Biographical movies...favorites and disappointments.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but...with The Aviator, Ray and De-Lovely(I'm sure others) out this year I was wondering what are some of your favorite biographical movies that you would recommend seeing. And also...the movies you thought were ok but still worth seeing...and bio movies you were disappointed in.

I'll post more later, but for now...
...a new favorite is The Aviator. It was well done all the way around. I loved the acting and the story.

De-Lovely...was really ok, not great. I liked the way it was done in flashbacks and found Mrs. Cole Porter more fasinating than the man himself. Ashley Judd aand Kevin Kline together just didn't spark for me, although I liked them seperately.

A Man Called Peter (1955)...I was dissapointed. I bought it for my husband for christmas and I wanted to like it...but it was very slow and I wasn't wild about Jean Peters as his wife.



So what are some of your favorite biographical movies and would recommend seeing? And, which movies were you disappointed with?

My favorite, and what I consider to be the best biopic ever, has to be Raging Bull.

A good one that I'd recommend would be Chaplin. Which isn't the greatest film ever but includes a great performance from Robert Downey Jr.

I can't really think of any that I was "dissapointed" with, there are plenty of bad ones out there, but I've never seen a biopic where I knew a lot about the person being portrayed. So I've never expected any to do the person "justice".

...and The Aviator is a new favorite of mine also. I've yet to see Ray.

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GREAT, MUST-SEES
Lawrence of Arabia, GoodFellas, Raging Bull, Bird, All That Jazz, Andrei Rubylov, Moulin Rouge (1952), The Miracle Worker, The Elephant Man, Bound for Glory, Amadeus, Bugsy, Ed Wood, Camille Claudel, Lenny, Gandhi, Hotel Rwanda, The Pianist, Ben-Hur, All the President's Men, The French Connection, Missing, The Killing Fields, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Bonnie & Clyde

VERY GOOD, WORTH SEEING
Sid & Nancy, Patton, Erin Brockovich, Serpico, The Falcon & the Snowman, Midnight Express, The Aviator, Tucker: The Man & His Dream, Silkwood, Reds, Malcolm X, "Brian's Song", Schindler's List, In the Name of the Father, Heavenly Creatures, Backbeat, Frida, Chaplin, Kundun, The Last Emperor, Vincent & Theo, My Left Foot, The Motorcycle Diaries, Lumumba, American Splendor, Frances, Iris, Dance with a Stranger, Chopper, Star 80, The Sea Inside, Elizabeth, Gods & Monsters, Freud, Yankee Doodle Dandy, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mishima, Escape from Alcatraz, The Bird Man of Alcatraz, The Diary of Anne Frank, Man of a Thousand Faces, Barfly, Never Cry Wolf, Dead Man Walking, Secret Honor, Without Limits, Julia, Papillon, Shine, Baadasssss!, Stand & Deliver, Sweet Dreams, A Coal Miner's Daughter, The Buddy Holly Story, A Cry in the Dark, Donnie Brasco, Finding Neverland, Quills, Monster, I Love You to Death, Spartacus, "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom"

AVERAGE TO DISAPPOINTING
Ray, Ali, Braveheart, Rob Roy, La Bamba, The Insider, Antwone Fisher, Auto Focus, A Beautiful Mind, Blaze, Cobb, Blow, The Hurricane, Dangerous Minds, Great Balls of Fire, The Doors, Man on the Moon, Hoffa, Men of Honor, Born on the Fourth of July, Nixon, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Catch Me If You Can, The Pride of the Yankees, Rudy, Wyatt Earp, Cleopatra, The Rookie, Amistad, Mrs. Parker & the Visious Circle, Brubaker,

CRAP, HUGE WASTES OF TIME
The Babe (1992), Patch Adams, Wired, Sylvia, Evita, Francesco, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Prozac Nation, Party Monster


And on and on and on....

