Shakespeare Bond
Joined Nov 1999
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Reviews13
Shakespeare Bond's rating
I intend to see the whole Dollar trilogy, but this one bodes well for the series.
First to get the bad out of the way. The dubbing is so bad it's laughable. It's like those old Godzilla flicks! Fortunately, you get used to it after a while and it doesn't take that much away from the movie.
Eastwood is suitably tough in this, one of his signature roles. He's not exactly Shakespearean, but he is all the screenplay calls him to be: tough, handsome, rugged, cynical.
Leone's direction is astonishing. Like the story and the landscape: tough, rugged and unforgiving. There is one breathtaking sequence wherein we see through the eyes of a character that has been shot as he wobbles and falls. Very professional and artistic.
I can't wait to see the rest of this series.
First to get the bad out of the way. The dubbing is so bad it's laughable. It's like those old Godzilla flicks! Fortunately, you get used to it after a while and it doesn't take that much away from the movie.
Eastwood is suitably tough in this, one of his signature roles. He's not exactly Shakespearean, but he is all the screenplay calls him to be: tough, handsome, rugged, cynical.
Leone's direction is astonishing. Like the story and the landscape: tough, rugged and unforgiving. There is one breathtaking sequence wherein we see through the eyes of a character that has been shot as he wobbles and falls. Very professional and artistic.
I can't wait to see the rest of this series.
It is so refreshing to see a film in which the filmmakers actually care about the characters. The movie is about writer/director Crowe's own experiences and it shows in the way he makes so many characters 3-dimensional and sympathetic.
Stylistically, Almost Famous is the polar opposite of my favorite film of last year, Magnolia, which was deliberately over-the-top. This film is never flashy, but rather portrays a world that we can actually believe existed.
Kate Hudson is absolutely radiant as Penny Lane. She has such grace, such ethereal beauty, that I fell in love with her in the same way that William does.
Patrick Fugit is a find. He's an everyman, our door to this world. He's hardly some cute, wide-eyed kid. Watching Fugit, I could feel William being torn between being a journalist and being a fan.
My favorite performance is by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who does a spectacular job of portraying the purist (some would say elitist) rock critic, Lester Bangs. His arrogance is offset by the fact that he clearly likes William and proves not to be the intimidating jerk he first seems to be. After seeing Hoffman in this, Magnolia, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, I've become a big fan of his.
Billy Crudup and Frances McDormond both deserve lots of awards for their portrayal of a charismatic, egotistical rock star and an overprotective, but ulitmately loving mother, respectively. I could see why William is both attracted and repulsed by both these figures and the extremes they represent.
Bottom line, Almost Famous is the best movie of the year 2000 and deserves the Oscar it will never get.
Stylistically, Almost Famous is the polar opposite of my favorite film of last year, Magnolia, which was deliberately over-the-top. This film is never flashy, but rather portrays a world that we can actually believe existed.
Kate Hudson is absolutely radiant as Penny Lane. She has such grace, such ethereal beauty, that I fell in love with her in the same way that William does.
Patrick Fugit is a find. He's an everyman, our door to this world. He's hardly some cute, wide-eyed kid. Watching Fugit, I could feel William being torn between being a journalist and being a fan.
My favorite performance is by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who does a spectacular job of portraying the purist (some would say elitist) rock critic, Lester Bangs. His arrogance is offset by the fact that he clearly likes William and proves not to be the intimidating jerk he first seems to be. After seeing Hoffman in this, Magnolia, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, I've become a big fan of his.
Billy Crudup and Frances McDormond both deserve lots of awards for their portrayal of a charismatic, egotistical rock star and an overprotective, but ulitmately loving mother, respectively. I could see why William is both attracted and repulsed by both these figures and the extremes they represent.
Bottom line, Almost Famous is the best movie of the year 2000 and deserves the Oscar it will never get.