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 1109: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

TRIVIA: Real-life Jordan Belfort appears in a brief role in the film's final scene, introducing his cinema stand-in Leonardo DiCaprio. As accurately portrayed, Belfort is now a motivational speaker who previously served 22 months in federal prison for stock fraud.

The chest beating and humming performed by Matthew McConaughey is actually a warming up ritual that he performs before acting. When Leonardo DiCaprio saw it he encouraged him to include it in their scene.

The actors snorted crushed B vitamins for scenes involving cocaine.

The scene where Brad punches Donnie is real, in fact Jon Bernthal hit Jonah Hill so hard that the prosthetic teeth he was wearing split and flew out of his mouth. Martin Scorsese then proceeded to film Hill's face swelling in real time.

Martin Scorsese claimed that the sequence of Jordan attempting to get in his car while overdosed on lemons was improvised on the day of filming, and that it was Leonardo DiCaprio's idea to open the car door with his foot. DiCaprio strained his back during the scene, and was only able to perform the stunt once.

Jonah Hill wore a prosthetic penis when Donnie sees Naomi while masturbating at the party. The surprised reactions from the actors and extras were genuine.

Margot Robbie claimed that her sex scene with Leonardo DiCaprio on a bed full of cash was extremely uncomfortable, as the fake paper bills had sharp edges resulting in multiple paper cuts to her back.

Martin Scorsese needed a quick pick up shot of the "fasten your seat belt" blinking sign for the airplane scene but didn't want to waste time and money on setting up a Gimbel. Robert Legato, the effects supervisor, took a reference video of one during a flight with his iPhone to show Scorsese. Upon seeing the footage, Scorsese said "Great. Let's just use that." Thus, the film became Scorsese's first movie to incorporate footage taken from an iPhone.

Jonah Hill had an noticeable lisp when he first put the teeth in to play Donnie, to get rid of this he spent over two hours on the phone calling up random businesses and talking with them.

Leonardo DiCaprio says that he and Martin Scorsese were able to 'push the envelope' with their depiction of over-the-top sexual acts and scenes in "Wolf" and 'make the movie they wanted to' primarily because the production was financed independently,and not by any major studio. Scorsese did however edit some sexual content and nudity to avoid an NC-17 rating at the request of the MPAA.

This cast assembled by director Martin Scorsese's film includes three other prominent directors in acting roles: Rob Reiner, Spike Jonze, and Jon Favreau.

Chris Evans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt auditioned for a role.

A young Steve Buscemi briefly appears on screen in a 1987 episode of The Equalizer (1985) that Max Belfort (Rob Reiner) is watching on TV at home.

Jonah Hill wanted to eat a real goldfish, because he wanted everything to be real, everyone was going so hard on this movie, he didn't want to be the person who wasn't.they wouldn't let him eat a real goldfish so they had a real goldfish and they had three goldfish handlers. Three real human goldfish wranglers. And he could keep it in his mouth for three seconds at a time and then they had to put it back in water.

CAMEO: Martin Scorsese:  as the voice of John, the first client, that Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) sells Arotyne IND penny stocks.

Film 859: Django Unchained

Trivia: Will Smith, Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Tyrese Gibson were all considered for the role of Django. Quentin Tarantino actually wrote the role with Smith in mind, and Smith's agents and manager wanted him to accept it, but Smith ultimately decided to pass. Tarantino then offered the part to Jamie Foxx, who accepted.

Kurt Russell replaced Kevin Costner. Russell and Costner appeared together in 3000 Miles to Graceland, and have both played lawman Wyatt Earp, in Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, respectively.

Although the film is technically a part of the western genre, Quentin Tarantino preferred to refer to the film as a "southern" due to the films setting in America's deep south.

Sid Haig was considered for the role of 'Mr. Stonesipher', so much so that casting director 'Victoria Thomas' informed Haig's agent "It's a lock". 'Quentin Tarantino' himself scheduled, and later canceled at the last minute, two auditions for Haig. Two months later, the role quietly went to David Steen instead. Tarantino being known for his extremely dry humor, this "prank" is presumably rooted in Haig turning down the role of Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction 17 years previously.

Jamie Foxx used his own horse, Cheetah, in the movie.

Lady Gaga was considered for the role of Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly.

Calvin Candie refers to Samson as "Black Hercules." This was the real life nickname of Ken Norton, actor/boxer who starred in Mandingo.

Leonardo DiCaprio, whose role in the film marked the first time him playing a villain, was uncomfortable with how horrible and explicitly racist his character was. However, Quentin Tarantino convinced him to be as menacing as possible saying that if he didn't take it all the way, people would hold it against him forever.