MARK JUDGE: Unserious Moonlight.  A review of Moonage Daydream. (Written and directed by Brett Morgen, PG-13, 135 minutes, in theaters.) David Bowie was the glorious product of a classical Western education, but a new documentary traffics in clichés.

How fascinating, penetrating, and wonderful “Moorage [sic—Ed] Daydream” might have been had Brett Morgen slowed down and taken the time to examine the books that made Bowie Bowie. Rather than the usual narrative of the kid who discovers the Beats and goes on to embrace revolutionary politics, it may have shown David Bowie as the glorious product of a classical Western education.

Read the whole thing. I saw Moonage Daydream (in a surprisingly empty theater) this past weekend in Fort Worth. Deafening soundtrack, albeit with a good use of surround sound, and overall, very far removed from the typical A&E Biography sort of documentary. If you’re not familiar with the broad overview of Bowie’s history, you may emerge completely baffled by its seriously trippy style. But between the imagery and Bowie’s narration, I thought it did a good job of getting into the Thin White Duke’s mindset at the various points in his career, even if, as Judge writes, it could have been so much more.