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Velvet Goldmine

Velvet Goldmine

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $15.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best musician movie ever!
Review: This movie is great for people who like glam rock and music. It has 2 great actors in it(Jonathan and Ewan), but it's not a family film. Kids, don't watch with parents, parents, don't watch with kids. 1 of my favorite films, with a great band in it(It has 2 real musicians in the creatures band). I highly suggest it. My 3 sisters love this movie and the band in it too. The soundtrack is goos to so check that out aswell. Best movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Peculiar, odd, and enjoyable
Review: I think that the best way to view "Velvet Goldmine" is to momentarily disregard the presumption that Brian Slade *is* David Bowie and that Kurt Wild *is* Iggy Pop. The similarities are undeniably obvious, but if one watches the movie looking for biographical information on Bowie or Mr. Pop, one will be disappointed. Instead, it seems as if the movie was merely produced to provide some perspective on the glam rock era. Do not expect a personable, good-feeling rock-u-mentary like "Almost Famous", for the glamour of glam rock includes an intense kind of sexuality that is explicitly presented by the film. Most of the story is told through interviews conducted by Arthur Stuart, who was very much swept up by the glam rock movement in his formative years (played by Christian Bale, the creepy guy in American Psycho). He interviews the first manager of Brian Slade (Slade = Bowie semi-equivalent, played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), and Slade's ex-wife (Tony Collette), all the while digging up memories of his own from the era that is a mere 10 years in his past. Throughout the movie, little tidbits of symbolism are thrown in here and there, making references to Oscar Wild and indicating that glam rockers are somewhat extraterrestrial (i.e. "out of this world"). The continuity of the movie is regularly disrupted by flashbacks and scenes that are possibly only played out in Stuart's imagination, and the result is a jumbled collection of scenes that leave an inconclusive impression on the viewer. If the movie was intended to make a statement about the era, other than that there was a lot of sex, drugs, and glitter, it remains hidden for this movie watcher. However, the film made me think, and to me, that means that this film is a success.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of time
Review: This is a stupid piece of trash. Can't believe I wasted two hours watching it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BRIAN SLADE AND KURT WILD ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD
Review: Awsome movie with high artistic value. highly artistic clever deep and fun. Great soundtrack. well your the grand one , have you noticed? when you walk in all the fella boys are fella nervous, well my starship dosent want me and neither does his wife , im glad i caught you on my view screen sailor;) i am a captain of your gravity maxwell, from a starship over venus to the sun!--- Sometimes i wonder if im still alive! or six feet down at age 25 , Maxwell leather demon rock hand Jive, i Came down like water for the age of solar give hell to the father kiss your sons and daughters GOodbye goodbye.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: He was elegance...walking arm n arm with a lie
Review: This is one of the most unique amazing films i have ever seen in my life. The story revolves around Brian Slade aka ( maxwell demon ) who is depicting david bowie' s life along with Kurt wilde who is depicted as iggy pop and played by ewan mcgragor to perfection. Christian Bale plays a fan reporter who is trying to find out who maxell demon really is and in the process learns all about his life through friends from maxwell ( slades ) past. I love how the story goes back n forth between past n present and the meaning is so beautiful, the costumes , the acting , and the whole plot is amazing. When i first saw it i didnt know what to think , i thought it was strange. Then i watched it again n again and it got better every time and now its one of my favorite movies. The music in this movie is great and the soundtrack i also recomend. If you want to see a movie you will never forget rent velvet goldmine...((he was like nothing id ever seen before and like nothing he appeared .. he was elegance .. walking arm n arm with a lie.))(( The world has changed because you are made of ivory and gold the curves of your lips re write history.)) Thats just 2 of the amazing lines in this film , you have to see it to believe it, Highly recomended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fabulously glamourous:a dream, fairy tale, and tragedy
Review: Okay, being an avid Placebo fan(they did 20th Century Boy in the movie) and knowing that Brian Molko(lead singer) was in this, I only saw it for that reason. But after a short half an hour of being taken to this magical place of starlets and rock stars, I was suddenly watching it because I was entranced. I was hooked, fell in love at first sight, head over heels. It was one of the best and most original movies I had ever seen. I think the reason why I loved it so much was because it was so controversial. It tackled strong issues like homosexuality and bisexuality, things that people seem to ignore all too often these days. Most importantly, it was fun. The characters become a part of you. As you go from seeing the rise of Brian Slade, aka Maxwell Demon, from the view points of many people he had known and loved in his life, you fall in love with him. You fall in love with Mandy, Arthur, Curt and the rest of the ever eccentric characters. It transforms you and twists the views you have of the people. It's never ending when it comes to change. I think that's what makes it so enchating. Rent it, buy it, love it. You won't be disappointed. :-) Wear glitter and stay fabulous.

"Put out the torches! Hide the moon! Hide the stars!"

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: I have been a huge fan of Ewan McGregor for a while now and was finally able to purchase myself a copy of "Velvet Goldmine." It was a pleasant surprise to find this movie so good. While not one of the greatest I've ever seen and confusing at points (I had to watch it twice to get it at all), if you're paying attention it's great. If you're not sure about it, try to find a copy at your local video rental store first. It's certainly not a movie for everyone, but I really enjoyed it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Glitter!
Review: This is a very different movie when compared to the other stuff that's being released lately, and that's a great thing!

If you've read any of the other reviews, you already know that the story focuses on glam rock. The visuals in this video are superb and exciting. The music is among the best I've ever heard.

I was born in 1982, so the whole glam rock craze had come and gone long before I was around. Sometimes I wish I'd lived back then! However, just because I didn't live it, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it.

Velvet Goldmine has the best kiss I've ever seen in a film, ever. You'll know the one I'm talking about- it involves Curt and Brian. I personally thought it was beautiful.

I was satisfied with this, plain and simple. It's one of those movies that lasts long after it's made- just like glam rock! I think it's for people who are a bit different and don't fit in with the mainstream. That's part of the reason I love it so much.

It sort of reminds me of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was somewhat glam (I guess in a very weird way, perhaps!)

If you like the movie, you might want to get the soundtrack, too.

Remember to sprinkle glitter liberally on *everything!*

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: I have been a huge fan of Ewan McGregor for a while now and was finally able to purchase myself a copy of "Velvet Goldmine." It was a pleasant surprise to find this movie so good. While not one of the greatest I've ever seen and confusing at points (I had to watch it twice to get it at all), if you're paying attention it's great. If you're not sure about it, try to find a copy at your local video rental store first. It's certainly not a movie for everyone, but I really enjoyed it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Straight eye for a queer ( pun intended ) film
Review: Summary: I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with being gay

I saw this movie on Bravo so my comments are based on the edited cable version.

A) I think this topic would have been better handled by a director who had lived thru this music and era in general as a teen-ager or young adult, unlike Haynes. The director seemed to be making queer theory political points wrapped in glitter rather than presenting an understandable epic of that epoch, probably leaving many heterosexual viewers out in the cold. The reference to Ronald Reagan ( President Reynolds in the movie) is one example. It is absurd to imply that Reagan was somehow responsible for the death of glam as it is for some gay activists to blame him for the spread of HIV. Nevertheless, I found the film enthralling both for the visuals and the recognizable historical figures and events

B) I was somewhat connected to the rock scene of that time and to glam in particular so I think I have some insight to offer younger readers, although Haynes himself has more knowledge of gay history and "inside" glam gossip than myself.

C)The "green pin" may combine both alien power as in the Green Lantern comic books that Haynes probably read as a child ( childhood is given strong play in the beginning ) and an icon of homosexual experience passed on from one time period to the next as expressed by Allen Ginsburg. Ginsburg once told of how ,through a series of sex partners going back in time, he was connected to Walt Whitman. Not exactly glam but he was a poet like Wilde, and Whitman's work is known for it's ethereal, pre-maturely modern tone as in "I sing the body electric" (...). That poem was written over 20 years before anybody had electricity in their home. It was also the source of the title of a science-fiction story written by Ray Bradbury. Connecting aliens,bohemian lifestyles, sex and alternative music was also done in "Liquid Sky", which I am sure influenced Haynes.

D) The Slade character is obviously based on Bowie, who came to be known to non-glam fans via his title role in the science-fiction movie " The Man who Fell to Earth" . Gay equals alienated equals "alien" may explain the UFO at the beginning. Bowie is much more talented than the Slade character whose vapidity and posing is similar to the now obscure real-life person known as "Jobriath", who like many who led the "if it feels good - do it lifestyle" of the seventies died of AIDS in the 80s. Like Slade and Davie Jones/David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust, Jobriath also performed under a second stage name ( Cole Berlin ) Like Slade ( but unlike Bowie ), Jobriath's brief career was partly blamed on an egotistical manager.

E) Ewan's Iggy stage performance was a great impersonation, so accurate that it made me laugh.

F) Christian Bale was miscast, he seemed lumpy, glum and awkward. Not the sort of thin and stylish young man that was more likely to go glam. Johnny Depp would have been great in that role. I did find one amusing moment when Bale's character in NYC circa 1984 asks if he is being given the Slade assignment because he is the token ....( you expect him to say gay, but he says ) Brit !

F) I could not figure out who Jack Fairy was based on, but he reminded me of Klaus Noemi, whose cover of "You Don't Own Me" is sometimes still played on the Rush Limbaugh program.

At last, an actual semiotic signifier that the Reaganites did co-opt glam !!!

ROTFLMAO


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