Movies

As we all hole up, rock documentaries can perk up any living room. But in the list below, I opted to skip the well-known ones. Don’t look for stadium headliners or anything by Martin Scorsese. The emphasis is on lesser-known personalities whose energy is palpable through a screen of any size. Also required was a portrayal of community-building and togetherness — something many of us are craving right now — and a healthy amount of music, preferably loud, live and with a “you are there” quality. Minus the stinky bathrooms, of course.2006‘American Hardcore’[embedded content]At a time of rising anti-corporate anger and protests over inequality, here’s a handy primer to a musical movement that raged against the machine in a grass roots, D.I.Y. manner. At the dawn of the 1980s, hard-core took punk, sped it up and spat it back in everybody’s face. Directed by Paul Rachman and written by Steven Blush (adapting his own book), this is a good overview of a raging underground movement — if anything the film is perhaps too ambitious — and how ideas and sounds spread in the pre-social media age. The testosterone-fueled “American Hardcore” is also fascinating (often inadvertently) as a portrayal of male alienation.Stream it on Tubi; buy or rent it on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube.2013‘Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust’One of the best rock docs nobody’s heard of, this hilarious feature tracks the history of the appropriately named Cosmic Psychos. Matt Weston’s film recounts how the Australian group went on to lay waste to clubs worldwide and influence the American grunge scene (Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam pays his respects). The heart of both the band and the documentary is the droll bassist and frontman Ross Knight, a big-hearted farmer with a passion for weight lifting and beer, and an open-to-anything outlook. The section about his dabbling in S&M belongs in the rock-doc canon, but beyond it, the film is a wonderful portrait of a down-to-earth man fighting for his music, family and livelihood.Buy or rent it on YouTube. More

Here are a few of the best events happening today and how to tune in (all times are E.S.T.). Updated daily.Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s One-Woman ShowNow on Amazon Prime VideoI have a friend who’s watched Season 2 of “Fleabag” in its entirety three times since social distancing. If you, like her, can’t get enough of Phoebe Waller-Bridge during these tough times, you’re in luck. Waller-Bridge, the star and creator of the Emmy-winning series, made her original one-woman stage show of the same name (which the Emmy-winning television show is based on), available to stream now. The download costs $5, which, minus taxes, will be donated to charities responding to the coronavirus pandemic.When: The show will be available to download for two weeks.Where: On Amazon Prime Video in the United States and Britain, as well as on Soho Theatre on Demand in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.A Springtime Garden StrollNow on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden websiteMost of us may be cooped up inside, but spring is not canceled. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is bringing the beauty of the season inside with a virtual nature walk through its blooming Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Watch and listen for wildlife as the garden’s weeping Higan cherry trees sway in the wind along the pond, and follow the path of camellias, artfully pruned pine trees and fiddlehead ferns. The 18-minute video was captured in a way intended to recreate the meditative experience of walking through the garden on an early spring day.When: NowWhere: The production, which premiered Sunday afternoon on the garden’s Facebook page, is available on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s website.Remembering Bucky Pizzarelli, a Jazz Great7:30 p.m. at 92Y OnlineBucky Pizzarelli, a master of the jazz guitar, was a mainstay of the New York scene. On April 1, Pizzarelli, 94, died of the coronavirus. This evening, the 92Y will for the first time broadcast his 85th birthday party event from 2011. His son John, a guitarist and vocalist, hosted this ensemble jazz show titled “Frank and Tony and Peggy and Me: Making Music With the Great Singers.”When: 7:30 p.m.Where: Stream for free at 92Y online.A Tribute to Jerome Robbins1:30 p.m. on Facebook and the Paris Opera’s websiteThe Paris Opera is making some of its emblematic productions accessible to all for free, including the Paris Opera Ballet’s tribute event to Jerome Robbins, the superstar choreographer from New York who shaped “On the Town” (1944), “The King and I” (1951), “West Side Story” (1957), “Gypsy” (1959), “Fiddler on the Roof” (1964) and other classic musicals.When: The show will be available through April 19.Where: Free online worldwide on the Paris Opera’s website and on the Facebook pages of the Paris Opera and France.tv Culturebox.Peter Libbey contributed research. More