Velvet Goldmine

Rating:
Summary: A Must See!!!
Review: This is an excellent movie. I came into the theater only because my girlfriend loves Ewan. However, I thorougly enjoyed it from beginning to end. I'd recommend it only to persons with an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS!
Review: I saw this movie on new year's eve, then a week later traveled to Olympia to see it again. it's my goal in life to own this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie
Review: I've seen this movie about 40 times, no lie. I was amazed at the ability of these young actors, and wonderfully appreciative. God, I love that scene where Brian is playing "Baby's on Fire" and Curt comes out and, well you know. I think that is the most sexual scene of the whole movie. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. A worthy buy.

Rating:
Summary: Just like a Prancer, a Gypsy dancer pt. 2
Review: In addition to my last review, I should point out, after reading reviews saying "this isn't what Glam was really like"... The movie isn't supposed to be a historically accurate. "The ages live in history thru their anachronisms" (Oscar Wilde). The movie is "a work of pure fiction", and if you try to degrade it into fact, you're missing the beauty of it. It's a fairy tale. Glam rock, Oscar Wilde, etc... are merely vehicles for it to play out.

Rating:
Summary: The Glam Sham Revealed
Review: The Glam Rock movement was as much about shocking as it was anything else. In its way it took itself more seriously than any popular art form. The artists seemed to lie to themselves and each other with a pretense that nothing mattered, when the reality was that EVERYTHING mattered too much. The affected hairstyles, glitter, platform shoes, outrageous clothing, faux-bisexuality combined belied its phony "I don't care" attitude.

Todd Hayne's captures all of this brilliantly in Velvet Goldmine. He is ably aided by a cast who give startlingly nuanced performances and though each succeeds in bringing off the poseur hard-edge to their performances each character is afforded opportunity to also reveal a fragility that is the heart of their performance. Despite all the shock and "glam" we are watching people who are no more than children, unguided trying to make their way in a world technology, morals, where civilization itself was changing faster than anyone could keep up with. The center of the movie seems to be the observation of watching innocence shattered and failed attempts to recapture it and understand the confusion surrounding it.

Haynes understands music as well - or better - than any currently working director and "Goldmine" more than any of his other films almost feels as though it is following a symphonic form, repeating its motifs and driving home its confused, distraught yet ultimately hopeful message through its innocence. Visually as well as aurally - and every other way - Haynes scrupulous attention to detail pays off with a rewarding film that won't be to all likings, but is very nearly brilliant in every way.

The plot/storyline is often blurred and difficult to follow and once you can accept that this must have been an intentional element, said difficulty almost becomes the point where the actual story isn't as strong as the observation the film seems to be making.

The trio of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ewan McGregor, and Toni Collete are nothing short of remarkable in capturing the jumbled, mass of confusion their characters are. Each tortured in their own way, each attempting to "live out loud" and each failing miserably. Likewise, Christian Bale is the perfect picture of confused dysfunction, searching and living in a world where the lines between dreaming and reality are further and further blurred to the point where it's impossible to tell the separation - if there is one - between the two. Amazing performances all the way around.


Rating:
Summary: woo-hoo yummy
Review: haha, this movie was excellent! i mean, seriously, jonothan rhys-meyers in tight, sparkly unisuits AND ewan mcgregor in leather pants and no shirt, AND christian bale (need i say more about him to convince you?)...and then they are all lovers in some crazy intertwined love connection hotline gone wrong. the acting is AMAZING, some of the best that i've seen from jonothan rhys-meyers and ewan mcgregor (and ewan mcgregor is amazing in everything, so that's saying a lot). the plot line is great with the flashbacks, and the COSTUMES ARE WOWEE!!! just a note though, ALTHOUGH THIS MOVIE IS FABULOUS, DO NOT WATCH IT WITH YOUR PARENTS, they may get weirded out and have a need to supervise all other movie watching experiances of yours. i highly suggest this movie. and another note: EWAN MCGREGOR AND JONOTHAN RHYS-MEYERS SING MOST OF THEIR SONGS, which is awesome of them to do...they are very talented.

