in keeping with the other thread about books.

Share with us your favourite programmes about real historical people. Or equally warn us of the Lemons.

NON Fiction. Even if the story deviates significantly from actual events.

1. Nixon, Anthony Hopkins....3 hours long and AH is always watchable.

2. Frost/Nixon....same protagonist, different actor. Also very entertaining.

3. Alexander...( the Great ) Colin Farrell..... a fascinating true story, sadly Oliver Stone made a balls of it. He couldn't untie the Gordian Knot of making a good movie. A good performance by Val Kilmer as Phillip of Macedon.

4. Rome ( HBO ) ....Ciaran Hinds as Julius Caesar. Mark-Antony, Octavian, cleopatra all well acted. Plus some good fictitious characters who, strictly speaking, do not belong in this thread. Those Barbarians at the executive offices axed the series due to money considerations.

5. Churchill..(Darkest Hour) ..Gary Oldman.....a bit of a disappointment in my opinion.

6. Stalin, Robert Duvall.....pretty good.

7. The Two Popes......brilliant

8. Picasso.....pretty good.....is Anthony Hopkins ever in a bad movie ?

9. Narcos (Columbia)......effectively its all about Pablo Escobar....excellent telly. Its doubtful that any fiction writer could ever produce a character as Box-Office as that monster.

10. Mary Queen of Wokes.....Saoirse Ronan. Enough said.

11. Che....Che Guevara, Benicio Del Toro.....pretty good.

what others ?

Edited by PalazioVecchio (10 Mar 2024 6.01pm)

Edited by PalazioVecchio (10 Mar 2024 8.04pm)

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

Also Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons (Henry 8th). And a rather all-star supporting cast. Not sure how true to life, but very theatrical and excellent sets and costumes.

I disengage, I turn the page.

Surely Oppenheimer should get a mention? Cillian Murphy did a great job as the man himself.

I liked Vice about VP Dick Cheyney. Christian Bale, one of my favourite actors, put on 45 lbs for the role.

Mary Queen of Scots, Vanessa Redgrave played the queen.

Watched Ferrari recently. Adam Driver made a good fist as the Commendatori.

Does The Wolf of Wall Street qualify? Crude but fun. I loved it, Mrs POG hated it.

Palazio was right to include Darkest Hour in his OP, but Young Winston was a good portrayal of Churchill's early years.

Actually, when you think about it, there are loads of biographical movies, but only one TV production comes to mind, and that was Cilla. Sheridan Smith was excellent as The Beatles' favourite female singer.

Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

The Doors, with Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison. A good movie, but christ was JM a trainwreck or what ?

Longitude with Michael Gambon as the pioneering clock-maker who cracked the puzzle. Excellent period drama.

Spartacus, a good performance from John Hanna as the inept Batiatus. Insane levels of sex and violence. And the sad story of the poor fecker who starred. Dying of cancer, halfway through the story. Even more shocking when you consider him jumping around like a Premier League athlete. Fantastic dialogue written in a fake olde worlde English. Romans often played by British actors, slaves often portrayed by Kiwi's.

[Link]

Edited by PalazioVecchio (11 Mar 2024 8.39pm)

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford

The Damned United Full film [Link]

Edited by mr. apollo (12 Mar 2024 9.24am)

does anybody else, on here, think Ridley Scott & Joaquin Phoenix made a bol1ix of the Napoleon story ?

too much focus on his dysfunctional love-live and not enough on the good stuff.

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford