10 Bullsh*t Documentaries That Aren't Worth Your Time

3. Searching For Sugar Man

One of the biggest documentaries of recent years, Malik Bendjelloul's film about the unbelievable true story of wildly talented musician Sixto Rodriguez - who never got big in his native America but, somehow, ended up being a big deal in South Africa - won fans and plaudits alike, ultimately netting both a BAFTA and Oscar for best documentary that year. Except the 2012 movie, which documents two South Africans' journey to discover if rumours of Rodriguez's death had been greatly exaggerated and, regardless of his ultimate fate, what happened to their favourite cult musician. It's a beautiful, touching film as much about the perils of fame and creativity but also the obsession that drives hardcore fans. It would maybe have been less beautiful and touching if it hadn't left out a bunch of stuff which didn't fit into the narrative Bendjelloul wanted to put forward about Rodriguez. Rather than being totally forgotten about until his songs suddenly took off in apartheid-era South Africa, he was in fact a huge success in Australia during the seventies and eighties, his singles and albums tearing up the charts, and he toured the country with bands like Men at Work and Midnight Oil. It certainly took a while for him to catch on in the US (the film ends with them finding the musician living a quiet life in Detroit), but we guess the story of a washed-up musician who had his time in the spotlight - there's plenty of them about - isn't quite as engaging as one mysterious genius that nobody has heard of.