Rating:
Summary: All the Glitters...
Review: I've been interested in viewing this movie for a while now, mainly because of my love for Ewan Mcgregor, Christian Bale, and most of all Jonathan Rhys Meyers. About a week ago I purchased it, knowing that I would like it enough to watch it again. And let me tell you, I was right! Since buying this marvel, I've watched it 3 times, not including all the skipping I've done to watch my favorite parts.

I've also since purchased the soundtrack, which is excellent. Every song in the movie was well placed, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers singing the original track "Baby's on Fire" was a personal favorite. The plot progression during the song is enough reason to love it.

For those who don't like this movie, I think part of the problem is that they were expecting a David Bowie biography. This is nothing of the sort. In fact, I think it's best to watch this movie without thinking that Brian Slade IS Bowie and Curt Wilde IS Iggy Pop. No, this movie is so much more than a biography. It's a story about (If you'll excuse the Moulin Rouge reference) "Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love" (or lack there of, in some cases)

If nothing else, the acting in this movie was phenomenal. Ewan Mcgregor revels in his role as the genuine and strangly beautiful bi rocker, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers couldn't have portrayed Brian Slade better... his transformation from a provacative and intoxicating, yet sympathetic, character, to a cold shell of his former glory is almost hard to watch, as is the riff that grows between Slade and Wilde.

Christian Bale's part in this movie is larger than it appears, for it is his teenage experiences with glam rock that piece this masterpiece together. For this brand of storytelling, Arthur's character was essential. However, had it been told in a more... linear way, I think that Arthur would have been thrown out of the plot. I'm glad that he wasn't, though. Arthur's curious and innocent nature brings a sort of love and purity to the story and its characters that wouldn't have been there.

Buy this movie, watch it, love it.

Rating:
Summary: Odd indie feeling film but big budget delivery
Review: Todd Haynes delivers a "bio pic" which is NOT a real bio pic. While it is definitely a thinly veiled attempt at a David Bowie/Iggy Pop biography, you shouldn't even attempt to assume that an ounce of what you are seeing is factual. If you can get that out of your head, you should have a very interesting time watching this "you are there" sort of film about glam rock in the 1970's.
Jonathon Rhys-Meyers is really quite incredible as Brian Slade. He truly seems the part. McGregor is also very good as Curt Wilde, a precursor to punk rock. In fact all the performances are really well delivered.
If I had to pick at a couple of things that I found bothersome, it would be: 1) the Oscar Wilde connection 2)confusing flashback sequences with Christian Bale.
1) The film opens very Citizen Kane-like and continues to deliver on that similarity, but the film would have us believe that a jewel that had belonged to Oscar Wilde finds its way into the hands of a deserving glam rocker - who one would assume would be very central to the story, but instead is merely a character who bounces around on the fringe. The Oscar Wilde connection is really never fleshed out.
2) Bale was a fan in his youth of both Wild and Slade and now as an adult reporter is told to get the scoop on a new act who owes his popularity to a now nonexistent Slade. This is a great aspect to the film, but there are a couple of sequences that seem disjointed and confusing (when he remembers the Curt Wild performance at which Brian Slade last saw Wild perform and where Collette's character acknowledges last seeing Slade).
The music is invigorating and enjoyable.
Finally, I think that the conclusion of the film is a bit heavy handed, since up until the end it has been anything but. I won't detail the issue to which I am referring, since it would be giving away a bit of fun for the viewer.
The costumes, the music, and the attitude are really contagious in this very unique film. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Falls a Bit Short
Review: The premise is a great one. Brain Slade, star of glam rock fakes his own death then vanishes with the scam is revealed. Ten years later he becomes the focus of a "whatever happened to" story being done by a reporter who sets out to find him.

Unfortunately the execution of this idea falls a bit flat. The look of the movie is great with an excellent eye for glam era period detail. The performances, particularly from Ewan McGreggor (whose character is clearly modeled after Iggy Pop) and Toni Colette (as Slade's wife) are first rate and, at least at first, the "Citizen Kane" references are very sharp and entertaining.

But this is a movie, despite all its best efforts, cant quite add up to the sum of its parts. The script fails to fully involved and after a while the "Citizen Kane" allusions become tiresome and come across as self important.

Not a bad movie, but far from a great one. Overall 2 and a half stars.

Rating:
Summary: velvet goldmine
Review: Velvet Goldmine is the best music related movie ever made, showcasing glam rock at it's finest.