SO...I am sure there were mistakes made and liberties taken. Before I begin, please remember this is a non-fiction account of an important time in music. 'CBGB', is generated out of Holly-weird, you know - that place where facts occasionally get in the way of telling a good story. I got that, and understand a twisted truth often reflects ideologies ingrained in the minds of many movie producers, directors or writers. In this case, I doubt any bad intentions were meant, I think their goal was solely creating good entertainment. For me - they did a spectacular job. Thank you cast and crew good job.I do understand that this movie is not for everyone. I am old enough to have hitched my musical wagon to the music of the '60s and '70s. So I would be extra critical of anything pumped out attempting to explain, 'Woodstock', or, 'The Monterrey Pop Festival.' Again, I appreciate those critical of this movie.For me, this movie ginned something up inside of me personally. I am now very interested in researching this important bit of history. I vaguely remember this era, although this time-frame was a bit after my 'generation.' I hate to admit it, I had very little interest in the entire genre (of course I owned albums by Lou Reed, Blondie, Patti Smith, and The Ramones – but never really cared to digest any meaning behind the 'Punk?' movement.) Well now I do. For those of us hidden in the shadows (or me - I am Punk-ignorant) – this was a super summary of the time.Again, thanks cast and crew– excellent job.

This movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It told the story of CBGB's & Hilly Kristal pretty well in a nutshell. I didn't fully understand before just how much that man stuck his neck out for the sake of art & music. He made a huge impact on punk and the music scene in New York and things would definitely not be the same if he hadn't done what he did!The casting of most of the bands/lip syncing to the songs was really cheesy though, the 'performances' were painful to watch. This movie is good for a basic view of what went down at CBGB's but for anyone who's really looking to learn about the bands/shenanigans that went down in that scene "Please Kill Me" by Legs McNeil is a must read!6.5/10

"There's something there, there's definitely something there." After two failed attempts at running a bar and on the verge of bankruptcy Hilly Kristal (Rickman) throws everything he has into a bar where he wants to feature local country, bluegrass or blues bands. What it turns out to be is the launching pad for an entirely new sound for a new generation. As the legend goes punk wasn't born here but after bands such as Blondie, The Ramones, The Police and Iggy Pop punk was discovered here. I have to admit I am not a fan of punk music. I did like the Police and some songs by the bigger named artists but overall it's not one of my favorite genres. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this going in but I really ended up liking it. Alan Rickman is great in this (as always) and the story moved fast enough that there really wasn't a boring part in this at all. The actors they picked to play the bands were spot on, Malin Akerman, Rupert Grint and Kyle Gallner are all interesting choices. I really ended up liking this much more then I thought I would. Overall, this is not just a good movie about music, this is a good movie period. I give it a B+.

I saw this movie because I had written a screenplay about 6 years ago about The Dead Boys and CBGBs that circulated town and was never bought. I was curious - and a little suspicious - needless to say when this movie went into production. My fears were unfounded, almost nothing I wrote was in this sloppy, scotch-taped up plot less pile of scenes. First off, you have endless possibilities for interesting stories. This was a seminal period in rock n roll history. But to make the "Hilly Kristal Story" is a ridiculous choice. He simply is not the hero of this scene or this movement. He was a passive bar owner who was in the right place at the right time. He waddles around the movie with no interest in anything other than making a buck. I met and interviewed Hilly - around 2006. He seemed like he barely cared and even admitted he was in the right place at the right time. The Dead Boys are a totally interesting story and they are treated like a bunch of spoiled sh*theads. Every cameo rock star appearance is silly and embarrassing. Iggy Pop gets like one line? No lines for Dee Dee? Where was Johnny Thunders? Where was Seymour Stein and Sire Records? Why does Legs friggin McNeil use the word 'dude' constantly - remember we are in 1977? Lou Reed cameo was nauseating. Sloppy. But here's what's really awful: It feels fake and made up from half-remembered anecdotes. The fact that Hilly's daughter - incidentally an EP on the film - plays a crucial part of the story also rubs me the wrong way. CBGB was about the music, not about some guy who ate Hostess cupcakes and paid the rent. Plot: none. No climax, no resolution. No character development. Characters enter and leave and reenter and leave. The story opens on the so-called "inventors of punk" - um, no. They made a fan magazine and wrote an OK book on which the source material was based. They were witnesses, not inventors. And they served no point in the film except to irritate me with political rants every 30 minutes. By the way, that's 4 appearances, because this is a slow-moving 120 minute movie whose best scenes are between an incidental made-up cop character and the bar- owner. Nothing happens except the usual "you're on thin ice mister."The sets are vaguely realistic, though the Agnostic Front stickers really made my hair curl. The cartoons were OK. This may sound like I'm jealous because this was somehow pushed through the system with a huge catalog of punk songs (most of the budget must have gone to Sting, BTW) - but I'm relieved that there is still a good movie or miniseries to be made about this era. This just isn't it.