By the time it had crystallized into its final three-man lineup, Nirvana had absorbed the full spectrum of upstart rock: the Minneapolis sound of the Replacements and Hüsker Dü, the Boston post-punk Pixies' surf pop, Bad Brains' D.C. hardcore and so on.
But the influenced would become the influential: Sometime during the one-term George H.W. Bush presidency, Nirvana's relatively small discography would be refracted into a legacy that continues today. Six years after his death, Rolling Stone named Cobain its Artist of the Decade.
Scientology's theater of the surreal: HBO documentary 'Going Clear' puts the church's practices under a microscope.
Why would these seemingly thoughtful, intelligent people sign a billion-year contract to work for pennies a day? Why would these clear-eyed Americans cut off their families, divorce their spouses and leave their children based on the work of a science fiction novelist?
Read MoreWhen mob mentality tramples justice: 'The Central Park Five' revisits the case of teens wrongly convicted of a high-profile assault.
"The Central Park Five," documentarian Ken Burns' collaboration with his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, takes us back to the ugly racial reality of New York City in the late '80s, the days of crack and "subway vigilante" Bernhard Goetz, when no one felt safe.
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Cameras do them justice: 'West of Memphis' documentary uncovers more outrage in the Bible Belt.
The town's desperate police force manufactured and coached witnesses, manipulated all-too-willing local media, dismissed abundant alibi affidavits and failed to interview the victims' families and neighbors. Instead, authorities focused on a misfit kid with long hair, black heavy-metal T-shirts, dark journal scribblings and a problem with authority.
Read MoreSpeaking up for victims: Documentary 'Mea Maxima Culpa' defines the reasons behind the Catholic church's sex abuse scandal.
It would be comforting to call the horrific violations recounted in "Mea Maxima Culpa" unthinkable.
But after decades of revelations about the epidemic of sexual abuse of minors in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the ever-accompanying accounts of enabling church officials, a new documentary from Oscar winner Alex Gibney tracks the problem to its source.
Rise of an entertainment titan: PBS' 'American Masters' highlights David Geffen's influence but only hints at a dark side.
David Geffen has made so many people rich and famous that everyone from Tom Hanks to Joni Mitchell lines up to sit on a couch and talk about his roller-coaster career in music, movies and theater. If there are pop culture consumers out there who have never heard of Geffen, they should recognize the Eagles, "Saving Private Ryan" and "Cats." Not bad for a guy who started out by lying his way into a mailroom job at William Morris Agency.
Read MoreHow a band was painted black: In HBO documentary "Crossfire Hurricane," the Rolling Stones go from fresh-faced kids to street fighting men.
Like its scholarly 1993 predecessor "25X5," "Crossfire" sets the stage for its violent rock journey with clips of the five overwhelmed youngsters fielding odd questions, juxtaposed nicely with harrowing escapes from hordes of someday-hippies in horn-rims. The slightly scruffy, baby-faced guys carrying their guitar cases over train tracks don't seem like they're the dangerous kids at all.
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