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Can anyone think of a really decent rock bio-pic?  I think this must be one of the very worst movie genres.  They just never really convince IMO.  There's something about an actor playing a famous music legend that I can never take seriously.  Then there's the secondary characters, who sort of lurk in the background through most of the film but because they're also famous they have to be made up to look like whoever it is they're playing and it never quite works.  Hmmm...I'm thinking of the blokes who play Robbie Krieger and John Densmore in The Doors here.  Even Kyle McLachlan just looks like Kyle McLachlan trying to look like Ray Manzarek appearing in 'Stars In Your Eyes' (UK talent show in which people are made up to imitate pop singers).  Backbeat - there's another one. I didn't believe that was John Lennon.  Also, often there's just too much crammed in - a kind of then this happened, then this happened effect (both Beach Boys movies, for example).  I don't think there's a single great movie in this genre.  There all so-so at best in my view.

Dead Man's Curve is the only good one.
And if you want to add country, then Coal Miner's Daughter.
Otherwise, the worst genre in existence.

I enjoyed Dead Man's Curve very much.  (It started my interest in Jan & Dean)  :)

And you originally just watched it because you were such a Galactica fan!

Actually, my dad saw the commercial preview for it.. I was in the kitchen doing my homework and he calls to me "Hey Laurie I think there's a movie about the Beach Boys about to start".   ROFL!

Although 'THe Doors' has its flaws (many), it is the ONLY bio-pic I can think of in the rock field that gets many things right, has a bunch of actors that can play, a singer who sounds and looks uncannily like the real thing (as opposed to the BB flick for example and is done with a bit of money and imagination, so that at times you can't tell the difference between soundtrack and real track.

It would be nice if someone else put that sort of effort in again - like with a VU pic.

The forthcoming Dylan one looks interesting in an artistic sense (several actors playing his different incarnations) but whether it will work in practice.

The genre is a bit like comic book movies - you get all excited that someone is making it and then when it happens you curse the ground they walk on for having screwed up another character with promise.

Not if you've seen them!  I don't really get the point of rock movies.  I'd rather have a well-researched book covering as many bases as possible than a film which will focus on one angle.

"Spider-Man 2" was pretty good, I thought.

I haven't seen it, but I'm skeptical of any Spider-Man without Steve Ditko.

There ARE some decent comic films - ths last Batman was, at last IT! Yeah, I don't think we'll see a decent rock bio-flick till everyoe who remembers the original band is dead and can't compare it!

Alan, true -- Batman Begins was good.  So was Ghost World.  And I liked Superman, but it's been so long I'd have to see it again to say more.  Tim Burton's Batman was funny, but not for the right reasons.  So that's two movies I can really stand by.  Most comics movies are neutered and stupid compared to the source (From Hell).  With Spider-Man people focus on the everyman angle, wisely, but ignore Ditko's ethics and his interest in Ayn Rand, which was really important to that stuff.  That and I don't see much point -- just read the comic.  Comics can get away with so much more than movies.

I have liked the X Men movies.  Fairly true to the spirit of the book.  Next one will have Beast (played by Kelsey Grammer, of all people) and Angel in the movie, and do something a la Phoenix (but not quite the same).  Different director but the feel has been set, so I am still optimistic.

I thought the movies pretty well nailed Ditko, actually. But the thing is, it was the Green Goblin who more clearly espoused a Randian sort of ethos in the first movie, what with the rooftop speech about he and Spider-Man uniting at the expense of those who aren't "gifted" like they are. I don't think I'm the first to have pointed this out.

Ditko was -- is -- great, but he didn't go well and truly fascist until AFTER Spider-Man.

You're right, his stuff afterward seems more extreme.  I'll try to watch those again with what you say in mind, but they didn't really click with me before.

Meg Ryan as Morrison's girlfriend (Pam?) is one of the funniest damn things i've ever seen.

Why has no one mentioned "Walk The Line"?

And, though it doesn't fit the mold set by the title, I love Rock Bio Documentaries...

...like I Am Trying to Break Your Heart!!!!  Awesome movie for an awesome band.

Chris, a must-read:

(http://www.samruby.com/OneShots/Large/Megalomaniacal.JPG)

Because it sucked harder than a foda Hoover factory.


Yes, we all love the rock doc. Let's do a separate thread forr that.

I thought 'Backbeat' was pretty good. Although technically it was really about Stuart Sutcliffe rather than the beatles.
There's also some dodgy accents in there though...

Thanks, Boxer.  I read about that on a Ditko site and it looks really funny.  I'll look for that soon.

Perhaps opening a can of worms here, but...

How about Kurt Russell's Elvis. Haven't seen it in years, but I recall it as not too bad.

I saw the Lennon and McCartney made for TV thing, Two of Us, not long ago, and, while it has its cringy moments, on the whole it was pretty good. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who did Let It Be, so was not completely clueless about the subject.

The Hours and Times was pretty groovy as well. I think these last two work because they are up-front about being pure speculation, and they cover a very limited time period (one day and a weekend, respectively) rather than trying to cram a whole lifetime into two hours and a neat storyline.

Yeah, the Kurt Russell movie was as good as it's ever gonna get (which isn't that good).

How about Rock AutoBio-pics?

