"LIFE ISN'T MEANT TO BE EASY" -Richard Nixon
I just watched "Walk the Line," the movie bio of Johnny Cash. Can someone please tell me how it differs from the story of Jim Morrison, the story of Jerry Lee Lewis, the story of Tina Turner, the story of Patsy Cline, the story of Loretta Lynn, the story of Ray Charles, the story of every other performer who has a story?
There's a humble beginning. A struggle against religion and/or convention. A lot of music. Some relationship turmoil. Self doubt. Coping with fame. Some kind of addiction. Pervasive sadness. Moments of enlightenment. Good box office. Hailed as a triumph of cinema.
It's all the same. It's all too easy.
I couldn't even finish watching the Johnny Cash film. Not because it wasn't a good movie, but because I felt like I had seen it a hundred times already.
I would rather have seen a documentary about him. I would have learned more. I would have had a greater sense of him as an individual. The history would have been more precise.
The film did make me want to buy more of his records — Did he and June Carter ever record "Time's a Wastin'"? — so maybe it works as a marketing tool for his estate.
Am I being cynical? Or is Hollywood grinding out the same biopic year after year and just changing the name? Or does fame itself, especially of the pop culture variety, have too predictable a trajectory to make for lastingly interesting cinema?
I tried to think of life stories that are inherently cinematic, that translate well — and originally — to film. Off the top of my head, I came up with the mathematician John Nash ("A Beautiful Mind") and the homophobic, gay, McCarthyite Roy Cohn ("Citizen Cohn"). Possibly "Nixon."
Others?
posted by kc @ 11:03 PM
29 comments
29 Comments:
I think you're right: Biopics tend to be formulaic, especially ones on musicians.
"Raging Bull" to me is the best conventional biopic ever done.
The most fun I ever had watching a biopic: "Ed Wood." God bless Tim Burton.
And when you say you would have rather have watched a documentary than a Hollywood spin on someone's life, I give you "American Splendor," one of my favorite movies of all time.
Why do you describe "Raging Bull" as conventional? Just curious.
Speaking of, I used to have a lot of rage against that movie, but I think the context of my viewing may have warped my perception. At the time, it was touted as one of the greatest films of all time. I was just becoming very interested in feminism, both personally and academically, and the film struck me as a raging load of male bullshit — but I was probably pretty myopic. Also, I saw it with two acknowledged male chauvinists who carried on as if Jake LaMotta were a real hero, which I think was not Scorsese's intention.
God, you're so right about "Ed Wood." That was fabulous.
I haven't seen "American Splendor," but have heard great things.
Jane Campion's "An Angel at My Table," about the New Zealand writer Janet Frame, is a phenomenal literary biography on film. It works even if you don't know who Frame is, which I didn't before I saw it.
Recently, there's "Capote," which I liked because it was a meditation on art and truth as much as a glimpse into a period of Capote's life.
I meant conventional in terms of big-budget Hollywood movie, and in terms of having some sort of public icon as the subject. Probably wasn't the best choice of word.
I think some guys will watch the film and glorify the violence of "Raging Bull," but to me Scorsese demonized the violence. I guess what I meant about conventional is how the larger-than-life-hero is doomed to fail because he can't help being human and flawed.
"American Splendor" is part narrative, part documentary, part live-action graphic novel. I can loan it to you sometime if you like.
Oh, gotcha.
I should see "Raging Bull" again. I think I have a less one-dimensional frame of reference now, and I do love Robert DeNiro.
Yes, bring "American Splendor" next time.
Would you happen to have "Lovely and Amazing," by the way? I tried to rent it at Liberty Hall and all their copies were stolen. The dude at the counter was mortified (They're showing the same director's "Friends With Money" right now) and placed an order on the spot. In the meantime, none of the chains had it because they only carry movies starring Julia Roberts or Hugh Grant or some variation of the two.
Off topic: Weber's root beer is perfect with sushi. It's so awesome with wasabe.
Mmm ... sushi. I'm craving Wa, now.
I'll see if any of the rental places in Tulsa have "Lovely and Amazing," and if it does I can bring it with "American Splendor."
I was always disappointed at the crummy selection of movies at the Lawrence chains, especially given that it's a college town, and even though Liberty Hall had what I wanted, it was either stolen or checked out forever.
And as highly as I've been speaking of this show, Nicole Holofcener also directed some "Six Feet Under" episodes.
Yeah, she did some "Sex and the City" episodes, too. Makes perfect sense with her sensibility in "Friends With Money."
