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The Worst Movie Biopics and Five That Are Pretty Darn Good

Filed under: Casting », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »



Watch enough movies and you learn pretty fast that they aren't about reality, they're about entertaining us. Which sometimes makes the world of the biopic a little tricky, because not only do you have to work in the truth, but you still have to keep those butts in the seats -- and the results are not always good. Over at Moviefone they've compiled some of the worst movie biopics, and no one was safe -- with films earning a spot for mixing up their facts, ridiculous casting, or just downright lazy filmmaking.

So who made the list? Well, you've got your usual suspects like Oliver Stone's Alexander, a film that has so much wrong with it I don't know where to put the blame (oh, that's right, on everyone). Other films that made the cut for the less than flattering title of 'Real Life Catastrophes' were Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin flick, Beyond The Sea, Luc Besson's The Messenger, and Alan Parker's Evita. But don't think the classics made it out unscathed either, because both Captain Eddie and The Babe Ruth Story also earned a mention.

As a genre, I love biopics -- especially the bad ones. I've watched everything from made-for-TV movies on The Beach Boys to high art flicks like I'm Not There. So no matter what kind of biopic it might be, I will usually give it a chance. Over the years, I've seen movies that bend the truth and those that just mess it up entirely, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Besides, if you're looking for unadulterated facts, you should probably head to the library and not the multiplex.

After the jump: five of my favorite movie biopics...

RIP: Reel Important People -- December 26, 2006

Filed under: Obits »

  • Joseph Barbera (1911-2006) - Writer, director and producer who was half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team. Read my full tribute here.
  • Desmond Briscoe (1925-2006) - Sound engineer who did sound effects for The Man Who Fell to Earth, Children of the Damned, The Haunting (1963) and The Ipcress File and composed music for Phase IV. He died December 7.
  • James Brown (1933-2006) - Read my full tribute to the "Godfather of Soul" here.
  • Robin Buss (1939-2006) - English writer, critic and translator who was a well-known Francophile. He worked as a film critic for The Independent and wrote the books The French Through Their Films, Italian Films and French Film Noir. He also served as a translator in the documentary Drug-Taking and the Arts. He died of cancer December 16, in London.
  • Hallie D'Amore (c.1940-2006) - Oscar-nominated makeup artist for Forrest Gump. She also worked on Dick Tracy, xXx, Bugsy, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Apollo 13. She also won an Emmy for the HBO movie Normal and she appeared in Forrest Gump as an extra. She was found dead in her home, along with her husband, December 15. A police investigation has ruled that she shot her husband, photographer Richard D'Amore, and then shot herself because of "domestic discord."
 
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