WEBVTT - Almost Famous (Archive) 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.080 What kind of a show you guys putting. 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:06.360 On here today? 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:07.920 You're not interested in Armed now? 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:09.399 No, look, we're going to do this thing. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:10.559 We're going to have a conversation. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.480 Hey, film spotters. You know this movie is one of 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.680 my all time favorites, one that if it was up 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.760 to me, I'd put in the Film Spotting Pantheon, though 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.680 I don't think it will ever get there. It is 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:33.599 turning twenty five. Cameron Crows Almost Famous. Back in twenty eighteen, 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.080 we gave it the sacred cow treatment. I think it 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.559 was in honor of Stephen Heyden's book coming out, a 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:45.120 book about classic rock. So we decided to talk about 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.880 this film and also do our top five classic rock 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:50.360 moments and movies. 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:52.320 Yeah, that was a fun one to put together. And 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.600 Almost Famous a great movie to revisit. I don't remember 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.360 if I blocked any sort of proposal to put it 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.120 in the pantheon, but it was fun to take another 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.000 look at Almost Famous. And you know the archive, the 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.600 Film Spotting archive, we have reviews like this one. We 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.119 have top fives, like the Classic Rock Top five, and 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.560 all sorts of stuff going all the way back to 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.679 two thousand and five, and to get access to those shows, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:23.520 those lists, those reviews. You should become a Film Spotting 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.160 Family member. That's one of the benefits you get by 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.760 being a member of the Film Spotting Family. You can 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:34.280 learn about all those details over at film spottingfamily dot com. 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.559 For now from June twenty eighteen, here is that Sacred 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.720 Cow review of Almost Famous. 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:44.200 Now for you with what band Oh, I'm here to 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:45.360 interview Black Sabbath. 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:47.200 I'm a journalist. 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.920 I'm not not a you know, no, A what. 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:53.200 No A what? 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.360 Not a groupie. 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.960 We are not groupies. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:03.600 This is Penny Lane Man. 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:04.640 Show some respect. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.840 Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:11.440 near someone famous. We're here because of the music. We 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:13.920 are band aids. She used to art a school for 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.400 band names. We don't have intercourse with these guys. We 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:21.120 support the music, We inspire the music. We're here because 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:21.800 of the music. 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:25.079 Mark Bolin broke her heart. Man, it's famous. 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:27.240 It's a long story. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.359 In a Washington Post interview just prior to the release 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.080 of Almost Famous, the film's writer, director and inspiration Cameron 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.480 Crowe recounts a story about David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.480 who had died shortly before the movie started production. In 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.520 a deathbed conversation, Ronson was asked how it felt to 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.840 be at ground zero of the decadence in rock. It 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.280 was a very loving time and a very naive time, 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.240 or at least it was to me, Ronson explained, And 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.600 I just thought that was profound. Crow said. Even the 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.080 guys who were playing glitter rock, which was so subversive, 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.360 had a lack of irony and cynicism about it that 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.040 today would be point. But the whole global change in 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.640 rock cool being a mass concept was still around the corner, 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:07.800 so it was still a little more personal. And all 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.840 I can say is passionately naive, and I really wanted 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.760 to catch that. Passionately naive is pretty much the best 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.560 way to describe most Cameron Crowe characters. I'm thinking here 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.359 of fewer clients, less money, Jerry Maguire and I don't 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.200 want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.400 a career. Lloyd Dobbler and say anything all this negative 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.680 energy just makes me stronger. Cliff Ponsier and aspiring supertrained architects, 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.440 Steve Dunn and singles and what about pretty much the 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.360 entire cast of the Crow written Amy Heckerling directed Fast 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:40.320 times at Ridgemont High. We, of course, remember all I 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:42.680 need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine, 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.720 Jeff Spacoli, And well, what am I supposed to do? 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.040 Go to this strange girl in my biology class and 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.000 say hello, I'd like you to take your clothes off 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.560 and jump on me. Mark Ratner. So that's one way 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.720 into Almost Famous. If you can relate to Crowe's collection 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.680 of well meaning, idealistic misfits, then you'll surely appreciate his 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.040 almost famous stand in fifteen year old William Miller, who 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.160 lands an assignment to cover the up and coming band 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.560 Stillwater on tour for Rolling Stone, just as Crow himself 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.920 did in the early seventies writing about the Allman Brothers, 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.120 led Zeppelin and many others. But there are other ways, 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.320 in lots of them, according to film spoting listener Jim 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.240 Pelini and Beth Page, New York, who rates Almost Famous 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.120 as his favorite Crow movie. