Biopic: A Podcast Story

Episode 61: Malcolm X with Guest Star, Filmmaker Brandon Wilson

This week, we welcome our special guest star, the very, very smart and insightful filmmaker, critic, and educator Brandon Wilson, to celebrate the 4th by dropping Malcolm X on Plymouth Rock. 
Given [gestures around at everything], we wanted to celebrate the decaying, never-actually-real American Dream with Spike Lee’s revolutionary, game-changing magnum opus Malcolm X, which is, of course, about the revolutionary leader Malcolm X (and a lot of other things). 
The original recording was almost 5 hours long, so we had to cut a lot of amazing convo since we’re two broads and not an idiotic white man who works overtime to humanize monsters and has the capability to sway elections and get people to disbelieve common sense science. 
However, we cover plenty of other things as we take the plunge into this very long but deeply exhilarating epic, including the genius of Spike Lee, the astonishing snubs this film received from the Academy (but hey, Howard’s End and Enchanted April, right? And Scent of a Woman?), having the Jersey shore stand in for Mecca, how the hell this film got made, and so much more. 
Malcolm X stars Denzel Washington as Malcolm X, Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz, Spike lee as Shorty, Kate Vernon as Sophia, Delroy Lindo as West Indian Archie, Theresa Randle as Laura, Al Freeman Jr. as Elijah Muhammed, Albert Hall as Baines, and many, many more.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 60: And the Band Played On, the Story of the Early Days of the AIDS Crisis

It’s been a minute since we’ve reminded our audience that Ronald Reagan is trash; there’s no better illustration of the hell he unleashed on America in one of our most mean-spirited decades by pretending that AIDS didn’t exist, or deriding it among his cabinet with giggle fits. 
You know who’s not trash? The many scientists and activists who are featured in this groundbreaking 1993 TV movie, And the Band Played On, based on Randy Shilt’s groundbreaking nonfiction chronicle of the early days of the AIDS epidemic (except the Patient Zero business, and we’ll get to that). 
At the wrap-up of Pride Month, Rena and Sara discuss the heroic efforts of Aaron Spelling (yes, that Aaron Spelling) to get this film made, the mini-masterpiece performances by Richard Gere, Swoosie Kurtz, and Steve Martin, how Charles Martin Smith is always the hero you want, the 1990s as the golden age of sex ed in the public school system, and the lost art of shaming. 
And the Band Played On is directed by Roger Spottiswoode and stars Ian McKellan as Bill Kraus, Matthew Modine as Dr. Don Francis, Glenne Headley as Dr. Mary Guinan, Richard Gere as the Choreographer, Saul Rubenek as Dr. James Curran, Richard Masur  as Dr. William Darrow, Alan Alda as Dr. Robert Gallow, Lily Tomlin as Dr. Selma Dritz, Charles Martin Smith as Dr. Harold Jaffe, Patrick Bachau as Dr. Luc Montagnier, B.D. Wong as Kico Govantes, Richard Jenkins as Dr. Marcus Conant, Tchéky Karyo as Dr. Willy Rozenbaum, Donal Logue as Bobbi Campbell, with Steve Martin, Swoosie Kurtz, Anjelica Houston, Phil Collins, and Stephen Spinella. 
Sources used in the episode include…
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
This amazing interview with Aaron Spelling: https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/aaron-spelling?clip=54430  
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 59: I Shot Andy Warhol, Starring Lili Taylor as Failed Murderer Valerie Solanas

Gay Pride Month continues with 1996’s seminal I Shot Andy Warhol, Mary Harron’s feature debut, starring Lili Taylor as titular shooter and firebrand Valerie Solanas, and Jared Harris as titular shooting victim Andy Warhol.
We’re back in that wildly unimportant summer of 1968, and discussing what we call “the Stephen Dorff problem” (casting a decidedly super-hetero male as beautiful woman Candy Darling), the Velvet Underground tribute band “the Satin First Floors,” dinner theater, and stuff we loved when we were teenagers.
I Shot Andy Warhol was directed by Mary Harron and stars Lily Taylor as Valerie Solonas, Jared Harris as Andy Warhol, Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling, Martha Plimpton as Stevie and Michael Imperioli as Ondine.
Sources:
Candy Darling: Dream, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr
Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote SCUM (and Shot Andy Warhol) by Brianne Fahs.
Me, by Elton John.
Warhol’s Muses: The Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine, by Laurence Leamer
From Artsy: “Grappling with the Legacy of the Woman Who Shot Andy Warhol” by Alina Cohen. 
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-grappling-legacy-woman-shot-andy-warhol
The New Yorker review of Candy Darling: Dream, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr, written by Hilton Als https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/candy-darling-dream-icon-superstar-cynthia-carr-book-review 
And a great interview with Jeremiah Newton from the Village Voice : https://www.villagevoice.com/candy-darling-and-jeremiah-newton-qa-with-the-man-behind-beautiful-darling/ 
Beautiful Darling 2010 Candy Darling Documentary

Episode 58: Battle of the Sexes, Starring Emma Stone as Tennis Legend Billie Jean King

Remember that time in 1973 when sexism was cured? Well, yeah, it didn’t work out because (**gestures around at everything**), but this unfairly overlooked movie nevertheless deserves your attention. The legendary match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs is commemorated in this utterly winsome, lovingly made 2017 biopic starring Emma Stone and Steve Carrell.
Battle of the Sexes details the utter triumph of one hard-working, pioneering feminist who has spent her entire professional life breaking down barriers for women as she takes down a possibly-Kayfabe-ing elder statesman and hustler, all while going on a journey of self-discovery about who she really wants to be. But we also have to take time to decipher the sport of tennis (it goes as well as one might expect), talk about what things would actually make America great again (pretty much just guilt-free cigarette smoking), whether or not the mafia is real (it’s not), why Andrea Riseborough’s Marilyn is able to avoid a villain cut, the astonishing hotness of Sarah Silverman, and whether or not this film is too long.
Battle of the Sexes is directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and stars Emma Stone as Billie Jean King, Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs, Andrea Riseborough as Marilyn Barnett, Sarah Silverman as Gladys Heldman, Natalie Morales as Rosie Casals, Bill Pullman as Jack Kramer, Alan Cumming as Ted Tinling, and Elisabeth Shue as Priscilla Riggs.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 57: The Naked Civil Servant, Starring John Hurt as Quentin Crisp

What has four thumbs and loves John Hurt? This podcast. The Naked Civil Servant, a groundbreaking television movie from our friends in Great Britain, tells the powerful story of the wonderful Quentin Crisp—a man whose experience as a gay man spans the entire 20th century and is marked with trauma, challenges, arrests—and tremendous humor and humanity. 
Topics include: The groundbreaking producer of this film, Verity Lambert; A from-the-afterlife Part II to “Fuck Tha Police” performed by QC, Harvey Milk, and Marsha P. Johnson; QC’s honest assessment of how he’d fare in the army—and our own; the “Gay Best Friend” trope’s progression; our envy of the career of “raconteur,” and so much more. 
The Naked Civil Servant is directed by Jack Gold, and stars John Hurt as Quentin Crisp, John Rhys-Davies as Barndoor, Liz Gebhardt as Art Student, Stanley Lebor as Mr. Pole, and Patricia Hodge as Ballet Teacher..  
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 56: 24 Hour Party People with Guest Star, Music Writer Maggie Serota

Unsurprisingly, we had a great time discussing this raucous, genre-bending biopic that documents the madcap experiences of one Tony Wilson as he founds Factory Records and brings the world Joy Division, New Order, the Happy Mondays, the Hacienda nightclub, rave culture, and so much more. 
With our lovely and knowledgeable guest, music journalist Maggie Serota (‪@maggieserota.bsky.social‬), we discuss: how irritating is Steve Coogan? Does methadone lose efficacy when licked off the floor of Heathrow? Do the Happy Mondays have a viable case to sue Oasis for stealing their identities? Is the job of drug dealer/maraca shaker/lead dancer the best job one can get? Should we be leaving more drummers on the roof?
24 Hour Party People was directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson, Shirley Henderson as Lindsay, Paul Popplewell as Paul Ryder, Paddy Considine as Rob Gretton, Martin Hancock as Howard Devoto, Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett, Ralf Little as Peter Hook, Dave Gorman as John the Postman, and Sean Harris as Ian Curtis. 
Some of our sources: 
Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division
The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club
Both by Peter Hook.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 55: The President’s Last Bang with Guest Star, Cartoonist Ryan Estrada

Get ready for some of the lowest functioning addicts in the history of high-powered alcoholism.
Sara and Rena are joined by the amazing cartoonist and South Korea expert Ryan Estrada, who schools us up on the astonishingly dysfunctional and corrupt administration of South Korean president Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated by his own men in 1979 as part of a ill-thought-out coup.
We discuss the uniquely political South Korean filmmaking scene, our K-Pop overlords, what you see at the most depressing dinner parties, and our delight at this gem of a film.
The President’s Last Bang is directed by Im Sang-Soo and stars Baek Yoon-sik, Han Suk-kyu, Song Jae-ho, Kim Eung-soo, Kim Yoon-ah, Lee Soo-mi and future Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung. 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 54: Seberg, Starring Kristen Stewart as Jean Seberg

Do NOT get us started on J. Edgar Hoover. The tragic life of actress Jean Seberg as seen through the lens of her entanglement with the FBI’s ugly COINTELPRO operations, Seberg is a pretty devastating portrait of a fragile, idealistic woman who is taken advantage of by everyone until she is driven to madness and blacklisted.
It’s not as if this has ever happened before or since.
Join us as we discuss the value of Captain America comments, metaphorical heaviness, the efficacy of bringing a gun into an audition for Paint Your Wagon, the most interesting wife-of-a-cop we’ve ever seen in a movie, our love for Jean, another appearance of too-beautiful-for-history Anthony Mackie, and magical character actor Stephen Root.
Seberg is directed by Benedict Andrews and stars Kristen Stewart as Jean Seberg, Anthony Mackie as Hakim Jamal, Jack O’Connell as Jack Solomon, Margaret Qualley as Linette Solomon, Zazie Beetz as Dorothy Jamal, Vince Vaughn as Carl Kowalski, Stephen Root as Walt Breckman, and Yvan Attal as Romain Gary.
Notes: Captain America is a New Deal Democrat: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2013/10/steven-attewell-steve-rogers-isnt-just-any-hero
 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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