Before we find out if Chadwick Boseman is going to win a posthumous Oscar for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, let’s take a look back at Get On Up, his previous brush with the Academy’s sweet tooth for musical biopics. Widely predicted to be a frontrunner in the 2015 Oscar race, the Mick Jagger-produced biopic of James Brown walked away empty-handed. It would be one thing if it was a competitive year, but this was the year when the big winner was The Revenant, so, y’know.
What went wrong? Well, as Ben and Graham discover on this week’s episode, it certainly isn’t any fault of Boseman’s. They anatomise his remarkable performance as the Godfather of Soul, and examine the themes and strengths that run through the actor’s tragically short career. There’s also room for discussion of James Brown’s turbulent life, ranging from his legendary work ethic to his infamously contradictory political stances, as well as his monumental influence on hip-hop.
Showbusiness is a fickle mistress prone to wild mood swings, so if you want our eventual biopic (it’s coming, right?) to be a bit more harmonious than this you can donate to our Patreon and get loads of goodies like our other movie podcast Director’s Lottery, Graham’s Doctor Who reviews, a monthly bonus episode of this show and more. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook too.
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