post your reviews here, did you like it or not?
Loved it! Especially the soundtrack.
Kate Hudson is very special.
MMMMMMMM…Kate Hudson…
That’s not my first choice of music, (although I listen to just about everything). That site is very classy, though; looks like lots of work went into it. Two of my daughters have websites, so I know how much work goes into this. And everyone here watches Simpsons. I might e-mail the link to my brother.
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I’m just a LITTLE younger than Cameron Crowe. Nonetheless, “Almost Famous” speaks directly to guys of my era, who were in high school in the 1970s. The soundtrack was great, much of the movie was hilarious, Frances McDormand straddled the fine-line between dignified and ridiculous brilliantly… Philip Seymour Hoffman actually made me LIKE Lester Bangs (considering what a jackass I used to think the REAL Bangs was, that’s saying a lot).
So, all in all, thumbs way up.
This may be the one thing in the world that astorian and I can agree on. 
Loved the movie. Great performances all 'round, especially McDormand, Hoffman (man, he’s great), Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, and (surprisingly, considering he’s a newcomer) Patrick Fugit. It looks like it was a hell of a lot of fun to film–in fact, scratch that: I know someone who played one of the roadies…it was a hell of a lot of fun to film. All in all, one of my favorites this year.
It was good. I especially liked the fact that despite having original songs (by director Crowe) they didn’t stop the story to squeeze them in, but let them run on in the background.
Loved it. The only scene I didn’t like was the “Oh my God, we’re going to die.” scene. It just seemes too contrived. Aside from that, great movie.
I really enjoyed it. There just wasn’t enough Anna Paquin for me, though Kate Hudson almost made up for it. 
Great soundtrack…any movie which features 5 Zep tunes makes me very, very happy.
MT
Trion:
The scene in the airplane was making fun of itself. Of course it is contrived! That’s the whole point! Otherwise, GREAT movie all around. Great acting. Great soundtrack.
Merry - Hmmm. I hadn’t thought of that scene as self-parody before. You may be right, but even if it was, it was so cliche in a movie that otherwise seemed very realistic that it stuck out like a sore thumb.
But let’s face it. I really know how acurate the movie was 'cause I’ve never been on the road with a 70’s rock band before.
Even scarier: astorian, Gadarene, and I all agree! I saw it at a preview showing outside DC a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I believe astorian is close to a decade older than me (you’re 39, yes?), but I grew up with a classic-rock-fan father. I’m a fan of Crowe’s work anyway, and this was a sweet little apologetic for 70s rock, demonstrating nicely the culture and what it was like to be a fan.
Jeffrey Wells, columnist at Reel.com, had a nice piece recently on a scene intended for near the end of the movie that Crowe scripted but never shot. You can read it here. See what you think.
Trion- Point taken. Though thankfully it didn’t last as long as it could have… once the drummer blurted out his line, I was in hysterics, and then the scene ended before any real damage to the movie could be made
Loved it–especially Kate Hudson. When she moves her head in certain ways or laughs, she looks so much like her mom!
STOP IT!
First Dennison and Gadarene agree with me about a movie… then it turns out David B likes Genesis. Damn it, how am I supposed to hate you all if you won’t cooperate and adopt contrary positions???
I loved that movie. I went and saw it yesterday, and it was brilliant! Billy Krudup is so cute in the geeky lil brother kind of way. Definitely one my new favorites. The highlight of the entire year, actually.
I saw it tonight, and enjoyed it. It wasn’t brilliant, and seemed to be missing things, which is probably part of the half hour or so that Crowe needed to cut to make the studio happy.
What I’m referring to is in the final act, where the band denies all the facts in William’s article, and then in the end, Russell tells William that he did tell Rolling Stone that the article was entirely true. Huh? I can see him saying that if he was lying to William, but the scene was in William’s bedroom and he was trying to reconcile with the kid. So, huh?
Anyway, the acting, writing, and direction were great. The musical cues were superb, and never let the great songs distract me from the movie.
I just caught the movie last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I always look forward to movies about bands, having been in a band or two in my time. However, I always go in wary. It really sucks when concert scenes look too set up. These looked (and sounded) very realistic. And the dynamics between the band members seemed realistic as well, especially the bickering. Jason Lee really sold me on the personality and swagger of a rock and roll front man.
I always look for the flaw in a movie and here I can find these: the rhythm section of the band was not developed at all as characters. I would have liked to seen a little more of them in the mix. Also Billy Cudrup obviously does not have clue-one on how to play a guitar. That somehow tweaks me when I see that in a film.
Now - all that being said, the band in the movie is secondary to the main characters. I thought Patrick Fugit pulled it off portraying a prodigy journalist with the right mix of enthusiasm for his attempted career and the awe of being star struck. Frances McDormand as his mother was priceless. Her antiestablishment conservatism comes to a head when she lips Cudrup down on the phone. Kate Hudson was dreamy in her groupie with a brain and a heart.
As for the plane scene, I thought that was the best scene in the movie. It was a perfect rock and roll cliché to throw in as a tool to finally get the band to truly confront themselves. The contrived part comes in when the drummer admits he’s gay, just before they clear the storm, followed by stale embarrassed rolling of the eyes.
I recommend this movie to everyone.
to the party.
Saw it last night. Absolutely darling film! I was 15 in 1973, so of course I enjoyed it from that aspect. But I laughed out loud frequently, and I just loved everybody in it. Utterly lovely film.