By Dave B.

​Ordinarily, a reunion show is not something I would have any interest in. I prefer looking forward to looking back. But, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is one of the few shows that isn’t science-fiction or fantasy, that I have any nostalgia for. Plus I was bored, so I decided to make an exception for this reunion and I’m glad that I did.

By Dave B.

Rise of Empires: Ottoman (Netflix) is a historical docudrama that covers one of the most important (but least well-known, at least in the United States) events in the history of both the European and Islamic worlds: the fall of Constantinople and the supplanting of the failing Byzantine Empire with the rising Ottoman Empire, led by the dynamic young leader, Mehmed II. 

By Dave B.

By now, most people under the age of 40 are at least somewhat familiar with the disaster that was Fyre Festival. In Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix), director Chris Smith delves deep into the what caused Fyre to go from being one of the most anticipated and exclusive new music festivals in recent memory, into a calamity of truly epic proportions. Smith interviews insiders who were there on the ground and witnessed the dream of Fyre extinguished before their very eyes. 

By Dave B.

Have you ever heard a story about Bill Murray doing some random thing in some random place and thought that the story couldn’t possibly be true? If so, The Bill Murray Stories (2018, currently on Netflix) is the movie for you. In it, director Tommy Avallone tracks down people who have had unexpected encounters with the enigmatic actor and finds out how those interactions have impacted their lives. Concurrently, Avallone seeks to contact Murray and find out what the actor’s motivations are for his actions. 

By Dave B.

The White Helmets (Netflix) is a foreign-language documentary that follows the Aleppo branch of the White Helmets, a civil defense organization that has helped save victims of Syria’s civil war. They were the initial first responders on the scene of many air strikes and bombings conducted by Syria, Russia, and ISIS. The 40 minute documentary takes a look at some of the triumphs and tragedies of these modern-day heroes.

By Dave B.

​Before his death in 2015, Leonard Nimoy and his son Adam began work on a documentary about what is perhaps science fiction’s most well-known character, Spock. Following his father’s passing, Adam continued the project and expanded it, creating For the Love of Spock (2016, currently on Netflix), a tribute to the beloved First Officer of the Enterprise and a love letter to an accomplished, flawed, and widely respected father.

By Dave B.

​RBG (2018, currently on Hulu) is a documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It reveals interesting details of her life from her childhood, to her time as a law student at Harvard and Columbia, through her current tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court. 

By Dave B.

​Zion (Netflix) is a documentary short-film about Zion Clark, a wrestler who was born without legs. The film details his struggles of growing up in abusive foster homes until he was adopted at age 16, his initial alienation from his classmates at Massillon High School (in Ohio), and how wrestling enabled him to overcome troubles in his past and forge a better future for himself. 

By Dave B.

​In the Netflix documentary Saving Capitalism, noted public policy specialist Robert Reich provides his views on what ails modern American capitalism. His focus is on two major points. First, that deregulation is a form of regulation, insofar as that it is a decision about what to regulate and how. Second, Reich details the ways in which increasing concentrations of wealth among the richest classes in society leads to those classes having greater political influence, which leads them to have greater wealth, in a continuous cycle.

By Dave B.

The Mars Generation (Netflix) is a documentary that covers a group of teenagers attending Space Camp. In exploring their interest in space generally (and Mars specifically), it’s also an ode to human spaceflight, NASA, and humanity as a whole. In addition to following the campers as they engage in tons of fascinating space-related activities, The Mars Generation also contains interviews with experts and provides a surprisingly thorough history of human spaceflight (from an American perspective) which provides viewers with an understanding of how NASA’s human spaceflight program has ended up in the disappointing state that it is currently in and how its future may change.