3. Aaliyah Haughton - Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B
Lifetime doesn't exactly have the best record when it comes to portraying real life characters on-screen. Just look at last year's TLC movie CrazySexyCool or their "unauthorised" Saved By The Bell Story that premiered a few weeks ago. So, when it announced that the network would be producing a film about the life of one of music's most beloved gone-before-their-time stars, Aaliyah, fans everywhere were naturally skeptical. Premiering in November, the film was met with the jaw of every Aaliyah fan on the planet simultaneously hitting the ground at once. To say that the movie is bad would be an understatement. Aaliyah: The Princess Of R&B is appalling for numerous reasons - the family wasn't involved, they couldn't clear any of the singer's music, etc - but ultimately it was the handling of the titular character herself that closed the coffin on the film. Unfortunately, Alexandra Shipp, who was selected to play Aaliyah after Zendaya Coleman smartly bowed out of the project, was the person whose voice you heard as opposed to the singer whose life was being (poorly) chronicled. Shipps take on Aaliyahs works are subpar. She simply lacks the spark of Aaliyahs sweet soprano. At the end of day, Lifetimes interpretation of the life of the late R&B singer was as much a tribute to her legacy as a drunk person's impromptu cover of Rock The Boat at a karaoke bar would be.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
