9:30 Coffee Break: Who else deserves a biopic?
by Jill Riley and Sean McPherson
August 14, 2015
Today in theaters everywhere, Straight Outta Compton opens. The film tells the story of the young men who went on to form the group, N.W.A. Euan Kerr spoke about it at 8:30, and Jay Gabler has also written about it.
Straight Outta Compton is another in a great string of music-related biographical films — known widely by their shortened term, biopics — that tell the story of an artist's or group of artists' trajectory. Other fairly recent entries in this subgenre include such acclaimed films as Ray, Walk the Line, The Runaways, Get on Up and Love and Mercy.
Note that biopics typically feature an actor playing the part of the film's subject; a biopic can also be fictionalized to some extent to help tell the story in a more cinematically engaging way. The biopic format contrasts with the interactive documentary approach, which relies on interviews and archival footage to present the story.
And that's the topic for our discussion today. For the 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear by artists you think deserve a biopic? And in your request, be sure to tell us which actors you think should play the role of your requested artists.
Songs Played
Otis Redding "These Arms of Mine"
The White Stripes "The Denial Twist"
David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust"
The Cure "Let's Go to Bed"
Aretha Franklin "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"
Do you deserve a Coffee Break? We at The Current's Morning Show think you do, and we want to bring treats from Morningstar Coffee and Café Latté to your workplace. Let us know why you'd like a Coffee Break.