Shangri-La (miniseries)
Shangri-La is a four-part television documentary miniseries, directed by Morgan Neville and Jeff Malmberg, that aired on Showtime from July 12 to August 2, 2019. The series concerns the Shangri-La recording studio in Malibu, California and its owner, record producer and Def Jam Records co-founder Rick Rubin.[1][2][3] A "work-in-progress" cut of the docuseries was screened at the 2019 SXSW Festival.[4][5][6][7]
Shangri-La
- Morgan Neville
- Jeff Malmberg
Rick Rubin
"Shangri-La" by The Lettermen
United States
English
1
4 (list of episodes)
- Morgan Neville
- Rick Rubin
- Danny Breen
- Jeff Malmberg
- Michael Goldberg
- Isaac Heymann
- Eric Lynn
- Diana Schmedeman
- Jason Schrift
- Vinnie Malhotra
Nicola Marsh
- Jake Hostetter
- Tyler Hubby
- Jeff Malmberg
- Will Znidaric
48–58 minutes
July 12 –
August 2, 2019
The miniseries was nominated for Best Music Film at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Critical reception[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "A refreshingly chill music documentary, Shangri-La provides an insightful -- if not exactly revelatory -- peak [sic] into the private world of producer Rick Rubin."[8] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 9 critics, the series received "generally favorable" reviews.[9]
Time called the series "flawed but sublime."[10]
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called the miniseries "inspiring and oddly riveting" and said, "There is more creativity, weirdness, thoughtfulness and ambition — both achieved and failed — in the new Showtime docuseries Shangri-La than in a good portion of recent TV dramas." Goodman also felt, however, that series should have got "a little dirtier and messier in the examination" of Rubin's mid-career years.[11]
On November 20, 2019, the miniseries was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Film at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.[12]