Best biography films 2015 streaming sites
The 5 best movies and TV shows added to streaming sites in April
Boy, oh boy is April a great month for new streaming titles. From hit movies to big TV shows to the first season of Netflix’s new Marvel series Daredevil (launching April 10) — this month has it all.
But there are plenty of less-known titles that could get lost in the noise of all those big names. Here are four movies and one TV miniseries you should add to your Netflix and Amazon queues immediately.
Available now
Bloody Sunday
Director Paul Greengrass — perhaps best known for The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum — is also a renowned re-creator of history. That led to 2006’s United 93, a stunningly faithful replication of the crash of the titular flight into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001; as well as Oscar Best Picture nominee Captain Phillips, about the 2009 hijacking of a container ship by Somali pirates.
But this 2002 breakthrough film is a docudrama that takes an almost journalistic approach to the events of January 30, 1972, when British soldiers shot more than two dozen unarmed protestors in Northern Ireland.
Greengrass’s hyper-attention to detail means that the film seems to fit the phrase “you’ll feel like you’re there” almost completely accurately. The director also filled the film with then-unknown actors, though a few have gone on to successful careers since its release.
Bloody Sunday is a look at a day most Americans likely know very little about, and it will give you a stronger appreciation for a corner of history that could feel very distant for those living in the States.
Watch it on Amazon Prime.
Bound
The Wachowskis, who went on to create the Matrix trilogy and several other films with huge cult followings, broke through on their debut, this 1996 crime thriller. It’s also one of the earliest movies about lesbians to earn mainstream critical attention.
Jennifer Tilly and Gina Don Cheadle stars as Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda who helped house over a thousand Tutsi refugees from Hutu militias during the Rwanda Genocide in 1994. The emotional film shows the courage and bravery Paul and his wife Tatiana showed in the face of danger, corruption and civil war. Amazon Apple TV The five-time Academy Award-nominated picture, although not 100% historically accurate, reflects on the decades-long hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who, along with al-Qaeda, was the perpetrator behind the September 11 attacks. The movie follows fictional CIA analyst Maya (Jessica Chastain) and her experience over the years in the hunt which culminates with his death in May 2011. Amazon Apple TV Hulu Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Inspired by the experiences of two journalists, The Killing Fields gives viewers an insight into Cambodia during the civil war between the Cambodian National Army and the communist group Khmer Rouge, as well as the takeover by the latter group in 1975. The biographical drama was based on the experiences of Cambodian journalist and interpreter Dith Pran and American journalist Sydney Schanberg, who was a New York Times reporter covering the Cambodian Civil War, and how Sydney worked to get Dith out of Cambodia once he was able to escape before the Cambodian Genocide. Amazon Apple TV Based on the 1946 autobiographical book of the same name, this Best Picture-nominated movie relays the insightful, emotional and fascinating story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor who went on to become a pianist and classical composer. Amazon Apple TV Peacock Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Prime Minister in Louie Henri (older) Pancho Villa (older, as himself) .40 Historical Movies You Need to Watch at Least Once in Your Life
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
The Killing Fields (1984)
The Pianist (2002)
The Iron Lady (2011)
List of biographical films
Year Film Subject(s) Lead actor or actress 1900 Joan of Arc Joan of Arc Jeanne Calviere 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang Ned Kelly Frank Mills 1909 The Origin of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Ludwig van Beethoven Harry Baur The Life of Moses Moses Pat Hartigan Edgar Allen Poe Edgar Allan Poe Herbert Yost Saul and David King David Maurice Costello King Saul William V. Ranous 1910 Pyotr Velikiy Peter the Great Pyotr Voinov 1911 Sweet Nell of Old Drury Nell Gwyn Nellie Stewart Charles II of England Augustus Neville 1912 Custer's Last Fight George Armstrong Custer Francis Ford Cleopatra Cleopatra Helen Gardner From the Manger to the Cross Jesus Robert Henderson-Bland 1913 Adrienne Lecouvreur Adrienne Lecouvreur Sarah Bernhardt Giuseppe Verdi nella vita e nella gloria Giuseppe Verdi Egisto Cecchi The Life and Works of Richard Wagner Richard Wagner Giuseppe Becce Sixty Years a Queen Queen Victoria Blanche Forsythe (younger) 1914 Beating Back Al Jennings Al Jennings Richelieu Cardinal Richelieu Murdock MacQuarrie The Adventures of François Villon: The Oubliette François Villon The Adventures of François Villon: The Higher Law The Adventures of François Villon: Monsieur Bluebeard The Adventures of François Villon: The Ninety Black Boxes Home, Sweet Home John Howard Payne Henry B. Walthall Judith of Bethulia Judith Blanche Sweet The Life of General Villa Pancho Villa Raoul Walsh (younger) 1915 Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale Elisabeth Risdon Mistress Nell Nell Gwyn Mary Pickford The Raven Edgar Allan Poe Henry B. Walthall 1916 David Garrick David Garrick Dustin Farnum Davy Crockett Davy Crockett Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli Dennis Eadie Joan the Wom