. Soon enough, he was one of the most unique and in-demand producers and songwriters in the industry, which he eventually parlayed into his own string of inimitable hits as a lead artist. Somewhere along the way, he met up with acclaimed documentarian Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), and it all culminated in a decision to produce Piece by Piece, which tells Pharrell’s life story in animated LEGO-style form.

What Made an Impression?: Listen Up, Listen Up!: Piece by Piece flirts a little bit with hagiography (although it doesn’t shy away from its subject’s downtrodden moments), but you can understand why Neville takes such a loving approach. Pretty much everyone who has ever worked with Pharrell (or at least everyone interviewed for this movie) was immediately enthralled by him, as he has a knack for unveiling beats unlike anything they’ve ever encountered before while also uncannily capturing their essences. His collaborators are basically a who’s who of the past 25 years of hip hop, pop, and R&B, and as Piece by Piece reveals the stories behind his handiwork, I found myself marveling, “Oh wow, Pharrell was behind my favorite songs of so many different artists.” You might not have the same reaction, as individual tastes differ after all. But if you care about popular tunecraft, chances are high you’ll be tapping your toes and feeling your heart skip a beat at least a little bit.
Pharrell the Blockhead: But ultimately what sets apart Piece by Piece as a step above is in fact its gimmick. That’s right, those iconic Danish construction toys do a mighty fine job of conveying what it’s like to live in Pharrell’s head. After an intoxicating opening sequence, I wondered if this hook could sustain its novelty over a feature length running time. But whenever my skepticism reached a tipping point, PbP responded with another hit of its signature playful Lego craftsmanship. Maybe you’ve gotten to the end of this review and find yourself still asking: does Pharrell’s career merit an entire documentary? Well, if it’s going to be as creative as Piece by Piece, then sure it does.

Piece by Piece is Recommended If You Like: Talent shows, Falsettos, Rump Shaking

Grade: 4 out of 5 Hit Records

Give Your Green Light to ‘Will & Harper’

September 20, 2024

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W&H (CREDIT: Netflix)

Starring: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 13, 2024 (Theaters)/September 27, 2024 (Netflix)

Will & Harper is basically the perfect film for my silly little habit of asking some variation of the question, “Would I like to be a part of what this movie is all about?” Because the answer is an unequivocal “Yes!”

The titular “Will” is Will Ferrell, one of my favorite Funny People on Planet Earth, while the titular “Harper” is Harper Steele, a former Saturday Night Live writer who often teamed up with Will during their time together at Studio 8H. And Will & Harper is about the cross-country* road trip they go on together in the wake of the latter’s gender transition as a trans woman (*-that country being the United States).

It would’ve just been grand if I could’ve been there right alongside them, even if just for a minute. What if they had serendipitously dropped into a Dunkin’ Donuts in my neighborhood? It could’ve happened! Maybe it still could! But at least I was able to watch this doc and experience their adventure vicariously, which is the next best thing.

Grade: 55 Pringles out of 69 Natty Lights

Does ‘Seeking Mavis Beacon’ Bring a Digital Icon Back to Her Home Keys?

August 29, 2024

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ASDF ;LKJ (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Not Mavis Beacon

Director: Jazmin Renée Jones

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: August 30, 2024 (IFC Center in New York City)/September 6, 2024 (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago)/September 13, 2024 (Additional Cities)

What’s It About?: In a case of “Only 90s Kids Can Understand,” Seeking Mavis Beacon doggedly attempts to uncover the truth behind the once-ubiquitous software program that taught a generation of children how to utilize their keyboards as efficiently as possible. Launched in 1987, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing and its title character delivered a regal air to the burgeoning personal computer sector. A lot of people apparently believe that Mavis Beacon was a real human being, but she was in fact a fictional character originally brought to life by model Renee L’Esperance. For filmmaker Jazmin Renée Jones, Mavis Beacon was one of the most influential people of her childhood – and so therefore was L’Esperance. Thus, she felt absolutely compelled to make a documentary to uncover how Renee became Mavis, and why she then just … disappeared.

What Made an Impression?: Society in the Machine: Jones feels a vibrant kinship with anyone who still believes that Mavis Beacon is a real person, probably because she used to believe that herself as well. Her movie doesn’t dive completely into the Mandela effect, but it is indebted to a society that is for better or worse perpetually connected to the online world, both thematically and formally. A good chunk of the film plays out on computer screens, with vintage Mavis Beacon game footage, FaceTime conversations, and chunks of viral memes. Its style in the early going reminded me of the Rodney Ascher doc A Glitch in the Matrix, which examined the possibility that we’re living in a simulation within the context of a post-Matrix world. I’m intrigued by how this setup posits that Beacon has been just as influential as Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity, although Jones doesn’t really stick with this approach. Alas, I kind of wish she had, as Seeking Mavis Beacon could have benefited from being a little less prosaic as it moved ahead.
Documentarian, Document Thyself?: It becomes pretty clear early on that Jones’ journey to contact L’Esperance will be rather quixotic. That’s not entirely disappointing, as Jones does manage to interview some of the other important figures behind Mavis’ creation. And with the digital snooping aid of her “cyberdoula” partner Olivia Ross, they also manage to track down a bit of a mild cover-up. But with L’Esperance proving to be firmly unreachable, the movie fills time with Jones’ and Ross’ personal struggles. Ultimately, Seeking Mavis Beacon is a documentary whose ostensible subject is just too far out of reach. Jones is too perseverant (or less generously, too stubborn) to accept that, though. There’s plenty of oomph to this story, but its inability to grapple with its limits makes for a frustrating viewing experience.

Seeking Mavis Beacon is Recommended If: You’re Okay with a Documentarian Becoming the Stealth Subject of the Documentary

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Home Keys

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