Music Biopics

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BVS

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They're difficult to pull off, but which ones worked for you?

Or which band/ musician would you like to see one made of their life/ career?


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Doors was good, completely forgot about that when I was making this thread.

Ray and Walk the Line were good, though I have a few issues with some artistic license taken with Walk, but that's just because I know his story so well.




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Heath Ledger was working on a Nick Drake biopic when he died. There's footage somewhere but a damn shame that won't come to be.


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Ray was good.

Walk the Line was ok.

Get on Up was not bad.

The Doors was good, but guilty of being too Oliver Stoned. :wink:

What's Love Got to Do With It was also good.

Most biopics aren't 100 percent faithful to accuracy. Dramatic license is often used for the story to flow better.

Obviously, the best musical biopic was Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. :up:
 
Heath Ledger was working on a Nick Drake biopic when he died. There's footage somewhere but a damn shame that won't come to be.


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I hadn't heard that, that would be an interesting story.


I think if done right Jeff Buckley would be a good one.

Letters from Tim Buckley was pretty bad, the actor was pretty on but the script sucked.


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How in the hell has no one mentioned Straight Outta Compton yet?


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Immortal Beloved, though it doesn't chart Beethoven's entire life, is beautiful, brilliant.

Amadeus is certainly a well-known classic in this genre.

Under the Sea, Kevin Spacey's passion project about Bobby Darin is very underrated and worth seeing.

Bound For Glory, with David Carradine playing Woody Guthrie, is a standout example from the 70s.
 
How in the hell has no one mentioned Straight Outta Compton yet?

Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely want to soon. Back in the late 80's/early 90's, I was a pretty big fan of NWA. I think the movie actually had a hand in them getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were only together for a few years, but they did have a huge impact on the Gangsta Rap genre. I would have never imagined that a group that performed songs like Just Don't Bite It and Bitch is a Bitch would get inducted into the Hall. :wink:
 
I need to get drunk before I watch The Doors again because I fucking hated it sober. That is one of the stupidest movies ever made, so I imagine it could be great in the right frame of mind.

 
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Under the Sea, Kevin Spacey's passion project about Bobby Darin is very underrated and worth seeing.

That one was good.


I thought Sacha Baron Cohen was attached to a Freddie Mercury project. That would be great.


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That sounds awful. Let's never do that.



What was that Ian Curtis one from a few years ago in black and white. Control? I liked that one. Otherwise, shitty genre of movies. There's nothing worse than a lame picture perfect set up scene where something happens and then TA DA look it was the inspiration for that super famous song, that we will make sure to beat you over the head with by playing it in the very next scene. That contrived bullshit game was strong in Ray and Walk the Line. Actually I'm pretty sure there was one of those scenes in the Joy Division movie too now that I think about it.
 
What was that Ian Curtis one from a few years ago in black and white. Control? I liked that one.

Yeah, I dug that one. Nice cinematography. Anton did well by that story.

The guy that played Ian Curtis hasn't had a great career since, but he put in a solid and understated performance in Control.
 
From what I understand, Cohen is no longer attached to the Mercury thing. Apparently the remaining members of the band parted ways with him over creative differences. I guess Cohen wanted to do a warts-and-all type thing and the band wants a more family friendly affair. Or at least that's one of the things I read.

:shrug:
 
Backbeat was very good too. The soundtrack was great too. Now that this thread was started, I'm thinking about all the biopics about musicians.
 
From what I understand, Cohen is no longer attached to the Mercury thing. Apparently the remaining members of the band parted ways with him over creative differences. I guess Cohen wanted to do a warts-and-all type thing and the band wants a more family friendly affair. Or at least that's one of the things I read.

:shrug:

Bono should have reprised his role from Live Aid.
 
Let's be honest U2 would make for a boring biopic, they have pretty boring personal lives. But I wonder if REM would make for a good one? They were pretty good about staying out of the limelight, but Stipe's personal life along with their unconventional rise could be interesting if done well.


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Love and Mercy, the movie about Brian Wilson in the early and mid 60s and then being liberated from his captor in the 80s/90s is incredible. I don't care for biopics or John Cusack, but that movie is incredible. One of the best of last year. The score is amazing, too. Atticus Ross, Reznor's partner in scoring and NIN, did it. It tries to show what it was like to be in Wilson's head. Very psychedelic. A brilliant, lovely, moving movie. I can't recommend it highly enough. Paul Dano as Young Brian and Paul Giamatti as the shrink jailer are astounding it it.

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Let's be honest U2 would make for a boring biopic, they have pretty boring personal lives. But I wonder if REM would make for a good one? They were pretty good about staying out of the limelight, but Stipe's personal life along with their unconventional rise could be interesting if done well.

A good filmmaker can make any subject/story entertaining. U2 have accomplished a lot in their career and I'm sure there's plenty of stuff behind-the-scenes that would make for a compelling storyline. Same thing with REM. Remember: Boring is for boring minds.
 
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Immortal Beloved, though it doesn't chart Beethoven's entire life, is beautiful, brilliant.

Amadeus is certainly a well-known classic in this genre.

Under the Sea, Kevin Spacey's passion project about Bobby Darin is very underrated and worth seeing.

Bound For Glory, with David Carradine playing Woody Guthrie, is a standout example from the 70s.







That one was good.




That sounds awful. Let's never do that.



What was that Ian Curtis one from a few years ago in black and white. Control? I liked that one. Otherwise, shitty genre of movies. There's nothing worse than a lame picture perfect set up scene where something happens and then TA DA look it was the inspiration for that super famous song, that we will make sure to beat you over the head with by playing it in the very next scene. That contrived bullshit game was strong in Ray and Walk the Line. Actually I'm pretty sure there was one of those scenes in the Joy Division movie too now that I think about it.







It was actually Beyond The Sea. Not sure why I mixed it up with a song from The Little Mermaid. :|







:lol: I didn't even notice.

I noticed. You both disappoint me for getting it wrong, but huge bonus points for mentioning the film in the first place.
 
The thing about biopics that people rarely get right is they needn't cover an entire person's life. Tell a chunk of a story, not the whole thing. Then you can do it some proper justice.

When I was in college I took a course on the genre and we had to pitch a biopic at the end. Mine was based on the book Until the End of the World. That would make a badass movie, even if a lot of it is a touch fabricated.

Now I have a different story in mind, and I'm thinking about actually trying my hand at a screen play :shifty:
 
Still waiting for that Janis Joplin one.

Though the Janis: Little Girl Blue documentary is supposed to be pretty good so that should suffice for now.
 
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