Film/TV Jul 23, 2010 at 2:00 pm

That Janis Joplin Biopic Is Finally Getting Made

David Schmader
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Comments

1
Janis Joplin was butt ugly, this chick is pretty hot. I ain't buying it
ryjan on July 23, 2010 at 2:04 PM Report this
2
Jenna Maroney will be crushed.
rejemy on July 23, 2010 at 2:07 PM Report this
3
@1 That's what they said about Cherlize Theron for Monster, too.

Anyone who says Adams can't go past her cutey pie thing from Enchanted needs to see Sunshine Cleaning and needs to rewatch Catch Me If You Can. Also: she was great in Julie & Julia.
Joe Szilagyi on July 23, 2010 at 2:16 PM Report this
4
I like Amy Adams too.

But I'm not sure she can pull off this role. Maybe this is one of those "give me an award for playing an ugly chick even though I'm pretty" attempts? Lots of Oscars have been given for those.
Will in Seattle on July 23, 2010 at 2:19 PM Report this
5
David,
Interesting choice. I like Amy Adams too. But, the ALMOST biopic "The Rose" (1978) in which the lead/singer portrayed wonderfully by Bette Midler is going to be tough to top.

BTW, I don't think Janis "butt ugly". I found her awesome and kinda cute in the documentaries "Monterey Pop" & "Festival Express". She was an outstanding performer. I possess some of her on vinyl.
lark on July 23, 2010 at 2:25 PM Report this
6
Wasn't Melissa Etheridge a consideration for a while?
on July 23, 2010 at 2:26 PM Report this
7
Jackie Jormp-Jomp!
Unregistered User on July 23, 2010 at 2:28 PM Report this
8
Amy Adams does not have the acting chops to be Janis Joplin. Even when she plays sad in films her eyes have that vacant really concentrating on crying look in them. Joplin was tormented by her youth and her fame. She sang her pain, it was audible in her voice. She was a junky, she worked as a prostitute for a while, she was a very interesting woman. I do not see that depth in Adams.

I do not know if Pink has acted but her voice (the gravely, rusty, whisper .. I don't know if she can wail and howl) and her life story (she was a junky, she came from a fucked up home) give her more in material then Adams has.
funkathrusta on July 23, 2010 at 2:29 PM Report this
9
Jackie Jormp Jomp!
happy renter on July 23, 2010 at 2:30 PM Report this
10
@7 haha yes
on July 23, 2010 at 2:30 PM Report this
11
I like Amy Adams but she's totally wrong for Janis. Why on earth pick her? There's a myriad of actors to choose from. And can she even sing?

A few years ago I saw an off-Broadway show called "Love, Janis" which starred a Janis Joplin impersonator. She was amazing, sounded just like Janis, looked a lot like her. Granted, that woman is more a singer than an actress but I'd rather have someone who could really pull off the role and the music than a supposed "good actress".
Brooklyngirl on July 23, 2010 at 2:32 PM Report this
12
The problem is, Julie & Julia wasn't Amy Adams's fault. She was annoying, self-centered, and dumb in the movie because the blogger she was playing was annoying, self-centered and dumb. You can't accuse an actress of doing a bad job when she's supposed to be playing a character who is a dumb, shallow asshole and she nails it.
Paul Constant on July 23, 2010 at 2:37 PM Report this
13
What @7 said coming out of Alec Balwin's mouth is one of the funniest things ever aired on television.
Dougsf on July 23, 2010 at 2:42 PM Report this
14
Nobody can play her like Jenna Maroney. It will be a travesty if this gets made with Amy Whatshername.
alanw on July 23, 2010 at 2:42 PM Report this
15
@11 Of course Adams can sing. See Enchanted. Whether she can sing like Jopin remains to be seen.
on July 23, 2010 at 2:46 PM Report this
16
Yeah, I thought The Rose was the thinly-veiled biopic of Janis Joplin.

I don't think I can trust big-budget Hollywood to make anything as earthy as what a biopic of Janis Joplin should be. You know, for instance, that there going to find some way of making Port Arthur, Texas look fashionably shabby-chic. It isn't. Won't ever be. But Hollywood thinks unless it embellishes the truth, no one will be interested.

Bauhaus I on July 23, 2010 at 2:47 PM Report this
17
Amy's had me since she lost the Psycho Beach Party danceoff. She'll be fine, and signals there may be some acting required in this project, rather than a series of broad gestures.

And lark, I can't tell you how loud was my "YES!" when you checked The Rose. Though it was one of those movies that if you watch them over and over enough as a teen you might tend to overrate, still, the scenes with her and Fredric Forrest were terrific. And I loved even the shittier songs they gave her to sing.
gloomy gus on July 23, 2010 at 2:48 PM Report this
18
I'm sorry, but even after reading (and seriously thinking about) everyone's comments, I can't see how this can possibly be anything other than an epic fail. Janis + Hollywood = complete, utter, profound disaster.
Fifty-Two-Eighty on July 23, 2010 at 2:55 PM Report this
19
Also, please stunt-cast Mark Ronson as Leonard Cohen for that important scene at the Chelsea.
gloomy gus on July 23, 2010 at 3:02 PM Report this
20
damn you, @7
:'(
happy renter on July 23, 2010 at 3:04 PM Report this
21
@8 ftw. Cause we all know it's true baby baby baby.
Will in Seattle on July 23, 2010 at 3:21 PM Report this
22
Can she even sing?
Robert Paulson on July 23, 2010 at 3:22 PM Report this
23
Amy's got more range than most of you hipper-than-thou commentators think. It's the "big budget" Hollywood element I find dubious. It would be better if Lionsgate was involved with this film.
Farbe on July 23, 2010 at 3:39 PM Report this
24
It doesn't matter who plays her, the movie's going to suck donkey balls. Adams is way too old, BTW; she's 35, and while Joplin died at 27 her most important years were much earlier than that.

