1/18/2016 - Amy (2015) - 7/10

Never much of a fan or really all that knowledgeable about Winehouse, I found this film fairly gripping and well-told, engendering more respect and fascination for her as an artist and as a person.

The amazing thing about this film was the complete "found footage" style, all coming from actual recordings of Amy throughout her life. Something that never could have been accomplished without ubiquitous cameras, the constant filming of her at all times fueled the creation of this mini bio-doc. Edited together smartly to weave a coherent narrative tale of this young artist's brief life in an entertaining and highly provocative way.

One of the most ingenious storytelling elements was the consistent use of her lyrics to capture the mood and detail of her life experiences, especially as they played out over the top of them. Perhaps it became a bit overused and on-the-nose, it still kept a sense of narrative truth and personal connection to Winehouse.

This movie, I felt, built a connection and truly informed the audience about the nature of the subject. Perhaps not as ingeniously as another great documentary from this year "Cobain: Montage of Heck", it did a fine job capturing and conveying her tale and her talent.