Doc Watch: Innovations

APOLLO 11 (B+) - This fairly by-the-numbers documentary about the moon landing 50 years ago has the good sense to get out of its own way. No talking heads are needed, as original footage, some of it rarely seen before, forms the narrative and ratchets up the drama. 

With a throwback "You Are There" style, the documentary launches with the famous speech by President Kennedy vowing a man on the moon by the end of the decade and then marches through the events of the summer of 1969, with countdown clocks and odometer readings. (Warning: The graphics are in small print and might be hard to read on a TV or computer screen.)

Todd Douglas Miller's curation of the footage might come off as too dry at times, but you have to admire his restraint. There is no denying the building suspense and the sense of camaraderie that seemed to sweep the nation. Nostalgia hangs in the air, as nerds in short-sleeved white dress shirts banter in Mission Control and families in sunglasses gape across the bay at the launch from the Kennedy Space Center. It was a time when Americans conquered a monumental task rather than bickered over how it couldn't be done.

JOSEPH PULITZER: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (B-minus) - This PBS "American Masters" production offers a primer on the 19th century newsman who defined an era and lives on today through his namesake awards for journalistic excellence. The film traces his journey as a Hungarian immigrant, fighting as a hired gun in the U.S. Civil War and eventually launching a media empire in St. Louis and New York. 

The re-enactments here can be distracting, but director Oren Rudavsky keeps them understated as he tries to enliven a story devoid of modern images. Liev Schreiber hams it up as the voice of Pulitzer, and Adam Driver drones as the humorless narrator.

Even veteran news junkies can learn a thing or two from this meticulous curation. Pulitzer was an innovator, melding the low road with the high road as he never lost sight of his goal: selling newspapers. His papers uncovered corruption while also scraping the bottom of police reports for some of the more lascivious examples of human nature.