Review: Tabloid

Even without a skilled documentary-maker like Errol Morris behind the camera, the story at the centre of Tabloid would be strong enough to grip the viewer - as it tells the tale of Joyce McKinney, a beauty queen accused of abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary along with umpteen twists further along the way.

Morris recognises that the material itself is more than enough to hold everyone's attention and sticks to simply letting those involved (apart from the object of McKinney's affection, Kirk Anderson) tell their side of the story, with the contrast of McKinney's crazy charisma against the various differing takes on how things really went down amongst the tabloid frenzy created is always engaging.

When the film veers away from the main tale of kinky sex onto McKinney's attempts to clone her dog in later life, the documentary does lose its way slightly, due to the lack of other protagonists and their input - all these different points of view is what makes Tabloid such an interesting documentary and Morris's skill in bringing them together makes for a gripping watch, with the added comment on the
nature of British newspaper journalism having extra relevance in light of the hacking scandals of recent times.

Review: Pearl Jam Twenty

Best filed under 'One for the fans' Pearl Jam Twenty won't offer you anything if you're not familiar with the work of Eddie Vedder's crew. Though all seem nice enough, the fact that none of them come across as a larger than life figure means this document of the band's 20 year career ends up just becoming a series of archived footage in montage alongside a series of talking heads that all downplay the key moments in their history - the death of their original frontman, taking on Ticketmaster's unfair prices and the terrible events that took place in Roskilde.

You'd expect that from a writer/director as proficient as Cameron Crowe he'd at least be able to put an interesting cultural perspective on it from his time at Rolling Stone Magazine, but the lack of any real substance to that makes the film far too one dimensional to be anything memorable.

By the end of 2 hours you find yourself asking the question - if it's all about the music, what's the point of making a film?

TV Club #2 Smashing Pumpkins 1991-2000

This week Billy Corgan and company announced that the latest version of the Smashing Pumpkins would be hitting the UK in November for a 7 night tour. To celebrate, this week's TV Club lets you watch the documentary that gives you the full Behind the Music style story of how things went first time round in the build up to their 'final' Metro show in 2000.

Review: American - The Bill Hicks Story

Charting the life and death of the influential comic, it's the archive footage of a young Bill Hicks and the innovative, animated way in which its brought to life that sets American out from the usual talking head documentaries.

The majority of contributes are either friends or family, so its not exactly the most rounded discussion of Hicks and his ups and downs - plus it spends a bit too long making the point that most of America didn't get his shtick, but taken as a tribute to the man, its and absorbing experience throughout.