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Movies Based on Real People


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It is based on a Frank Miller comic and Frank Miller is...well...I will let someone else handle that one.

I agree, I usually forget that Rooney Mara is in the movie and the scene all together when I think of the movie.  Interesting that the "Priscilla Chan/Zuckerberg" argument is the one that is always talked about regarding the liberties with the movie.  I have yet to see any real defense of Mark Zuckerberg's character traits and treatment of Eduardo. 

 

You would think that "people" would have more of an issue with that characterization than whether or not Sorkin made up a fake girlfriend to make the catalyst of Facebook more interesting.

Maybe I am not the one to respond to this, because I personally do not care all that much about what their relationship was really like. I don't even remember much about how it was like in the movie. I have no interest in defending either the character of Mark or Eduardo...or even Priscilla. For all I know, they are all terrible people.

 

It is not so much that I don't believe that any supposed misrepresentation of the relationship between Mark and Eduardo is bad. It is just that it is much more complicated and more difficult to pick apart the differences between their real life relationship and the one portrayed in the movie than it is to do with one so elementally basic and unambiguously factual as the mere existence of Priscilla. I still don't understand how her existence in the movie would distract from the relationship between Mark and Eduardo at all. It is not that I would expect her to have a big role in the film, as I have no idea what her relationship with Mark was like or whether she was directly involved in Facebook; but erasing her from the movie and replacing her with a judgmental ex-girlfriend rubs me the wrong way.

 

I don't understand why Rooney Mara's character or (Malese Jow's character, for that matter) had to exist; what did she add to the story of Mark and Eduardo's relationship? If she added nothing, then why invent her character in the first place? I suppose that I would not have been as bothered with the absence of Priscilla in the movie if not for the inclusion of Rooney's character. I understand that movies about real people sometimes take some characters out and introduce characters who do not actually exist to streamline the narrative. I know that Spike Lee's Malcom X movie replaced Malcom's brother and other people with a composite character and completely ignored others like Yuri Kochiyama. I was a little disappointed, but I understand why he did those things...though I didn't understand why he ended the film like that. On the other hand, I don't understand what the point of Rooney's character. I mean, I have a theory about why she is there, but it is one that I would rather not be true, since it would make me think even less of the movie..

 

If I were to hypothetically accept that Priscilla's existence in the movie would have threatened the focus of Mark and Eduardo's volatile bromance gone bad, THEN I could turn to the portrayal of that relationship in the movie. So, I will try to do that now. Okay: so the movie was about Mark and Eduardo. Putting aside necessary simplifications and composite whatevers, did the movie get the essence of their relationship right? If not, what were some of the basics that it got wrong?

Edited by Ankai
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Aaron Sorkin's initial answer to the question about Mark's girlfriend is that he based his story on the books about the case and Mark's girlfriend never was mentioned in any deposition or book he read. He says he didn't know Mark was dating her. But he also defends his decision by saying it wasn't a documentary on Mark.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ObIfH4utYPU

It's around the 8:20 mark.

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Okay, so he had no knowledge of her and had no regrets about not including her. Fine. That resolves one out of three problems that I have with her absence. The other two problems are Erica and Alice. I doubt that either of them were in the deposition either.

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The movies 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire were based on real people.

 

To be more specific, there were characters in those two movies who shared the same names as real people, and the movies were set in the time and place in which those real people lived.

 

As for historical accuracy...

You mean the Persian invaders at Thermopylae weren't really tusked, fireball-throwing orcs led by a blinged-out giant? I half-expected Xerxes' eyes to start glowing when he busted out that flanged voice like the goa'ould on Stargate.

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Brian's Song does it for me.

 

 

Brian's Song! I cried buckets. It should be included in the tear jerkers thread. Similarly, Something for Joey about the Penn State football player and his terminally ill baby brother.

 

But speaking of bio pics, I have a fondness for Desiree. It's another "B" movie. (Oh, why do I love them so?) It co-stars Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Michael Rennie, and Merle Oberon. It's about the relationship between Napoleon and his "first love" Desiree Clary, who was a member of a family of wealthy French silk merchants. He later threw her over to gain power and marry the well-connected Josephine. However, Desiree married one of Napoleon's generals and later became Queen of Sweden. To this day, the royal family of Sweden are the Bernadottes who are descendents of Desiree and her general husband.

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You mean the Persian invaders at Thermopylae weren't really tusked, fireball-throwing orcs led by a blinged-out giant? I half-expected Xerxes' eyes to start glowing when he busted out that flanged voice like the goa'ould on Stargate.