Shoulda got Lohan. She's trashy enough. Janis was all about the trash.
Fnarf on July 23, 2010 at 3:42 PM Report this
25
i am so loving the 30 Rock love that i'm seeing tonight on slog.

after reading the words "janis joplin biopic", i immediately heard jane krakowski singing "break another little chunk of my lung now mister...you know you bought it, if you buy it with things..."
Judith on July 23, 2010 at 3:46 PM Report this
26
Gotta agree with Fnarf, I predict nothing but suck from this movie.
dwight moody on July 23, 2010 at 3:51 PM Report this
27
Lohan couldn't pull it off.
Will in Seattle on July 23, 2010 at 4:14 PM Report this
28
and I gotta agree w/ fnarf on Lohan; perhaps this could be the vehicle that might rescue her career...

see, "rescue", "vehicle" and "Lohan" are already kinda loaded terms for her. it all fits.
pissy mcslogbot on July 23, 2010 at 4:19 PM Report this
29
Actually, my first thought when I saw this was "Crystal Bowersox." She probably can't act her way out of a wet paper bag, but she's got everything else going for her.
Fifty-Two-Eighty on July 23, 2010 at 4:21 PM Report this
30
@29 is that the chick on the Big Brother show?
Will in Seattle on July 23, 2010 at 4:39 PM Report this
31
American Idol, Will.
Fifty-Two-Eighty on July 23, 2010 at 4:49 PM Report this
32
@3-- Don't forget Junebug. She was incredible in that movie.
lopes on July 23, 2010 at 4:51 PM Report this
33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYItCjVQ_…
lopes on July 23, 2010 at 4:58 PM Report this
34
@19 Do you know something we don't, Gus? About Mark Ronson, that is, not unmade beds...
Canuck on July 23, 2010 at 5:03 PM Report this
35
Oo, Canuck, I just admire Ronson's beauty/talent/sharp dresser combo sooo much. Cohen certainly had him beat on all fronts at that age, but of modern fellas we could do worse than the slightly young-Cohen-looking Ronson for the role, assuming we'd be lucky enough to have the movie "go there" at all.

(For Lohan losing the Joplin part would then mean having missed out on a scene giving her ex-girlfriend's brother a beejay, too, which I like the idea of rattling around in her head.)

I'd also suggest paying Cohen himself one million dollars for a single scene as the Chelsea desk clerk, but I somehow fear Leonard would burst into flames at the prospect.
gloomy gus on July 23, 2010 at 5:23 PM Report this
36
And one suspects there's a lot of room for things to rattle around in Lohan's head, Gus...! I don't know too much about Mark Ronson, other than seeing pictures (yes, he seems "Cohen-esque") and enjoying his music mixes, but sadly, I think you're right...pretty unlikely *that* scene will be in the movie!
Canuck on July 23, 2010 at 5:35 PM Report this
37
oh @31 ... sorrry, I don't watch that.
Will in Seattle on July 23, 2010 at 5:35 PM Report this
38
@28, I think you're saying the ambulance scenes are already shot, is that it?
Fnarf on July 23, 2010 at 5:45 PM Report this
39
Dana Fuchs is Janis re-incarnated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA1nw-CF_…
mr pinky on July 23, 2010 at 6:05 PM Report this
40
& LiLo is a ginger incarcerated.
pissy mcslogbot on July 23, 2010 at 6:15 PM Report this
41
oh, and wasn't Jewel like forever ago, on the Hollywood Joplin corpsefucking shortlist?
pissy mcslogbot on July 23, 2010 at 6:20 PM Report this
42
sunshine cleaning was the worst movie ever made.
fastasleep on July 23, 2010 at 6:41 PM Report this
43
The Janie Jimplin Story, directed by Steven Spielberger...
fletch on July 23, 2010 at 8:08 PM Report this
44
@25: That's spot on. Amy Adams is an inspipid lightweight. Her highest-profile role was a narcissistic famewhore food-blogger. Jane Krakowski would do a better job, and that's not saying much.
K3 on July 23, 2010 at 11:05 PM Report this
45
We're all here at Woodstocks/some day there will be a black president.
Cephalodude on July 23, 2010 at 11:28 PM Report this
46
I've never wanted to see a Janis biopic. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really care for biopics in general. I know the vague outline of my favorites artists' lives and that's good enough for me. This celebrity obsessed culture is blatant or thinly veiled voyeurism.

I enjoyed Julie and Julia for the Julia parts specifically. I didn't really care for Julie.
Leslie N. on July 24, 2010 at 8:16 AM Report this
47
@39, Oh my god, Dana Fuchs would be perfect.
Brooklyngirl on July 24, 2010 at 9:15 AM Report this
48
@39, Oh my god, Dana Fuchs would be perfect.
Brooklyngirl on July 24, 2010 at 9:17 AM Report this
49
@11-i saw that show too-it was great-i don't remember the names of the women who played the actress part and singer part, but both were so talented. @39-has dana fuchs played in that show? i feel like she was a part of it for a time.
jayme on July 25, 2010 at 2:27 PM Report this
50
I love Amy Adams, but this is a terrible idea. The single most important metric for who should have played Janis is "white trash quotient". Amy Adams is just the wrong kind of white trash for this.
Judah on July 26, 2010 at 11:36 AM Report this
51
It's too late now - her age is all wrong - but I wanted Joan Osbourne to play Janis so badly. Maybe she could record the soundtrack. She's the only person I know of whose voice could really do justice to it.
Geni on July 26, 2010 at 4:17 PM Report this
52
@51 interesting suggestion.

What about her daughter?
Will in Seattle on July 26, 2010 at 4:57 PM Report this

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