Biography Movies 2017 List

Based on unbelievable but true events, I, Tonya is the tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy has forever been defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived and worse-executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, the film follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award® winning actress Gloria Grahame (Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.

In a superhero origin tale unlike any other, the film is the incredible true story of what inspired Harvard psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston to create the iconic Wonder Woman character in the 1940's. While Marston's feminist superhero was criticized by censors for her 'sexual perversity', he was keeping a secret that could have destroyed him. Marston's muses for the Wonder Woman character were his wife Elizabeth Marston and their lover Olive Byrne, two empowered women who defied convention: working with Marston on human behavior research -- while building a hidden life with him that rivaled the greatest of superhero disguises.

A trailblazing figure in post-World War II erotic art, Touko Laaksonen drew thousands of fantasy-filled, homoerotic images of intensely masculine (and muscular) men, often liberated from the moral codes of their times. Quickly spreading throughout the world, these images went on to play a significant role in the transnational gay liberation movement that continues to make strides to this day, also becoming iconic symbols for generations of LGBT people worldwide.

Set primarily in the early 20th century and tells the story of Mary Frances Thompson, a young Chickasaw woman born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), better known as “Te Ata,” which means “bearer of the morning.”

All men are created equal… then, a few become firefighters. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefighting teams in the country. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it – they watch over our lives, our homes, everything we hold dear, as they forge a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire.

Set amidst the colorful backdrop of mid-20th century New York City, Rebel in the Rye follows a young Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) as he struggles to find his voice, pursues a love affair with famed socialite Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch), and fights on the frontlines of World War II. It’s these experiences that will inform the creation of his masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye, bringing him overnight fame (and notoriety) and leading him to withdraw from the public eye for the rest of his life. Costarring Kevin Spacey and Sarah Paulson, Rebel in the Rye offers a tantalizing window into the life and times of a little-understood genius who broke the rules and redefined American literature.

Tells the story of a successful young woman who was raised by dysfunctional and nonconformist parents. Her world gets turned upside down when they move to New York to be near her.

Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, Birth of the Dragon is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man – a battle that gave birth to a legend.

A young female Marine named Megan turns her life around by enlisting in the K9 unit and bonding with an aggressive combat dog named Rex. When the dog ends up on a list to be euthanized, Megan gears up for the fight of her life to bring the 11-year-old German shepherd home.

Chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Shakur rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.

A curious and adventurous young woman eager to explore the world outside of England, Gertrude Bell (Kidman) goes to the British embassy in Tehran where she quickly falls in love with a secretary of the embassy, Henry Cadogan (Franco). This sparks the beginning of a life-long adventure among the beautiful but misunderstood peoples and cultures of the Middle East. Along the way, her path intersects with archaeologist T.E. Lawrence (Pattinson) also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and Major Charles Doughty-Wylie (Lewis), the British Consul General in the Ottoman Empire.

The film tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as “savages,” the determined Fawcett – supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide de camp (Robert Pattinson) – returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925.

1940’s, Brazil- Dr. Nise da Silveira (Gloria Pires) is at work in a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and refuses to employ the new and violent electroshock for the treatment of schizophrenics. Ridiculed by doctors, she is forced to take the abandoned Sector for Occupational Therapy, where she starts a revolution through paints, dogs and love.

Yuri (Max Irons) is a young Ukrainian living a contented life in his country village of Smila. Unlike his warrior father Yaroslav (Barry Pepper) and notorious grandfather Ivan (Terence Stamp), Yuri is a talented artist, blissfully in love with his childhood sweetheart Natalka (Samantha Barks)—unware of the burgeoning Soviet Union and political dangers facing the people of Ukraine. Following the death of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, tyrant Joseph Stalin senses retaliation and declares his merciless intention to enforce his predecessor's system of collectivisation, thus starving Ukrainians into submission. Led by the ruthless Sergei, a band of Bolshevik soldiers are sent to Smila to enforce the man-made famine. Yaroslav and Ivan heroically defend the village but are powerless against the Bolshevik army. After Yaroslav is brutally hung, the injured Ivan seeks vengeance but struggles to come to terms with the loss of his warrior son and the pacifism of his grandson Yuri. The Bolsheviks' oppressive regime has become the Holodomor—Stalin’s deliberately engineered genocidal famine. Will Yuri and Natalka's love survive the Holodomor as they set out on one last quest for freedom?

Tells the true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers' speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire.