"Get On Up" Streaming on HBO Max

[Anderton]

It's really a shame about Chadwick Boseman. When I saw "Get On Up," the James Brown biopic, I kept thinking "who is this guy?" He didn't act James Brown, he channeled him. Only later did I find out that Boseman did the dance moves and also some of the singing, which was even more impressive given that he'd never done either before the movie. And he nailed Brown's voice, which is not an easy thing to do. Somehow, the part did not end up a caricature.

 

If you haven't seen the movie, it's well worth the time, especially if you were a fan of James Brown and want to know more of the story behind how he became who he was. My understanding is that despite being a Hollywood biopic, it's relatively accurate.

 

Boseman really hit the big time with the Marvel movies and especially Black Panther, but in that case, he "only" had to play a character who didn't exist. I'm no actor, but it sure seems to me that would be easier than trying to channel as complex and distinctive a character as James Brown. I'm bummed we won't get any more Boseman movies...I was looking forward to when the Marvel stuff would run its course, and he'd get some seriously meaty roles again.

[Nowarezman]

It's really a shame about Chadwick Boseman....I'm bummed we won't get any more Boseman movies...I was looking forward to when the Marvel stuff would run its course, and he'd get some seriously meaty roles again.

 

I'll look up that movie - I was unaware of it until seeing it mentioned in the recent sad articles about Mr. Boseman's untimely passing. It seems there is a dearth of seriously meaty roles in feature-length films for some time now. And for black actors, there has always been a particular lack of opportunity along those lines. And music movies are more often busts than otherwise per my critical standards, such as they are. So I'm pumped to hear there's a good one I haven't seen.

 

James Brown was crowned the King of Soul early on. That has always seemed a bit of a marketing tag rather than a reality to me - he seems to me to have had his own unique thing that had jazz and blues and gospel all blended with a really big dollop of funk and field hollering. I think of pure-dee Soul as having more pop and rock elements. Love it all - we had all those great 45s from the 60s and wore them out.

 

With all his incredible vocalizing techniques of yells and screams and grunts and whines and crooning and all, he reminds me so much of a B-3 organ that goes from grinding, screaming overdrive to percussive thumps and swoops, to straight melodic walks, to whispery falsetto. And could dance, too - bet your B-3 can't do that!

 

nat

[Joe Muscara]

I'm bummed we won't get any more Boseman movies...I was looking forward to when the Marvel stuff would run its course, and he'd get some seriously meaty roles again.

They had already started.

[RABid]

I'll check it out, but still waiting for HBO to come to an agreement with Amazon. ATT owns HBO and I refuse to deal with ATT customer service for anything. ... Anyway, I like movies like this ever since Bette Midler did such a good job as Janice Joplin.

[Anderton]

ATT owns HBO and I refuse to deal with ATT customer service for anything.

 

Wait a minute!! This is big news - AT&T has customer service?