ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke

the remastered documentary series is a great way for people unfamiliar with the most significant yet underdiscussed incidents in the history of the music industry. sure, it's valid to criticize these films as being feature-length tellings of wikipedia entries to a degree, but i think that misses the point to a degree. netflix's series shines a spotlight on moments related the the industry that really impacted the world in various ways, bringing them to newcomers who hadn't heard about the miami showband killings or who don't know the details behind bob marley's shooting. that means that they... read more

sam cooke, muhammad ali, malcolm x, and jim brown were the avengers of the civil rights era. like a lot of other people, i knew a fair bit about sam's music and performances, but not much about his political influence. the theme of the documentary is that not only was sam shot and killed, but it was done in such a way that tarnished his reputation as an idealist and political leader. first, his body was assassinated, and then his character was assassinated. if this sounds like a conspiracy theory, you'd be right. and to be fair, the documentary does unpack quite a few details that would make... read more