Almost Famous is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the talented cast, which consists mostl

Anybody that bought Zeppelin I knows that the standout song is Dazed and Confused, and that s great. It s a masterpiece albeit a little too stifled because it is the studio version. If Almost Famous (2000) is the studio version than The Bootleg Cut is the live version of Dazed and Confused found on The Song Remains the Same in all of its epic grandeur, taking an already great song and making it live and breathe. Likewise, The Bootleg Cut of Almost Famous takes Cameron Crowe s tribute to classic rock of the 1970s and improves on it by adding over 35 minutes of footage, which allows the world he created and the colorful characters that inhabit it to also live and breathe.
Almost Famous was clearly a labor of love for the filmmaker and his most personal effort to date. It is a fictionalized travel on your own in europe account of Crowe s start as a rock music journalist at the age of 15 writing from Creem magazine and then a year later joining the staff of Rolling Stone where he would go on to interview the likes of Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Neil Young, and many others. Unfortunately, his very personal travel on your own in europe journey failed travel on your own in europe to connect with a mainstream audience and despite being lavished with critical praise and awards (including an Oscar for screenwriting), the film flopped at the box office but has gone on to develop a cult following. However, travel on your own in europe one wonders if Crowe never fully recovered from its commercial failure. Perhaps he ran out of things to say, making two films adapted from pre-existing works ( Vanilla Sky and We Bought a Zoo ) and an original film, Elizabethtown (2005) that tanked both with critics and audiences. Regardless, Almost Famous will no doubt be regarded as his magnum opus and rightly so.
We re like nobody else I know, says Anita Miller ( Zooey Deschanel ) early on in the film. She s the exasperated travel on your own in europe sister of William Miller ( Michael Angarano ) and has directed this comment towards their mother Elaine ( Frances McDormand ), a very smart teacher who raises her children in a very unorthodox fashion, like celebrating Christmas in summer because it s gotten too commercial. Yet, for someone so intelligent, she is completely clueless about popular culture, specifically rock music, banning Simon and Garfunkel because they look stoned on the cover of their Bookends album. When she turns 18, Anita leaves travel on your own in europe home but gives her younger brother a treasure trove of classic travel on your own in europe rock n roll albums Zeppelin II , The Who s Tommy , Joni Mitchell s Blue , the Rolling Stone s Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! and so on, which he uses to educate himself, developing a deep love of music, both listening to it and writing travel on your own in europe about it.
By the time William ( Patrick Fugit ) turns 15, it s 1973 and he experiences a life-changing event. He meets his idol Lester Bangs ( Philip Seymour Hoffman travel on your own in europe ), the legendary rock journalist at a radio station where he calls Jim Morrison a drunken buffoon, and praises travel on your own in europe the Guess Who for having the courage to be drunken buffoons. Philip Seymour Hoffman kills it as Lester, creating one of the most memorable character introductions in recent memory. We meet the infamous writer travel on your own in europe trashing the sacred cows of rock before getting the bemused disc jockey to play Iggy Pop and the Stooges while he jumps around like a maniac to the Detroit madman s blistering rendition of Search and Destroy. William and Lester hit it off with the latter recognizing a younger, less jaded version of himself in the former. He also recognizes the same passion for music that he sees in the young teen and tells him, Music, you know, true music not just rock n roll it chooses you. It lives in your car, or alone listening to your headphones, you know, with the cast of scenic bridges travel on your own in europe and angelic choirs in your brain. He tries to warn William away from rock journalism by claiming that The war is over. They won. 99% of what passes for rock n roll these days, silence is more compelling. Ah, how prophetic words these are as they could easily be speaking about the current state of rock music. The best part of this scene is when Lester talks about the love of writing, of staying travel on your own in europe up all night, just writin and writin . I mean, like 25 pages, a dribble, y know, about the Faces or Coltrane. travel on your own in europe Y know, just to fuckin write. That bit gets me every time and inspires me whenever I get depressed about my own writing and to keep at it.
