Other Titles • Almost Famous • Something Real (2000) • Stillwater (2000) • The Uncool (2000) • Untitled Cameron Crowe Project (1999) • Untitled: Almost Famous the Bootleg Cut (2000)
Synopses for Almost Famous (2000)
1.
Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas
(25 votes)
2.
Set in 1973, it chronicles the funny and often poignant coming-of-age of 15-year-old music fanatic William (Patrick Fugit). Having managed to land an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview the up-and-coming band Stillwater, fronted by lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), and with the help of gorgeous 'band aid' Penny Lane (Oscar nominee Kate Hudson), William finds himself drawn into the band’s inner circle, despite the objections of his over-protective mother (Frances McDormand). As he becomes less an observer and more a participant in the band’s dynamics, William learns a life-changing lesson about the importance of family: the ones we inherit and the ones we create...
(25 votes)
3.
Writer-director Cameron Crowe brings the 1970s music scene to life with his semiautobiographical story of a teen journalist who goes on the road with a rock band. Uncool 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is living every teenager's dream. He's touring with Stillwater, an up-and-coming rock band featuring lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) and charismatic lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and writing about it for Rolling Stone magazine, whose editors are unaware of his young age. Though Miller's mentor, legendary rock critic Lester Bangs--portrayed with humor and heart by Philip Seymour Hoffman--cautions him not to befriend the musicians, Miller takes it a step further and befriends both the band and the Band-Aids--the girls who hang around with the band because they love the music. Newcomer Fugit is the perfect William Miller: baby-faced, slightly gawky, and an awestruck observer. Kate Hudson sparkles as Penny Lane, the leader of the Band-Aids, and Frances McDormand delivers a stellar performance as Elaine, Miller's protective and mildly paranoid mother. In the tradition of SAY ANYTHING and JERRY MAGUIRE, Crowe's coming-of-age tale is intelligent, well written, and infused with humor in unlikely places.
(25 votes)
4.
From Academy Award® winning writer/director Cameron Crowe comes the definitive director's edition of Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut a personally supervised 3-disc (2 DVDs + 1 CD) set with over 30 minutes of never-before-seen movie footage and hours of exciting new bonus features plus a CD with 6 unreleased tracks. Audiences and critics alike are raving about this larger-than-life rock 'n' roll favorite that Roger Ebert calls "one of the best movies of the year."
(25 votes)
5.
Adored by critics and audiences nationwide, Almost Famous has been hailed as "the year's single most entertaining film!" (Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper and the Movies). Writer/Director Cameron Crowe takes you on a heartfelt journey into the world of rock and roll in this "delightful coming-of-age comedy" (David Ansen, Newsweek). It's the opportunity of a lifetime when teenage reporter William Miller lands an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Despite the objections of his protective mother, William hits the road with an up-and-coming rock band and finds there's a lot more to write home about than the music.
This "enormously engaging" (Jeffrey Lyons, WNBC) film boasts superb performances by Golden Globe winner Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, Philip Seymour Hoffman and newcomer Patrick Fugit. Featuring a classic rock soundtrack with music from The Who and Elton John, Almost Famous is "an utter delight from the first frame to fade out" (Lou Lumenick, New York Post) and a must-see for every generation.
(25 votes)
6.
A nostalgic, bittersweet ode to the hedonistic rock 'n' roll days of the early 1970s, Almost Famous is Cameron Crowe's most personal, deeply felt film (he even cowrote the original songs with wife Nancy Wilson). "Does anybody remember laughter?" asks one of the characters in a Led Zeppelin reference that typifies how the film works both for those who, like Crowe, remember and love the times and its music, and those who can only look back in wonder at an era when rock music was about something more than just marketing. Closely based on his own coming-of-age experiences as a teenage journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, the story follows the director's alter ego William Miller (sympathetic newcomer Patrick Fugit) on the journey of a lifetime touring with fictional rock band Stillwater, struggling to get the all-important interview, losing his virginity, falling in love, and trying to fend off his obsessively concerned mother (Frances McDormand). Kate Hudson as the "band-aid" (not groupie) Penny Lane is the film's magnetic centrepiece; Billy Crudup plays Stillwater's temperamental and egocentric lead guitarist perfectly; and Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the show as jaded rock journo Lester Bangs, the very personification of "uncool" whose ardent love for music--good, honest music--is at the very heart of this film. "I have to go home" says William on the Stillwater tour bus in one of the many emotionally truthful moments that permeate this wonderful film; "You are home", Penny Lane tells him.
On the DVD: This is an attractive anamorphic 1.85:1 picture, and the fantastic soundtrack gets the Dolby 5.1 treatment. The extra features include the complete performance of Stillwater's Zeppelin-esque "Fever Dog" and a good 25-minute HBO "making-of" featurette with contributions from all the principals ("I really liked hanging out with all the girls on the set", says Patrick Fugit with a straight face). Navigate the special features menus by following the red Stratocasters and find Cameron Crowe's six articles for Rolling Stone that reveal how closely the film is based on his experiences on the road with the Allman Brothers Band and Led Zeppelin. There are also four trailers (only one for this film, oddly), and text-based Filmographies and Production Notes. No commentary, though. --Mark Walker
DVD Special Features: HBO Making of Featurette Rolling Stone Article--Original Text be Cameron Crowe Stillwater's "Fever Dog" Music Video Filmographies Production Notes Trailer Animated & Interactive Menus 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) Dolby 5.1 English, Spanish Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese
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