Like Arlo in Alice's Restaurant. Didn't really care for the film, actually, but the teen groupie ( Shelley Plympton) peeling her clothes off and speed-rapping at the start was cool .

And, of course, Hard Day's Night fits this definition, as do the excellent back-to-back 1957 Elvis pseudo- autobiographies Loving You and Jailhouse Rock

For regular rock bio-picks I agree with the vote for slected scenes from The Doors mainly that  hilarious Thanksgiving Massacre (which takes us back to Arlo's movie, however inadvertently...)

YES! And, let's not forget her gorgeous performance on the Hair cast album, singing the deathless "Frank Mills", and also being the mother of that greatly underrated 80's/90's actress Martha Plimpton.

Loved Crispin Glover as Andy Warhol.

The way that whole NYC bit in "The Doors" was handled was laughably inept, totally clueless. "Jim, let's get out of here -- these people are vampires!" Meanwhile, the two Velvets cuts played in the background are far more powerful and REAL than anything portrayed in that fucking lame-ass, piece-of-sh*t movie. And like the real Andy Warhol would allow himself to be manhandled by the chunk-o-change simp that was Jim Morrisson as played by Val Kilmer! Warhol was one of the frostiest, most forbidding personalities EVER! NO ONE TOUCHED THAT MAN IF HE DIDN'T WANNA BE TOUCHED!

Fockein' CLUELESS.

When is The Shaggs' bio-pic coming out? I want to see that one.

The thought of a Keith Moon pic with Mike Myers makes me want to weep. DON'T DO IT!!!! It can only be bad - he's already way too old for the part. Unless it's one of those that doesn't really reference the music (which, if it concentrated on the right parts of his life, they could get away with - it'l still suck though.)

I Walk The Line has only just opened over here- they make us wait up to 6 months for new films - sometimes I can get the DVD from the States before the film has even opened, or very shortly after. Sad state of affairs.

Well, Deadman's Curve served a very important role in launching "Phase II" of Jan & Dean's career . . . It was a ratings blockbuster in '78, and music critics like Greil Marcus applauded it. The film turned a lot of new, younger fans on to J&D, and that in itself was hugely important. In the end, it was a feel-good movie.

But while it was a gripping expose on the personal relationship between Jan & Dean (along with the tragedy factor), the musical side of the story was almost completely fictionalized. In that sense, the film has actually hurt Jan Berry's legacy as one of the best arrangers and producers of his era.

Not once in the entire film do you see Jan producing the music. I mean, the film makes it clear that Jan was in charge . . . but there are no visuals to properly illustrate the studio dynamic.

On the other hand, at least we had a movie about Jan & Dean back in the '70s. That didn't happen for the Beach Boys until when . . . the early '90s?

M.

(http://www.jananddean-janberry.com/images/berry-hatch_77.jpg)

Mark A. Moore,

I've been wanting to ask you this for awhile, and if you have time to post...

What is the one factor or factors in your life that inspired or motivated you to "carry the torch" or spread the word about Jan Berry and Jan & Dean's music? Is it simply your love of the music?

I think it's great. Keep up the good work...

Yeah, it started with my love of the music. And it's a story that's only partially been told. Jan's legacy, through a number of factors, has been buried over the years. Jan's is one of the coolest stories to come out of Hollywood from that era . . . I mean, Jan Berry had a self-penned hit record before Phil Spector did . . . Even Kim Fowley will tell you that (while bashing Jan as only Kim can do . . . and my interview with Kim lasted five hours. Ha!)

The music? . . . There's true depth and complexity to Jan & Dean's music in the '63-'68 period. And the evidence is there on paper to be studied. I have Jan's original music library, as part of my research. Plus tons of other documentation.

Part of what I do for a living involves conducting historical research . . . it's part of my "day job." I've been published nationally in the field of Civil War history . . . and so I'm just bringing this approach to my Jan & Dean studies. I'm writing a full biography of Jan's life . . . and that of course includes Jan & Dean. My study will be academic (in terms of citing sources), but engaging . . . and will cover all aspects and angles. It won't all be, "Gee, look how great Jan was" . . . I have the documentary and interview materials to tell the story on a pretty deep level . . . good and bad.

In addition to documentary pursuits, I'm also out to illuminate this stuff through a number of musical projects . . . the first being the JB / J&D tribute album I'm producing with Cameron Parkes . . . through which we'll highlight Jan's original music scores using modern production. I'm really into the nuts and bolts of the music and productions. It took me more than a year to transcribe Jan's music scores for the album project . . . which is now in full swing.

Basically, it's just a great story . . . and at the same time, there are a lot of myths and stereotypes that have been perpetuated about Jan & Dean over the years. They've been unfairly pegged in a lot of ways . . . and they deserve better. Someone needed to step up and do something about all of this on a larger scale . . . so that's what I'm doing.

I had Jan's support before he died . . . I have the support of his widow, Gertie; and Jan's family has also been a huge help to me. I couldn't do this without them.

What about Dean? . . . That's a question that always comes up. And the answer is, Dean is a major part of this story, and he will be covered in-depth and fairly in my projects. To date, I've had some great exchanges with Dean . . . and we haven't even scratched the surface yet.

M.

Thanks for the response, Mark!