Jimi: All Is By My Side | R
This may well be the year of the musician biopic. Get On Up, the story of James Brown, bowed on DVD recently and now it’s Jim Hendrix’s turn. Andre Benjamin, frontman for OutKast, portrays the young guitarist on the cusp of stardom. The year is 1966 and Hendrix has yet to make it big, but super-stardom is just one guitar lick away. Jimi: All Is By My Side is set in London at an explosive time not just in music, but also in popular culture and world politics. Hayley Atwell appears as Kathy Etchingham, Hendrix’s girlfriend of the time. (Etchingham has denounced the film as not accurately portraying Hendrix, and his estate refused would not allow the filmmaker to use any of his music.)
As a bonus: Netflix just added Chinatown, the classic L.A. mystery starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Coming Friday (Jan. 16) is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy the John le Carré’s spy flick with Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy.
