Tribeca Film Festival 2010 Preview: Mat Whitecross’ sex & drugs & rock & roll

For tonight’s Tribeca preview, we’re looking at another musician biopic, this time focusing on Ian Dury from the Blockheads. In sex & drugs & rock & roll Andy Serkis plays Dury, and from the looks of the trailer (below), he is knocking another one out of the park. His vocal talents are only matched by the intensity and commitment he brings to every role he’s had the opportunity to embody. From Gollum and King Kong, to even a minor role in The Prestige, Serkis is clearly one of the hardest working (in quality not quantity) performers around today.

On our last live Disc 2, Rudie discussed the film, and that recording should be released on iTunes and up on our blog within the next few days, to hear more about what he thought.

sex & drugs & rock & roll will be screening on April 24th, 26th, 28th, and 29th. For a complete list of screening times and venues, visit the official Tribeca page for the film. You can also learn more about the film by visiting their homepage, and becoming a fan on Facebook.

The man who played Gollum and King Kong is now transforming into an equally volatile creature: punk rocker and new wave artist Ian Dury. BAFTA nominee Andy Serkis plays The Blockheads frontman like the circus ringmaster at a carnival of dysfunction (known to the rest of us as the ’70s and ’80s). This unconventional biopic follows Dury from the days before Catshit Mansions through his rise to quantifiable success. Somewhere along the way, we’re introduced to a different Dury: a man whose tenacity allowed him to overcome the debilitating effects of a botched childhood and polio, and who challenged those closest to him to have the same strength of character. He may have been a sonuvabitch, but he gave as much love as he gave grief.

Director Mat Whitecross expertly structures the film as if it were one of Dury’s songs, with vivid vignettes and a new wave tempo, while pop artist Peter Blake lends his trademark aesthetic. The story of an artist by an artist, sex & drugs & rock & roll will do more than give you reasons to be cheerful.

–Ashley Havey