ElCochran90

by Inez

An adventure as big as life itself.

DIRECTED BY: Tim Burton
STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Blly Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Giullaume, Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito

Synopsis

Tim Burton directs the fantasy drama Big Fish, based on the book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Southern writer/illustrator Daniel Wallace. Billy Crudup plays William Bloom, a young man who never really knew his dying father, Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) outside of the tall tales he told about growing up, making his way, and meeting his mother, Sandra Bloom (played as a young woman by Alison Lohman and in older age by Jessica Lange). During Edward's last days, William and his wife Josephine (Marion Cotillard) hold bedside vigil as the old man recollects elaborate memories of his youth (in which he is played by Ewan McGregor). Still doubting the the legends and folklore, William makes a journey to meet a mysterious woman (Helena Bonham Carter) from whom Edward had bought property.

Source: Starpulse

My Review

With the director Tim Burton and the composer Danny Elfman, we all have imagined Big Fish to be a NICE EDWARD SCISSORHANDS ENCORE. The truth is, not exactly an encore, but still supplied with the same tone, heartwarming fairy tale for all ages, and Burton-Elfman-ish style.

Adapted from a book by Daniel Wallace, Burton convinced us that the movie is at least as good as the book, without losing his directing style in each angles. The UNIQUE storyline with imaginative characters were represent well by Burton into the screen of a movie. I haven't watched the book yet, but I'm sure that the movie Big Fish is exactly what the readers hope. Bunch of great casts, and memorable quotes, deeply acted, and well executed. But what I concern about is, I'm afraid that after a few years, Big Fish will be only well remebered as another hot job from Burton, a nice Scissorhands' follower, and then there will be nothing much left about it, becuase it is not as good as Scissorhands is every way.

Albert Finney gave a perfect performance as the older Edward Bloom, his performance was REMARKABLE. And to mention Jessica Lange and Ewan McGregor which gave honorable pwerformances, supported the movie well, quite convincing. Helena Bonham Carter is without any doubt, a true actress, she nailed all her roles in every movies she played well. But, only heaven knows whether she got her roles here because of her quality, or well, nepotism. I mean, first this Big Fish, and then Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd. But who cares, I'm sure she'll be as great as she is now without staying under Burton's shadow.

Overall Big Fish is a fairy tale with a troop of great casts (means you don't have to worry about the actings development, they are all in the good hands). ANOTHER 'BIG' WORK OF ART FROM BURTON.

I was thinking about death and all. About seeing how you're gonna die. I mean, on one hand, if dying was all you thought about, it could kind of screw you up. But it could kind of help you, couldn't it? Because you'd know that everything else you can survive.

-Edward Bloom-

by Ilya

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Luis Guzman, Philip Seymour Hoffman

«Barry: I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.»

Barry Egan (Sandler) owns a company that markets themed toilet plungers ("fungers") and other novelty items. He has seven overbearing sisters who ridicule him regularly, and leads a very lonely life punctuated by fits of rage. In the span of one morning, he witnesses a bizarre car accident, picks up an abandoned harmonium from the street, and encounters Lena Leonard (Watson), who he later learns orchestrated the meeting after seeing him in a family picture belonging to his sister Elizabeth (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a co-worker of Lena's. A beautiful and completely original love story, which proves that love, is a true feeling.

Once again Paul Thomas Anderson proves that he is one of the most unique directors and writers in this world. A film that started off as a comedy, eventually turned into a real love movie, which in the end turned into a real drama and eventually it finished as a love movie again. A great mixture of genres, proves how entirely unique this film is. It is also notable for its great acting performances, especially from Adam Sandler. Yes, the same man who brought us such films as Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. Nobody thought that on his first ever try in drama style movies he will come up with such a great performance. It proves that Anderson is a great director; anybody else would just cast some big name star, but not him. He believed in Sandler, he knew what he was doing and the result turns out to be a great success. A credit to Sandler of course, this guy had so much potential inside him. Who would have thought that this guy who was teaching a little kid how to pee on the street in "Big Daddy", managed to pull out such a mesmerizing performance. With all the praise on Sandler, let's not forget about a great supporting cast he was working with; Luis Guzman and Philip Seymour Hoffman who was well experienced to give their own well deserved performances. And of course Emily Watson who was absolutely charming throughout the whole movie, she played Egan's love partner brilliantly. She was as good as ever; she and Sandler had a really great mixture between them.