So, Lester assigns travel on your own in europe William to write a 1,000 word concert review of Black Sabbath travel on your own in europe but once at the venue, the inexperienced writer travel on your own in europe is unable to get access backstage. Rather fortuitously he meets a group of self-proclaimed band-aids, a strain or rock groupie, led by the charismatic Penny Lane ( Kate Hudson ) who unsuccessfully tries to get him into the venue. It isn t until he meets the opening travel on your own in europe band Stillwater, impressing them with his succinct travel on your own in europe insights into their music, that he is able to gain access. Little does William know that Penny and Stillwater travel on your own in europe will change his life. The latter takes him on tour with them across America, while the former shows him the ropes along the way. William s writing gets noticed by Rolling Stone magazine and they assign him to do a cover story on Stillwater. The more William s horizons are broadened by the tour the more questions he has, not just for the band but about life and he only finds the answers through experience. By the end of the film you feel as if you ve really gone on a journey with these characters. By the end of it we have gained some insight into them through their various misadventures.
Almost Famous is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the talented cast, which consists mostly travel on your own in europe of young, untested talent (Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel) and up-and-coming character actors ( Jason Lee and Billy Crudup ). In a perfect world, this film would have shot them all through the stratosphere. Most of them went on to future success (Crudup, Deschanel, Lee) and some squandered the buzz acquired from it (Hudson). Speaking of which, Almost travel on your own in europe Famous marked a breakout performance by Kate Hudson who brings a refreshing vitality and charisma to every scene as the veteran groupie Penny Lane. At first, she is a rather enigmatic figure, refusing to tell William her real name, but over the course of the film she gives him insight into the sometimes sad and lonely travel on your own in europe girl lurking under her bubbly façade. Hudson captures the layers of Penny with her eyes, specifically the sadness in them during a few moments. This happens in an incredibly touching scene when she finds out that the love her life sold her out for a case of beer. We see all kinds of emotions play out on her face as she tries to maintain a brave front but we catch a glimpse of the hurt and then it s gone. Penny Lane was a star-making role and unfortunately the actress failed travel on your own in europe to capitalize on it with the exception of supporting roles in a Merchant/Ivory film ( Le Divorce ) and a Robert Altman film ( Dr. T and the Women ), and instead appeared in a string of forgettable romantic comedies.
Patrick Fugit, travel on your own in europe a young unknown actor, was cast as Crowe s cinematic alter ego and has to anchor the film, acting as our window to this exotic world from another time. It helps that his coming of age as an actor parallels his character s coming travel on your own in europe of age. Fugit does an excellent job of conveying William s idealistic naïveté, his secret crush on Penny and his desire to become a successful rock journalist. William represents the hardcore music fan living the dream: hanging out with the bands he writes about and enjoys listening to. Philip Seymour Hoffman nails the jaded cynicism that made Lester travel on your own in europe Bangs such a polarizing figure in rock journalism. When William meets him, the veteran writer informs the kid that he s arrived just in time for the death rattle of rock. Hoffman has little screen-time but he knows how to make the most of it by playing a larger than life figure. You can see why William travel on your own in europe admired Lester he s brash, funny and opinionated. And yet, Crowe also shows the more thoughtful, supportive side of Lester when he gives William much-needed advice and guidance when he s at a low point, telling him, The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool. Billy Crudup is memorable as Russell Hammond, the cocky guitarist who feels that he s already gone past his bandmates in terms of skill and ability. Against his better judgment he befriends William while repeatedly putting off his request for an interview. One gets the feeling that he doesn t really care about William, or anyone else for that matter as he just uses people but by the end of the film there is a sense that he realizes and comes to terms with the damage he s done to others. He finally grants William an interview, which begins with the young man asking him, So Russell... what do you love about music? to which the musician replies with a smile, To begin with, everything.
It has been said that the devil is in the details and that s what Crowe captures so well in Almost Famous travel on your own in europe , like the excitement one feels just before a concert starts, when the lights go out and the crowd roars in anticipation it s a goosebump-inducing moment that is authentically recreated in the film. There s also the faithful recreation travel on your own in europe of chaotic life on the tour bus with people reading, travel on your own in europe sleeping and noodling away on their musical instrument to kill time. Best of all, there s the authenticity of the band playing live the chemistry between its members when they re firing on all cylinders. All of the actors learned how to play their respective instruments and it shows. Even though Jason Lee lip-synchs the voice sounds like it could be him singing. With films that involve bands you can usually tell that they re not playing and the lip-synching is off but this is not the case with Almost Famous travel on your own in europe . Stillwater looks, sounds and feels like a band from that era and this is due in large part to the behind-the-scenes talent responsible for it, namely Nancy Wilson of Heart and Peter Frampton , both of whom recorded and toured