TOP FIVE BIOPICS

TOP FIVE BIOPICS

1. LA VIE EN ROSE (2007)

This biopic of Édith Piaf is equal parts beautiful and tragic, the wonderful Marion Cotillard is transformed into Piaf and transfixes you in every scene. I’m not much of a crier but I was in floods of tears by the end of this film.

2. WALK THE LINE (2005)

Before watching this film I knew little of the life of the legendary Johnny Cash, but I found it so interesting that I have since read his autobiography and bought his whole discography. The two leads in this film, (Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon) although not sounding exactly the same as Johnny and June are great and this is a thoroughly enjoyable film to watch.

3. THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)

Another film that makes me cry, the least Lynchian Lynch film, and a beautiful, hauntingly moving piece of filmmaking. This is based on the true story of a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a 'side-show freak'. I was an odd child so I actually knew a bit about John/ Joseph Merrick before I was this film but Lynch treats the story in a deeply human way.

4. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002)

This is one of those ‘Life is stranger than fiction’ stories that is told in a fantastic way with great direction from Spielberg and great performances from DiCaprio, Hanks and Walken. It takes you on an unbelievable journey that seems too strange to be true.

5.  THE DISASTER ARTIST (2017)

Although this isn’t a biopic in a traditional sense, as we know absolutely nothing of the past of the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau, it’s a document of a period of his life while making the infamous movie ‘The Room’. It’s funny and surprisingly heartwarming, and James Franco plays Wiseau in a way I think not many other actors could.

FILM 1943: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

FILM 1943: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

TRIVIA: British choreographer and movement coach Polly Bennett worked painstakingly with Rami Malek to perfect every nuance of Freddie's mannerisms. Every eye glance, every body turn, every cocky strut on stage and every flick of the microphone had to be just right.

Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor performed the rock arrangement of the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

Rami Malek sent a video of himself singing to Queen. When he finally met them, they hadn't watched it because it hadn't been downloaded properly. Rami saw firsthand their reaction to his singing.

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Mike Myers/Christiane Amanpour (2018), Mike Myers said that during the making of Wayne's World (1992), he insisted that the song he and his friends listen to while driving would be "Bohemian Rhapsody". The producers felt it wouldn't be appropriate. Myers stood his ground, eventually threatening to quit the movie. Myers got his way, the movie became a huge hit, and the song reentered the charts, peaking at at #2 in the United States. The movie was credited for introducing Queen to a new audience. Myers also said that when he was offered a chance to appear in this movie, he accepted immediately without bothering to read the script.

Canadian singer Marc Martel lends his voice to the biopic as Freddie. They use a mix of his voice and Freddie's together, on top of Rami Malek's. In an interview, Malek said his singing was seamlessly mixed with both Freddie's and Martel's.

Brian May and Roger Taylor make a joint cameo appearance during the Live Aid sequence. (Hint: Look in the rafters.)

While Freddie and Mary are lying together and Freddie reaches up over his head to play her the now-famous Bohemian Rhapsody piano intro for the second section of the song, Rami Malek is actually playing the correct notes in order, a feat quite difficult to do sight unseen, upside down and backward.

Queen's set at Live Aid is widely regarded as one of the best live performances in rock and roll history. In a 2005 Channel Four poll of over 60 artists, journalists and music industry executives, Queen's Live Aid show was named the world's greatest-ever live performance.

According to BBC, film production was rough. The film's producers and lead star, Rami Malek, had grown tired of director Bryan Singer's erratic behavior, which saw him routinely showing up late to set or disappearing altogether. In 2017, after Thanksgiving break, Singer disappeared from filming for three days straight, at which point cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel had to step in and direct during Singer's absence. Reports claimed that Singer left because of a family matter. A couple of days after this report, 20th Century Fox fired Singer from the film due to his erratic behavior on and off set and clashes with production personnel. Matters would get much worse for Singer as the next day, 20th Century Fox terminated his Bad Hat Harry production deal with the studio. Fox began canvassing for a new director to finish up production with two weeks of filming still remaining, all of post-production and with potential reshoots. The new director, Dexter Fletcher, commenced production after New Year's of 2017.

Wembley Stadium has been remodeled, demolished and rebuilt several times over the years, but there were no surviving blueprints or drawings of the structure as it existed in 1985. This meant the production design team had to work from video and photographic record to design and partially reconstruct an historically accurate stadium and Live Aid stage.

When Queen are about to perform on Top of the Pops (1964), they express their disapproval of being made to lip sync, rather than sing, their song. When Top of the Pops(1964) began in 1964, the producers of the programme decided that performers would lip sync rather than sing their songs. The British Broadcasting Corporation openly stated this when they promoted the programme. The reason for the producers' decision was lhat they considered it more ethical and honest for the performers to lip sync than to sing, as the programme promoted the records, and therefore the viewers and the audience members had the right to know exactly how the records sounded.