Easy noticeable is an amazing cinematography, Anderson seem to put some really big effort in it. He is a guy who likes to mix things up a lot, so that's exactly what we get in this movie. Blurring colours, zigzag lines, circling waves; all of this mixed together makes this film look really great. It may sound strange, but all the camera angles are extremely accurate; they follow the story and the main event around, while in many films camera can simply distract the audience from the main event. The use of special effects is great, there is that little bit of action going on and it seems perfect as usually too much GGI use lead to a failure. The use of sound is really amazing. It is used so well in the movie, from the early scenes when it makes you jump while you carefully watch the screen and don't expect it to happen, to the main soundtrack itself. The main use of music in this film is shown straight away; Barry finds an abandon harmonium on the street and wherever he plays it we hear music during the film, and then it just keeps on playing. At first it is a bit annoying; we can't really concentrate on the main story and it just makes the dialogues a lot tougher to understand. But once we get used to the music, it becomes a part of us, we simply want more and more of it to come. Music is really essential in this movie, because both the film and the music cannot work without each other in this case.

This film is not really famous; it didn't perform very well at the box office nor did it have some big name actors in it. But it doesn't really matter, as it manages to show us what Anderson had on his mind. The main idea of this film is love: love leads this movie all the way through, and it is love that makes Barry Egan stronger and leads him to finally face his fears and defeat them. He manages to control his anger and he puts it towards his problems, and the reason for that change is his true feeling towards Lena.

«Barry: I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.»

Review Date: 30th of May, 2008.

by Sam

What a masterpiece this film is! This is one of my all time favourite films ever because I just thought that basically everything in this film was perfect. This is one of the few films that I loved that had a lot of awesome qualities involved. Qualities like different styles of acting with the different sort of characters within the film. First of all I am going to start my review by saying about the plot. The plot is awesome. It is one of those plots that have quite a lot of different genres in it. It is obviously action packed and has now become my favourite action film of all time. It is really tense and suspenseful. It made my heart beat like it never has before but I am afraid it isnt my favourite thriller. Doesnt beat the suspense of Psycho, The Shining, Jaws and Silence Of The Lambs. This is also a very emotional film with a lot of dramatic turns and twists that occur in the film. It is a plot that sounds quite short but when you watch the film it isnt a short plot at all. It goes on but with a lot of good scenes and scenes that the viewers didnt know anything about before the film was released. The script fits perfectly with the style and creativity of the film. The film basically begins how Batman Begins ends really when Scarecrow appears at the very beginning and doesnt appear again in the film which is a bit of a relief because the film wouldnt be that good if Scarecrow was in the rest of the film. Christopher Nolan directed this film so well and because of this he has now officially become one of my all time favourite directors. I wasnt that keen on The Prestige that he directed but I loved Memento and Batman Begins. But Chris Nolan himself said that he wouldnt be able to make any better film than he has The Dark Knight. I dont think he has made one bad film really. They are all great successes. When you first see the title of this film, it doesnt really sound that strong really but when the film is on in front of you it fits perfectly with the plot and other various things in the film. It is quite bizarre because knight means like soldier or hero but it fits Batman perfectly because he is the Dark Knight. In other words like the dark hero. Now onto the characters and then I will write about each of the casts performances. Batmans character is obviously really good but the Batman character in this one is a lot darker with a lot more inventive technology like Alfred Pennyworth mostly helps Bruce with ideas of what to do with the technology but Lucius makes it for him and gives Bruce the equipment especially when Bruce can afford to buy it anyway because he is so rich. There is something that we see in Bruce in this film that we have never seen before. For example, he doesnt like killing people when he is Batman but when Joker comes along that is another matter. Also it brings out whether Batman is a real hero when he doesnt really kill any of the troublemakers of Gotham. He doesnt so much chuck the evil people away in a bin he mostly sweeps them out of the city and tries to keep peace within Gotham. Also, there isnt really that much talk about Batmans past in this film either because his past really effected him when he became Batman. But I wont say anymore about Batman because I might spoil it for you whether you have seen this film or not. The Joker is the best character in the whole film I think because he has a psychotic character to him and because he is a clown that makes the Joker even more of an evil, dangerous and psychotic character. In this film there is some secret past of the Joker that we didnt know about but as I said I am not going to say. There is a lot of different sort of situations that Joker plots on when terrorising Gotham. Like where, when, who and how he can perform terrorism in Gotham. It is like the Joker has a lot of accomplices but as he loses them he gains them back again which is quite bizarre but pretty easy aswell. The Joker is a character that can affect Batman not just physically in a fight but emotionally aswell. There is a comment about Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker later on in the review. Harvey Dent is a character who is making extra special out of himself like becoming the new hero of Gotham along with Batman. He is sort of like Bruce Waynes heir in the Wayne business. This film is making him become like the un-superhero Batman who is keeping peace in Gotham until the Joker comes along and then changes things in his life forever. He comes along at an awkward time between Bruce and Rachels relationship as friends as both of them have hidden feelings for each other. I didnt so much like Rachels character in this film but performance in this one was better than Batman Begins. Lieutenant Gordon gets more and more involved in this film. He is in a lot more scenes in different sorts of situations. Alfred and Lucius Fox are obviously involved in this film but not as involved as they both were in Batman Begins. Now, onto the acting Morgan Freeman was good as Lucius Fox again and so was Sir Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth. Gary Oldman improved a lot in this film. He was a lot more dramatic because his character became more personal and got more involved in not just the whole film in general but it the lives of most of the characters within the film particularly Batman and Harvey Dent. Well done, Gary!! Aaron Eckhart was excellent as Harvey Dent because he performed really well as a hero but also as a murderer as soon as he became Two-Face. I wouldnt refer Harvey Dent a villain at all because he soon went mad for a reason which contains a spoiler. The Two-Face make up that Aaron has to have on his face is absolutely superb because the one half of his real face obviously looks real but when you see his other half of his face as a like ripped apart and burned aswell face. Because the make up was so good on Two-Face, I couldnt really tell whether the half face was a mask or just computer visual effects. To me I think it was both mask and visual effects. When Harvey becomes Two-Face I really felt for him because of what he became and also because of something that happens. Maggie Gyllenhaals performance as Rachel Dawes is good but not brilliant. She acted a bit dull. I couldnt see her love for either Bruce or Harvey at all. But I did think that she was far better than Katie Holmes was as Rachel in Batman Begins. Christian Bale makes a very impactful and awesome return as Batman once again. Christians performance is a lot darker as Batman than Batman Begins was by far. He performs a lot more stunts and greater action sequences within the film. But the greatest performance of the whole film and probably one of the greatest performances of the year which is Heath Ledgers terrifying performance as the Joker. Heath creates a character that nobody has ever seen before. He delivers a performance that will be remembered for the ages and that can never be forgotten. Heath creates a voice that is completely different from Jack Nicholsons Joker not to mention his own voice. Heaths Joker is totally different to Jacks Joker because Heaths was more psychological and menacing but Jacks was more comical if you get what I mean. Like for example Jack Nicholsons make up makes him look like Jack Nicholson but with Heath Ledgers make up on and the wig and so forth makes it looks hard to identify the Joker in The Dark Knight as Heath Ledger. Some critics say and even I say that Jack Nicholsons Joker is very hard to beat and no one will ever beat him but that failed until I saw this film. I think Heath used a lot of different things that leaded up to his own Joker like watching psychological movies like A Clockwork Orange. He kept a diary during filming of how he can change things around in the character and also how he can perform his different talents as the Joker. The make-up is absolutely superb on Heath. The scars that go across his lips look like real scars unlike the Tim Burton version on Jack Nicholson. Heaths hair in this film suited the Joker perfectly too because the Joker can be imagined easily with long hair like Heath appears with in this film. Heaths Joker was more deadly than Jacks. A sick thing with Heaths Joker was that the Dark Knight Joker had yellow teeth, the actor was a lot younger and laugh was a lot better. Heaths Joker laugh is really joyful in a real psychological way. It is a laugh that can always stay in your head and cant stop thinking about. It is quite a quirky feeling but a really good one aswell if you understand what I mean. Heath Ledger brings a quote that the Joker has never stated before in a film. For example Why so serious? and there are some other spin-chilling quotes that Heath comes up with in this film which you will have to wait and see. His performance was so good in this film that his performance has become my favourite supporting actor performance even beating Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction. Heath will get an Oscar for his performance. I would be very surprised if he doesnt win or even doesnt get nominated. This is his film. It is a shame that he isnt around to applaud his performance as the Joker. This film will win Oscar for either Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger, definitely Best Sound, maybe Best Visual Effects and definitely Best Make Up. Best action film ever made. Best superhero film ever made and favourite film of 2008 so far.R.I.P: Heath Ledger.

