Review: CBGB

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All hail the godfather of punk.
 
 
CBGB follows a man named Hilly Kristal, (Alan Rickman) a divorcee who's just filed for bankruptcy for the 2nd time. He's hell bent on opening a club. He tries for the 3rd time, purchasing a beat up bar in a shady neighborhood. He names it CBGB (country, blue grass, blues) but that's not the kind of music he featuring. CBGB became the underground place to be for punk music. He gave plenty of bands a chance, and asked that they play original music. Plenty of them went on to be big names. The Ramones, Blondie, Television, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop. Despite the success, Hilly still isn't great about paying his bills, that falls on his daughter Lisa (Ashley Greene, who's face now screams "I've done too much coke!") to keep track of the bills. He also nearly blows everything by trying to manage The Dead Boys. (Justin Bartha, Rupert Grint, and Bronson Adams)
 
Despite not knowing a whole lot about the actual CBGB, I really enjoyed this film. I think Alan Rickman gave one of the best performances I've seen all year. The film's soundtrack was wonderful. (a lot of these bands lent them their music for free) I also really enjoyed the cast. Bartha and Grint were insane, and Malin Ackerman, Freddy Rodriguez, Johnny Galecki, Kyle Gellner, and Ahna O'Reilly all show up for bit parts as well.
 
While I enjoyed the film, I can see why the editing would throw people off. Scenes cut away into pages of a comic book, (a side story is the birth of Punk magazine) complete with word bubbles and some animation. I thought it worked well with the tone of the film, but I could tell some other people in the theater were visibly annoyed with it.
 
Recommended: Yes
 
Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "There's something there..." - Hilly Kristal (Alan Rickman)

Comments

  1. ruthOctober 21, 2013 at 11:28 AM

    LOVE Rickman and I will rent this just for him! It'd be interesting how he pulls off the American accent as he always sounds like Alan Rickman no matter what accent he's using, ahah.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 22, 2013 at 12:26 PM

      He still sounds exactly like Alan Rickman. lol his first few lines I couldn't tell the difference, but I eventually could.

      Delete
  2. s.October 21, 2013 at 3:25 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. s.October 21, 2013 at 3:26 PM

    I really want to see this, I'm such a huge Alan Rickman fan, I had no idea he plays lead in this one.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 22, 2013 at 12:27 PM

      He's great, it's awesome seeing him and Rupert Grint together again.

      Delete
  4. m.brownOctober 22, 2013 at 8:33 AM

    I saw Rickman promoting this on Fallon and was immediately interested (it's f--king Hans Gruber, damn it). Very cool about the music, too. I'm looking forward to it.

    Sounds like you have a pretty cool theater nearby...we only get popular junk out this way...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 22, 2013 at 12:28 PM

      They're doing this "Indie Film Showcase" where they're showing small films once a day for 4 days. the times are usually a little weird though. They had The Hunt a few weeks ago, but it only played at 5:30pm, which is the worst time ever.

      Delete
  5. m.brownOctober 22, 2013 at 10:32 PM

    Yeah, 5:30 definitely blows. Having a three month old is worse, though. Apparently, the worst time ever is now Eastern Standard.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 23, 2013 at 7:15 AM

      Babies/toddlers do awful things to one's sleep schedule. They're lucky they're so cute.

      Delete
  6. JoshOctober 24, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    I hadn't heard of this until you mentioned it on my blog. It looks fun, so I'll try to watch it soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 25, 2013 at 7:59 AM

      Awesome! I can't believe how little publicity this film has gotten. You'd think with the people involved, there would be more?

      Delete

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