There were no undead vampire ninjas either. But I guess that Frank Miller's understanding of the word "Immortal" was just a little bit shaky.

 

Honestly, I hate The 300, for all the ridiculous, fantasy nonsense aspects of it. I'm as big a fan of the fantasy genre as there is, but I also value history, and feel that real events like those at Thermopylae deserve to be treated with reverence to truth and accuracy, where possible. And really, every single piece of work Frank Miller has produced makes me uncomfortable, in one way or another.

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Brian's Song! I cried buckets. It should be included in the tear jerkers thread. Similarly, Something for Joey about the Penn State football player and his terminally ill baby brother.

 

Oh, man, Something for Joey just wrecked my sister and me when we saw it! We were both in our early teens, and that show left us sobbing afterwards.

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My dad used to hate when Something for Joey or Brian's Song came on because he said he was sure people three houses away could hear us crying. Mr. CRS bought me the DVD of Something for Joey last year; I cry harder now.

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I respectfully disagree. For one thing, Amy Adams is a four-time Oscar nominee, which proves to me that she can act the part. As for looks, she did a great job of playing frumpy in Her and fat in the "Craving" episode of Smallville. If the script, the acting and direction are great, then I think  it can work, so I'm going to give her a chance.

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I recently watched a Japanese movie that takes one of the most important moments in the last 500 years of that nation's history and turned into a bit of a farce. It is called The Kiyosu Conference and it is about Japan's first political meeting. It was supposedly meant to determine the new heir to a powerful warlord, but was really about the rivalry between two military leaders trying to gain influence over each other.

 

The movie pretty blatantly plays fast and loose with historical fact, and frequently plays things for comedy. The music especially makes this all seem like a comedic adventure movie. People are portrayed as either stuffy or clownish. There is this gleeful cynicism throughout the whole thing, especially if one knows what will take place in the years after the events shown in the movie. I suppose more of an emphasis on how brutally violent all of these people were in real life may have made the film more of a darker comedy, but it was more interested in the devious politicking than bloodshed. And, perhaps a de-emphasis on the violence may help allow the political satire to seem more universal.

 

It is kind of odd to call this a fun little film, given that it could have been a serious film with only a bit of tweaking...and it is also 138-minutes long. Still, I did find it a lot of fun. And...I kind of would like to see a sequel...given what happens in the years that follow.

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I just tried to watch Velvet Goldmine, the 90s movie that focused on glam rock and a David Bowie-like rock star, along with characters that served as sort of hybridization of other famous figures. I always thought the movie would be campy fun and really wanted to like it, but I honestly couldn't make it through the first 30 minutes. It was a shallow mess. Also, I couldn't decide if I liked the Ziggy Stardust-esque parodies littered throughout the movie. I think the whole concept could have worked in a better movie (though, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is beautiful; bless him).

 

I'm not much for biopics really, but I thought Into the Wild was well done. 

 

Also, wow, count  me in as skeptical about Amy Adams as Janis! I remember ages ago, I heard that Renée Zellweger might play her, and I wasn't that enthusiastic about that either (though don't truly know if she was even considered or not). I don't have anything against either of them and I actually have liked Adams a lot in what I've seen her in, I just don't see it. It's not even the age thing. 

Edited by Beezel
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I just tried to watch Velvet Goldmine, the 90s movie that focused on glam rock and a David Bowie-like rock star, along with characters that served as sort of hybridization of other famous figures. I always thought the movie would be campy fun and really wanted to like it, but I honestly couldn't make it through the first 30 minutes. It was a shallow mess. Also, I couldn't decide if I liked the Ziggy Stardust-esque parodies littered throughout the movie. I think the whole concept could have worked in a better movie (though, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is beautiful; bless him).

I think I only saw as much of that as I did because it was the background noise at a party; granted I wasn't paying that much attention, but it seemed like the Bowie-expy was an airhead of the first order. And nobody has a career as long and varied as his if they don't have at least two brain cells to rub together. The movie's only saving grace is that the actors respect their characters a lot more than the filmmaker does.

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I know it was a couple years ago that it was mentioned, but the Janis biopic with Amy isn't happening.

Some of my favorites based on real people-- Game Change- Julianne, Woody, Ed, and Sarah do an excellent job. 

Ed Wood

Patton

The People vs. Larry Flynt

Hacksaw Ridge

I Want to Live! 

The Miracle Worker

Cleopatra

Gosh... There's really so so many.

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I was watching Tombstone last night, and while I know it's far from historically accurate, there's something that seemingly defies the laws of science and common sense. It makes for a great scene, but how the hell did Doc get to Ringo before Wyatt? 

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(edited)

In the unpopular opinion thread I mentioned Gandhi as an example regarding movie length, which led me to rewatch it again and it’s still amazing. I didn’t expect to be gutted or near tears with the opening scene of his assassination. It was Kingsley’s “Oh God” that did it, I think. And the music during the funeral procession.

And watching the special features and the interview with Sir Attenborough, I learned it took 20 years(!) to make this movie! He met with the real Nehru who was still alive then and Nehru went over all the events in the photo albums he had; then told him to talk to his daughter, Indira Gandhi (no relation) about it. 

Or that Attenborough had seen the real Gandhi in a newsreel when he was 8 years old.

Just fascinating.

And the movie DESERVED all the Oscars it received.

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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It was brilliant, but the scene with the massacre of those innocent and peaceful protestors at Jallianwala Bagh was even more gut wrenching than Gandhi's assassination. I felt physically ill watching it, and I couldn't even retreat into my usual "it's just a movie" defense mechanism because, obviously, IT REALLY HAPPENED.

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6 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

It was brilliant, but the scene with the massacre of those innocent and peaceful protestors at Jallianwala Bagh was even more gut wrenching than Gandhi's assassination. I felt physically ill watching it, and I couldn't even retreat into my usual "it's just a movie" defense mechanism because, obviously, IT REALLY HAPPENED.

Oh yes, I agree. I can’t ever watch that and have to fast forward it. And the hearing against the Dyer( played brilliantly by Edward Fox who made him more than a cardboard villain) when he said he would have helped any wounded who “applied for help,” and one of the judges asked how would a child shot by the [weapon] apply for help? And the silence before fading to black/intermission is chilling.

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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(edited)

I’m blanking on what the correct phrase is, but take a look! My new boss has an actual picture of Nehru, Gandhi and Patel-given to him by the man who took the picture! After just rewatching the movie, I see this!??

 

70357FBB-AADD-4180-B5E1-2092CE6A3008.jpeg

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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I saw Bridge of Spies on Netflix yesterday and highly recommend it, especially if you like movies set in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The title put me off a bit because I find lots of fictional spy stories confusing, but I'm glad I saw it. I was too young to remember the events when they occurred, and they aren't all that well known. Mark Rylance deserved his Oscar, and I don't see why Tom Hanks wasn't even nominated. (I don't get why he hasn't been nominated since 2000 when he's done lots of good work since then, but that's for another thread.)

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Casualties of War is another movie based on real people/real events that is really brutal: a group of soldiers kidnapped, raped, and murdered a village girl during the Vietnam War. The first time I saw it, I couldn't breathe. I was left feeling numb, horrified, and wrecked for that poor girl.

It's even worse when Michael J Fox tries to get justice only to have his superior officers tell him to "just let it go". So yeah, particularly relevant viewing for recent current events. And when they are finally brought to trial, all of their statements/excuses can easily be compared to Gandhi scene mentioned below:

On June 10, 2018 at 7:00 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Oh yes, I agree. I can’t ever watch that and have to fast forward it. And the hearing against the Dyer( played brilliantly by Edward Fox who made him more than a cardboard villain) when he said he would have helped any wounded who “applied for help,” and one of the judges asked how would a child shot by the [weapon] apply for help? And the silence before fading to black/intermission is chilling.

They pretty much do the same thing, blaming the victim for "giving away their position", blaming the war in general, and  Sean Penn even tries to divert testimony by recounting how he tried to give an injured child mouth-to-mouth. FUCK. YOU. YOU KIDNAPPED AN INNOCENT GIRL FROM HER VILLAGE JUST BECAUSE THE BROTHEL GOT CLOSED AND YOU COULDN'T GET LAID, YOU RACIST PSYCHO PIECE OF SHIT.

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On 1/19/2015 at 2:02 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I don't know, it won me over with that lunch meeting scene where Jonathan Rhys Myers' character had literal hearts in his eyes while looking at Ewan McGregor's, and Eddie Izzard's had literal dollar signs.

My god though, could you IMAGINE a movie trying to get away with the scene where it's heavily suggested that JRM's character fucked a 12-year old boy to get a watch? Complete with the shot of the kid lying with their bare bottom up in the air on a bed while JRM dresses up and leaves with the watch? There's no way in hell you could get away with that scene now, even though they didn't show any actual sex.

Anyway, Nicholas Hoult's J.D. Salinger biography was pretty good, but I thought it would have been served by focusing more on his World War II years and not getting so much into what happens with him in his 40's and 50's.

