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Random Movie Thought

July 17, 2009 by Caitlin

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The older I get, the more I find Sid Vicious and his oft-repeated life story to be worthy of little more than an eyeroll.

The older I get, though, the more and more interesting I find Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Sid Vicious.

Weird?

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on July 17, 2009 at 8:45 am | Reply Tommy Salami

Yeah, even when I was a teenage punk I though Sid was an idiot. I always liked the Ramones better. Sex Pistols were just a bondage boy band of McLaren’s…
Oldman & Love’s portrayal elevated a common tragedy to a romantic level.
on July 17, 2009 at 8:53 am | Reply Caitlin

I though Sid was an idiot.

Ohhhh, I did too. But I liked the Pistols, in that sort of strange, background noise way. I was always much fonder of the Ramones and the Clash, and later on groups like The Subhumans.

Oldman & Love’s portrayal elevated a common tragedy to a romantic level.

I always thought it was funny that Alex Cox said he wanted to show how dangerous drugs were (or something to that effect) because all he really did was make a punk rock Romeo & Juliet story – on drugs, but nonetheless Romeo & Juliet, sorta.

The older I get, the more I despise great chunks of that movie, but I always find new things to like about Oldman. He gave someone boring and tiresome a lot of depth. (I still hate how Alex Cox portrayed John Lydon. Lydon is/was a lot of things, but a boor and a twit is not one of them.)
on July 17, 2009 at 1:34 pm | Reply Mad Hatter

Rather timely given the “Sid & Nancy” comment that comes up in (500) DAYS OF SUMMER!

I think the myth became bigger than the man, especially after the movie came out. I totally get where you’re coming from, since his death didn’t rob the world of a young musical talent (a la Morrison, Hendrix, Cobain, Tupac, etc). The truth is that he couldn’t really play at all.

All the world lost that day was a strung out style icon, who got to where he was because his talented friends brought him along for the ride.

That said, Oldham as Vicious = absolute awesomeness.
on July 17, 2009 at 2:21 pm | Reply Morgan

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Right?
on July 17, 2009 at 5:23 pm | Reply Mags

I’m going to agree with Morgan on this one.

And I like Gary Oldman regardless of his portrayal of Sid. That said, Oldman as Sid does a lot for the character. I don’t think the movie would have been half as interesting without him. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have finished watching it.
on July 18, 2009 at 8:27 am | Reply Luke

hated this movie. Gary Oldman is the only decent thing about it.
on July 18, 2009 at 10:06 pm | Reply Allison

I like what Mad Hatter and Morgan said. It pretty much hits the nail on the head about what Sid Vicious became. I do like the weird love story with “Sid and Nancy”, but probably it’s because of Gary.
on July 22, 2009 at 7:54 am | Reply Tommy Salami

so which Subhumans did you like, the Vancouver ones or the UK? :)
I love the Vancouver band who did “Firing Squad” and the immortal tune, “Slave to my dick.”
on July 22, 2009 at 9:08 am | Reply Caitlin

The truth is that he couldn’t really play at all.

You know you’re bad when the band has to turn your amp off so no one hears how terrible you are.

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Right?

In this case, unfortunately, yes. Heh.

I don’t think the movie would have been half as interesting without him

This is true. I will say though that I’m impressed with Chloe Webb, mainly because Nancy Spungen was a fairly unlikeable person and she portrayed her pretty unromantically. Chloe Webb did a nice job, I think.

I do like the weird love story with “Sid and Nancy”, but probably it’s because of Gary.

True, true.

so which Subhumans did you like, the Vancouver ones or the UK? :)

Subhumans UK. I saw them live in 2004 and it’s easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. They’re awesome and smart and make great music. Never heard the Vancouver Subhumans.