Movies

The Avocado Movie Club #17: Glitter (2001)

Welcome to the Movie Club! This week’s movie is Vondie Curtis Hall’s Glitter!

Portuguese poster. Poster game has been weak for the past few movies!

Glitter stars Mariah Carey as Billie Frank, a nightclub dancer and aspiring singer. She eventually meets a club DJ who goes by the name of Dice, and together her music career begins to take off as they fall in love. Their dream quickly turns into a bit of a nightmare though, as Dice runs into financial trouble and has to borrow money from a sketchy record producer, while Billie has to deal with the exploitative practices of the music industry. 

Glitter was a star vehicle for Mariah Carey and was accompanied by a soundtrack album with the same name. It was released on September 21, 2001, just ten days after 9/11, and was a box office bomb, making only $5.3 million back on a budget of $22 million, and was panned by critics, as it currently sits at a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes.12

Trivia: 345

  • Many who worked on the film have disowned or criticized it following its release, including Mariah Carey herself, and the cinematographer, Geoffrey Simpson, with Carey going so far as to call it the biggest regret of her career.
  • Glitter has developed a bit of a cult following, particularly amongst Mariah Carey fans, and a #JusticeforGlitter campaign started on social media in 2018.

What did you think? Share your thoughts below! 

Up Next: Our next movie will be the Judy Bloom adaptation, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. We’ll meet in two weeks to discuss it on March 7 at noon EST. Check out the trailer and where it’s playing below:

USA

  • Stream: Starz (via Apple TV)
  • Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube, Fandango at Home, Microsoft Store, Plex, Flix Fling, Spectrum

Canada

  • Stream: Crave, Starz (via Crave and Prime Video)
  • Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube, Cineplex Store, Microsoft Store, Plex, Flix Fling

UK

  • Stream: Netflix
  • Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon, YouTube, Sky Store, Microsoft Store, Rakuten TV, BFI Player
  1. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1616152065/ ↩︎
  2. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/glitter ↩︎
  3. https://www.papermag.com/mariah-carey-glitter-soundtrack#rebelltitem4 ↩︎
  4. https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/mariah-careys-glitter-movie-everything-shes-said/ ↩︎
  5. https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/glitter-cinematographer-calls-film-one-of-worst-movies-ever-1234901104/ ↩︎