Watching biographies is always a fun activity as you get to learn more about your idol’s life — be it an actor, musician or entrepreneur. The latest in the genre would be the one on Whitney Houston that will release next month. Here are some earlier ones that hit us in the feels.
Elvis: How cool did Austin Butler look as Elvis Presley? The 2022 film focused on the King of Rock ’n’ Roll from the perspective of Colonel Tom Parker. Tom Parker was the manager of the late actor and singer who has been vilified because of his financial abuse of the performer and this was highlighted in the film. From the time he became an artiste to attempting to have political views in his music, the movie sheds light on the struggles Elvis faced on his journey, especially after the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
The Dirt: How notorious is too notorious? Well for the Motley Crue there was no limit and that is well shown in this biography released in 2019. Yes of course it shows the band’s journey from it’s inception to their success, but the path that they took would just make you say, “Not cool man!”. Experimenting with narcotics, betrayal, damaging public property and more have been on their list, but they’ve also shown the death of rock artiste Razzle and the “coming back to life” of Nikki Sixx the bassist. We’re not sure if this movie was the band’s way of becoming relevant again, but in some of the interviews that followed the band spoke about some other instances that they had been involved in which would just blow one’s mind.
Bohemian Rhapsody: Anyone who has seen Bohemian Rhapsody will agree that Rami Malek was perfect to play Freddie Mercury’s role. From the buck teeth, to the goofy smile... or just the way he performed the Live Aid concert, everything was pretty much spot on. In the movie we see the sides of Freddie Mercury we do know and the sides we didn’t. The movie also showcases Freddie’s journey as a queer and his battle with AIDS which leads to his early demise. Although the story was beautifully put out what we loved most was the performances of the different Queen songs.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Trust Weird Al Yankovic to create a piece of work that would make his viewers laugh. This 2022 release is a biographical parody film, starring none other than Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al. The biography is loosely based on the parody artiste from the time he started playing the accordion to making parody hits of well known songs. From Eat It to Like A Surgeon the movie has the hilarious snippets of it all and, of course, provides the kind of humour content that Weird Al intends to put out.
Soaked in Bleach: This 2015 release may be considered as a docu-biography other than a biography. This show depicts in in-depth version of events that led up the the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The movie has been done from the perspective of Tom Grant, who was the private detective who was hired by Kurt’s wife Courtney Love to find her missing husband. Although Cobain’s death was labelled as a suicide, this docudrama dives into the conspiracy that it may have not been. The chilling details might make you wonder otherwise and shed a new light on Courtney Love.
