Posted by: detourmag on July 20, 2007 at 9:01 am
What’s still the most unique thing about Almost Famous is how well it captures the love of rock. It purports to be from a time when rock was magical, and as Patrick Fugit’s William Miller follows the touring habits of upcoming band Stillwater (the famously fictional mishmash of director Cameron Crowe’s experiences with Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers Band and The Who as a teenage rock journalist for Rolling Stone), Crowe captures the mystery and legend (”It’s all happening!”) of rock-and-roll.
We see it through the eyes of a naive geek, but the rose-colored glasses of the director are in play here, too. Maybe it’s revisionism. But it’s better than watching some band of ancients try to re-live their youth at a 1000% markup over face value.
Rock’s biggest supporters are still kids like William, but the sights he witnesses are all the things we wish we could belong to, even if it isn’t real any longer. Rock has always been cool; nobody needed to put a Hot Topic in every mall in America to prove this point. But there has always been a difference between those who love music and those who think it’s simply cool, and Almost Famous draws that line. From Band Aid Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) to elder rock scribe Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the film’s characters connect to the rock-n-roll lifestyle out of love-”to love some silly little piece of music or some band so much it hurts”-rather than because of the performers’ hotness rating or because digging it will earn a few shreds of indie cred. Even the Band Aids said they lingered not to brag about what chart-topping rocker they had slept with, but to “inspire” the music.
Almost Famous captures rock-n-roll at the crux of when going to a show shifted from being about more than getting a T-shirt to market. And as hopeful and idyllic as it is, with a bit of direction it proves that rock-n-roll doesn’t have to die. — Natalie B. David
[tags]Almost Famous, rock-n-roll, Movies, Kate Hudson, Cameron Crowe, Patrick Fugit[/tags]
Comments
SHWFLYR
Recent Posts
- What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update
- Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy
- Reviews of Golden Silvers, The High Strung, Immaculate Machine, The Sweptaways + More
- Dave Bing Won’t Be The OSHA Man Of The Year, Things Are Different In West Michigan, And Lots Of Newspaper Fun
- Russian Circles @ The Magic Stick [4.24.09]
- Never Let The Jocks Count The Money, Don Williamson Doesn’t Trust The Mails, And Martha Reeves Is A Big Mess O’ FAIL! Tulips Also
- Homemade Not Porn: Detour Talks to Matt Cassatta of These People Comedy
- Felons Love A Fierce Man Purse, There’s No Reason To Poll World Of Warcraft Because Mages Don’t Vote, And Faith Healers Keep Thinning Out The Herd
- Mmmmmmmm….A Statue-Sized Fistful Of Little Roquefort Cheese Morsels Rolled In Crushed Nuts
- Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head (Rebuild! Restore! Watch Silly Vintage Video!)
- The Weekend In Rawk: Russian Circles, Computer Perfection, French Kicks, + More
- Face Punches, Bitch Fights, Skid Row’s Yo Yo Ma, Heavy Metal Canadians + Jews On Film
- Peter Karmanos Talks Wacky, Highland Park Tries To Hide The Evidence, And Matt Stafford Will Be The Next Chuck Long
- The Night In Rawk: Pewter Cub, Black Lodge, The Sugar People, + More
- Rock Lottery Recap
- Detroit Misplaced All Of Its Parking Money, State Parks Look Like Meth-Addled West Virginia Trailer Park, And There’s A Rick DeVos Now
- The Night In Rawk: Rock Lottery, Life and Times, + More
- The Night In Rawk: Parkway Drive, Stick To Your Guns, The Madison Opera + More
- Reviews of Art Brut, Cryptacize, Firs & Spruces, Japandroids + More
- Pulitzer Committee Joins Adolph Mongo’s Imaginary Lynch Mob, A Plot Against The People’s Incinerator, And The Best Toys Were Always Dangerous
- Linking back, 8 May 2009 « archizoo on Mmmmmmmm….A Statue-Sized Fistful Of Little Roquefort Cheese Morsels Rolled In Crushed Nuts Hey kids, Check out http://www.dyspathy.com to get a preview of the new site's look and feel. Let me know what you ...
- Woodwards Friend on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Shit! Now I have to change my favorites AGAIN! Serously, I can't wait for your new site and I ...
- Julie on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Oh for kwame's sake why didn't you just sell the place instead of padlocking the doors. Are you taking ...
- cj on What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update Congrats and good luck. Now, let's work on getting Woodman to open for X. Cheers!
- Woodman on What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update damn you and your restless ass. come back soon.
- david on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Supergay pitcher & catcher jokes make Mt Clemens smile. I'll just buy the shots, how's that? You just have to ...
- August on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Hey. I'm sorry. I think it's my fault. See, I found Detroitist (and tried to make everybody I know read ...
- AmyinMotown on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Cesarean in the sense that it's happening on the fly and done in order to save this baby. There's a ...
- Woodwards Friend on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy "...about the cesarean birth of Dyspathy" Do you feel like you're being untimely ripped from Detour-mag's womb?
- Norm on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy