Biopics (Mostly) Suck Podcast

Christopher Boyce was a straight A student. Then he met a fellow alter boy by the name of Andrew Daulton Lee. They smoked dope, flew falcons, and sold American military secrets to the Soviet government.​

​But, that's only half the story.

​In this episode of Biopics (Mostly) Suck, we are going to give more information behind certain scenes in the film. What really caused Christopher to commit espionage? What was the deal with Aust...

Stop me if you have heard this one before.​

​Two twenty-something guys are international arms dealers and sell weapons to the US government. They do well at it, until they don't.

Ok, that is the plot of the movie "War Dogs", but what really happened would be a movie more suited to a complex socio-political plot in a Steven Soderbergh movie. 

We'll talk about true story behind this movie based on a true story. But, what...

Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter love each other. They got married, but cannot live as a married couple in Virginia, even though Virginia is for lovers. Why? He is white, and she is black. Or is she Indian? If she were Indian, the law says it would OK for her to be married to a white man in Virginia, unless she is called Negro, then it is not OK. Oh, these white supremacy laws really do complicate everything.​

​Well, Richard and Mil...

It's time for a clip show!​

​With 25 shows under our belts, and great cohorts like John and Dawn, we have discussions that have not seen the light of day. Now is the time!

We will talk about what is the better baseball film - Moneyball or Bull Durham. We will finally hear what John thought of the movie "Rocketman", now that he has seen it. And finally, we will share a discussion we had about why we do what we do on this p...

Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart was a prolific genius who has inspired people for centuries. I think we can count the movie "Amadus" in that tally, because Mozart's story (and the rumors of Salieri killing Mozart), inspired screenwriter Peter Schaffer to craft a brilliant play which inspired Milos Foreman to create a timeless movie that looks and sounds fantastic. ​

​But, what about the real story. Was Mozart a filthy man-child?...

Billy Beane brought sabermetrics to baseball. Well, at least according to the movie "Moneyball".

Questions:

1. If baseball is a game that has always been steeped in statistics? Why are statistics now controversial? ​
2. Has sabermetrics changed the game of baseball?
3. Who did Aaron Sorkin throw under the bus this time?
4. Where does Steven Soderbergh fall into all of this?

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Join us as we talk about everything right and wrong about ...

Bernie Tiede was a killer who took advantage of an old, lonely woman. Or, did he provide a public service? Why did the director of this movie advocate for Tiede's release from prison? Why did Jack Black jump on board?

​The true story of this movie based on a true story really takes place after the movie has been released. Join us as we take a trip through murder and crime in an East Texas town that leaves John and Dawn surprised...

Aaron Sorkin is back with all his Sorkin-y traits: complete with impassioned monolouges and strange asides. It's not the first movie based on a true story he has done (we talked about "Molly's Game" a couple of episodes ago), but the question is, did he do justice to the true story of the Chicago 7? Let's just say some heroes will rise and some heroes will fall as we talk about the movie. And Aaron Sorkin will b...

Aaron Sorkin is back with all his Sorkin-y traits: complete with impassioned monologues and strange asides. It's not the first movie based on a true story he has done (we talked about "Molly's Game" a couple of episodes ago), but the question is, did he do justice to the true story of the Chicago 7? Let's just say some heroes will rise and some heroes will fall as we talk about the movie. And Aaron Sorkin will b...

Petey Green was a drunk, and ex-con, a radio and television show host, a social advocate, and a voice of the Washington DC black community. If you don't know about Petey Green, you will be a fan once you listen to this episode. But, what did the filmmakers leave out? It was the very thing that drove Petey Green - and provided his legacy.​

​Dawn and John join Rob for a discussion that celebrates Petey Greene, and highlights the i...

Molly Bloom ​fell out of pursuing skiing as a profession and fell into running high stakes card games in Los Angeles. The celebrities that would attend were a means to attract players with money to lose. She ran a good game until the wheels fell off of the bus. There was the time she took a stake in the game (this made it illegal). Then there were the drugs. Oh, and getting beat up by a mobster. And then there was the Russian mob. ...

Alan Turing should be hailed as an international hero. Instead, he was castrated by his government for being gay. He played a key role in decoding messages from the Nazi's during World War II, and by some estimates, shortened that war by two years and saved millions of lives with his genius.​

​The question before us for this episode is "Does 'The Imitation Game' give Alan Turing his due?" Does it provide a depict...

What would you do for the person you love? Would you give them something you don't want them to have? Would you rob a bank for them? Would you kill for them?​

​"Dog Day Afternoon" is about the bank robbery, but it is wrapped up in the Gay Liberation movement that was kicked off just a few years earlier with the Stonewall Riots. It folded in an increased public consciousness about the rights of people in the prison reform...

One of my favorite films that few people have heard of is this achingly beautiful story about a man who studies wolves in the arctic. The themes are complex, the actors are brilliant, and the film is unique in its depiction of man and nature. ​

​While this movie is based on the book that is based on a true story by Farley Mowat, how true is that true story? How do you grade a movie when the true story it is based on is less than tru...

The Beats. Iconoclastic representations of freedom. Romanticized. Criticized. Eulogized. But, what did it mean to be a Beat?

 ​"Howl" does not tell you because it is a biography of a poem. A poem that exercised the freedom of spoken word and thought. A poem that reinforced that same freedom as the subject of an obscenity trial. A poem that has spoken to people for nearly sixty years.

​This is our two-part examination of a fil...

The Beats. Iconoclastic representations of freedom. Romanticized. Criticized. Eulogized. But, what did it mean to be a Beat? "Howl" does not tell you because it is a biography of a poem. A poem that exercised the freedom of spoken word and thought. A poem that reinforced that same freedom as the subject of an obscenity trial. A poem that has spoken to people for nearly sixty years.

​

This is our two-part examination of a film...

What do you know about "Norma Rae"? I mean, aside from the five second clip which is shown at the Oscars every year of Sally Field standing on top​ of a table holding a sign that says "UNION".

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Did you know she was a real person? Did you know that the movie helped union efforts in the United States (briefly) before Ronald Reagan came into office? If you are reading this on Labor Day, did you know that unions are the ...