Reviews

This is definitely not Iggy at his best. "Party" is one of his most lackluster albums and this performance lacks the vitality and energy which Iggy is known for. Iggy was at a fairly low point in his life and he LOOKS it. I'm surprised that older footage with The Stooges isn't available for rental; there were some truly amazing performances that hopefully will turn up. I'd recommend this to die-hard fans but by no means should it be used as an introduction to Iggy Pop. Clem Burke (of Blondie) is an amazing drummer and does well with what he has to work with. Perhaps there was a reason that this period in Iggy's career was "woefully undocumented"...

This film is one of the rare few that shows heroin addiction in a realistic manner. None of the horrors are left out but there is also a refreshing lack of the usual over-the-top harping on the subject. Al Pacino is absolutely at his best (in his first major role)... little surprise that he was cast in The Godfather shortly thereafter. The drug scenes and situations are true-to-life. The way the relationship between Bobby (Pacino) and Helen (Kitty Winn) is portrayed is especially moving. They truly love each other but are trapped having to do whatever it takes to get their fix. Heroin addiction becomes a trap in which you must continue repeating the same routine daily no matter what happens. This is illustrated well when Bobby turns back to look at Helen and says, Well? and the viewer is left with the impression that nothing is going to change.

This is a fairly entertaining (if rather silly) film that is very loosely based upon David Bowie's career as Ziggy Stardust and his relationships with Iggy Pop, Angie Bowie, etc. Some of the scenes depicted, such as Bowie's performance for the actors from Andy Warhol's Pork, ARE based on true events. The writer, Todd Haynes, incorrectly portrayed other true events: for example, it was probably Lou Reed Haynes was thinking of who received shock treatments to supposedly discourage homosexual behavior; Iggy did NOT, nor did he even HAVE a brother; he is the only child of schoolteacher parents. He DID grow up in a trailer near Detroit, although at the time trailers were more of a novelty, not the symbol of white trash that they are today. Ewan McGregor didn't do much for me trying to portray the Iggy character, Curt Wild (and the Rats? Ha ha ha, there WAS actually a glam band called The Rats but Iggy's band was, of course, The Stooges). Apparently Iggy co-operated at least to an extent with the filmmakers since they used the Stooges' song "T.V. Eye". Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays the part of the Bowie character, Brian Slade, does a terrible job singing it; the New York Dolls "Personality Crisis" is also butchered. David Bowie refused to allow his music to be used (showing his usual intelligence and taste). Some good tunes from Roxy Music, Brian Eno, and Slade (the actual glam band… not the fictional title character) are used, however. "Needle in the Camel's Eye" is especially effective for the opening of the film. All in all, this COULD have been a great movie but instead is just so-so. There are some great tunes and clothes to admire; glam rock fans will enjoy those! But perhaps one should just watch footage of Ziggy Stardust or the New York Dolls or Marc Bolan...

Nauseating Nancy Spungen (portrayed by Chloe Webb)has always made this movie hard for me to watch. I can't feel any sympathy for such an obnoxious person (and she was, more or less, just as horrid in reality). Sid Vicious was basically a sweet, naive kid who had a difficult time believing the truth about Nancy's days as a prostitute. He really did love her and most people don't believe he was the one who killed her (especially since he was reported to be UNCONSCIOUS on Tuinal on the night in question). This movie should by no means be taken as fact regarding ANYTHING; Andrew Schofield is especially terrible as Johnny Rotten. He was supposed to meet and study Rotten but then admitted to him that the scenes had already been shot and Cox just wanted to use Rotten's name in connection with the film. The Rockhead character who is supposed to be Johnny Thunders (the guitarist for the New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, etc.) is ridiculous; at least they didn't use J.T.'s actual name. Nancy wasn't in England to chase after Johnny; she was obsessed with Jerry Nolan, the drummer for the Heartbreakers/New York Dolls. Anyhow, we'd be here all night if I pointed out every inaccuracy in this movie. Gary Oldman is an excellent actor and does a good job, although he's playing Sid the stage persona as opposed to Sid the person. If you just watch the movie as the story of two tragic lovers and don't compare it to reality it's alright; I liked it a lot when I was a 14-year-old punk, heh. Cheetah Chrome's quote in Please Kill Me is amusing: "F*****g Nancy. If Sid hadn't killed her, I woulda, ha ha ha. Nancy was probably the most miserable person I've ever met in my life."

This is an excellent documentary about an influential, although relatively unknown, band. My husband and I were fortunate enough to see it at a one-night-only showing at an Atlanta rock club. Wayne Kramer, the MC5's guitarist, originally said it was a "wonderful film" and John Sinclair, the band's one-time manager, said Thomas had done "a fine job". However, in April 2004, Kramer sued the producer and director of the film (Laurel Legler and David C. Thomas, respectively) alleging that Legler and Thomas had promised he would be the film's music producer. Legler and Thomas denied this but distribution of the film ended and plans for a DVD release were canceled. In March 2007, the court ruled in favor of Legler and Thomas and the Court of Appeals upheld the decision. Even so, as of June 2010, MC5* A True Testimonial has not been released on DVD.

This film was all right the first time I saw it (bear in mind that I was 12 or 13 at the time and there weren't many films about punk rock). Since then I learned much more about "punk" and lost all respect for Malcolm McLaren and the like. His management of the New York Dolls was a disaster and he basically tried to incorporate what he learned (i.e. ripped off) from them into the Pistols. There's an amusing interview with Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers where Johnny is asked if he learned anything from Malcolm; Johnny laughs and says sarcastically. "How to be a nice gay gentleman..." Heh. The Sid Vicious bits are amusing and make this worth watching but that's about it; go watch The Filth and the Fury.