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.640 And really, I think that's because its script is layered 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:30.960 with just multiple very well developed storylines that Crow certainly 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:34.480 must have culled from his own experience, and it really 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.279 shows in a very rich screenplay. I think you know, 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:39.919 at one end of the film. You've got the film 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.920 paying a lot of attention to the role of criticism 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.600 in music and criticism in art in general. It has 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.279 a lot of effective biopic elements, focusing on Lester Bangs 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.000 and the founding staff at Rolling Stone, you know. Right 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.640 in the center, you've got kind of the interpersonal conflict 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.880 with a professional touring rock band that's kind of the 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.360 bedrock of the story, and this ripped and then yet 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.679 it still has time for a very authentic storyline about 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.159 a mother trying to keep her family together despite I 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:11.240 guess you'd call it the lore of the seventies counterculture. 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.559 And on the top of all that, you've got Crow 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.440 very effectively conveying the you know, absolute reverie and bliss 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.360 of live performance, you know, on stage and on hotel 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:27.680 rooms and as you know, on a bus. Of all 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.840 those lines, you know, which are really fleshed out beautifully 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.600 in the film, but to me, there's one that kind 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:37.000 of floats above the rest, and that's the one that 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:41.360 focuses on the young you know, William Miller learning how 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.839 to I guess you know, love a woman for the 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:48.760 first time and navigating the emotion sparked by that experience 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.680 which is obviously new to him. It's my favorite part 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.480 of the movie, and I really appreciate you guys doing 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.120 a review on it. It's about time. It's a great one. 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.120 Take care, guys, Josh. We've never talked about Almost Famous, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.320 not in any detail, but I know you are a fan, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.039 or at least you were a fan on initial review. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.920 After chasing you around Chicagoland screening rooms for four days, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.760 I've pinned you down. The mics are live, the tape 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.720 is rolling. What speaks to you, the attention to criticism, 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.440 the highs and lows of life on the road, the 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.120 family dynamic, the love story, as romantically one sided as 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.560 it may be, the passionate naivete of the movie's young protagonist, 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.680 and his belief in the power of music, or something 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.280 else entirely. In other words, what do you love about 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:34.240 Almost Famous? 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.679 Well, I hope we can talk about all those things, 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.680 because it's all good stuff in this really, really good 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.200 movie that does still hold up. I mean, anything with 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:47.760 this amount of optimism is going to look a little 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.320 hokier with each passing year. But I still don't think 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.680 I would really apply that word sure to this movie. 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.440 A quaintness that grows talking of Yeah, it's quainter more 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.040 quaint each time we revisit it in a few years 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.160 have passed, and maybe we've seen a little bit more 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.600 about the world and become more cynical ourselves. What did 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:08.800 I love about almost famous on this revisit, Can I 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.400 just say Patrick Fuget's face? Yeah, I mean, and that's 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.920 something keep part. It's something that was striking initially. Who 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.920 is this kid? Where did he find him? How he 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.120 works so perfectly, the fact that he has that it's 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.160 not really that he's blushing, but it's almost like he's 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:25.600 been sleeping on a pillow on one side for a 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.080 while and there's just still a little color there that 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.320 wasn't there before. That changes throughout the film. He always 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:37.320 seems to be a little flushed about something, and when 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.640 he looks at these rock stars, when he waits for 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:45.560 their answer to his questions, that face. So I have 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.320 a new nephew about a month old, Gideon Eno Coots 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.760 parents are listeners to the show, so first time shout 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.360 out to Nagan. Yeah, well ties in with the music 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:01.080 theme here, And when I look into Gideon's face, we 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.880 just saw him over the weekend. He looks older and 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.200 more wise and more knowing than Patrick. 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:11.800 Fuget in this movie because the eyes and the awe, 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.640 but also just realizing for the first time what life 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:17.600 could be, which is something that seems to be happening 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:18.240 to him in this movie. 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.360 I he's not looking at you like Fuget looks at 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.000 Billy kruddup. Is he Josh? I hope not. No, No, 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.280 you don't have that kind of wisdom to disciss. 