5. Life (2015) - This film follows the story of James Dean's friendship with photographer Dennis Stock and before I even stepped into the cinema, there were a few reasons why I knew I'd like it: I absolutely love anything to do with 1950s America and the Beat Generation, it was directed by Anton Corbijn (who also directed my favourite biopic of all time, but more on that later) and finally, R-Patz. I'm not going to pretend that he's the finest actor of our generation, and to be honest this was only accentuated by Dane DeHaan's fantastic portrayal of Dean, but he does have a smashing face... am I right ladies? What I didn't expect, however, is the extent to which it left me wanting to know more about James Dean and his life, to watch his old films and to see more of the photographs that the two friends had taken together. The next morning I watched Rebel Without a Cause and it was awesome. I strongly urge you to watch them both.
4. The Theory of Everything (2014) - This is undoubtedly a predictable choice, but still a justified one! I've been following Eddie Redmayne's career (by which I obviously mean his face #runningtheme #actorswithpleasantfaces) for a while and for all I like the guy, I just didn't know how someone would be able to deliver a performance as Stephen Hawking which would do him and his incredible life justice. I wasn't skeptical as such, just unsure of what to expect, but I should have kept my faith in old Reddie because he really did a fantastic job. I think I probably cried about fifteen times on first viewing, and I mean that as a really good thing because it takes a lot to squeeze a tear out of me (apart from the John Lewis Christmas adverts, obvs), but it really is one of those stories which puts things into perspective. If you haven't seen this already then please do, but just prepare to feel emotionally drained afterwards, ok?
3. The Social Network (2010) - Again, The Social Network did very well when it was released and as a member of the Facebook generation, I was really interested in the story behind it. It's a very entertaining film; a creative look at the trials and tribulations involved in the website's creation, which really does raise questions about the meaning of 'friendship', but it's also clever and funny with a great cast (read: Justin Timberlake rocking those glorious curls like we're back in the *NSYNC days). Most importantly, it recently provided me with an answer on Pointless...I wasn't actually on the show or anything, just casually playing along at home, but still...personal achievement.
2. Walk the Line (2005) - This is another one of those situations, much like with James Dean, where I saw this film having an idea of who the person was but not really knowing anything much about him - I knew that Johnny Cash was a country singer and that he was famous for wearing black but that was about as far as it went. It wasn't until after I saw Walk the Line that I really listened to any of his music, but it was a great introduction and another one of those films that I find I can just watch over and over again. It features some more exceptional performances; Joaquin Phoenix is probably up there with one of my favourite actors and I've always liked Reese Witherspoon because I feel an affinity with any other small blonde people (my current spirit animal/ideal BFF being Amy Poehler). You don't have to like country music to enjoy this film by any stretch of the imagination, but be warned, you'll probably be left with a life's dream to find someone who wants to do a duet of 'Jackson' with you after seeing this (and if anyone does find themselves that way inclined then I'm totally up for being June.)
1. Control (2007) - The way in which I tend to judge a good biopic is if I'm left wanting to know more about the person and I have to say that the first time I saw this film, I became more than a bit obsessed with Ian Curtis and Joy Division. I watched it twice in three days, I read the memoirs that the film was based on and began listening to the band non-stop. It was what I can only refer to as my 'intense Joy Division phase'. That was eight years ago now and although the obsession hasn't quite maintained its intensity for all of that time, I still love the band and have seen Control on more occasions than is humanly healthy. I mentioned before that Anton Corbijn directed Life as well as one of my favourite biopics of all time, that being Control, but I think that I should amend it to say that he directed one of my favourite films of all time, period. I really do just love everything about it, from its black and white colour palette to Sam Riley's portrayal of Curtis' signature performance style. It's not the happiest of films, but it's real and engaging and just generally great.
So, there we have it; five of my most-loved biopics. On reading that back, I've realised that my first three choices genuinely just make me sound as though I spend all my time picking out my favourite films based on actors that I deem to have 'a nice face', but I promise that's not alllllllll that matters, just an added bonus. Stay tuned for part two...
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