I just got in from watching a special nyc roadshow showing of steven soderbergh’s Che. i loved it! the film pinpointed on the cuban revolution and che’s unsuccessful revolutionary attempt in bolivia. benecio del toro did a solid job as che. i really enjoyed damian bichir as fidel castro if anything, this film showed the truest essence of a revolutionary. it was hella long but worth every minute. national release is on january 24th so def catch it.

but this had me thinking about my favorite biopics. and with that said here is the list of my top five favorite (not necessarily the best) biopics

quick honorable mention: ray, raging bull, aviator, che (and hopefully in the future “notorious”)

5. man on the moon (jim carrey as andy kaufman)
jim carrey’s role as andy kaufman was heartfelt and funny. this flick really had me loving and hating andy kaufman. he was a crazy dude. from his wrestling to taxi to beef with david letterman this flick was incredible.

4. selena (jennifer lopez as selena quintanilla perez)
this may be the only role by jennifer lopez that i enjoyed. i remember sneaking into my friend’s spanish class just to peep jlo looking all good, dancing and such and to listen to the songs. when i finally watched it, i must say that i loved it. i honestly felt as if i had beef with selena’s murderer. not one of the best movies of all time, but best believe i’m still singing bidi bidi bom bom!

3. the last king of scotland (forrest whitaker as idi amin)
yo if you have never heard of idi amin read about him first and then make sure you watch this film. forrest whitaker was on some other shit in this. pardon my french but this flick had me scared for real. whitaker won a well deserved oscar for his role. james mcavoy was also fantastic as in this film. this is one of my favorite movies indeed in the past few years

2. what’s love got to do with it (angela bassett as tina turner and laurence fishburne as ike)
angela bassett and laurence fishburne damn near flawless. the fight scenes, the music, tina’s redemption all came to life b/c of these talented thesbians. both nominated for oscar’s that year, it was an ubelievable film. honestly one of the more memorable films in my mental memory bank.
“eat the cake anna mae!”

and number 1…
malcolm X (denzel washington as malcolm x)
this was a no brainer for me. i remember watching this as a ten year old and really thinking that denzel was the real malcolm. this film probably changed my life b/c of it’s portrayal of a positive black man, something that i can’t ever remember witnessing on tv or film. outside of mlk there was nobody growing up until this movie. Spike Lee did everything right movie wise. there are some autobiographical slip ups but this movie was perfect for me. it can also boast as being the first and i believe only film that ever led me to tears. when that same cooke comes on before the assassination scene it still gets to me.

hopefully my biopic comes soon and hopefully its not starring nick cannon.
peace.love.funk.