Almost Famous

This is an odd post for me but I felt like posting it anyway…

A few years ago Cameron Crowe made one of my favorite movies, Almost Famous, that documents a young boy, William’s journey with an almost famous rock band; a kid who is just “too sweet for rock and roll”. Witty, artsy and telling of one of the most interesting times in America’s modern culture, the film is about getting lost in this crazy world and the search for something “real”. So last night as I was channel surfing out of boredom I fell upon it as it was just starting; it’s a cool feeling when happenstance happens.

Crowe has always set out to make some of the classic scenes in film history: a lovesick John Cusak holding up a boom box with Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” blaring out, or a desperate Tom Cruise screaming “show me the money!!” over a telephone. These scenes are memorable and only a few directors such as Crowe (Wes Anderson also) have the ability to make use of great music in their films. Not to mention the writing being completely quotable: “tell her you’re a slave to the groove, you can’t help it” says Russell when William’s character is on the phone with his mother.

But one of the best scenes that can really put a smile on one’s face is when the shaky band gets on the tour bus to the tune of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”. It’s the scene I always think of whenever I’m suddenly nostalgic and I feel like I have to go home…