Almost Famous [2000]

Customer Reviews:

Capturing the moment.......2007-11-22

This film beautifully captures the moment before Rock became an industry when it was unsophisticated and naïve; all seen through the eyes of our hero. It also captures the moment stylistically with the hair curlers and mini skirts and all the rest. The cast plays it well without any of the undoubted talent stealing the scene from any other. Near perfect

Well worth a look.......2007-08-12

Almost Famous is a very well written movie and is one of my favourites to date.

Almost famous is about a boy growing up in the 70s who gets to go out on the road with Stillwater (a fictional band). 15 year old William, played by patrick fugit starts off writing for cream magazine and when his work is seen by the rolling stone he is whisked off into a world of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. where he meets pennylane (a famous bandaid) and falls in love with her, only thing is shes in love with Stillwaters gutarest russal hamond.

this movie is full of emotion to the highest extent. We see anger and fighting between the band members. We see sadness from Williams mother after she lets him go. We see excitment when theres a near plane crash. We see love and romance through out the film between Penny lane, Russel hamond and william.

over all this is an amazing film and is well worth a look!

really cool.......2007-07-01

great acting great music.. great evocation of the seventies without being too schmalzy

"Almost" hits the mark.......2006-01-11

As I was born in the 1980s, I can only check out the era of blossoming rock'n'roll (Rolling Stones, the Doors, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin) through books and movies. And here's the ideal movie: "Almost Famous," a semi-autobiographical movie about the 1970s rock scene, gives a glimpse of the life of a young reporter, based on Crowe himself.

When William's sister (Zooey Deschanel) left home, she gave him her collection of records: the Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. When William (Patrick Fugit) is fifteen he manages to get a writing assignment with Creem, and then with Rolling Stone magazine to write about the rising band Stillwater. William falls in with the Stillwater guys and their circle of adoring groupies, including an effervescent blonde, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).

Despite the displeasure of his controlling but loving mom (she claims adolescence is a marketing ploy), William accompanies Stillwater across the country. He keeps trying to get an interview with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), but Russell is too busy shagging Penny and diving off rooftops. But after Penny attempts suicide, William realizes the drugs, sex and rock'n'roll are only a veneer for what really matters.

"Almost Famous" is a fantastic mixture of expose and tribute -- there's music, there's romance, there's comedy. We get to see inter-band conflict (who's the star?), groupies, rock journalism, and the unfortunate aftereffects for groupies. Yet the sort-of-romance between Penny and William is very sweet, rooted in genuine affection.

Both the glamour and the grit is shown here. The dialogue sparkles -- "Last words: I dig music... I'M ON DRUGS!", "Forgive me Father, for I may sin tonight," "I'm about to boldly go where... many men have gone before." A few of the lines border on silliness, but never go over that elusive border.

And the direction is superb -- it cuts forward just when it needs to; the camera follows people out onto the dizzying stage and then zooms in for intimate close-ups. Nowhere else could a stomach-pumping scene actually contain an element of romance. And Crowe even throws in some well-timed pratfall humor, like Anna Paquin running into a cement wall.

The heart and soul of this film are wide-eyed Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson, one as a naive young boy who is swimming with rock'n'roll sharks, and the other as a fragile groupie who falls in love despite herself. Billy Crudup and Frances McDormand back them up as a lovable yet hateable rocker, and William's weird yet loving mother, who just wants her son back.

Amazon.co.uk

Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalisation 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 (a superb Frances McDormand) 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 fictionalised 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

Almost Famous/American Beauty [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Almost Famous/American Beauty

Almost Famous/American Beauty [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Kevin Spacey , Annette Bening , Thora Birch , Wes Bentley , and Mena Suvari
Director: Sam Mendes , and Cameron Crowe
Manufacturer: DreamWorks
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00009IB45
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Customer Reviews:

Almost Famous/American Beauty.......2005-02-18

This box set is a perfect collection showing the darker side of teen movies.
Almost Famous is a journey through the eyes of a groupie. Kate Hudson is an accomplished actor in this part and plays the 'bandaid' perfectly. With a few twists and turns in the plot it suprisingly good.
American beauty is by far one of the all time greats with the likes of spacey, birch, hartnett and many more. This realistic look at life in the american suburbs, is very funny but at the sametime is incredibaly bleak. If you havent seen it yet it will change youre perspective on life ideal for anyone anywhere to watch.

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