Nirvana

You know the story by now: After Nevermind, Kurt Cobain and company became far more popular than they'd ever dreamt or wanted -- and man, that totally sucked -- so the band hooked up with underground producer Steve Albini for In Utero, an album meant to be so goddamn authentic that it would definitely turn away all the preppies and the jocks. That's become the official version of the tale, at least, and it's the main premise of this documentary, which begins with familiar footage of Seattle cops taping off Cobain's driveway before it travels back in time to the Melvins and the Pixies. Nirvana: In Utero layers excellent concert and video footage with commentary by balding, bespectacled music-critic types, who offer up detailed analyses of many of the record's tracks but never get around to answering one important question: If Kurt despised his pop fans so much, why would he sit down for that angelic MTV Unplugged session before shuffling off?