US vs. Billie Holiday

OP: You should have attached a link to a review.

‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ Review: Singing for Her Life

Lee Daniels’s hectic biopic portrays the singer as a victim of abuse, addiction and government persecution.

‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ Fails to Take Into Account the Life of the Woman We Still Love

Directed by Lee Daniels, the movie stars Andra Day as the titular Lady Day and tells the story of Holiday’s life in the wake of “Strange Fruit”

You ain't gonna be nothin' cause you don't go messing like that with Big Ben!

Lee Daniels is such a hack director. Precious rode on the strength of Gabby and Mo'Nique's powerful performances.

I recall a thread on there where some idiot was claiming Andra Day would be a better actress than Audra MacDonald who searingly portrayed Holliday on Bway.

I guess Audra gets the last laugh...again

Or does she?

It seems to go on FOREVER.

Ahem .... Stick to the original !!!!

The movie had been getting bad reviews but the performance of Andra Day has been praised.

As for "Lady Sings The Blues", it was based on Holiday's memoir, which wasn't even written by her and was mostly fiction. One of the advisors on the film was Louis McKay, the "louse" who was her last husband. He was a "wannabe gangster" and he physically abused her and spent her money, but in the the movie as played by Billy Dee Williams he was suave, handsome and utterly devoted to his true love Billie.

Lee Daniels has never been a great director. As someone said, Precious was only great due to the tour de force performances from Gabby and Mo'Nique. All his other films (and Empire) has been straight up trash.

Creatively speaking, he's on the same level as Miss Tyler "Madea" Perry.

[quote]As for "Lady Sings The Blues", it was based on Holiday's memoir, which wasn't even written by her and was mostly fiction. One of the advisors on the film was Louis McKay, the "louse" who was her last husband. He was a "wannabe gangster" and he physically abused her and spent her money, but in the the movie as played by Billy Dee Williams he was suave, handsome and utterly devoted to his true love Billie.

Motown singer Chris Clark co-wrote the screenplay which got her an Academy Award nomination.

Lovely woman. Met her in Palm Springs while she was staying with William Travilla's partner back in 2009. Signed my LSTB DVD case.

Lee Daniels is a shit director

Erm, I think there were THREE tour de force performances in Precious, thank you!

[Quote] He was a "wannabe gangster" and he physically abused her and spent her money, but in the the movie as played by Billy Dee Williams he was suave, handsome and utterly devoted to his true love Billie.

Because every movie is a documentary?

Please name one biographical movie that is completed true to life?

Still waiting

R5 Have you even seen the movie? Andra was great. The only good part of the movie.

"Please name one biographical movie that is completed true to life?"

I'm sure there are others a lot more true to life than "Lady Sings The Blues" was. I'm of the belief that if a movie is about a real life person it should at least try to be truthful. Of course some artistic license is expected, but why would anybody want to see a movie about a real life person or event that was full of lies? I guess you like bios of actual people that are mostly made up. That's rather dumb.

I never watch wrestling.

Lee Daniels has absolutely no idea how to shepherd a movie. He's erratic, inconsistent, unfocused. This could have been an amazing movie. Oh well.

When I saw this I thought “oh, another Tyler Perry movie?” Now I realize I don’t know the difference between the two?

R5 I still have faith in Andra. The trailer alone outshines anything the overtly earnest and overly smiley MacDonald has done.

She was good in Wit, though.

Forest Whitaker plays a character named Cecil Gaines in "Lee Daniel's The Butler" a fictionalized version of "The Butler" the story of Eugene Allen. Allen's family didn't approve hence the character and title change. Another example of a biopic that is not true to the truth.

[Quote] The trailer alone outshines anything the overtly earnest and overly smiley MacDonald has done.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO! You’ve never seen Audra M on Bway, have you?

We were so bored we gave up 2/3rds of the way thru. I stopped it at one point and we were only half way thru and I said to my husband, "I don't think I will make it." I looked over and he was asleep.

Watching and liking it so far. Day is mesmerizing.

We’ll see how I feel about it when it’s finished.

Anyone who criticizes Lee Daniels is a racist.

Is this Jussie Smollet's comeback role?

I realize that "Strange Fruit" is a serious song about a serious subject, but damn it's a slow song.

US vs. Billie Holiday is also mostly fiction but I have to say Strange Fruit is quite a song. Genius really.

Diana sings it well.

As I wrote in the other thread, the film is unfocused but Day’s performance shoots, penetrates, and burns like a laser. She’s transcendent. She should be nominated.

I finished this a couple of hours ago and I’m still haunted by Day’s work here. ::chef’s kiss::

I think I’ve actually grown to really like this film because of how enthralling Day is. I’m going to watch it again.

I just found out Day won the Globe and I’m fangirling! Forgive me, I am a new Day fan.

Any scissoring?

The obsessed scissoring troll wants to know if there was any scissoring. Yes. The entire length of the film was scissoring.

Just thought I'd come in to see the reactions after Andra won the award last night. Ha ha. You sightly racist bitches always minimize the talents of black artists (actors, musicians, etc.).

Lee Daniels is indeed a hot mess director, but there are two sublimely trashy scenes in The Paperboy that are or should be camp classics:

The scene where Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, and Matthew McConaughey visit John Cusack in prison and Kidman pantomimes a blowjob with her mouth which somehow brings Cusack to a climax.

The scene where Efron gets stung by jellyfish and Kidman shoes away two other girls saying, "If anybody's gonna pee on him, I AM!" and proceeds to do so.

The film goes to hell afterwards, though it perks up a little when you learn that McConaughey's character likes BBC with a dollop of bondage.

The Paperboy is HORRENDOUS! This is why I cut Lee a little slack for this Billie Holiday film because Lord knows I’ve seen worse from Ms. Leeta.