Almost Famous
To look like a real rock band, the four actors in Stillwater rehearsed for four hours a night, five nights a week, for six weeks.,William's mother incorrectly, when scolding Russell on the phone, attributes to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe the saying; "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid." This quote is actually by Dorothea Brande. Brande herself likely was paraphrasing a passage from a book by Basil King. ("Go at it boldly, and you'll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid".) King was a Canadian clergyman who became a writer after retiring from the clergy.,Dennis Hope: If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age fifty, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken.,In the music credits at the end of the film, all songs sung by Stillwater are credited to the characters who would have written them.,The extended 'bootleg cut' version available on DVD features 39 minutes of additional footage, bringing the running time at 162 minutes. This version is actually titled 'Untitled' and has a title card as such in Cameron Crowe's handwriting.,Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Nurse Betty/Turn it Up/The Way of the Gun/The Watcher/Dark Days (2000),The Chipmunk Song
Written by Ross Bagdasarian (as Ross Bagdasarian Sr.)
Performed by The Chipmunks
Courtesy of EMI Records
Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets,There was a time in the US rock circuit before music videos and online marketing. That was the time when several little-known bands toured all over the country... accompanied mostly by drugs and groupies. Writer-director Cameron Crowe takes us to that infamous scene of sex, drugs and rock n' roll in the 1970's with this semi-autobiographical work, which is not only equipped with his brilliant direction and screenplay, but also by decent performances by some relatively lesser-known actors.

Here the introduction of a not-too-famous band, an imaginary one called Stillwater, was important. In that sense, Stillwater is a perfect work by Crowe... with a volatile relationship between the vocalist and the guitarist, with a noncompetent manager and everything that comes with. There were also the groupies, who became a matter of substance in Crowe's point of view. But the most extraordinary thing that Crowe did is the image of himself as a 15-year-old writing prodigy, rock journalist William Miller. The viewers watch the movie through Miller's eyes. The character is extremely well-designed and reserved by Crowe. Miller's the one who becomes able to attach all the parts into a complete movie alone.

Billy Crudup was probably the best among the actors as guitarist Russell Hammond. It's true his role was not a tough one, but he's the one who made it look so easy. Young Kate Hudson, as Penny Lane, is perfect and very adorable. She showed her potentials in this movie which seemed even better than her mother, Goldie Hawn. All she needs are decent roles in future. The other actors, namely Jason Lee as vocalist Jeff, Frances McDormand as Williams's over-protective mother and the other band-aids (with Oscar-winner Anna Paquin) performed also quite well. And newcomer Patrick Fugit, as Miller himself, is really brilliant. Gaining more screen time than anyone else, it was a tough test for Fugit and it is all praises for him.

The soundtrack was very good with some fine original songs. There may be some minor flaws in the movie, like some unnecessary sequences, but all over this is a quite masterful work... a feast for the mind and soul, both for a hard rock n' roll fan and for casual viewers.,