Edited by methodwriter85
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(edited)

Leonardo DiCaprio posted an instagram shot of him and Brad Pitt in their costume for the Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film about the Sharon Tate murder Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Quote

Sony Pictures announced the project in February. Tarantino — who is directing and producing the film, for which he also wrote the script — describes it as "a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The two lead characters are Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), former star of a Western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don't recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor…Sharon Tate."

Edited by VCRTracking
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12 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I think we all needed this after this week:

Thanks- and you're right!

 

Still, I have to wonder whether the Real Life Rev. Rogers would have liked to have been portrayed by someone who is downright ripped compared to him!

Or would he have been like Aunt Bee was in TAGS who was actually flattered that a slender, striking and much younger blonde performer was set to play her in the fictionalized movie about Andy?

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Tom Hanks said somewhere that he can't go up and down in weight anymore because of his diabetes, which is why he didn't get himself down to 143 pounds for this movie. He seems to be sticking with his Sully weight, which seems to be consistent with how he looked in the Post.

I'm really hoping for Annette Benning to play Mrs. Rogers, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go with Sarah Paulson. Hollywood seems to absolutely love her right now to play key supporting characters over the age of 40.

You know, I'm usually okay with watching Tarantino movies including the violence, but I'm seriously not interested in watching the brutal murders of actual people recreated, especially if it's in Tarantino's usual style.

Edited by methodwriter85
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16 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Tom Hanks said somewhere that he can't go up and down in weight anymore because of his diabetes, which is why he didn't get himself down to 143 pounds for this movie. He seems to be sticking with his Sully weight, which seems to be consistent with how he looked in the Post.

I'm really hoping for Annette Benning to play Mrs. Rogers, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go with Sarah Paulson. Hollywood seems to absolutely love her right now to play key supporting characters over the age of 40.

You know, I'm usually okay with watching Tarantino movies including the violence, but I'm seriously not interested in watching the brutal murders of actual people recreated, especially if it's in Tarantino's usual style.

I had to re-read this post a few times before I realised that you must be talking about two different movies.  (not that I've ever seen Mr. Rogers on TV, but I'm pretty the movie isn't going to be a Tarantino style one!)

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This year's Mr. Rogers documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor, leaves me wondering why I'd possibly need a dramatization.  And I'm sure I'll wind up finding Neighbor the superior film.  But, still - Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers?  I doubt I'll see it in the theater, but, yep, I'll give it a look.  And maybe this film will put extra eyes on the documentary.

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I just watched The Death of Stalin. Now I know that the bar would be set lower for a comedy for truth but it was kind of shocking to look these people and events up later and discover something mentioned in a joke turned out to be true, like the plane crash that killed most of The Soviets hockey team because Stalin's son Vasili was constantly drunk and making poor decisions. 

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On 6/28/2018 at 6:10 AM, raezen said:

Brad Pitt looks like Robert Redford to me in that pic. They both look great. Too bad, I think the film sounds tacky.

That's why I thought the casting in Spy Game was so inspired. A mentorship where they actually look like father and son.

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From the Bohemian Rhapsody thread:
 

Quote

 

On 11/3/2018 at 4:03 PM, Robert Lynch said:

 How about a Duran Duran or David Bowie bio? That would be neat.

 

I wouldn't hold your breath for a Duran Duran bio. They are very, very, very tight-lipped about band drama. Any t.v. bio I've seen of them that includes interviews with the band basically shows them lightly brushing dramas (John Taylor's drug problem, Roger Taylor dropping out, Andy Taylor's two exits from the band, etc etc) over and then talking again about how much they all love each other and what a thrill it is to perform for their fans. Three To Get Ready, a 1987 documentary about their band after Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left, is probably the most candid they've gotten and they haven't been like that since. I don't think any of them would consent to a movie that might paint any of them in a bad light, even if it would be the easy thing to trash on Andy and make it all his fault. They wouldn't do it.

I would actually love a Bay City Rollers biopic because they are VERY candid about everything and their personal dramas but they're not taken seriously enough to get a biopic treatment. David Bowie is a possibility, but Iman might be protective of his image.

I would be shocked if a Nirvana biopic ever happens. The rights to that music seems to be in flux. I believe Courtney Love finally lost the death grip, but it seems like a really thorny topic and I believe Nirvana songs are still notoriously hard to license.

Anyway, here's an article about the proposed Madonna biopic that Madonna has come out against. Man. I really, really want this to happen while my fancast AnnaSophia Robb is still young enough, but it doesn't look likely to see the light of day.

