Top docs show us a new way of seeing

Noteworthy projects about the famous and not bring the world into sharper focus.

- BY L.A. TIMES STAFF

Focus Features HUGH Jackman and Kate Hudson as the real-life couple Lightning & Thunder.

Documentaries are a dime a dozen in the streaming era because they're cheaper to produce, so while they satiate the appetite for true stories, not all can be deemed good.

But the documentary films and series that managed to capture our attention this year broke through by telling us something new; educating us about an idea, a person or a perspective; or reframing a narrative. Some are about famous people, some are about ordinary people who did something extraordinary, some about people who suffered.

"Best" is a matter of perspective, but these titles are certainly notable and 100% worth your time.

'Pee-wee as Himself'

(HBO Max) are Significantly, the name Paul Reubens is absent from the title of this bountiful, sweet and sometimes melancholy look at one of pop culture's great creations and its creator. (Pee-wee Herman has a star on Hollywood Boulevard, Reubens will point out, but he does not.) As softspoken as Pee-wee is explosive, Reubens, who sat for 40 hours of interviews before withdrawing from the project, engages in a bemused, semi-ironic tussle with director Matt Wolf for control of the narrative and his legacy. (And, one would say, wins.) In addition to reminding us of the pure joy of Pee-wee and the beloved character's ability to bounce back as circumstances sometimes sidelined Reubens, the film is a resume of the actor's life and times, from prejudices that, for professional reasons, kept him in the closet, to the forward-looking, idiosyncratic brilliance of "Peewee's Playhouse," which enlivened Saturday mornings with its dedication to diversity, difference, inclusion, openness and love. Robert Lloyd

'Being Katharine Graham'

(Prime Video)