by Fabio

"Kate & Leopold" is not a top quality film, but has some seriously funny and entertaining moments.
The best part of this movie by far is Hugh Jackman.

by Mark

Enjoyable if predictable tale of two men linked forever to the past. "Falls" short in the end.

by Inez

We bury our sins, we wash them clean.

DIRECTED BY: Clint Eastwood
STARRING: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Champan, Tom Guiry, Emmy Rossum

Synopsis

Summer, 1975: in a tight blue-collar Boston neighborhood, three kids are playing when one is abducted and sexually abused for several days. Jump ahead: the victim, Dave (Tim Robbins), is haunted by memories and protective of his own son. Jimmy's (Sean Penn) an ex-con, father of three. Sean is a homicide detective, estranged from his pregnant wife. When Jimmy's teen daughter dies, Sean (Kevin Bacon) investigates, Dave's a suspect, and Jimmy vows to find the killer before the cops. The dead girl has a boyfriend whose long-missing father has a history with Jimmy. The boyfriend's a suspect, and when ballistics turns up a link to a gun owned by the young man's father, the case breaks. In the background, wives move events along.

Source: IMDb

My Review

If there is any reason that made Mystic River didn't win the Oscar, maybe it was only because it was facing Jackson's giant The Return of The King. In my opinion, Mystic River is a very POWERFUL in every way, and may I say that, it is more than Crash (the 2006's winner). Again, a not-so-lucky coincidence for a good movie to win an Oscar it deserves.

It owns my 5 stars, because I think, well, 'is there anything wrong about the movie?' HELL, NO! Perfectly directed and casted, each actors seem belong to the movie, including Eastwood, who made this movie a true high quality intense. I found that the guy is much better to be off from camera, and instead, works behind it, and he can create miracles. He didn't get the Oscar for this? Who cares?! He made it one year later with Million Dollar Baby, which I think, he deserves it more when he directed Mystic River.

And pay attention the guys who really made this movie works. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. I've putted my eye on Penn since I am Sam, which some think that it's not a really great movie (and which I don't agree with), but still, Penn gave a miraculous performance in I am Sam. Then, he played the exact diffrent role here, he created a heavenly choir in the viewers' hearts. He shouted, he screams, he cried, and we saw a man who was really ready to receive his Oscar. And to mention the honorable Tim Robbins, which created intense in his character Dave. Bacon did a good job and he fits for the role, but I can see anybody else in those suits which can played the role Sean Devine as good as him. But the SCENE-STEALER here is Marcia Gay Harden. She presented her role with her totality of acting. Remember her scene with Sean Penn? It's probably the most powerful moment in the movie. The dialogs are convincing and brilliantly smart. A perfect way to adapt a book into different kind of masterpiece.

