On Andre Benjamin in 'Jimi: All Is by My Side'

I was quite taken by Jimi: All Is by My Side when I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival last year. Though flawed, it was a honest attempt to try new things with the conventional rock-biopic format. But watching the film again recently, I was struck by the fact that this Hendrix biopic is less about Hendrix than it is about its star. That would be Andre Benjamin -- or, as he's known in Outkast, Andre 3000.

Benjamin has mostly shied away from music in the last decade, and his acting career never quite took off. Jimi allows him to show off his dramatic chops, but it can also be read as a sort of self-portrait, which makes this film all the more fascinating. I dig into all of that over at Deadspin.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Little Wing"

For whatever reason, I've never really gotten into Jimi Hendrix. I like and respect him fine, but I don't seek out his music all that much. Watching All Is By My Side at Toronto made me curious to dig a little more into his ouevre. For now, though, here's "Little Wing," a song good enough that both Sting and Derek and the Dominos both managed to do respectable covers of it.

Toronto 2013: 'All Is By My Side' Review

If you're going to do a music biography, take a page from John Ridley's All Is By My Side. While far from perfect, it's an intelligent examination of Jimi Hendrix' life -- specifically, the year he lived in London before he returned to America as a conquering hero. And I quite like Andre Benjamin in the role. (I suddenly don't feel so bad that we never get Outkast albums anymore.) I reviewed All Is By My Side for Screen International.