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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 25, 2020 18:29:51 GMT
I was thinking of this because of My Darling Vivian (2020) - a pretty marvelous documentary on Johnny Cash's first wife that could have formed a great bio-pic different from "Walk The Line" (the song was written for her) and while she's in the movie it's not the focus..........at one time bio-pics had to go from cradle to grave........and then of course it became very fashionable to focus on a segment or specific event - ie like Capote. Some really daring things to me didn't work at all (imo) Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus didn't make any sense to me - why do you have to imagine any of her life which was fascinating itself? But that was daring in its format at least..... Is there any way you can think of to change bio-pics or are there any great potential bio-pics out there that have never been done from an other perspective like in the Cash/first marriage example.......or a Capote like film that picked the "wrong" event in his life..........or maybe someone who is always relegated to the margins who had a great story to tell but always gets passed over when told?  |
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Post by Mattsby on Jun 26, 2020 20:22:06 GMT
Two I like that are sort of "mosaic" biopics -
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1972) - very rare, barely seen TV Movie based on Lorraine Hansberry's life/writings, directorial debut of Michael Schultz (Cooley High!!!), might have Ruby Dee's best performance, Al Freeman Jr is in the cast, as is a very good Roy Scheider. It's on Youtube..... Hard to describe, it has a jazzy cinematic quality though it's quite like watching a repertory theater group.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 26, 2020 20:59:56 GMT
Two I like that are sort of "mosaic" biopics - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1972) - very rare, barely seen TV Movie based on Lorraine Hansberry's life/writings, directorial debut of Michael Schultz (Cooley High!!!), might have Ruby Dee's best performance, Al Freeman Jr is in the cast, as is a very good Roy Scheider. It's on Youtube..... Hard to describe, it has a jazzy cinematic quality though it's quite like watching a repertory theater group. That's a real interesting TV movie - I could use with a re-watch there actually and I think that was the first thing Schultz did or close to it........Michael Schultz is a real interesting guy - he discovered a lot of actors or cast them early - he directed Denzel Washington in his film debut Carbon Copy (1981) AND Samuel L. Jackson in HIS film debut Together for Days (1973) ...... BUT more importantly (much more actually  ) ................the first of Al Pacino's record 5 Triple Crown wins, his first Tony in Pacino's Broadway debut too (Schultz is kind of uncanny with that debut thing) - 1969's Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie? opposite Hal Holbrook. I think Schultz is still alive and votes in our MAR actors polls...........kidding...........kidding......  |
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Post by Mattsby on Jun 26, 2020 21:40:58 GMT
Two I like that are sort of "mosaic" biopics - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1972) - very rare, barely seen TV Movie based on Lorraine Hansberry's life/writings, directorial debut of Michael Schultz (Cooley High!!!), might have Ruby Dee's best performance, Al Freeman Jr is in the cast, as is a very good Roy Scheider. It's on Youtube..... Hard to describe, it has a jazzy cinematic quality though it's quite like watching a repertory theater group. That's a real interesting TV movie - I could use with a re-watch there actually and I think that was the first thing Schultz did or close to it........Michael Schultz is a real interesting guy - he discovered a lot of actors or cast them early - he directed Denzel Washington in his film debut Carbon Copy (1981) AND Samuel L. Jackson in HIS film debut Together for Days (1973) ...... BUT more importantly (much more actually ) ................the first of Al Pacino's record 5 Triple Crown wins, his first Tony in Pacino's Broadway debut too (Schultz is kind of uncanny with that debut thing) - 1969's Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie? opposite Hal Holbrook. I think Schultz is still alive and votes in our MAR actors polls...........kidding...........kidding......  I've been going thru Schultz filmography and didn't realize he directed much theater let alone Necktie!! His career definitely lolls after the 80s, but he proved he deserved better- classic Cooley High, the Altmany liveliness of Car Wash, to serious TVM character pieces like the Hansberry and the solidly made For Us the Living ('83) with the great Howard Rollins Jr as Medgar Evers (also in the cast: Winfield, Fishburne). |
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jun 27, 2020 0:10:53 GMT
I was thinking of this because of My Darling Vivian (2020) - a pretty marvelous documentary on Johnny Cash's first wife that could have formed a great bio-pic different from "Walk The Line" (the song was written for her) and while she's in the movie it's not the focus..........at one time bio-pics had to go from cradle to grave........and then of course it became very fashionable to focus on a segment or specific event - ie like Capote. Some really daring things to me didn't work at all (imo) Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus didn't make any sense to me - why do you have to imagine any of her life which was fascinating itself? But that was daring in its format at least..... Is there any way you can think of to change bio-pics or are there any great potential bio-pics out there that have never been done from an other perspective like in the Cash/first marriage example.......or a Capote like film that picked the "wrong" event in his life..........or maybe someone who is always relegated to the margins who had a great story to tell but always gets passed over when told? Oh honey, I hated Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus with a passion. Not just for Nicole, who was so drastically wrong for the part (a glamazon playing a plain woman who'd turned her back on looks and fashion to become an artist?) but because the premise is so fundamentally flawed. Arbus' creativity was unleashed through an older woman photographer, Lisette Model. Not to mention her earlier classes with Berenice Abbott, another important female photographer. That's very poignant in itself and didn't need to be sexed up. Shainberg should have kept his fur fetish fantasy to himself or released it without trying to hang it on Arbus' name. For those who know Arbus, or for the recognition of any female artist and art, it is hugely insulting. I doubt he'd get away with this today... and trust me, I'm no feminist. Talking of biopics, the much talked about Lee Miller biopic still hasn't been made. I'd love to see Theron play her, at the last stage of her career, on the front line and photographing the camps, while reminiscing about about her earlier life in Paris as Man Ray's lover and her brief marriage life in Egypt. Miller was one of the few female photographers to cover WWII (she wasn't official, she had a uniform made and set off deciding to cover the war for Vogue). The horrors she saw left her with severe PTSD and she boxed her photographic life and put it in the attic where her importance as a photographer was discovered later. She wasn't totally forgotten though, having also starred as the beautiful statue in Cocteau's 1930's debut Blood of a Poet (below).   