8 Mile (2002) - Can a movie be a biopic when the subject is also the main character? Eminem went a long way towards answering this question with his performance as a young rapper giving himself one last chance to hit the bigtime.

 Ray (2004) - Jamie Foxx shakes his head expertly in the biopic of R&B demi-God Ray Charles.

Control (2007) - Playing Joy Division's epically damaged frontman Ian Curtis, previously unknown actor Sam Riley was so convincing, people had to do a double take when they saw him.

Notorious (2009) - The rise and very sudden fall of Notorious B.I.G, who took the world by storm and was in turn downed by a storm of bullets. Whilst not receiving the greatest reviews, it did relatively well at the box office, and kept Biggie Smalls at the forefront of dead rappers.

 La Vie En Rose (2007) - Marion Cottilard brings Edith Piaf to life in this film, as she screams, drinks, screws, throws tantrums, and occasionally belts out a tune over a breathtaking two hours.

Walk the Line (2005) - Much the same as La Vie En Rose, Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash goes from being treated badly, to treating others badly, to treating himself badly, and then making prisoners feel good about themselves. Redemption - it's brilliant.

 Nowhere Boy (2009) - Aaron Johnson gives a (very slighty) warts and all performance of a teenage John Lennon - mouthy, rebellious, desperate to break out of his stuffy life and into the real world, seeking solace in girls and rock %u2018n%u2019 roll. Which pretty much sums up every teenager in Britain since that time.

 Sid and Nancy (1986) - A better anti-drugs advert than anything any government could ever think up. Playing the witty, charming, urbane Sid Vicious was Gary Oldman in his first major film role, as the world was treated to the story of two of the most worthless people in rock legend.

 The Doors (1991) - If you ever wanted to see a film about a man that%u2019s full of himself being played by a man that%u2019s full of himself, then The Doors is for you. For everyone else, the 2009 documentary When You%u2019re Strange is a much more satisfying view.

 Backbeat (1994) - Another film about young Beatles, this time focusing on the band%u2019s time spent in Hamburg, where the at-the-time five-piece discovered the joys of the Reeperbahn, amphetamines, and the Beatle haircut.

 What%u2019s Love Got To Do With It (1993) - Angela Bassett stars as Ike Turner%u2019s punching bag, later on becoming Tina Turner and doing lots of that unique style of dancing where she looks like she%u2019s being electrocuted.

 The Rat Pack (1998) - A made-for-TV film, although who knows what the station were thinking at the time. In a film that is unspeakably bad, Ray Liotta plays the least convincing Frank Sinatra since Frank Sinatra Jr, altough Don Cheadle%u2019s Sammy Davis Jr isn%u2019t bad. Which is the only positive thing one can say about this movie.

I%u2019m Not There (2007) - With six different people playing Bob Dylan (including Cate Blanchett, who is probably the pick of the bunch), the writers and directors obviously wanted to make the point that Dylan is a man of many personalities and sides. Which is all very well and good, until it alienates everybody except those who are his biggest, biggest fans.

 Last Days (2005) - R-Patz take note - the Kurt Cobain biopic%u2019s already been done - sort of. The main character may not be called Kurt (it%u2019s Blake), but it%u2019s glaringly obvious who we%u2019re watching here, right up to when Blake places the gun in his mouth. No wonder then that Courtney Love is supposedly desperate for a new Kurt film.

 La Bamba (1987) - Lou Diamond Phillips is Ritchie Valens, a titan of the Rock %u2018n%u2019 Roll scene who%u2019s life was ended aged just 17 in the same plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. The crash would later be the inspiration for Don MacLean to write about %u201Cthe day the music died%u201D in American Pie.

 The Buddy Holly Story (1978) - The life story of possibly Rock %u2018n%u2019 Roll%u2019s first true genius has Gary Busey donning the black rim spectacles. Released four years after George Lucas%u2019 film American Graffiti had reintroduced Rock %u2018n%u2019 Roll to the world, The Buddy Holly Story still serves as a shining example of a great Hollywood biopic.

 Great Balls of Fire! (1989) - He may look like your Granfather tinkling on the ivories, but don't be fooled. Want to know how to behave with true arrogance? Keen on marrying your thirteen year old cousin? Fancy being loathed and despised by everyone you know? Then let Jerry Lee Lewis show you how.

 The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - Biopics have been around as long as cinema, but the first biopic about a contemporary singer was The Jolson Story in 1946. The next, on the life of big band leader Glenn Miller, was released eight years later. James Stewart plays Miller, who was on a flight over the English Channel in 1944 that disappeared and was never seen or heard from again.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010) - Andy Serkis hits us with his rythym stick as he plays polio-stricken, Andrew Lloyd-Webber hating, lyrical genius Ian Dury. When writing Cats, Lloyd Webber asked Dury to contribute some lyrics. Dury turned him down, explaining, %u201CI can%u2019t stand his music%u201D.

 A Hard Day%u2019s Night (1964) - Whilst not strictly a biopic, this film nonetheless does find The Beatles at the height of the fame, and you can see the Beatlemania right from the off, as the Fab Four are chased down the road by a horde of screaming fans. So, part biopic, part - nearly fifty years later - documentary. Undoubtedly, this was The Beatles%u2019 best film (they only contributed songs to Yellow Submarine, before people write in and complain).

Amadeus (1984) - Obviously, to have a biopic made about you nowadays, you need to be at the very least a borderline sociopath. Being merely interesting clearly isn't enough. Coming in nearly two centuries before Lewis, Curtis, Cash and the rest is the man who first trod the fine line between genius and pure insanity. If these modern day rockers do anything crazy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have done it first. If they had televisions in the 1780s, chances are he would have known that the only thing to do is to hurl one out of a window. This film shows him at his very worst.