Yes KC, you must by all means watch “American Splendor” a most brilliant film that I think you will really like and is certainly not the usual biopic. Quite the contrary. I agree that “Ed Wood”, “Citizen Cohn”, and “Angel at My Table” are all very good as well. I’d like to see the Cohen one again because I don’t remember it as well as I wish I did. I’m less of a fan of “A Beautiful Mind”. I could say that it is because I’m annoyed that Hollywood always has mathematicians and physicists writing equations in the condensation on windows. I’ve never met a real one who did that. But I also couldn’t stay bought into the presentation of his madness. When “Raging Bull” came out. I thought it was a very well made movie, but I think my opinion has been held down over the years by the suspicion that no movie can be half as good as the ranting raves (raving rants?) about that one. Maybe it should also be on my re-see list.
What did you think of “Naked Lunch”?
Oh yes, are Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant now actually the same person, or am I just confused about who played which role in the same movie?
And on an unrelated movie note, I just watched “Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself” which I liked a lot. It has Shirley Henderson in it. She’s cool.
I don't remember "Naked Lunch" much. Wasn't it sort of drugged-out Kafka or something? I'm a huge fan of Burroughs' life — read a most amazing biography of him — but I'm not big on his work.
Yes, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant have fused.
"Wilbur" sounds awesome.
Also, does anyone remember "Impromptu" with Judy Davis as George Sand and — guess who? — Hugh Grant as Chopin? This was before Hugh Grant was famous. It was a pretty good biopic with vast liberties. And "Lion in Winter," of course, is an awesome biopic in its own way — the elevation of history to poetry.
Just so y'all don't think I'm being anti-social, let me remind you that I never see movies. Of all the movies that have been mentioned, I've only seen "Capote." And I saw that with kc.
A better movie could (and should) be made about Burroughs. I had forgotten that Hugh Grant was in “Impromptu”. I rather liked that one in part because it developed and maintained a consistent tone that suited the story well by using little bits like the kids putting gunpowder in the firewood.
“Kinsey” wasn’t bad, but probably had more potential than they developed. How about “A Man for all Seasons”?
Judy Davis as the energetic George Sand rather outmatched the meek Hugh Grant as the frail little Chopin. But it worked because clearly she was in love with his genius, not his physical person. I love how she lay under his piano while he played. And Emma Thompson was awesome as the uncultured nouveau riche patroness.
I have not seen "Kinsey." Erin said good things about it.
"A Man For All Seasons" was good, yeah.
You're right. Someone could make an awesome film about Burroughs. Someone like Gus Van Sant or Jim Jarmusch.
I’ve not seen any of Gus Van Sant’s recent films, but I did like “My Own Private Idaho” and “Drugstore Cowboy” which, of course, had a nice cameo by our Bill himself. But I do think that Jarmusch could make a kickass movie. Since there will be several big personalities to be portrayed, it would be easy for the movie to drop into an over-the-top thin parody instead of digging into the meat. Jarmusch could keep it cool and focused. Maybe we should write him. I heard terrible things about his last film, so I haven’t seen it yet. He needs a good project so that one of my favorite filmmakers can get back on track. By the way, do you think Burroughs read and liked Blake?
Oh, he must have read Blake. If not on his own, then through Allen Ginsberg, with whom he was in love and who loved Blake dearly.
Yes, that sounds right.
So how about an unrelated comment while we wait for our host to have some free time?
Hillary Clinton in a speech said that young people today think that “ ‘work’ is a four letter word”. Hmm, that’s interesting, what does Clinton think it is? Does she think that ‘obvious’ is a seven letter word?
Is there any hope of preventing her from getting the nomination? How about if we start a petition where everybody who signs promises never to vote for another Clinton or Bush?
And back on subject:
Did anybody see "Iris"? How is it as a biopic?
Have not seen "Iris."
I'm not a big Hillary fan, but I did stick up for her the other day (not out loud, though) when some women co-workers were saying she wasn't a good mom. How would they know? She's probably just as good a mom as Bill is a dad, but no one ever measures men by that standard.
I really hate how the Right, led by Fatass Limbaugh, has vilified her as a lesbian feminist. First off, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian feminist. We should applaud them. Secondly, she's not one. Calling Hillary Clinton a lesbian feminist is like calling Limbaugh an intellectual.
I’m with you here. If she really was a lesbian feminist, I would probably vote for her because she would likely then believe in something worthwhile. My opposition to her is that all signs point to her as being a hollow opportunist like her husband but with more baggage and less charm. I haven’t the slightest idea if either of them are good or bad parents. It’s probably true that you cannot get to that level of politics without putting your career above all else including family, but every presidential hopeful is in that boat. Besides, I don’t see any reason why your parenting skills would have much to do with your prospects as president. There is a little difference in scale between the two activities.
If Clinton gets the nomination, I’d expect her to lose the election because of a successful campaign by the Republicans to paint her as a wacko liberal. The bitter irony is that the charge would be false. I’m afraid that the first woman to become president will be rather too much like the Baroness Thatcher for my tastes.
Go ahead and call Limbaugh an intellectual, I think he would feel insulted.
If I had the persistence to run a blog of my own, I would often write on topics like this
I’m glad that somebody is out there doing it.
The War Against Fucking!
I've never heard it so aptly put. I especially like: Who knew that not fucking was the new LSD?
Pardon my French, but I'm guessing that the sex that those Christian whack jobs get, especially the women, is probably so stultifyingly bad that it's really not a meaningful sacrifice for them to do without (and to expect others to do without). Probably sitting around reading some horrible translation of the New Testament is tons more amusing than lying on their backs and letting some unimaginative, uptight, religio-fascist boor hump them for two minutes.
Well, I certainly don’t have anything favorable to say about Christianity or any of the other superstitions that are taken seriously, but considering that there are millions of fundamentalists in this country alone, it is painting with too broad a brush to think that they all have horrible sex lives. But it certainly is a nasty stunt to pull on young people to tell them that there is something worthwhile and even virtuous in not having sex. There isn’t. And when these kids go off and do have sex—like everybody else does—then they are saddled with perfectly pointless guilt. That really is not a good start in learning to have healthy relationships. There was a PBS show this last spring that had a segment about something called a Chastity Ball. It was a father/daughter formal dance where the highlight of the evening was where the pubescent girls stared their fathers in the eye and promised to save their virginity to be given as a wedding gift to their future husbands. Creepy as hell. What kind of guy would be happy to see his daughter volunteer herself as sexual chattel?
Tristero was right not just in pointing out that, contrary to the leading propaganda, abstinence is not in itself a good thing, but also was right about the tactics involved. Many people have noticed that Christian activists often play the victim even though their claims of oppression in this country are utterly absurd. But playing the victim has become trendy in recent decades, so they are clearly not alone there. The more interesting bit is that they really do see themselves as a counterculture. They are not just victims, but victims who are fighting back in a righteous revolution against an evil and corrupt society. They don’t feel like priggish reactionaries; they feel like the hip avant-garde. Did you read “What’s the Matter with Kansas”? One of the things that book impressed on me was the national importance of the marches in Wichita against the abortion clinics. While maybe not comparable to getting your skull split by Chicago’s finest at the Democratic Convention, the Wichita events radicalized and fused the identities of huge numbers of religious activists.
Fundamentalists have also constructed a counterculture in a very tangible sense in that they have their own alternatives to many secular institutions and practices ranging from their own music and radio stations to their own schools, camps, and amusement parks, to the truly comprehensive offerings of the mega-churches. A single such church will have not a sports team, but the whole damn league.
So, yeah, maybe not fucking is the new LSD. I like the old acid better way better since it never gives you that scary of a trip.
Wow. Serves me right for overlooking a thread for a few days.
Impromptu: I agree, Kim, that Hugh Grant was weak. It left a bad impression overall for me, though I saw the movie years ago.
Hilary Clinton as a bad mom: Why? Chelsea Clinton seems like a smart young woman. Contrast with the Bush twins, who have America's favorite mom. I wonder how teaching underprivileged kids has worked out for Jenna.
Wa: I want to go to the Wa soon. I'm fantasizing about those chicken-mango things you've talked about.
The War Against Fucking: I can't wait to read that.
Chicken-mango things...?
It's not chicken mango! It's shrimp and mango - the Sean connery roll at Wa.
I never would associate shrimp and mango with Sean Connery, except that when formed with the roe, house sauce and rice ... well, they bond well together.
DW, no I haven't read "What's the Matter With Kansas?" But I need to.
I love your analysis of the abstinence wackos.
Another thing about seeing virginity as a virtue is that it's too easy. Associating virginity prima facie with virtue is like associating valor with participation in our ill-advised wars. Everyone can be virtuous; just look after your hymen. Everyone can be a hero; just go kill some Arabs. You don't even have to understand what you're saving yourself for or what you're fighting for. Just do it.
I'm mixing shrimp and mango at the Wa with chicken and mango in the June Bon Appetit.
Oh, the shrimp and mango doesn’t sound so good, but then I think that shrimp usually bring other things down. (Big shrimp fan, huh?) Chicken and mango sounds promising. Is it like chutney?
I was going to ask in the above comment why is this country so freaked out over sex of late. But then I tried to think of a time when it wasn’t. Being freaked out over sex is one of this country’s permanent bad habits. No wonder so much of the world finds the US disturbing: on the lam from the asylum and with big guns.
I was trying to find the recipe for DW online, but here's a doozy in the shrimp & mango theme:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109450
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