Popular reviews

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  Review by Ethan Colburn ★★★★½

  Music docs get good when they’re not afraid to criticize their subject. This movie showcased Miles Davis’ genius without skimming over his drug and domestic violence issues.

  It’s so invigorating watching old clips of Davis improvising some of the most iconic jazz pieces we’ve ever seen. They interviewed many of his collaborators, who emphasized his greatness and what it’s like to play for him. It’s extremely emotionally engaging, and doesn’t feel like just a visual representation of his Wikipedia page (which other music docs can drift into sometimes).

  Very well made and put together.

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★ 1

  “The very first thing I remember in my early childhood is a flame, a blue flame jumping off a gas stove somebody lit... I remember being shocked by the whoosh of the blue flame jumping off the burner, the suddenness of it... I saw that flame and felt that hotness of it close to my face. I felt fear, real fear, for the first time in my life. But I remember it also like some kind of adventure, some kind of weird joy, too. I guess that experience took me someplace in my head I hadn't been before... The fear I had was almost like an invitation, a challenge to go forward into something I knew nothing about. That's where…

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★½

  I know nothing about Davis so this was pretty illuminating. His spex game was really something too.

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  Review by Max Tamarkin ★★★½

  Making your wife leave West Side Story cause you're a lonely little jealous boy: NOT cool

  Improvising the film score to Elevator to the Gallows: COOL

  Ranch: can be COOL or NOT COOL

  Aid: KOOL

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★

  This new reflection on the twentieth-century jazz icon from documentarian filmmaker Stanley Nelson (The Black Panthers: Vanguards of the Revolution) is open and honest about the man's shortcomings and underscores the dormant personal problems which drove his creativity. Built with a cascade of talking heads from musicians and analysts who accentuate prominent attributes within his music, the outcome is a satisfying albeit formulaic account which is of most interest to those already with an appreciation for the outstanding musician.

  It spotlights how Miles Davis grew up observing his father physically assaulting his mother, and how his appearance at the Paris International Jazz Festival in the late forties was hailed so warmly in distinction to the racial hostility he regularly endured…

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  Review by Andreas Bardét ★★★★★ 5

  Aus meiner Lieblingsreihe: "Fertige Genies bei der Arbeit".

  Jetzt verstehe ich Jazz!
  Und warum Miles so cool war!

  Ich höre ab jetzt nur noch Jazz, so!

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  Review by 🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🐱 ★★★½ 2

  ☆"If anyone wants to be about creating, they have to be about change."☆

  Birth of the Cool isn't even his best album.

  It's not even close, honestly! You've got the amazing experimental Bitches Brew, the flamenco-influenced Sketches of Spain, the creation of fusion with In a Silent Way, the magical recordings from Porgy and Bess, the legendary soundtrack to Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud ["Elevator to the Gallows"], and of course the masterpiece of all masterpieces Kind of Blue.

  Heck, Birth of the Cool is basically just a compilation record. Anyway, hey, we've got a documentary!

  Filmmaker Stanley Nelson is a busy man, and thankfully this seminal documentarian of black life has plenty of inspiring and important stories to bring…

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★★

  Miles Davis was a jazz legend PERIOD. Stanley Nelson is a legendary documentarian PERIOD. Nelson directing a documentary on Miles Davis is a must-see!

  Vegetarian points:
  Miles Davis tried to be a vegetarian.

  Vegan alert:
  -Raised cattle and hogs in his family farm
  -Bullfighting footage
  -Photo of Miles taking meat out of the oven
  -Milk
  -Hot link sandwich

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  Review by taylor moniker ★★

  if you've never researched all that heavily into miles davis before, this doc provides a decent overview of his life and career. that being said, there were a few pretty important details that were just totally left out in terms of discussion of the actual music, which is a shame for a documentary about a musician, and especially a documentary about one of the greatest trailblazers in music over the last century. four big ones that stuck out to me:

  1. most notably, there is no mention of pianist bill evans, who introduced davis to the theoretical concepts that would provide the impetus for the sound of kind of blue and modal jazz in general; this crucial detail was also…

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  Review by Ese 👉 Víctor 2

  A music bio documentary that is a decent surface level introduction to the life and music of Miles but reveals little that couldn’t be drawn from Wikipedia pages and stringing together YouTube videos of Herbie and Wayne laughing about his crazy ass quirks.

  Consider that the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown each revolutionized the sound of music, rewiring our aural brain paths.

  Miles Davis did that, not once, but three distinct times in his life and somehow this documentary underplays his influence and frames his career as mad evil genius guy who also sold a lot of records.

  The best thing you can say about this film is that it doesn’t suck as bad as most music bios because at least half of it was actually focused on the creation and power of the music itself but there was still plenty of drugs and gossip and titillating behind-the-scenes assholery to juice things up.

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  Review by ClinTarantino ★★★★ 1

  Great documentary about the biggest jazz legend of all time. Sure most of the things you’ve heard before if you know miles but it still has some new moments and at all it’s just amazing to hear his lifestory again. Also very recommended for open minded music lovers who doesn’t get to know much about miles one of the big minds in music history! 

  R.I.P. Legend

  
  Favorite five Albums for me personally: 

  
  1. Kind of Blue (33th favorite album of all time for me) 
  2. Bitches Brew 
  3. Sketches of Spain 
  4. Elevator to the Gallows 
  5. Round About Midnight

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  Review by jocey coffman ★★★ 1

  people, when they say that they hate jazz... they just... they don't have context, they don't know where it comes from. jazz was born in a little flophouse in new orleans, and because people were crammed in there, they spoke five different languages, they couldn't talk to each other. the only way they could communicate was with jazz.