24 Hour Party People (DVD)

*** Synopsis *** Based on true events, the film charts the professional and - to a certain extent - private life of Tony Wilson, a Manchester TV-journalist-cum-record-producer and club owner who created the city's legendary Hacienda, which many people consider to be the cradle of British rave culture. The action commences in 1976. Wilson, when not busy hang-gliding or interviewing pensioners in his day job on 'Granada Reports', moonlights as an organiser of rock/punk music nights in the city. We, the viewers, are made privy to a 'legendary' Sex Pistols gig, attended by just 42 people, many of whom will later on become successful musicians in ...  Read the complete review

I was browsing through one of my local charity shops a few months back when I noticed that they had an offer of 3 videos for 99p. I really don't mind watching videos; I know that the quality is nowhere near as good as that of DVD and Blu-Ray but for 33p a pop I don't think you can complain! 24 Hour Party People was one of the 3 videos I bought. I remember when the film came out in 2002 that I had wanted to watch it, but for whatever reason didn't get around to it. The film is set around the life of the late Tony Wilson, his company Factory Records and the Manchester music scene of the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Steve Coogan stars ...  Read the complete review

'24 Hour Party People' is an irreverent look at a time when Manchester was the centre of the musical universe. Our guide through the murky drug-fuelled hedonistic landscape is pretentious television presenter Tony Wilson. For all his overall twattiness nobody can take away the fact that he helped bring into the world bands like 'Joy Division', 'New Order' and 'The Happy Mondays' and built a world famous nightspot 'The Hacienda'. Comedian Steve Coogan plays Wilson with equal amounts of genius, stupidity and egotism. Director Michael Winterbottom's immensely pleasurable and often wildly inventive film is fast paced ...  Read the complete review

24 Hour Party People (Strapline: How Manchester Became Great) is the true(ish) story of how Manchester became one of the coolest places in the universe. It takes us from the punk years, through the creation of Factory Records, through the life and times of the (in)famous Hacienda and the Madchester phenomenon. It is a superb British movie. At the centre of the film is Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), presenter of Granada local news programmes, music enthusiast, trend vulture, founder-partner of Factory Records and the Hacienda. Wilson is a strange and fascinating mixture: clean-cut though remarkably erudite presenter by day, bringing us features on ducks ...  Read the complete review

I've been to see music documentaries before. I'd been told that Buena Vista Social Club was like a Latin American Spinal Tap and spent the first half hour waiting for the funny bit. But comedy definitely takes centre stage in this biopic. For me, the greatest thing about the film is that it transcends the music scene it describes. I personally can't stand The Happy Mondays or New Order, but the rampant brilliance of the film almost made me forget that (aside from moments where Sean Ryder is described as a genius, they still made me hiss derisively). Essentially, the film is a biopic of Tony Wilson, a highly-educated TV journalist who set up ...  Read the complete review