Spinning Gold

I didn't know anything about this movie going into it. But I was not pleasantly surprised, more so unpleasantly annoyed.

I gave it a 5 stars because it is not a terrible movie, some of the musical scenes I enjoyed a bit. And I generally do see a lot of work has been put into making this film hence I don't like to give it lower. However I didn't enjoy this movie at all.

The whole film I found myself annoyed with the main character (forgot his name, I think he was called bogard, which I know is ironic since It is even mentioned in the movie that everybody knows kiss but nobody knows this guys name). I'll just proceed to cal him bogard in this review. Normally I could enjoy a movie about a flawed character and since it's a biopic I was willing to give it a go. But the writing of this character is just laughable, I felt as if the movie wasn't aware of the way the viewer would feel about this character. And then in the end I felt it getting better but then there was this horrible scene made to make us feel pity for him but it was done in such a unsubtle, forced and rushed way.

Everybody in this movie is overacting, nothing feels genuine and real. I felt no connection to the characters and lost interest in the story very soon.

I didn't understand what was happening Sometimes, I didn't know what the movie wanted to be or wanted me to feel. One second it felt like a drama, the next like a comedy, then it had some darker crime moments and none of it blended together to make one cohesive film.

I wouldn't recommend watching it in cinemas.

It's a biopic of Neil Bogart (Jeremy Jordan) who co-founded Casablanca Records. In 1974, they are a new company with only one act on their roster. It's KISS. Neil is having an affair with KISS manager Joyce Biawitz (Lyndsy Fonseca) while his wife Beth (Michelle Monaghan) is at home with the kids.

It's an interesting story that I'm not familiar with. I do know all the songs, but they are a little before my time. The lead needs to be a star. Jeremy Jordan does a fine job. In fact, he's probably very close to the real Neil Bogart. A leading man role does require the biggest star that they can get. As for directing and writing, it's a mistake for Neil's son to do the job. He's also not the most experienced. It's a bit of his father's gambling mentality. He's betting on himself, but the film would benefit from someone better than him. In the end, the songs are great and the story is compelling. The filmmaking is average at best. It's a passable biopic.

I had high expectations here and this movie didn't come close to meeting them. At it's core is an amazing story, but they failed to tell it with any suspense, compassion or coniction. The trailer sells you on inside details of every act on the label, but for the most part, we only get to know Kiss and Donna Summer.

The biggest problem with this film is none of the talent looks like who they are portraying. Kiss has 5 decades of Cosplayers and every one of those fans looks better than the clown squad they assembled for this film. Not a single member looks like the actual band member and Gene Simmons looks like he's about 5"6' and that is with the platform boots. Tall talent in real life is portrayed by short people. Thin people like Gladys Knight are portrayed by a fat woman, and short people like George Clinton are portrayed by talent a full foot taller.

As much as I tried to get into this movie, the poor portrayals kept pulling me out. The music also was poorly done again removing me from the fantasy.

There are two reasons this movie is going to tank. 1) its target audience is most likely retired or pushing it. 2) it's not true enough to the people to satisfy the crowd. This was a watered-down remake of Rock of Ages. A poor parody or of poor movie. That's what happens when you allow the family of the subject to run the show. These kids are not film makers and it shows in every scene.

I don't understand the hate given some of the other movies out there like Cocaine Bear, 64 and Shazam. I thought this was a pretty good bio-pic. It is a very interesting insight on how the first Independent label was started. It also showed the people behind the scenes to get the talent, make the music and to get it out there for public consumption. Probably would have been better served if they focused more time on this change in the music industry. There was a bit of personal things they could have left out and it actually might have made the movie a little bit more focused. Regardless, if you can handle any of the above 3 other movies, then go out an enjoy a pretty good movie with some sound acting and editing, and make it a nice evening out.

Note to self. Don't let the sons make a film about the father. Bad wigs, bad acting - covers that don't sound like the originals Tone is all over the place. Just bad and poor Jeremy Jordan in a terrible wig. Jason Isaacs so miscast. The actresses are badly used. Just a bad version of Scorsese or PT Anderson. How did this get a wide release? Who financed it? It should have gone straight to video. The lead character is unlikable and inconsistent. This is a vanity project if there ever was one. The script is terrible and the directing borrows from a bunch of different movies. Expect to see this on VoD very soon.