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John Taylor did write a book that detailed his struggle with drugs and alcohol. The thing I found most interesting about Duran Duran's rise was how sudden it was. Like John was still living at home when they went off to Sri Lanka to record those iconic videos and wasn't prepared at all for the blow up in fame. I'd be interested in seeing it on screen, no question. I'd also be interested in Bowie, Bay City Rollers... not as much Nirvana because I feel I have been inundated by that story since it happened.

I'd rather see a Cyndi Lauper biopic than a Madonna one, personally.

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2 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Didn't Roger Taylor have a nervous breakdown or was that just a rumor?

They're really cagey about that one. He probably did but he doesn't really want to talk about it.

I thought it was also pretty fucked up how they dumped Warren Cuccurullo for the "Fab Five" reunion after he had spent 15 years with the band.

I do think if I were to do write a Duran Duran biopic, I'd start with the founding in 1978 and end with early 1987, when they're down to 3 guys but determined to keep going. Three to Get Ready really is actually a very good documentary because even though these guys had a recent number 1 with "Notorious" they were very acutely aware that they were slipping into irrelevance, especially John. There's a great scene where Nick talks about how awesome this U2 single is (likely "With or Without You") and John gets pissy about him saying that because U2 was soaring at that time and they were crashing back down to Earth.

I'm still kind of shocked there aren't any biopics on Fleetwood Mac or Heart.

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Fleetwood Mac should be a several episode long soap opera on Netflix or something. There is Too. Much. for a mere two hour movie.

It's always kind of funny to me to remember that U2 and Duran Duran are contemporaries despite the fact that I was very much there for the early years. I remember them both so well in the early days of MTV when I was a mere 10 years old back in 1983 and 'New Years Day' caught my attention along with 'Please Please Tell Me Now' But over the years Duran Duran felt like something I really loved as a tween while U2 was something I've loved forever. It's actually a bit more complex than that, really. Although I did go see Duran Duran in concert a couple of years ago and it. was. magical.

The scene in Three to Go is very interesting. "They're everything we're not." Man, especially at THAT time when U2 where in full Joshua Tree mode. It would be another... what two three years before Achtung Baby. Duran Duran's trajectory compared to U2 (especially after Live Aid) is a completely different beast. But, at the same time, they rather quietly kept making hits. And when the nostalgia wave hit, it turned out that a lot of people found themselves rather surprised with the fact that 'Hey... Duran Duran is actually really good.' Their live version of White Lines is fucking TIGHT.

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When I took my parents to Bohemian Rhapsody and they were basically in heaven I was thinking that I guess in 20 years I'll get to see my Nirvana biopic.  LOL.  But then again things move really fast now so who knows.  

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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Well, Courtney Love did recently lose the rights to Kurt Cobain's image and likeness (it's passed on to Francis Cobain), so it's more possible to make a bio now than it was when Courtney Love had the death grip. I do think she still has a partial stake in music rights. I can see a very whitewashed Courtney Love portion, with absolutely no mentions of the rumors that she killed him. (Which I don't buy, but that is a part of Nirvana lore.)

I wouldn't mind seeing an Oasis biopic, either.

Quote

The scene in Three to Go is very interesting. "They're everything we're not." Man, especially at THAT time when U2 where in full Joshua Tree mode. It would be another... what two three years before Achtung Baby. Duran Duran's trajectory compared to U2 (especially after Live Aid) is a completely different beast. But, at the same time, they rather quietly kept making hits. And when the nostalgia wave hit, it turned out that a lot of people found themselves rather surprised with the fact that 'Hey... Duran Duran is actually really good.' Their live version of White Lines is fucking TIGHT.

I mean, they're both still here. U2 probably isn't as surprising, but it is pretty awesome that Duran Duran is still around and only short one of the Fab Five. They all look pretty fantastic, too. Roger has graduated from someone's cute older brother to someone's really hot dad. LOL.

I'd also love to see Culture Club get the full biopic treatment (Worried About The Boy was a pretty solid t.v. movie about Boy's origins that flashes between his rise in 1980-1982 and his nadir in 1986) but I don't think they're considered iconic enough.

Edited by methodwriter85
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They do all still look great. Simon's Dad Dancing now looks totally reasonable since, you know, he is one. And John is just beautiful. Always was. I realize I am biased but it's true. Hey, I've loved only two men longer than John Taylor and they are my Dad and Han Solo. And, yes, they are still here. That's what I mean by some people coming off the nostalgia wave going: They're GOOD! Because they are! And now they've got longevity.

Man, a Culture Club biopic would be DRAAAAMAAAAAA!!

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2 hours ago, Dandesun said:

. And John is just beautiful.

I always loved John.  I wasn't able to see Duran Duran in conert until a few years ago and I cried a little.  They still sound fantastic and still look great.

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