Or, more specifically NO X 4. Four films to hit in 2028.
Peter Jackson says there’s eight hours of White Album material. Give me that – in grainy, poorly edited format – all day long over imitation crabmeat biopics.
Updated list of “Based on a True Story” productions I’ve managed to avoid:
– Elvis
– Dylan
– Jimi
– Brian Wilson
– Ray Charles
– Hank Williams
– Loretta Lynn
– Queen
– Elton John
– Weird Al
– Johnny Cash
– Bob Marley
I watched The Doors but regret it.
I confess to liking The Buddy Holly Story and La Bamba. And Backbeat.
They’ve got Barry Keoghan – whom I love – portraying Ringo.
Still not going.
I just read an article the other day regarding theories as to why these wigs look so terrible. They even interviewed someone in the movie hair and makeup biz who explained that many times, it comes down to budget or simply lack of attention to detail by the director.
She further elaborated that wigs like these look wonky because they’re too perfect. The parts are too straight and the hair too thick at the part. To achieve a more natural look, she herself often thins the hair on top just a little.
And yes, bring on the Disney+ White Album documentary!
That Defector article was great. Presumably Sam Mendes had a substantial wig budget, but it’s like Item #24 on Things That Take Me Out of the Illusion That This Is The Beatles.
Ha!
That’s the one, couldn’t remember where I read that. I think most band biopics are cringe because the process of putting a band together and writing songs is ultimately really fucking tedious and boring. So the scriptwriters, who have never been in bands and therefore have no context, feel the need to compress timelines and invent scenarios that come across as side-splittingly hilarious to people who are in bands – or know people in bands.
Your take on biopics is spot on, Makerbot.
All the biopics I’ve seen are cringey because they rely on the same showbiz bio cliches. They tend to get an A on homework: recreating studios, live performances, the overall look of the period. But they get an F on the exam for sentimentalizing it all.
I swore off biopics after I wasted an evening watching the Queen one, which was a mostly a “let’s go to a movie, what’s showing?” decision. I broke the oath when I felt paternal responsibility to take Renfield Jr. to the Dylan one because he wanted to see it. It had fewer than usual biopic cliches, but enough to make it completely boring. I didn’t get the almost universal accolades. I guess what’s his name did an ok job playing a spoiled, mendacious, duplicitous, snarky folk singer convinced of his own genius, but so what? He didn’t really convey whatever about Dylan mesmerized so many people. You’d need the real Bob for that, and therein lies the problem with all biopics. What’s the point? They’re like tribute bands. Why bother? There are always plenty of videos of the real things, and books that are far superior to any biopic.
I think Renfield Jr. was the first to tell me about the four Beatles biopics. I told him that if he really must, he’d be seeing them with friends. And that was before I saw those wigs.