The Breakfast.info
General Discussions => Inner Glimpse => Topic started by: wildcoyote on November 13, 2008, 03:08:18 pm
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Veteran producers Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa and Eric Eisner are going truckin\'.
The trio have signed on to produce a biopic about Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia that will aim to offer a revealing look at the roots of the counterculture icon.
The untitled project will focus primarily on Garcia\'s early life in the Bay Area before he joined the band that would become the Grateful Dead -- a period that includes a stint in the military, a life-changing car accident and his first creative encounters with members of the Northern California music scene including future Dead bassist Phil Lesh.
Producers have acquired rights to Robert Greenfield\'s book "Dark Star," an oral history of Garcia from dozens of people who knew him, including musicians, relatives and artist friends like Ken Kesey. The project will feature music from the early part of Garcia\'s career, primarily bluegrass titles that are in the public domain.
Topper Lilien, who penned Universal\'s Paul Newman-starring drama "Where the Money Is," has been attached to write the screenplay.
Berger and Yerxa have collaborated on some of the biggest indie hits of the past decade, including "Election" and "Little Miss Sunshine," while Eisner produced the Sundance hit "Hamlet 2" with Berger and Yerxa and is attached to produce "Bait," a remake of Betrand Tavenier\'s mid-\'90s French thriller.
The Dead has been the subject of number of documentaries -- including 1977\'s "The Grateful Dead Movie," a concert film Garcia directed -- but the story of Garcia\'s life has never been told on the big screen
So who plays Jerry?
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some sites are saying Justin Berfield (from Malcolm in the Middle) will play the young Jer Bear.
I\'m not crazy about that rumor. But maybe this kid has deeper acting chops then were displayed on MitM.
I don\'t know what this kids skills are, but IMO there\'s nothing worse then a music biopic when the actor can\'t play the instrument. Although finding a young Jer look alike, with acting skills that can also do a good job faking a guitar, banjo piano man... might be a tall order.
I say they get Jamie Foxx to play it!!
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Jack Black?
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Seth Rogan
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not for this...but i always said that david bromberg should play jerry in a movie
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some sites are saying Justin Berfield (from Malcolm in the Middle) will play the young Jer Bear.
I\'m not crazy about that rumor. But maybe this kid has deeper acting chops then were displayed on MitM.
i don\'t think he will play jerry, but his production company was supposed to produce the film. and according to imdb he has never been an actor in anything he has produced.
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The untitled project will focus primarily on Garcia\'s early life in the Bay Area before he joined the band
While I think Seth Rogan and Jack Black maybe have the look and feel for Jer, I don\'t think they are young enough.
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If either Seth Rogan and Jack Black played Jerry that would be the worst thing to ever happen.
It would be the final shovel of dirt to cover up the counter-cultures grave.
Get some professional actor who hasn\'t done anything that anyone would know him for to play Jerry.
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I hope after I die consumer driven douchebags don\'t make a movie about my life. If there was really going to be a movie about jerry it should come from inside the GD camp IMO. this is lame.
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I\'d be all about consumer driven douchebags making a movie about my life.
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I hope after I die consumer driven douchebags don\'t make a movie about my life. If there was really going to be a movie about jerry it should come from inside the GD camp IMO. this is lame.
I agree
I\'d be all about consumer driven douchebags making a movie about my life.
You are a consumer driver douchbebag
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I don\'t know how I feel about a "bio-pic"
I liked walk the line but I always find they cheapen everything to make these kind of movies.
Jerry made beautiful music. end of story.
Let the guy RIP and have what is left of his mark on this world left in tact. We don\'t need to relive the limo speedball busts or any of the nonsense that made Jerry all to human. His life was definitely interesting tho and the characters that wove in and out of his life certainly makes compelling story telling.
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not for this...but i always said that david bromberg should play jerry in a movie
He could definitely play the sort of stuff being touted for this movie, but even if he were young enough, I love Bromberg too much for me to be able to suspend disbelief enough for him to play Jerry.
Jerry made beautiful music. end of story.
Let the guy RIP and have what is left of his mark on this world left in tact.
Succinctly put. I still kinda love the mystery behind having one\'s favourite guitar player of all time being one who is almost completely unknown beyond the jamband community.
