Soaked in Bleach (2015)

This week has been a bit of a challenge, between a parade and softball batting practice, it has been a busy one. Plus, I had to finish off my journey into American Horror Story Coven (another amazing entry). Now that I have some time to relax as I prepare to work on one of my final assignments for class, I decided to find some type of thought provoking movie. After some searching, I found an interesting documentary, the 2015 docudrama Soaked in Bleach.

Plot/ Tom Grant, a private investigator once hired by Courtney Love, reveals his take on the death of Kurt Cobain.

I can still remember hearing the news about Kurt Cobain’s suicide and I could not believe it. Even after all these years, there is something that just doesn’t make sense about the death and I honestly do not believe that he committed suicide. This documentary was an amazing journey into that case, and again shows enough evidence to prompt a new investigation into the tragic death of a rock icon. There was so much to like about this documentary, as everything seemed to flow in a logical manner. A combination of reenactments and playbacks of the actual audio recordings taken by private investigator Tom Grant during the investigation, the information presented was powerful and definitely presents the suicide in a different light. In the end, there is no doubt that this case muse be reopened, as there are too many flaws in the reported storyline. If, like me, you were a fan of Nirvana and can remember where you were when this tragedy was reported, you have to watch this documentary. It is a must see, and one of the best documentaries I have seen in some time.

Kurt & Courtney (1998)

One of the interesting tidbits I discovered when researching some material for the week was that this is the actual week that the Paul is Dead conspiracy started during the 1960s. Honestly, that is an interesting musical conspiracy theory that is rather hard to debunk. While I am an outsider on that investigation, the information and evidence, pointing toward this cover-up is compelling and tremendous. With that in mind, I decided to take a look at a modern music conspiracy that took the life of a musical icon. My selection was Kurt &Courtney, the documentary focused on the life and tragic death of grunge rocker Kurt Cobain.   

Plot/ After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people: Cobain's aunt who provides home movies and recordings, the estranged father of Cobain's widow Courtney Love, an L.A. private investigator who worked for Love, a nanny for Kurt and Courtney's child, friends and lovers of both, and others. Although Love won't talk to him and his inquiries lose him financial backing, he comes to believe the coroner's verdict.

Conspiracy theories are always perfect for documentaries, and fortunately, there are a ton of them out there. In this one, which is one I have heard about since the day of his murder, it is hard to tell what is true and what is false. In this documentary by Nick Broomfield, it is hard to wrap your head around any one idea, which is the perfect backdrop for a conspiracy.  There are interviews and witnesses that claim that Love was behind Cobain’s death, going as far as to say she offered money for his death. However, none of these witnesses are worth their weight in gold, as they are drug addicts or degenerates and a picture of a potentially suicidal, drug addicted star emerges. The film quality is solid, and the investigation does show both sides of the debate, even if the feel is quite skewed toward murder. In the end, this is a very entertaining and interesting documentary about a troubled musical genius and the woman he married. Could she have killed him or played a role in his death? Absolutely, but no clear evidence is found in the documentary. Check it out, and let me know what you think?