My Architect. Nathaniel Kahn, illegitimate son of renowned architect Louis Kahn, didn’t know his father very well growing up – Dad snuck out on his wife and kids a few times a year to visit Nathaniel and read him a bedtime story before hooking up with his mom. Nathaniel interviews famous architects, and visits all of his father’s buildings in an effort to learn about his dad.Unique moment: Nathaniel, who seems pretty well-adjusted considering his upbringing (his father even had a third secret family) becomes emotional as he tours his dad’s masterpiece: the Salk Institute in La Jolla.
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. What Polanski did was certainly despicable, but this doc takes a look into the tough life that led up to the incident, and the OJ-esque trial that ensued before he left town.
Unique moment: photos of the girl he allegedly raped reveal how startlingly young-looking she was at the time.
Slasher. John Landis, director of Animal House, became fascinated with Michael Bennett, a mercenary used-car salesman known as “Slasher.” Bennett, a functioning alcoholic and true showman, once sold 150 cars in one weekend (with the help of his dream team), and in this doc has the unenviable task of working a tent-sale in the poorest section of Memphis.
Unique moment: through a great use of replay, one of Slasher’s salesmen shows how he’s able to manipulate customers into paying more than they anticipated.
The Staircase. My cousin recommended this six-hour, very addictive story about Michael Peterson, a North Carolina novelist accused of murdering his wife by throwing her down a flight of stairs. A French film crew had total access to Peterson and his family, and the plot constantly twists.
Unique moment: whether you believe he’s guilty or not, the verdict is somehow still stunning. Don’t Wikipedia the case before watching.
The Bridge. After reading an article about the shocking number of suicides committed by people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, a previously inexperienced filmmaker dropped his life, put together a crew and set-up four cameras by the bridge for a year. There’s actual footage of people leaping off, and subsequent interviews with friends and family.
Unique moment: the cameras capture a guy grabbing a woman before she jumps. She kicks and screams, but lives.
