My husband has a bias against documentaries that I don’t understand.
There are at least a dozen in my Netflix queue, but whenever I suggest we watch one on a Saturday night, he likes to reply that documentaries aren’t movies. Then he picks something terrible like Snowpiercer and falls asleep 10 minutes before it ends.
I thought I could at least convince him to watch a documentary about Billie Joe Armstrong turning Green Day’s “American Idiot” into a Broadway musical since he’s a fan of both music and theater.
Nope.
However, when we’re hanging out with my parents, he’s suddenly more willing to comply. In their company, we’ve seen 20 Feet From Stardom, Finding Vivian Maier, and the epic History of the Eagles. All of them were excellent.
When we were in New Jersey last week, my family watched and loved I Am Big Bird, an affectionate documentary about Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who has given life to Sesame Street‘s Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for over four decades.
As someone who watched Sesame Street thirty years ago and now watches it with my kids, I found I Am Big Bird fascinating. Especially since I’d been convinced that somebody else has been playing Big Bird because the voice sounds different than I remember.
Nope.
It’s just that Big Bird is now 81 years old.
Next I want to watch the Jim Henson documentary that aired on PBS last week. Think I can get my husband to sit through it with me?
PS – Looking for my six remaining recommendations? Head over to Cool Mom Picks for my latest roundup of documentaries about kids to watch with your kids.
(Film posters via IMDb, Vivian Maier self-portrait via VivianMaier.com)
I’ve not heard of any of the documentaries you mentioned and I actually LOVE documentaries… so now I’m adding them to my Netflix queue! Thanks for sharing.
Yay! Hope you enjoy them! What have you seen lately that I should add to my must-watch list?
We always tend to have a few documentaries or NOVAs on our DVR waiting to be watched…and then they eventually get deleted to make way for other (crappier) shows. However, when we do make time to watch them I end up LOVING them, and always think – man why aren’t we watching these more often? I love that you watched a bunch together with your parents – that sounds fun! Thanks for the great suggestions.