Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)

An American biography by Todd Haynes.
The story of Karen Carpenter's anorexia is told using Barbie dolls.
I think that using Barbies was extremely appropriate because of the societal implications of the Barbie doll itself. Apparently, the filmmaker modified the Karen doll by whittling to reflect the appearance of the main character. The plot was interesting and the short duration made it easy to watch. Most of the film was extremely underexposed, leading to a very dark look. Because of this, the black text onscreen could not be read. There was a copyright lawsuit because the filmmaker did not get permission to use the songs and Richard Carpenter did not approve of the film. All copies were supposed to have been destroyed. Overall, it was creative and unique, but not technically sound. I rate it adequate.

Amadeus (1984)

A music biography directed by Milos Forman.
Antonio Salieri recounts the life and career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a priest who comes to visit him in a mental home.
This film is very long, almost 3 hours. The music/soundtrack is obviously good. The plot is a little murky and wandering, but generally stays on course. The characters are pretty good, but very few main characters develop. Breasts, breasts, breasts... The period dresses accentuate them so nicely. The low cut and the solid support do wonders. Anyway, I'm rating this good.