Tina Modotti: yet another photographer, who'd had an earlier incarnation as a silent screen star, became Edward Weston's lover and decamped to Mexico, became a famous photographer and part of Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo's artist circle, became heavily involved in communism / humanitarianism, was involved in a political murder and subsequently exiled from Mexico, Went to Moscow, assisted in the Spanish civil war, refugeed back to Mexico where she died at age 45. She turned her back on fame, on art, for the sake of political activism.  OK I see that Monica Bellucci is in pre-production to play her in a TV mini series. Good choice. |
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Post by Mattsby on Jun 27, 2020 0:36:07 GMT
I was thinking of this because of My Darling Vivian (2020) - a pretty marvelous documentary on Johnny Cash's first wife that could have formed a great bio-pic different from "Walk The Line" (the song was written for her) and while she's in the movie it's not the focus..........at one time bio-pics had to go from cradle to grave........and then of course it became very fashionable to focus on a segment or specific event - ie like Capote. Some really daring things to me didn't work at all (imo) Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus didn't make any sense to me - why do you have to imagine any of her life which was fascinating itself? But that was daring in its format at least..... Is there any way you can think of to change bio-pics or are there any great potential bio-pics out there that have never been done from an other perspective like in the Cash/first marriage example.......or a Capote like film that picked the "wrong" event in his life..........or maybe someone who is always relegated to the margins who had a great story to tell but always gets passed over when told? Talking of biopics, the much talked about Lee Miller biopic still hasn't been made. I'd love to see Theron play her, at the last stage of her career, on the front line and photographing the camps, while reminiscing about about her earlier life in Paris as Man Ray's lover and her brief marriage life in Egypt. Miller was one of the few female photographers to cover WWII (she wasn't official, she had a uniform made and set off deciding to cover the war for Vogue). The horrors she saw left her with severe PTSD and she boxed her photographic life and put it in the attic where her importance as a photographer was discovered later. She wasn't totally forgotten though, having also starred as the beautiful statue in Cocteau's 1930's debut Blood of a Poet (below). Winslet seems confirmed as Lee Miller - they're shopping it at Cannes. Today's update: "A spring 2021 production is being eyed." But with a first-time feature director and the writer of Long Shot (that godawful Theron "comedy" - Theron is a better fit for Lee btw, I agree) - eeek. Ever since college, I had a professor who was obsessed with Lee Miller and would tell us all these stories about her, and enthralled I thought there was enough for a movie or mini-series better yet. The Hitler bathtub bit is priceless and totally badass. Side note - waiting for your biopic MsMovieStar - I heard one of the working titles is Tequila and the Bee - instead of a spelling contest is it a drinking contest among "B" movie actresses, and the winner gets an A-list part up for (consensual) grabs? Heard it's already getting Oscar..... buzz.... |
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Post by MsMovieStar on Jun 27, 2020 8:16:41 GMT
Talking of biopics, the much talked about Lee Miller biopic still hasn't been made. I'd love to see Theron play her, at the last stage of her career, on the front line and photographing the camps, while reminiscing about about her earlier life in Paris as Man Ray's lover and her brief marriage life in Egypt. Miller was one of the few female photographers to cover WWII (she wasn't official, she had a uniform made and set off deciding to cover the war for Vogue). The horrors she saw left her with severe PTSD and she boxed her photographic life and put it in the attic where her importance as a photographer was discovered later. She wasn't totally forgotten though, having also starred as the beautiful statue in Cocteau's 1930's debut Blood of a Poet (below). Winslet seems confirmed as Lee Miller - they're shopping it at Cannes. Today's update: "A spring 2021 production is being eyed." But with a first-time feature director and the writer of Long Shot (that godawful Theron "comedy" - Theron is a better fit for Lee btw, I agree) - eeek. Ever since college, I had a professor who was obsessed with Lee Miller and would tell us all these stories about her, and enthralled I thought there was enough for a movie or mini-series better yet. The Hitler bathtub bit is priceless and totally badass. Side note - waiting for your biopic MsMovieStar - I heard one of the working titles is Tequila and the Bee - instead of a spelling contest is it a drinking contest among "B" movie actresses, and the winner gets an A-list part up for (consensual) grabs? Heard it's already getting Oscar..... buzz....
Oh honey, did someone say Tequila?
I can live with Winslet. She's a good actress. Loved her in Wonder Wheel and The Dressmaker. I thought Theron since Miller had been a model in her younger days. Yes, there is enough for a mini series. These women lived rich, busy, varied lives... as I do... because it's not always Tequila... somedays I'll drink Scotch or Gin.
I'm excited about Bellucci playing Tina Modotti.
I'd also love to see a biopic on Maya Deren.
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) ................the first of Al Pacino's record 5 Triple Crown wins, his first Tony in Pacino's Broadway debut too (Schultz is kind of uncanny with that debut thing) - 1969's Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie? opposite Hal Holbrook.
I've been going thru Schultz filmography and didn't realize he directed much theater let alone Necktie!! His career definitely lolls after the 80s, but he proved he deserved better- classic Cooley High, the Altmany liveliness of Car Wash, to serious TVM character pieces like the Hansberry and the solidly made For Us the Living ('83) with the great Howard Rollins Jr as Medgar Evers (also in the cast: Winfield, Fishburne). 
