Taking Sides: "Velvet Goldmine" versus "Almost Famous"

I love the short scene in VG where the girls are playing with their Brian and Kurt dolls.

Toni Collette's accent work, weaving between affected English to New Yawkish is yet another piece of evidence in my case for the absolute dominance of Australians when it comes to English language accents.

It's nice as both Haynes' tribute to himself and as an element in the film in general -- it works regardless of whether you know Superstar or not.

OTM -- I couldn't really tell you what VG was "about." Then again, I can't even remotely recall what The Big Sleep is about, either, and I've seen it about 15 times. It totally doesn't matter.

...but, like it's sibling This is Spinal Tap...it's a parody.

Uh, hell yeah.

OTM. The plot isn't what the movie is about. The movie is about glitter, debauchery and flash.

Then again there's Kozelek.

We have now officially punctured the flimsy battlements of rational thought and are now skipping willy-nilly through the wilderness of insanity.

(Nothing wrong with that. It's just... well... English Kate should be able to explain more the whole connection between slashfic and that peculiar sort of fanhood that, well, uh, never mind.)

Also, no one ever talks about Toni Collette's fantastic Liza-in-Cabaret-as-Angie-Bowie tour de force.

DUDE! I keep on forgetting to give Toni Collette as not-Angie the props it deserves! She's one of the major reasons why I like that film as much as I do. She's, like, totally on fire. Burning the celluloid down.

I also liked Bale's "MOM! DAD! That's MEE!" yelp.

Awwwww, one of the scenes that makes you like Arthur more and more as the movie progresses.

I am still annoyed a full version of the fake 80s corp rock song by Shudder to Think, "People Rocking People," has not surfaced. (You can hear it playing at a couple of points in the 1984 sequences, as in the start of the bar scene.)

Heh. Why am I not surprised that you would easily be able to name that song, Ned? Anyway, I had no idea that was the (a.) artist behind the song and (b.) the name of the song itself. Wow. That was a good approximation of soulless '80s AOR, wasn't it? Very convincing.

But you are good and not evil, so the other Robinsons referred to must be the evil ones.

David Bowie >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the Black Crowes

(i.e. I agree with Ferlin Huxley et. al.)

One and a half listenable songs ('Queen Bitch' and the duet w/ Mick Jagger) - but he was cool in Labyrinth.

Yet you're completely fine with the Black Crowes? FETCH HITHER A STRAIGHT-JACKET!

KATE DUDSON. For starters.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, and if you ask me, he overplayed his hand in that role.

glam is classic. david bowie is classic. iggy pop is classic. "citizen kane" is classic. despite all these things, "velvet goldmine" is a dud.

People who hate it seem to be responding to the director (hey, I can't stand any of Crowe's other movies) or the culture's response or even just looking for something 180 degrees from what Crowe wanted to show.