Review of 20 Feet from Stardom (2013) by Aslyn E — 20 Mar 2014

Hadn't heard of this until it won the oscar for best doc but I can see why it did, Blackfish was great but stuck to conventional presentation while The Act of Killing to me felt like a really good "TV" doc.

But this, well I wouldn't begrudge anyone for giving it 5 stars. By the end of it you feel like you've been given the full lowdown on the history of the modern backing singer. You get the stories of the pioneers, the essence of the artistic merits and the issues of trying to breakout into stardom to name but a few.

The direction is as inventive as I've seen from a doc, not just talking heads and archive footage. There's a lot of talent showcasing and free flowing conversation between the subjects as they reminisce and re-bond.

Appearances by genuine legends of music like Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder and Sting add weight whilst you'll be continuously surprised by how often the same people sung on the most famous songs of the last 50 years.

Overall it's actually quite hard to fault, the only real problem I had was the first 15 minutes or so, it didn't immediately grab me, and maybe that's a lack of concentration on my part but once it clicked I was hooked.