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I hope after I die consumer driven douchebags don\'t make a movie about my life. If there was really going to be a movie about jerry it should come from inside the GD camp IMO. this is lame.
It was reported in 2006 by the Daily Variety that the company and Berfield are producing a feature film based on the life of Grateful Dead frontman and 1960s icon, Jerry Garcia. The project is in partnership with Garcia\'s partner of 25 years, Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia and was initiated after Berfield read a García biography titled Captain Trips
^ there you go
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golddigger?
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nay nay nay fuckin\' nay! I\'ve loved the music of Jer for decades, the man can still bring tears to my eyes.
If a talented director, writer(s), and actors get together to make a movie for the right reasons (ie tell a great story about a deeply flawed ICON) I\'m all fuckin\' for it.
I think Jer lived an incredible life, worth sharing. And I think all you naysayers need to shut up (until we all realize that the production company is half assin\' it like the Hendrix movie then we can all sit around complainin\' about how Hollywood is a horrible machine that doesn\'t know what the fuck they\'re doin\'.).
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... (until we all realize that the production company is half assin\' it like the Hendrix movie then we can all sit around complainin\' about how Hollywood is a horrible machine that doesn\'t know what the fuck they\'re doin\'.).
That\'s exactly what we\'re fearful of.
Much as I would love more people to know of Jerry\'s talent, if they screw it up and create some Hollywood facsimile of his life and the era, then it\'ll be the movie they associate with his name rather than the music. It\'s this worry which makes me sceptical of any movie which tries to tell the story of icons like, Jerry, Jimi, Janis, Jim, any of whom , as you say, were flawed icons.
If you want to find out about the people behind the music, read a book and make up your own minds - don\'t let Hollywood pick up on the sensational aspects of their lives and present the usual 2d version.
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But I love movies and rock stars, it\'s like a peanut butter cup. 2 great things that taste great together.
Just off the top of my head, I can think of 3 very well done movies about famous musicians: The Doors, Ray & Walk the Line. Sure I can also think of horrible movies made about Hendrix, and that "made for tv" garbage about the beatles.
But why automatically assume it\'s gonna be bad?
As far as this: Get some professional actor who hasn\'t done anything that anyone would know him for to play Jerry.
Look at the successful musician biopics vs. the one\'s that never should have been made. What\'s the most obvious difference? The good one\'s contained pretty decent stars. Having nobody\'s in this movie will be a huge indicator of the quality you can expect.
It\'s this worry which makes me sceptical of any movie which tries to tell the story of icons like, Jerry, Jimi, Janis, Jim, any of whom , as you say, were flawed icons.
Jim Morrison & Ray Charles were both junkies. Hollywood did a great job telling their story.
If you want to find out about the people behind the music, read a book and make up your own minds - don\'t let Hollywood pick up on the sensational aspects of their lives and present the usual 2d version.
I\'m all for reading, and I really enjoyed "Long Strange Trip". But I also love the art of film. Seeing what really talented people can do with a movie is a magical experience for me.
I look forward to this movie. I hope it comes together, it\'s done well and I hope it gets released.
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^^ yeah that...you tell em slim!
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Just thought of another FANTASTIC movie about a deeply flawed rock star junkie: Sid and Nancy. Awesome movie, although this one ruins my theory about needing a big star. Nobody knew who Gary Oldman was before he played Sid Vicious (it was only his 6th movie). But they sure knew him after, that movie launched his career.
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I will say if mountain girl is involved then perhaps it could be good. Surprised she isn\'t taking heat from koons
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I will say if mountain girl is involved then perhaps it could be good. Surprised she isn\'t taking heat from koons
i would say that if mountain girl is involved it would be good, bordering on legit.
speaking of rock-based movies, was control any good?
(xposted)
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the doors movie was not good. even the doors said they thought it was shitty
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That movie did suck. I hated the doors twice as much after watching it.
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I agree. Horrible movie. I felt like the only side of JM that they really portrayed was the waste-azoid side.
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I liked "The Doors"
The cinematography was awesome in that movie. I also like Val Kilmer so there you go. Good music, decent "story" and good cinematography. It was entertaining. Far from a documentary but that is what you get with Oliver Stone
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i liked the doors movie as well.....maybe more than i liked the doors.