*and for the record, these were the biopics released in 2004: The Aviator, Ray, Finding Neverland, Hotel Rwanda, The Sea Inside, Beyond the Sea, Kinsey, Alexander, Vera Drake, The Motorcycle Diaries, Baadassssss!, Ned Kelly, Hidalgo, Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, Miracle, Friday Night Lights, The Alamo, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, De-Lovely, King Arthur (sorta) and The Passion of the Christ (you know, if you believe that story)

So...yeah.

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And check out THIS thread.

Favorites

Raging Bull
Reds
Schindler's List
Amadeus
Patton
Young Mr. Lincoln
Braveheart
Lawrence of Arabia

I would include Ben-Hur But I don't consider it biographical since it is fiction.

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"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

I was going to post a list of my favorites, but I don’t really want to just make another list, I want to discuss…so I want to ask you a couple of questions, Holden. Since you know I respect your knowledge of, not just film history, but of the entire spectrum of all things film.

Concerning Born on the Fourth of July. It is not one of my favorite movies, but I have always believed that it is Tom Cruise’s best performance to date. With the possible exception of his supporting role in Magnolia. You list the film as being average to disappointing; is part of that decision based on his performance? Or do you feel as I do, or at least partially?

Another question I have for you is this: What makes Erin Brockovich so special? Is it the direction, acting, cinematography? I have never been much of a Julia Roberts fan. There are a great many things about her that she carries from film to film; making all of the different characters somewhat the same. Perhaps because of this mild dislike for her, I can’t see the forest for the horsy laughing tree. Will you please fill me in?

I also have a question for you, Annie. I can only assume that you made this thread because of your recent viewing of The Aviator, but there must be a whole slew of other biographical films that you enjoy. I’m curious if you liked some of my favorites like Ed Wood, Amadeus, In the Name of the Father, and Papillon. I would like to hear your opinion of these films in particular.

…and Holden, I still can’t understand why you dislike Braveheart so much. I remember you telling me once, but I think a pretty girl walked by and I quit listening or something. Thanks for listing all the biographical movies that you did, because I didn’t have to think at all about all the movies I’ve seen. That was nice.

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Ed Wood
Man On The Moon
Ray
People Vs. Larry Flint
Braveheart
Kundun
Seven Years in Tibet
Lenny
Chaplin

and would Jesus Christ: Superstar count?

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https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

My favorite biopic, and one of my favorite films, is Patton... A great movie with a simply amazing performance.

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My Top 100 favorite movies.

Patton is indeed a wonderful film. How did the ending strike you? Are you a believer that he was assasinated, or that it was a random accident?

the other thread asked about best biographic film..annie is asking us for favorites and disappointments...there is a bit of a difference there


that aside...i forgot all about a man called peter...one of my favorites growing up...sorry it was a disappointment to you annie, but thanks for mentioning it...

Holden...Opps...sorry about that. I didn’t know there was already a biography thread. I used the search engine, but the thread you show did not appear.

You assume correct Brian, Thanks.
And yes, there’s alot more I’ve enjoyed. I’ll try to list a few more.

I loved everything aboutEd Wood . I didn’t know anyhing about him, so I loved the story and how it was put together. And, it was interesting to see his relationship with Bela Lugosi. I thought both Johnny Depp and Martin Landau were fabulous in their roles.

Amadeus. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen this, but I remembered I loved it and thought it was a beautiful movie to look at. If I remember it correctly, it was interesting that it was Salieri’s view of Mozart and his jealously of Mozarts genious that drove the movie. Great stuff.

I’m sorry, I haven’t seen either In the Name of the Father orPapillon.

A few others I’ve loved are...
Elizabeth (1998) ~ I’ve talked about this before in other threads, so I won’t go into detail. I just loved the cast as a whole, especially Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth, Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham and Christopher Eccleston as the Duke of Norfolk. And I liked the time period in Elizabeth’s life that was chosen.

Moulin Rouge (1952) ~ I loved this movie and would recommend it to anyone.

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) ~ I’ve always liked this movie. It’s doesn’t have the impact of Elizabeth...but Bette Davis is wonderful as Elizabeth.

