CBGB (2013)

A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.

Director:

Randall Miller

Writers:

Jody Savin, Randall Miller

Stars:

Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Justin Bartha

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Rickman	...	Hilly Kristal
Malin Akerman	...	Debbie Harry
Justin Bartha	...	Stiv Bators
Richard de Klerk	...	Taxi
Johnny Galecki	...	Terry Ork
Kyle Gallner	...	Lou Reed
Ashley Greene	...	Lisa Kristal
Rupert Grint	...	Cheetah Chrome
Estelle Harris	...	Bertha Kristal
Taylor Hawkins	...	Iggy Pop
Ryan Hurst	...	Mad Mountain
Stana Katic	...	Genya Ravan
Joel David Moore	...	Joey Ramone
Ahna O'Reilly	...	Mary Harron
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Idaho

Storyline

CBGB follows the story of Hilly Kristal's New York club from its concept as a venue for Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock 'n roll and punk. When Kristal had difficulty booking country bands in his club on the Bowery he opened his doors to other kinds of rock music. Kristal had one demand of the acts he booked; they could only play original music. No top 40's, no covers. It was the credo he lived by, support the artist at whatever the cost. Hilly Kristal ironically became known as the godfather of punk giving a chance to such bands as Blondie, Television, Ramones, Talking Heads, Dead Boys and The Police.

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Plot Keywords:

punk | nightclub | blondie the singer character | blonde woman | club | 

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Taglines:

50,000 bands and 1 disgusting bathroom.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, drug use, and a scene of violence.

Did You Know?

Trivia

In CBGB, Ryan Hurst plays Mad Mountain,the lead biker in a gang called Titans of Hell. He also played Gerry Bertier in Remember the Titans (2000) as well as another biker, Opie, in Sons of Anarchy (2008).

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Goofs

In the subway scene where Taxi is waiting for a train, a train which is shown passing by is a modern NYC transit train. NYC subway trains in the 70s did not have digital train information on the sides of the cars.

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Quotes

Genya Ravan: What the fuck it's that?
Cheetah Chrome: What?
Genya Ravan: Get rid of those fucking things.
Stiv Bators: They just stickers.
Genya Ravan: Hilly, your manager, the guy who is footing the bill for this, is Jewish. Me, your producer, I'm Jewish. And the guy who owns this studio, who is doing us a favor by letting us recording at this ridiculous prices, he's got numbers tattooed in his arm. Do you know what that means?
Cheetah Chrome: Not really.
Genya Ravan: Auschwitz. Hitler. Nazis. Now get rid of those fucking swastikas.

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Crazy Credits

"This film is dedicated to... Hilly Kristal and all those who worked at and lived at CBGB. MAY THEY ROCK ON FOREVER! No animals were harmed during the making of this film... The cockroach guts were Fig Newtons. And we know that Iggy Pop never played at CBGB... Just deal with it."

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Connections

References M (1931)

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Soundtracks

Baby Mobile
By Plinky-Plink
Courtesy of Adorableness

User Reviews

Sure, the accents are terrible and it's very glossy for a film about punk but it's so much fun.

I was a fan of CBGB music before I even knew what it was. I remember going to a second hand record store and asking them if they had any John Cale records. They said, yes, in the CBGB pile. The what? CBGB. Seeby-Jeeby..? And then they pointed at the section and there was a bunch of punk/new wave that I love. Heaven? Yes. Randall Miller seems to have a big passion for this music of the 70s and 80s too. I'm way more interested in the other upcoming project he had in mind called The Drummer, which was to star Vera Farmiga as Christine McVie and Aaron Eckhart as Dennis Wilson, but that film seems to not be happening anytime soon. Instead, I'm happy to check out CBGB to at least learn more about the place than 'it was a club.' The film prominently features musicians such as Television, The Dead Boys, Talking Heads, Blondie and Iggy Pop, but this story is about Hilly Kristal, the founder of the club, played by Alan Rickman. Although the film appears to glide through the narrative without much of a sense of jeopardy or pressure, it's very entertaining and colourful, designed in a magazine style with split screens and annotations every now and then. Even though that caricature tone does not match the gritty punk attitude of its topics, it's an accessible and simplified version that's great fun to watch, even if most of the accents are terrible.

7/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Twitter

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

CBGB

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,909, 6 October 2013

Gross USA:

$40,400

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,400

Company Credits

Production Co:

Unclaimed Freight Productions, Rampart Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1