I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who thought Ewan was a dead-ringer for Cobain. I was actually kinda confused for a few minutes while watching the film.
Which I absolutely loved. Mmmmmmprettynakedboysinmakeupmmmmmmm.
It was utter rubbish, and I speak as a Bowie, Iggy, Lou Reed, Roxy Music and T.Rex fan. Glam was down to UFOs and Oscar Wilde? Right…
You’ll note that not one of the surviving suspects {apart from a couple of former Stooges who appeared on the soundtrack and who probably needed the money to buy pies} had anything to do with the movie: the title was a pinch from a Bowie B-side, but that’s as far as it went. Oh, and Ewan Mcgregor sings like Iggy Pop’s asthmatic little sister.
The weird thing is that the real story behind the making of Ziggy Stardust and the birth of “glam” is much more prosaic, yet would probably make a great movie: David Bowie, thus far a one hit wonder, serial chameleon {mime artist, R&B popster, novelty songster, would-be folkie and proto-metallist} and perennial wannabe has one last bite at the musical cherry: unfathomably, he recruits a bunch of brickies from Hull, dresses up as a bisexual alien transvestite, and records an album of fairly straightforward rock’n’roll songs spiced up with androgynous lyrics. Yeah, like that’s gonna sell.
That said, the soundtrack is completely fantastic, even if it is mostly a re-recording of the first Roxy Music album.
However, there IS a scene where Ewan McGregor is naked on stage and covered with glitter…
No cite, because my brain is mainly oatmeal just now, but I remember reading or hearing that Bowie was originally attached to this project, then after reading the script he decided he was going to tell the story his own way (either he hasn’t gotten around to it yet or that was just an excuse) and he bowed out. He did agree to let the producers keep the name and use the song in the film, but wanted nothing else to do with it.
Not true. Everyone but Bowie allowed their music to be used in the film – which is all the involvement writer/director Todd Haynes needed or wanted, as it wasn’t a biopic.
*I think people who aren’t glam rock fans and know little about the era might enjoy Velvet Goldmine more than many people who are, because they’re less likely to get hung up on this “It didn’t really happen that way, and the truth would have been a better story!” business. Maybe a biopic about Bowie would be a good movie, but it’s obviously not the movie Haynes set out to make. There’s plenty to dislike about Velvet Goldmine without faulting it for not being something it never tried to be.
Not quite. The original script called for various songs from Ziggy Stardust, but Bowie refused to let Haynes use them. He said he was planning to do a Ziggy Stardust film project and didn’t want to flood the market. He later said that he decided not to do a Ziggy film after all. I don’t know if he ever saw a script for Velvet Goldmine or not, but if he did it may have differed significantly from the shooting script. Haynes had his first movie (a biopic of Karen Carpenter) blocked from distribution because he hadn’t secured the rights to the music, so this time around it’s something he checked into fairly early in the process of making this movie.
The song “Velvet Goldmine” does not appear in the movie, and no permission was needed to use the title.
I’ll defer to your superior knowledge here, Lamia. As I said, I have oatmeal-brain today anyway, and if I read/heard what I posted above, it was months ago and has long since leaked out my ears. I was almost certain the song was in the movie, but <shrug> what do I know? Or… was it maybe on the soundtrack but not in the film?
Just to humor me, though - tell me you thought Eddie Izzard was too adorable in this. (I just love him.)
Nope, the song “Velvet Goldmine” isn’t anywhere in the movie or on the CD. Which is good news as far as I’m concerned because I hate that song, but probably a disappointment to anyone who likes it and expected that a movie by that title would use the song! But Bowie wouldn’t grant permission for use of any of his music, so that was that.
Todd Haynes has said that this was probably for the best, as the Brian Slade character would have seemed too much like just David Bowie with a different name if he’d actually been singing Bowie songs…but whether Haynes likes it or not most people who see the movie think “Hey, that’s just David Bowie with a different name!”
*He was great, naturally!
I’d seen the movie several times before I realized that the large photo of “Jean Harlow” on Jerry’s office wall was actually Eddie himself in drag. Yowza!
Oh, of possible interest to fans of the movie, the European/Japanese release is slightly different. It’s a couple of minutes longer. Nothing really significant was cut for the American release – a lot of it was just trimming a few seconds at the beginning and end of scenes. (This does mean that you can actually identify the song “We Are the Boys”, which plays only briefly in the Euro/Japanese version but is cut down to just a few notes in the US version.) Mandy Slade’s monologue about how she realized her marriage was over is longer in the Euro/Japanese version. There’s also a brief comic scene showing the Warhol Factory-esque girls from America helping Jerry make calls to promote Brian Slade. “He’s only the biggest thing to hit rock since Plymouth!”
Was. David Bale died of cancer just a few years ago.
Hmmm…Amazon? Okay, like my Wish List needs to get any bigger! 
Either way, it’s got Ewan full-frontal…right? And he’s wearing make up? I don’t care if the movie sucks, that right there is worth it. (That and the idea of Ewan/Christian. Mmmmm…if it’s really bad, I’ll just skip through the scenes).
Ha! On this one I actually know better than you do. Here’s a photo of Jean taken in the same photo session: here.
I don’t know a whole lot about Velvet Goldmine (obviously) but about Eddie I know lots, and that isn’t him as Harlow. Eddie is a cutie, but even in drag he still pretty much looks like Eddie.
Hmmm, a quick Google turns up several sites claiming that it is Eddie in the photo in the movie, but it may be that we’ve all made the same mistake.
Okay, it’s gonna be on IFC again on Friday (8pm and midnight). Woohoo!!!
You see parts of Ewan that even Ewan hasn’t seen.
Here’s the key to liking this film - be either a gay man or a hetero woman. Sadly, I’m neither one nor the other.
Put me down for “irritating” and add “utterly pointless”. Its the worst of both worlds - neither fiction nor non-fiction. And, of course, the real story is a lot better than the fake one.
I just have to say I love Velvet Goldmine. It is one of my favorite movies.
I saw it for the first time because I was a huge Ewan McGregor fan, and just fell in love. I don’t too much care for most of the plot, but it’s decent acting, and wonderful music and visuals. It’s one of the movies I put on when I have friends over and we talk and have something in the background, and then we pay attention when someone loses clothes, or a good song comes on and we dance around.
I also have always been a fan of Bowie, but started enjoying it more once I got to know more about glam rock, and could identify more of the changes that were made from the real glam rock stories and glam rockers.
Also, I have to chime in that I think it’s Eddie Izzard in the Jean Harlow picture in the movie too. I had read that, and then the next time I watched I specifically was looking for that, and I noticed that it definitely looks like Eddie Izzard, and even if it is not, it isn’t a picture of Jean Harlow- it is someone impersonating her.
Oh thank you thank you thank you!!! Now I can tape it!