~
Holden...thanks for listing all of the biopics that were released this year. I knew there had been alot, but didn’t realize it was that many. Is this the most released in one year?

Thanks susan.
I was hoping we could get some discussion going too. I wanted to see what people are looking for in a good biopic and what missed the mark. I'm interested to see what made it disappointing...whether it's the acting, the way it was done or written....or visa versa.

A Man Called Peter..I liked Richard Todd, but I dunno...Jean Peters just wasn't working for me. Susan...my mom really liked this movie also. I'm glad you said something...I'll give it another try...maybe my expectations were too high. My husband loved it.

Those of you that listed Chaplin. Thanks for reminding me. I've never seen it and always meant to. You've just given me new incentive to look for it the next time I'm renting.

Has anyone seen Luther yet? If so, what did you think of it?

I always get beaten to the punch in threads like this but a good one that I would like to add is Ron Shelton's Cobb (1994) starring Tommy Lee Jones as some tetchy baseball guy (apologies to tetchy baseball fans).

One to avoid - Michael Collins (1996 Neil Jordan) - I don't know which is worse, the historical inaccuracy or Julia Roberts' accent.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Tacitus: I never really could get into Cobb all that much. Tommy Lee is a great actor, but his performance in Cobb always reminded me of Pacino’s performance in Scarface; exaggerated and completely over the top. It’s actually distracting sometimes. I haven’t seen it for a long time, so I’m having trouble remembering what else I found disappointing about it. What is it about the film that you like enough to say it’s one of your favorites? And…have you seen Papillon?

Annie: I’ve never see Luther. Have I missed out on something? If you rent Chaplin, be sure to also rent Papillon. You know how much I love both McQueen and Hoffman, a lot of that has to do with this film. They both deliver in big ways. McQueen shows such a wide range, with more depth than many of his other memorable performances. He plays a man who is confident and strong, then slowly broken by his having to live in a most hellish environment, then finding a beautiful grace. Hoffman plays a character than belies description. This is one of my most favorite films.

Okay, enough gushing.


Oh, Monkey...Jesus Christ Superstar? Surely you jest...please say you're jesting.

I haven't seen Cobb in years either but I thought it did exactly what it said on the tin, ie a warts-n-all portrayal of a flawed sportsman (but then, I know next to nothing about baseball). I also thought TLJ's performance was rather good and certainly not as scene-grabbing as Little Shouty Al's Scarface.

I didn't say it was one of my favourites, merely one that hadn't been mentioned yet which was worthy of adding - for me it's nowhere near Raging Bull, Goodfellas or heck, even Ghandi.

Yup, I've seen Papillon (in fact I think I have a VHS copy somewhere and have been meaning to upgrade it to DVD) and it's a very good film...

That reminds me of what George Best reportedly said about Rodney Marsh - "Superstar?....Jesus Christ!"

Fair enough. I love Pacino, but Scarface is a bit too much for me. It’s funny, I used to love it…or at least like it a lot, but a few years here and I see it in a different light. Damn you MoFo! You hath made me a picky man!

Ah, I see. Guess what? Holden mentioned it. None of us can beat him to the punch.

Cool…I love you. I’m not gay…not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Classic.

Ha! But he didn't mention Michael Collins! (I hope, the old eyes aren't what they were)

Liam Neeson was wonderful and the movie was beautifully shot, but I found it very unsatisfying...

It was boring to me, I liked his stint in Rob Roy a lot better. Plus it had one of the better, and more realistic, swordfights that I have ever seen.

Tim Roth getting sliced in half?

Rob Roy was one of those 'check out the scenery' movies for me, but had a decent Brian Cox performance...

That's cool and all...and very realistic...but I liked the fact that they portrayed the combatants fatigue so well. Too many movies make prolonged fight sequences seem so easy, but in real life 30 seconds of hard fighting is, well, hard. It breaks you down mentally as well as physically. I’ll always give kudos to Neil Jordan and his fight choreographer for depicting it the way they did. It sure doesn’t hurt that two extremely gifted artists played the combatants.