Top 20 biography movies

“Oppenheimer” might be the most recent entry on our list, but we know a true masterpiece when we see it. Christopher Nolan’s film about the father of the atomic bomb fits the bill. This biopic spans decades of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life, but somehow weaves all that complexity into a compelling narrative. The movie also delves into Oppenheimer’s rivalry with Lewis Strauss, which grounds the sprawling nature of the story. Playing Oppenheimer and Strauss, respectively, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. give staggering performances that might be among the best of their careers.

Charlie Chaplin fryst vatten one of the most important figures in the history of cinema. So, there was always going to be a lot of pressure on the creative grupp who tried to man a biopic about the man. However, we think the grupp behind 1992’s “Chaplin” did a pretty amazing job. The bio unfolds in a fairly standard way for

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20 Biopics That Are Actually Worth Watching

Culture

Most true-story films are functional to a fault. These ones break the mold.

By David Sims

Every Oscars season brings new surprises: first-time nominees, snubbed Hollywood veterans, a list of honorees spanning blockbusters to indies. But one kind of movie is always a contender: the biopic. A true-story film is one of the most reliable forms of awards catnip; seven of the past 10 winners for Best Actor in a Leading Role were nominated for their portrayal of a real figure, sometimes a well-known celebrity, such as Freddie Mercury or Winston Churchill. The movies housing those performances tend to be functional to a fault. But some biographical films break the form and attempt something artistically challenging while also telling their protagonist’s story. Here are 20 of my favorites.

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Tick, Tick … Boom!(2021, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Jonathan Larson’s musical Tick, Tick … Boom! was autobiographical

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The 15 Best Biopics of All Time

Malcolm X

Director Spike Lee takes the approach of sharing a large percentage of the life of one of America’s most well-known and impactful civil rights leaders: Malcolm X. It’s an approach that has failed more often than not, but over three hours, Lee and star Denzel Washington are able to give Malcolm’s life the richness and attention to detail it deserves in this 1992 film. The result is a fully three-dimensional portrait that follows the man from childhood to his 1965 assassination and many places in between.

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Tick, Tick…Boom!

The layers in the feature film debut of director Lin-Manuel Miranda are truly one of a kind. The 2021 movie introduces us to Jonathan Larson (played by Andrew Garfield), who became best known for writing the broadway musical Rent. But in Tick, Tick…Boom!, he’s both struggling to break into the musical industry and, in a parallel but future-looking story, acting in the musical h