TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

vestavera LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! This is a great film. Todd Haynes is a genius. It's really a sttruggle for me not to watch it every day. Actually all Todd Haynes' movies are great and very unique, but this one...The world would be a little bit darker without Velvet Goldmine.

Larissa Pierry (tangietangerine) This film is definitely one of my favorites among the ones who pay some kind of homage to rock'n'roll history. That opening scene with Jack Fairy's childhood and then the credits rolling to the sound of Needle In the Camel's Eye is one of the best and most exciting things I've ever seen. I guess I could say I love everything about it, how can you not love a cast like that? They're all wonderful and so believable in their performances, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ewan McGregor, who had very physical roles, but pulled it off just fine – I thought McGregor was especially brilliant in this, performing the songs live and jumping and throwing himself around, a certain Mr. Osterberg would be proud.The story is an obvious portrait of David Bowie's relationship to Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in the 70's (adding a little mixture of Kurt Cobain, why not?), a decade I imagine was unique to rock'n'roll, filled with exciting new music, rebellion and social changes, but it's also a story about discoveries and growing up, represented by Christian Bale's character ("That's me, dad, that's me!"). It's not an unknown feeling to us all, coming across a circumstance where we have to revisit years past, and the memories of what we once were may sound strange. Along with the glitter and the glam rock comes the melancholia of being a part of a movement that is already in decadence, because all great things must burn fast and come to an end. Besides, what other movie presents us with a more delightful sight than that of Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale loving each other beneath a glitter rain brought on by a UFO? Words are unnecessary after that.

Mike Kiker This movie is just a mess. The plot and overall point of the entire film is just all over place. That being said, I thought the actors tried their best, the main problem there being Ewan MacGregor's attempt at an American accent being completely unconvincing. Some people have faulted Toni Collette's performance for the same thing, but if she's basing her character on Angie Bowie or Jerry Hall, both Americans who were well known for putting on an English affectation, then she was right on the money. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Christian Bale were both great in their roles, despite the lackluster writing, but as long as the movie is (just under 2 hours), I still feel like Brian Slade's character arc was a tad unresolved.I liked the re-appropriation of Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, T-Rex, New York Dolls & Roxy Music songs in the film. However, the original songs aren't great, probably because any observant David Bowie fan could tell that they really wanted to use his songs for those particular scenes, and the story goes that Bowie outright rejected the use of his songs for the movie, because he didn't like the script. Frankly, I don't blame him. The writing and the direction are the movie's biggest faults. The costuming and look of the film were a mixed bag, some parts great, some not. Overall, I was unconvinced that I was watching anything that remotely resembled anything that could have come out in the 70's, mostly when it came to the live performances or the "promo video" sections.From what I've read, it's a pretty polarizing movie, but I think I'm in the vast minority, because I really didn't love it or hate it. The flaws of the film keep it from being great, and the things the movie gets right keep it from being horrible. Overall, it was just eh. I do think there could be a better movie made at some point about the glam rock era, but this isn't it.

scared-of_girls I've actually been looking forward to seeing this film for a really long time, and finally got round to it this weekend. It should have been great! It had all the right ingredients; great cast, fabulous outfits, it's about GLAM ROCK for goodness sake! But alas, what this film was seriously lacking in was plot. Velvet Goldmine tells the tale of Brian Slade, a pop icon in the 1970s bearing an uncanny resemblance to David Bowie, whose career takes a severe nose-dive after he fakes his own death on stage. The picture revolves around a newspaper reporter ten years later (Who was once a fan of Brian Slade, and was at the gig of the 'shooting hoax'), assigned to find out 'exactly what happened'. What follows are an hour and a half of confusing and seemingly irrelevant flashbacks, poorly scripted and dull interviews, leading to a dull and fairly predictable finish. I should stress again that I am a big fan of both the Glam Rock era, and all of the actors in this film, so I didn't begin watching this film with any preconceptions of bad-ness. Worth a watch if you, like me, are usually into this kind of thing, but only so you can say that you've seen it, and perhaps for the cameo from Placebo (Probably the high-light). A generous five stars.