Janis Joplin biopic in the works

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Apparently it's going to be called "The Gospel According to Janis." Someone named Zooey Deschanel is playing her. I know nothing about this Zooey Deschanel, but you can listen to an mp3 of her singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/1b1548

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. Zooey Deschanel has been in lots of movies:

Bridge to Terabithia
Almost Famous
Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

to name a few.

Zooey Deschanel was born in 1980 into a showbiz family. Her father, Caleb Deschanel is an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (perhaps most notably for The Passion of the Christ (2004)) and her mother, Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir) is an actress who starred in "Twin Peaks" (1990). Driven from an early age to become a successful actress, Zooey got her big break aged 17 playing a model in TV sitcom "Veronica's Closet" (1997). She got her first film role the following year in Mumford (1999), which prompted her to quit university to pursue acting full-time. Mostly thanks to a role in Cameron Crowe's popular biopic, Almost Famous (2000), Zooey's rise to fame has been steadily increasing as the 21st century wears on. Her distinctive acting style found her critical acclaim in 2003 when she was voted Best Actress at the Mar Del Plata Film Festival for her role in David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls (2003). She also gained a Best Female Lead nomination (for All the Real Girls (2003)) at the following year's Independent Spirit Awards, but lost out to Charlize Theron.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0221046/

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2. Thanks - I don't think she looks like or sounds like Janis enough

There was a contestant on "American Idol" this year named Amanda Overmyer, who sounds much more like Janis than Zooey does, and looks more like her too. She even does a couple of Janis songs:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kFlkEaMRC_k
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q23LRLzKE_w

I don't know if she can act, but since "American Idol" is all a big act, I would say probably yes. They should have at least given her a screen test.

[driver8]

3. Zooey is a cutie and is actually quite a good singer.

She sounds nothing like Janice, however, so it will be interesting to see how she handles the role.

[kwassa]

4. having seen Janis three times in concert

neither Zooey nor Rene Zellweger, in the other Janis project, have a prayer of playing Janis.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. As far as vocals go ....

P!nk should play her.

Back in 2003 P!nk was playing West Hollywood Halloween and we watched her sound check. She sang "Piece of my Heart" and she kicked ass!

[redqueen]

10. Agreed

can't think of anyone else who could do her voice justice.

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13. Melissa Etheridge except she's too old now.

[redqueen]

17. Yeah...

maybe Bonnie Raitt?

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21. Well, Melissa's 47 now and Bonnie's now 58...

[jobycom]

11. Yes, she also does "Me and Bobby McGee"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wGTuTrVchY

[ronnykmarshall]

24. Fantastic!

I am so nuts about her!!

[jobycom]

12. Well, that's why they do a biopic of someone

Because that someone is unique and inimitable. Zooey and Rene are both supremely talented, but no, they aren't nearly what Janis was in her field.

[driver8]

5. My vote for who should play Janice Joplin -- Nikki from the band "Never the Bride"

I used to work at a recording studio and these guys recorded at our studio. Nikki has an amazing rock n' roll voice!!

Check her out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyynKSh7xAw&feature=related

[LeftyMom]

6. This is a bad idea.

There just aren't that many people who can sound like Janis, let alone people who can do her sound convincingly, look like her and can act.

[liberaltrucker]

9. Here, here!

Janis was unique. NO actress will EVER do her justice.

Best that we remember her as she was...just Janis.

IMHO, that's what she would've wanted.

[jobycom]

14. Not everyone remembers her. A film is a good way to introduce her to a new audience.

That's fine with me. Of course no one can be her. Jamie Foxx wasn't Ray Charles, either, but he still put on a great performance and made a whole new generation understand that Ray wasn't just a Pepsi jingle writer.

[liberaltrucker]

16. Fair enough. I'll pass judgement till I see and hear this in the movie:

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way to New Orleans.

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna,
I was playing soft while Bobby sang the blues.
Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding Bobby's hand in mine,
We sang every song that driver knew.

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now.
And feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun,
Hey, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul.
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done,
Hey Bobby baby? kept me from the cold.

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away,
He's looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby's body next to mine.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, that's all that Bobby left me, yeah,
But feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
Hey, feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

La la la, la la la la, la la la, la la la la
La la la la la Bobby McGee.
La la la la la, la la la la la
La la la la la, Bobby McGee, la.

La La la, la la la la la la,
La La la la la la la la la, ain`t no bumb on my bobby McGee yeah.
Na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na na na na
Hey now Bobby now, Bobby McGee, yeah.

Lord, I'm calling my lover, calling my man,
I said I'm calling my lover just the best I can,
C'mon, hey now Bobby yeah, hey now Bobby McGee, yeah,
Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lordy Lord
Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee, Lord!

[jobycom]

19. I love hearing Pink sing that song--posted above--because

one, it reminds me how well-written the song is, that so many people can do it so well, and two, it further illustrates just how incredible Janis's performance was. As good as Pink is, and as perfectly as she sings that sing, it just lacks whatever Joplin had.

That's what I'd love to see a film capture--not all the sad parts of her life, although that's interesting, too, but just what she did. I don't know how you can sow that, though, with someone else trying to sing her. They need original recordings, at least of a couple songs.

[liberaltrucker]

23. As did I

Kris Kristoferson (sp) is one helluva song writer. Pink, et al
do their interpretation of the song very well. But, IMHO, Janis' is the
signature interpretation. Maybe I'm just too damn old and set in my ways!

:rofl:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. Bette Midler did her best in The Rose.

Not that it was strictly speaking a biopic, but I think she nailed it in spirit.

[Care]

18. Yes, She Did

I was going to write the exact same thing but you beat me to it. Bette was breathtaking, just like Janis.

[liberaltrucker]

15. Her voice is way too smooth

Janis had a certain roughness in hers. That rough vocal edge
made Janis the singer she was. Never will be imitated, let
alone duplicated.

RIP, Pearl.

:patriot:

[kwassa]

20. See "Festival Express"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8CXCBuruf0

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22. Thanks, that was great.

[PassingFair]

25. I think Joss Stone would have been the obvious choice.

She's acted in a few things, and she can SING.

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27. Good call

[vixengrl]

26. Zooey's voice is good, but it isn't Janice.

Her voice is mellow, laid back, it warms, but Janice keened, and Janice wailed, and Janice could form ice in your glass of bourbon, even when she tried to smoulder.

I dunno. I've never been much of a Pearl fan, but her voice to me was rugged and free and awkwardly loud. To see a biopic of her, I think someone should look over her return to her little high school reunion, and look at her streaming boas from her hair, and her audacious inappropriateness. She left a mark, odd and stinging.

I think an unsafe way to treat her is the only way to treat her right, and maybe they could just find a really good actress, just somebody who can method their way into her pain and maybe teach the actress to sing. Or maybe not. Let her wail. And dub in the real singer, with her authentic throbbing throatiness, and her insistent uniqueness. It would play better than a conscious impression, I think.

[WinkyDink]

28. It's JANIS, people.