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Lucy & Desi & Andy

Documentaries on these 20th-century icons have just been released. The first covers the Ricardos, while the other details Warhol.

Lucy and Desi If you’ve seen Being the Ricardos (my review), you’ve pretty much know lots of this…in “fictional” form. Amy Poehler directed this doc that looks at the personal lives and professional achievements of this famous couple. The primary source comes from audio tapes they recorded, but there are also other interview clips and plenty of archival footage. It covers the innovations they brought to TV, as well as their enduring love, even when they split. To add a current perspective there are interviews with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill (their daughter), Norman Lear, Carol Burnett and Bette Midler, both of whom considered Lucy a mentor. Since the couple had such accomplished careers, there’s a lot to cover and all of it is covered without much depth. Still, as a look back at their influence and love, it’s full of interesting information and visual entertainment.  3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
Amazon Prime Video link

The Andy Warhol Diaries The titular artist kept the titular records by dictating them daily to Pat Hackett. The resultant 208-page book was published in 1989 with the entries starting in 1976 and ending 11 years later. Ryan Murphy created this series with director Andrew Rossi. They used AI to recreate Warhol’s distinct deadpan voice, which was initially read by Bill Irwin. The doc covers every aspect of his many forms as an artist, while going into detail about his personal life. There are interviews with some of his crowd, but there’s a fabulous cornucopia of archival footage and photos that keep it visually stimulating (despite some unnecessary stylistic touches). I’ve always been a fan, but never knew many of the details that are included, esp. later in his career. Overall, this is an imminently fascinating and sometimes heartfelt look at Warhol’s various iterations of an artist and the decadent world he inhabited. (Review based on the first 3 of 6 one-hour-plus episodes) 4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)
Netflix link