ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a murder sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside," upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.

[oilgun]

It was either this or Dalì...

Plot: Based on the true crime story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this movie tells the emotionally riveting story of a man who turned his darkest fantasies into a horrifying reality.

[memento]

IMDB: This film opens with RuPaul Charles asking, `Whatever happened to Tammy Faye?'

Over the next hour and nineteen minutes you find out her past and present but the future is left a blank.

Almost the first words out of her mouth is her reciting some bad poetry – her own.

You also learn she buys her makeup at swap meets!

As she says, `Puppets started it all.' And the theme is carried out through the entire film with puppets introducing each segment.

She married Jim Bakker, appropriately enough, on April Fool's Day. This becomes eerily omniscient as this incredible documentary unfolds.

You will learn a lot about the life and times of Tammy Faye's existence in the `Electric Church' a term she uses herself to describe the televised evangelical preaching of her and her husband and how they were squeezed out of every project they started together; that April Fool's curse again.

I believe this film really tries to give a balanced perspective on her trials and tribulations – but you walk out of the theater with a certain amount of sympathy for all she has gone through and her ability to survive if not exactly flourish.

Her very ‘un-Christian' views about gay people show an amazing amount of personal integrity and strength. While it may seem that she is shallow and lives on the surface it becomes obvious that she has an inner core of faith and belief in what is right that runs deep through the center of her being.

It is obvious towards the end of the film she must have a great deal of personal magnetism that, in spite of her ever-tearful visage, must carry most strongly when you meet her in person.

The interviews with her multi-pierced son and the daughter who ran away from home when the scandals erupted are particularly poignant.

This documentary has Oscar nomination written all over it and it is well worth both your time and money to see it.

[southendmd]

Plot:  Farinelli, is the artistic name of Carlo Broschi, a young singer in Handel's time. He was castrated in his childhood in order to preserve his voice. During his life he becomes to be a very famous opera singer, managed by his mediocre brother (Riccardo).

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu1Z2PoaE5I[/youtube]
"Laschia ch'io pianga" by Handel.

[oilgun]

From IMDb: Whilst this film will not appeal to everybody, it is however, an illuminating and moving evocation of a generation, through the camera of artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman. I am a fan of Jarman, and so found Glitterbug - 20 years of edited together super-8mm footage - a fascinating watch.

Brian Eno's music accompaniment is sympathetic to the tones and ideas being provoked by the images. The footage continues Jarman's tradition of film-making found in his features - fascination with the male body, nature, landscapes, cityscapes, close up of detail, personal expression and camera experimentation. A fascinating film for anyone interested in the life of this great filmmaker.

Image for the soundtrack music by Brian Eno.


==COMMENT==
This film is included as a Special Feature in GLITTERBOX:  DEREK JARMAN X 4 which I just received today from Amazon!   The X 4 in this DVD boxset are CARAVAGGIO, WITTGENSTEIN, THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION & BLUE.

[memento]

IMDB: This movie tells the true story of the tragic life of the brilliant international concert cellist Jacqueline Du Pré and her sister, Hilary. Despite starting out in music together, Hilary chooses a more normal life in having a husband and children. Jacqueline gets married too but can never seem to quite achieve the happiness of the mundane life Hilary has and Hilary's devotion to her sister causes them to take some rather drastic measures in their lives. The irony of having a great musical ability fades away as Jacqueline transcends into a slow decline when struck with a deadly illness.

[southendmd]

Plot:  The life and career of famed American composer Stephen Foster.

[Fran]

From IMDb: 

I'm not sure if a biographical film as raw and truthful as "Jo Jo Dancer" ever had a chance to be a big financial hit. But viewed now, more than 15 years later, it is obvious that the film did not deserve the critical drubbing it got back in the day. Writer-director-producer-star Richard Pryor created a very strong film, simultaneously entertaining, funny, pathetic, provocative, heartbreaking, revealing, and raw. Two things held it back. Firstly, it was too rough for the super-slick mid-80s, being shot and structured more like a seventies film. Secondly, even though the climax of the film -- Jo Jo setting himself on fire in a harrowing, drug-fueled despair -- is powerful, it lacks a sense of closure. Sadly, the reason for this is that, like the real-life Richard Pryor upon whose life the story is based, Jo Jo doesn't die at the end. He is badly burned and we are briefly shown that he lives to continue his career, just as Pryor did.

The story is told through flashbacks, after Jo Jo has set himself on fire, focusing on how he got to that point. Since the story abruptly ends soon after his suicide attempt, however, we are not shown much of what happens after that point. In an odd bit of irony, Jo Jo's survival then makes for an unsatisfying conclusion, story-wise. It's as though Pryor is saying, hey I burned myself up and that made me all better. It just isn't satisfying.

[oilgun]

Synopsis:  KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON is an intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain told entirely in his own voice. The film presents a rare personal portrait of a boy who becomes a musician, a husband, a rock star, a father and a songwriter whose words have touched millions.

Cobain’s story unfolds through his own narrative assembled from more than 25 hours of audiotaped conversations, never before made public, recorded during late-night sessions with noted journalist Michael Azerrad for his book Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana. This improbable autobiography is a profound firsthand account of Cobain’s successes and failures, fears and sense of humor that allows the audience unprecedented access into a person who turned out to be the most mysterious rock legend of his generation and beyond.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  ...The directors take a fascinating person's career and make it even more interesting with a series of great interview subjects (including Kathleen Turner, B.D. Wong, and Rosie O'Donnell), hysterical video footage of Busch's past live performances, and clips from his film work. Busch himself is a wonderful interview subject and the life and career he's had is an inspiration for anyone who feels a little different and still wants to succeed in mainstream society. I would hope this film gets shown to every gay--or even just "different"--young person to show them they can succeed to the level of their wildest dreams, even if they have to make their own opportunities. If you're not a Charels Busch fan yet, you will be after you see this very entertaining and heart-warming film.