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.880 Not making that comparison. But it is really something what 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.680 Fuget brings that's got to work, right. I talked about 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.079 that with Solo and aldn Aaron Reich that he had 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.680 to work if the movie was going to soar. Fuget 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:37.880 had to work here if Almost Famous was going to soar, 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:39.640 and it absolutely does, and a lot of it has 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:42.079 to do with him. I want, I do want to 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:43.920 get into some of that other stuff. I think, probably 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.760 secondarily stuff that you can more chew on and think 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.640 about and maybe we can discuss, is its attention to criticism, 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:57.400 and in particular the critics relationship to the creators as 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.080 opposed to their art. That's obviously at the heart of 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.880 this film. But here I've been doing something somewhat in 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.800 the same arena for a number more years since I 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:10.080 first saw Almost Famous, and that's something that's becoming only 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:14.080 more complicated. So I'm curious to hear how that struck 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.240 you as well. Yeah, you know just where things are, 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.679 especially as you do this more than me. But interview 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.520 filmmakers from the show, and we know filmmakers who follow 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.240 the show closely and listen on occasion to what we 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.040 have to say about their movies, and that is all 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.160 kind of like it's always kind of given me the 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.480 willies a little bit, sure, and seeing Almost Famous dig 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.439 into those complications did that more so in a way 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.360 that was good and challenging and thought provoking. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.880 Yeah, at the end of the day, I'm a fan, 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.400 I'm a movie fan, and I'm a fan of pretty 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.840 much everybody who I've ever done an interview with for 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.880 this show, and that line potentially crossing that line into 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:55.600 exposing your fandom too much, not being seen as a professional, 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:00.800 or just appearing uncool in front of them whatever that means, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.240 which is so germane to this movie. That is something 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.720 that obviously I struggle with. I feel a lot like 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.280 William Miller in those situations and to your point about 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.840 fugutz performance. I appreciated it the first time I saw 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.240 this movie, but that was something on rewatch, and I 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:16.720 don't know believe it or not as much as I 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.320 love this movie as much as I've said this before. 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.640 I think it came up recently that I have the 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.280 shot from the end of this movie with the microphone 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.040 as my avatar. It has been my avatar since I 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.240 saw this film pretty much and avatar has existed. I 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.680 have the shot of Philis Seymour, Hoffman and Fuget walking 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.319 up that hill talking about criticism after the radio station 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:38.880 scene where they meet, and almost famous as our header 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.200 on our Facebook page and on Twitter. So I've always 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.200 been enamored with this film and what this film is about, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.440 and yet I don't think I've ever watched it in 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.280 its entirety since I saw it in the theater in 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.480 two thousand and one. I've maybe caught scenes here and there. 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.560 So I really was kind of watching it again for 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.040 the first time, and yet I felt like I knew 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.960 it so well. Just so many scenes in so many 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:03.480 lines were ingrained in my memory. And his performance is 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.200 a standout element of this movie, and he was a newcomer. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.840 I think this is his first real feature film, his 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.800 first major project anyway, And that over enthusiasm when he 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:18.160 is walking out of that first concert scene and he 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.400 knows everybody's names, and he can't stop himself from trying 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.120 to show that he fits it right, right, that he's 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.280 part of the group. Now, he's part of this larger group, 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.760 not just that he's attached to Stillwater in anyway, which 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.440 at this point he isn't, but he thinks he's now 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:33.760 part of this collective, this backstage musical life. And he 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.160 insists on saying hi and saying everyone's name, just as 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.640 if he's even proving to himself, well, this is really happening. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.440 I'm part of this and I know these people. And 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.480 then the way Sapphire comes up Rusa Balk and kisses 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:49.800 him and calms him down. His facial reaction there is magic. 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.880 His reaction when Philip Seymour Hoffman says to him, go 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.280 be a lawyer, which we know his mom has been 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.480 instructing him to do earlier in the film. That look 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.880 on his face not just of disillusionment, but as if 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.080 Daggers Yeah thrush rushed through his heart in that moment 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:09.720 it's great. So that look of despair, he just captures 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:10.280 it perfectly. 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.439 I'm glad you mentioned those specific moments, because I didn't 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.200 want to imply that it was just how he looks 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.200 that makes this role so great. It is in the performance. 