RUPERT & DAN Movie Retrospectacle Post #5
For the month of December, lena3 and I are looking back upon Rupert and Dan's cinematic escapades.
Lena's reviews are here: Rupert in INTO THE WHITE; Dan in WHAT IF ; Rupert in SUPER CLYDE & AMERICAN DAD; Dan in DECEMBER BOYS; Rupert in THUNDERPANTS.
My ramblings are here: Rupert in DRIVING LESSONS; Dan in MY BOY JACK; Rupert in CHERRYBOMB; Dan in THE WOMAN IN BLACK.
Please check 'em out!
CBGB (2013)
Director: Randall Miller
Screenplay: Randall Miller, Jody Savin
Starring: Alan Rickman, Donal Logue, Ashley Greene, Rupert Grint, Justin Bartha
CBGB shows us how Hilly Kristal (Rickman), a twice-failed club-owner gives it a go for a third time and accidentally launches the punk music scene. In 1973 at age forty, Kristal borrows money from his widowed mother to buy a run-down bar at 315 Bowery, hoping to make it stand out by showcasing live bands playing only original material.
Kristal eventually settles on the name CBGB (Country, Bluegrass & Blues) for the venue, but the only bands that show up to audition for stagetime are oddball, off the wall groups that play anything but country or blues. Kristal relies on his old friend and long-suffering business partner Merv Ferguson (Logue) to help keep the bar afloat while CBGB slowly builds a reputation as THE place to see the hottest new punk/progressive bands. One of Kristal's estranged daughthers, Lisa (Greene) joins forces with Merv to make sure Kristal doesn't run CBGB into the ground.
Thousands of bands played CBGB, and the film focuses on only a handful: TELEVISION, TALKING HEADS, THE RAMONES, BLONDIE, LOU REED, PATTI SMITH, and BLONDIE. Cleveland's own THE DEAD BOYS figure prominently, however, as Kristal, much to the chagrin of Merv and Lisa, selects the barely sane trio as the first band he wishes to manage in the hopes of snagging a record contract.
THE DEAD BOYS' antics on stage become legendary: lead singer Stiv Bators (Bartha) regularly strangles himself with his microphone cord while performing. Guitarist Cheetah Chrome (Grint) is wildly unreliable, and left to their own devices, the boys would rather get drunk and raise hell rather than worry about securing a recording contract.
Despite what everyone else is telling him, Kristal hands over all of his cash reserves to finance a concert tour for THE DEAD BOYS. Predictably, the band implodes while on the road, destroying Kristal's van and breaking the bank in the process. Down to his last $300, Kristal decides to close the doors for good. Lisa and Merv call in every favor they can think of, and hundreds of grateful artists chip in to keep CBGB open.
There's definitely more history left out than included, of course, and it's difficult how anything other than a multi-part, hours-long documentary would have done the subject matter justice. We get some really amazing recreations of performances by TELEVISION, PATTI SMITH and TALKING HEADS, but that's about it. Plenty of screentime is devoted to Rickman as Kristal, as it's his story, but sadly, Rickman's performance is a bit flat and lackluster; whether this is true to Krital's character, who knows. Greene is as good as she can be with the role of Kristal's daughter, Lisa, as is Logue as Merv.
Rupert has a blast as Cheetah, wearing studded collars, slashed t-shirts and showing off his American accent for the first time, as well as his bum. Well, hello...
So definitely a mixed bag. Adequate performances, but a muddled timeline and not nearly enough of an emphasis on a wider range of bands and the evolution of the punk scene doom CBGB to the "seen it once and that's enough" category. A fleeting glimpse of Rupert's cheeks doesn't justify the cover at the door.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Release: N/A (UK); 10/04/13 (US)
Rating: R (US); 12 (UK)
Formats: DVD R1, Blu Ray A (US) Unknown (UK)
Netflix: No
Amazon Instant Video: Yes
Google Play: Yes
Vudu: Yes
Lena's reviews are here: Rupert in INTO THE WHITE; Dan in WHAT IF ; Rupert in SUPER CLYDE & AMERICAN DAD; Dan in DECEMBER BOYS; Rupert in THUNDERPANTS.
My ramblings are here: Rupert in DRIVING LESSONS; Dan in MY BOY JACK; Rupert in CHERRYBOMB; Dan in THE WOMAN IN BLACK.
Please check 'em out!
CBGB (2013)
Director: Randall Miller
Screenplay: Randall Miller, Jody Savin
Starring: Alan Rickman, Donal Logue, Ashley Greene, Rupert Grint, Justin Bartha
CBGB shows us how Hilly Kristal (Rickman), a twice-failed club-owner gives it a go for a third time and accidentally launches the punk music scene. In 1973 at age forty, Kristal borrows money from his widowed mother to buy a run-down bar at 315 Bowery, hoping to make it stand out by showcasing live bands playing only original material.
Kristal eventually settles on the name CBGB (Country, Bluegrass & Blues) for the venue, but the only bands that show up to audition for stagetime are oddball, off the wall groups that play anything but country or blues. Kristal relies on his old friend and long-suffering business partner Merv Ferguson (Logue) to help keep the bar afloat while CBGB slowly builds a reputation as THE place to see the hottest new punk/progressive bands. One of Kristal's estranged daughthers, Lisa (Greene) joins forces with Merv to make sure Kristal doesn't run CBGB into the ground.
Thousands of bands played CBGB, and the film focuses on only a handful: TELEVISION, TALKING HEADS, THE RAMONES, BLONDIE, LOU REED, PATTI SMITH, and BLONDIE. Cleveland's own THE DEAD BOYS figure prominently, however, as Kristal, much to the chagrin of Merv and Lisa, selects the barely sane trio as the first band he wishes to manage in the hopes of snagging a record contract.
THE DEAD BOYS' antics on stage become legendary: lead singer Stiv Bators (Bartha) regularly strangles himself with his microphone cord while performing. Guitarist Cheetah Chrome (Grint) is wildly unreliable, and left to their own devices, the boys would rather get drunk and raise hell rather than worry about securing a recording contract.
Despite what everyone else is telling him, Kristal hands over all of his cash reserves to finance a concert tour for THE DEAD BOYS. Predictably, the band implodes while on the road, destroying Kristal's van and breaking the bank in the process. Down to his last $300, Kristal decides to close the doors for good. Lisa and Merv call in every favor they can think of, and hundreds of grateful artists chip in to keep CBGB open.
There's definitely more history left out than included, of course, and it's difficult how anything other than a multi-part, hours-long documentary would have done the subject matter justice. We get some really amazing recreations of performances by TELEVISION, PATTI SMITH and TALKING HEADS, but that's about it. Plenty of screentime is devoted to Rickman as Kristal, as it's his story, but sadly, Rickman's performance is a bit flat and lackluster; whether this is true to Krital's character, who knows. Greene is as good as she can be with the role of Kristal's daughter, Lisa, as is Logue as Merv.
Rupert has a blast as Cheetah, wearing studded collars, slashed t-shirts and showing off his American accent for the first time, as well as his bum. Well, hello...
So definitely a mixed bag. Adequate performances, but a muddled timeline and not nearly enough of an emphasis on a wider range of bands and the evolution of the punk scene doom CBGB to the "seen it once and that's enough" category. A fleeting glimpse of Rupert's cheeks doesn't justify the cover at the door.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Release: N/A (UK); 10/04/13 (US)
Rating: R (US); 12 (UK)
Formats: DVD R1, Blu Ray A (US) Unknown (UK)
Netflix: No
Amazon Instant Video: Yes
Google Play: Yes
Vudu: Yes
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