Before Rami Malek was cast, Ben Whishaw was linked in the media to playing Freddie Mercury.

Freddie's white "angel" costume was created by British designer Zandra Rhodes. Freddie wore it during Queen's first tour in Japan.

CAMEO: Adam Lambert: the truck driver waiting for a tryst in the bathroom when Freddie calls Mary Austin on a payphone. Lambert has been performing with Queen since 2012.

FILM 1403: LOVE & MERCY

TRIVIA: The real Wilson reported having a mild dissociative experience while watching the film. He started to believe that Paul Giamatti was the actual Eugene Landy and felt "absolutely in fear" for several minutes.

During the Q&A at the film's premier at SXSW '15, Brian Wilson stated that his favorite scene in the movie was the intimate scene between Cusack and Banks, reflecting a happy moment between his real life wife and himself.

The studio scenes were improvised in a live, unrehearsed pseudo-documentary style with two 16mm handheld cameras. Dano, who once played in a band, was really directing the actors on how to play their instruments, who themselves were also real life musicians. While these scenes were mostly unscripted, Dano directly quoted some lines spoken by Wilson from the original session tapes.

Atticus Ross's original score, composed almost entirely from original Beach Boys multi-track recording stems, was inspired by the Beatles' experimental sound collage "Revolution 9" and Danger Mouse's Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up "The Grey Album".

A third era which focused on Brian Wilson's infamous bed period in the 1970s was considered, but ultimately discarded, leaving some of his most troubled years to the viewer's imagination. When asked who would have filled the third Wilson role, Pohlad responded that he had considered Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Dano alternates throughout the film between singing for real and lip-syncing to original recordings of Wilson's singing.

FILM 1225: AMADEUS

TRIVIA: Several professors of music stated, after studying all of the musical keys struck on pianos throughout the film, that not one key is struck incorrectly when compared to what is heard at the exact same moment. In other words, what you see is exactly what you hear.

When shooting the scene in which Salieri is writing down the death mass under Mozart's dictation, Tom Hulce was deliberately skipping lines to confuse F. Murray Abraham, in order to achieve the impression that Salieri wasn't able to fully understand the music he was dictated.

When the movie won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Sir Laurence Olivier was presenting the award. He went up to the podium, opened the envelope and said "Amadeus." The problem was he forgot to read the nominees first.

It has been claimed that the concept for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's annoying laugh was taken from "references in letters written about him", including a description of him having "an infectious giddy" laugh, and sounding "like metal scraping glass". No citations have been provided for these letters, however. There is no indication as to who wrote them, to whom or when. And in the absence of further citations, these claims of historical evidence for Mozart's laugh should be regarded as dubious at best. Robert L. Marshall, writing in "Film as Musicology: Amadeus" (The Musical Quarterly, Vol.18/2, 1997, p.177) says that there is "absolutely no historical evidence for this idiosyncrasy [Mozart's infuriating laugh]. We simply have no contemporary testimony at all as to how Mozart sounded when he laughed." Marshall goes on to explain that the laugh is a dramatic device, representing the mocking laughter of the gods, as in fact Antonio Salieri recognizes in the script.

F. Murray Abraham learned to read and conduct music for his role.

The music was pre-recorded and played in the background as scenes were filmed. Tom Hulce practiced four hours a day at the piano to appear convincing.

Elizabeth Berridge, during the Nipples of Venus scene, did not know she could spit out the candy (which was really lumps of marzipan) between takes and ate about 15 whole pieces. She later describes how she thought that they were disgusting and that she eventually made herself sick.

Tim Curry and Mark Hamill both auditioned for the role of Mozart (and played Mozart on Broadway).

FILM 1156: FACTORY GIRL

TRIVIA: Sienna Miller was cast twice as Edie Sedgwick. She was dropped by the producers because they felt they needed a "bigger name." Miller was eventually re-cast in the role, due in part to massive publicity from her public break-up from fiancée Jude Law.

Bob Dylan threatened to sue the producers for defamation, claiming that the film portrayed him as responsible for Sedgwick's death. Thus, any mention of Dylan was omitted from the script and Hayden Christensen is billed only as "musician."

The scene with Mary Elizabeth Winstead was shot after principal photography had taken place. Her character, Ingrid Superstar, is based on a real girl.

Katie Holmes was originally set to play Edie Sedgwick, but dropped out due to her conflicting religious beliefs with the character's drug-addiction. Holmes also became pregnant right before filming was scheduled to begin.

In the 1980s Warren Beatty was set to direct a film about Edie Sedgwick with Molly Ringwald in the lead role.

FILM 1122: PHIL SPECTOR

TRIVIA: The film revolves around the murder of Lana Clarkson. Clarkson appeared in Scarface (1983) together with Al Pacino, who plays Phil Spector in this film.

Helen Mirren replaced Bette Midler. Midler was forced to bow out of the project after suffering a herniated disc.