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:19.920 And one other thing he adds in additional all those 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:23.320 things you said, is that when he's caught not being cool, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.680 he doesn't even have the coolness to try to cover 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:30.800 it up. He always cops to his uncoolness immediately, and that, 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.040 of course just makes him seem more vulnerable and more rendearing. 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:34.800 Yeah, it does. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:34.960 So. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.040 I thought a lot about as soon as I finished 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.280 this rewatch, why do I love this film? And before 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.920 I get into some of those reasons, I do have 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.160 to say that Almost Famous might be in a very 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.960 small category of movies for me that I unabashedly think 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.920 are great, even though I'm not convinced it's a great movie. Okay, 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:59.560 there are problems I have with the film, and we'll 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:02.320 discuss those problems. There are ways in which I think 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:08.280 Cameron Crow sabotages his own material, unfortunately, but there's so 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.120 much I do adore, and I think there are some 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.000 obvious things we can point to you touched on some 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.760 of this. It combines my primary interests movies. It's a 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.920 movie after all music, which I've noted many times. But 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.520 I've been playing in bands since I was twelve years 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.080 old and played instruments, so music's always been near and 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.040 dear to me. And of course criticism what we do 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.559 or try to do here on the show. And it's 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.640 a movie that is about the consideration of art and 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.000 the power it has and the place that it has. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.959 I've already alluded to this. I'm a card carrying member 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.600 of the uncool. I do feel like even when I'm 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.280 in these circles, and sometimes you can convince yourself that 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:47.200 when you hang around certain people, certain filmmakers a little 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:49.320 bit or whatever, you feel like you're in that circle. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.719 You feel just like William Miller backstage, like you're part 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:53.320 of the gang. You're not part of the gang. So 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.000 even when you are an insider, I often feel like 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.200 the outsider. And it's a movie fundamentally, like all coming 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.800 of age movies are about figuring it out, about gaining 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:07.199 experience about wisdom, and we get to gain that experience 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.199 in wisdom through William Miller in the film. And I 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.080 think just overall the fact that it's the type of 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.920 film that gives you a scene like the one when 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:21.480 Zoey Deschanel as Anita says, this song is why I'm 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:26.000 leaving home. She can't articulate to her mother why she's leaving. 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.800 Which is exactly what drives her mother nuts about it. Right, 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:29.320 Why do we. 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:34.280 Have Simon, Simon and Garfunkle. They can express it. They 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:39.760 can express something that we in our everyday lives simply cannot. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.520 And the fact that this movie and these characters have 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.080 that type of reverence for music is something that I 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:48.840 think a lot of us just can't help but too 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:50.760 attached to. And I do love that scene in particular 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.360 the way that it starts out as diegetic music. It's 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:54.960 there in the scene she puts it on the record 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:56.960 player and we're hearing it, But then that cut to 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.000 them actually packing up the car. Now it's non diegetic. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.640 Now it's Crow playing it over the scene as they 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.200 do head off, just like the protagonists in that great 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:06.240 Simon and Garfunkle too. 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.440 Yeah, I think that was one of the things that 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:12.120 impressed me more about the craft on this rewatch is 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.080 the interweaving of the music not only diegetic and non diegetic, 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.800 but just what songs he's going to use, when, what 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.920 portions of songs, so that you don't get a lot 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.000 of just here's the beginning of the song for the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.120 beginning of this scene, and when this scene ends, will 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:28.440 come to a nice ending point. 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:28.640 In this song. 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.200 You know, it's much more very well constructed, complicated and 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.640 layered than that. I did find it, even as I'm 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:38.360 praising that sort of construction, shaggier and scruffier than I remembered. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:39.840 And maybe that's going to point to some of the 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.600 issues you had where the scenes altogether didn't quite flow 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:46.800 as seamlessly as I remembered in my mind, which, of 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:51.280 course you remember beloved movies like this as Greatest Hits elements, 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.600 and it's sort of like maybe when you stumble across 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.120 that track on the Greatest Hits album and you're so, 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:58.680 I don't know why that's in there. There were maybe 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:00.480 a few moments where you're like, oh, I've forgot this 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:04.040 was in almost famous in general. I forgot there was 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:09.160 this much. Francis McDorman, Yes, I think realization, Yeah, I 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.440 mean it's a I remember it being a through line 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.960 how his mother felt and the connection to her. But 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:20.000 I didn't remember it being this good, including their scenes 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:21.840 that are always talked about, like when she's on the 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.960 phone with Russell and spins him around in an instant, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.440 But how about the one where she's exasperated at the 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:31.600 end of her rope with William and I forget exactly 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.120 what they're discussing at that point, but her response finally 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.600 when she realizes he's gone, that there's nothing she can 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:40.200 do about. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.320 This story, she breaks down. Actually at the end of 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:42.840 the scene. 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.000 What she says, this is what I remember. Her response 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.480 is not to condemn him, not to give him anger, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.160 not to give him a final warning. It's to say 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.320 I love you, yes, And she says it in a 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:57.680 way that's not necessarily saying I'm now on board with 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:02.840 this or you've convinced me otherwise. She hasn't shifted in anything, 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.959 including her love for him, and that's what she decides 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.360 to leave with. So she's amazing. And the other element 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.000 I thought there was way more Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yeah, 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.959 and that shows you how iconic has scenes. Yeah, right, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.040 And the way that you give Philip Seymour Hoffman four 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.440 minutes and he'll make it feel like you just watched 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:19.879 a feature. 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.280 Yeah. I really was struck by that as well, But 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:26.280 I'm with you. I had a complete reappreciation for Francis 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:30.959 mcdorman's performance and just how Cameron Crowe uses that character. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.639 I actually did watch this with Holden and Sophie, my 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:37.399 two oldest kids, and I was very gratified at the 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:39.160 end of the film that they enjoyed it. They both 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.280 enjoyed it quite a bit. Holden felt like he could 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.720 relate to William Miller, even though he certainly doesn't have 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.440 any sense of his appreciation for music, especially rock music. 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:50.119 But the biggest change in me from that time I 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.200 saw it in two thousand and one is I had 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.800 so much more sympathy for the mom. I mainly saw 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.040 her as comedy. It was there for comedic relief, and 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:01.439 those scenes still are or maybe the funniest scenes in 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.360 the movie anything with her and da Chanel and with 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.359 Patrick Fugue. But my kids they didn't see her as 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.159 a villain exactly watching the movie, but on that Miller spectrum, 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:16.159 from William who sees his mom as overwhelming but admirable 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.879 and well intentioned, to Anita who sees her as soul 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:22.720 crushingly overbearing. My kids saw her as closer to Anita, 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.800 and I think the younger you are, you probably see 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.000 her that way. Now as a parent, which I was 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.560 not in two thousand and one, I'm way more in 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.040 tune with that character and her fears. And I don't 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:34.679 know if it's the exact same scene you're thinking of 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.400 or not, but I'd completely forgotten about the one where 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:40.320 she is talking to William. It's one of the hallway scenes. 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:42.159 It's not the one where Russell gets on. It's the 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.560 one where they introduced the new girl who says she's 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.320 correct orient or whatever, and William can't hear what his 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.159 mom's saying, and she's saying, I love you. And the 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.040 way she breaks down at the end of that scene, 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.840 camera Crow gives her a moment to herself, This mom 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.879 who is emotional but who's otherwise had such kind of 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.960 steely resolve. Actually with Anita in that moment she's just 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.199 finally done. That really resonated with me. 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:08.199 Yeah, I do remember thinking of her as comic relief 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.760 because of those highlight scenes, also as being well you 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.040 had to have her to show where William was from. Yeah, 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:17.919 but this drops us. This speaks to the richness of 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.320 the writing in terms of all of these characters, so 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.680 many characters, how Crow is able to juggle them, give 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.639 them each their own narratives within William's experience, which is 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:32.280 obviously the driving force, and have us feel like we're invested. 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:36.399 We're just as invested in how his mom is experiencing, Yes, 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.479 this journey he's on, almost as much as we're invested 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:40.320 in William herself. 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.000 Some of those lines too. On the phone, when she's 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.680 telling Russell, now, go do your best, be bold, she's 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.600 quoting good to and you've been kissing she knows Anita's 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.640 been kissing Anita telling her feck you, and the way 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.639 she says hey in response to that is so great. 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.800 And the other really good McDorman moment, though there are 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.320 so many we could point to, when the woman on 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.320 the phone Freus a balk I think answers the phone 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.359 in the room and she says, is this Maryanne with 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:10.520