Overall Mystic River is an experience of watching 3 powerful characters in the same intrigue with different role, created a vibe of intense and curiosity for all viewers. MYSTIC RIVER IS A TRUTHFUL MASTERPIECE FROM EASTWOOD.

The reality is we're still 11 year old boys locked in a cellar imagining what our lives would have been if we'd escaped.

-Kevin Bacon as Sean Devine-

by Quinto

"The End... or the beginning?" I love when they do that, and it also kept me laughing how everyone seems to be yelling their lines all the time. As for the film itself, very entertaining and I found the gore satisfying. A nice, bloody time.

by Lisa

Courtroom dramas can either be really good or really bad. This one surprised me massively. I love Matt Damon, and it isn't often he makes a bad film. His performance in this was very strong and he really was the star of the whole thing. Danny DeVito was a great addition to the cast, throwing in a few laughs as well. Claire's Dane's performance was really good and her additional plotline, although somewhat pointless, managed to entertain. Good direction from Francis Ford Coppola, although not exactly his best work. Still, it was a very good film that is well worth checking out.

by mrvn

Directed by : Timur Bekmambetov
Casts : Angelina Jolie,James McAvoy,Morgan Freeman,Common

In-One-Sentence: : Matrix:Replication

The Review:


It's a typical Hollywood fashion,to repeat the same thing twice,The Matrix and now,Wanted.But luckily,with such of similarity,Wanted can stand as it's own,a rapidly vast action movie,gripping and absurdly entertaining.Wanted is as much as The Matrix,endless flash of action and stylish cut of angles through-out the movie.

Taken from it's trailer,we've already assumed Wanted has promising action sequences and Angelina Jolie will kick some butt here.And the trailer didn't dissappoint.Although,people want to go to the cinema to get a piece of the world most cherish actress,they got more,a fun ride of shooting parade and R-Rated gore,as seen clearly in this picture.

James McAvoy,merely as half as he did in Atonement,is surpsingly sharp and immensely fun,gives the movie thrill it should have,as a pathetic salesman turn assasin.While,Angelina-never been sexier before-Jolie is eventually owned the movie.And Morgan Freeman's performance was equally striking.


But wether you like it or not,people is going to compare this out of The Matrix,visual treat,almost close,and the concept,I see a contrast.They make bullet curved through the air,should try harder,not even wowed me enough.

The 360 Spin: :
Overshadowed by Matrix's grace.But WANTED is still will rock you to the core!

Formula:
{ (Hitman + Smokin'Aces) * The Matrix } / Die Hard 2 = Wanted

"Kill one,save a thousand"Fox

by mrvn

Directed by : Timur Bekmambetov
Casts : Angelina Jolie,James McAvoy,Morgan Freeman,Common

In-One-Sentence: : Matrix:Replication

The Review:


It's a typical Hollywood fashion,to repeat the same thing twice,The Matrix and now,Wanted.But luckily,with such of similarity,Wanted can stand as it's own,a rapidly vast action movie,gripping and absurdly entertaining.Wanted is as much as The Matrix,endless flash of action and stylish cut of angles through-out the movie.

Taken from it's trailer,we've already assumed Wanted has promising action sequences and Angelina Jolie will kick some butt here.And the trailer didn't dissappoint.Although,people want to go to the cinema to get a piece of the world most cherish actress,they got more,a fun ride of shooting parade and R-Rated gore,as seen clearly in this picture.

James McAvoy,merely as half as he did in Atonement,is surpsingly sharp and immensely fun,gives the movie thrill it should have,as a pathetic salesman turn assasin.While,Angelina-never been sexier before-Jolie is eventually owned the movie.And Morgan Freeman's performance was equally striking.


But wether you like it or not,people is going to compare this out of The Matrix,visual treat,almost close,and the concept,I see a contrast.They make bullet curved through the air,should try harder,not even wowed me enough.

The 360 Spin: :
Overshadowed by Matrix's grace.But WANTED is still will rock you to the core!

Formula:
{ (Hitman + Smokin'Aces) * The Matrix } / Die Hard 2 = Wanted

"Kill one,save a thousand"Fox

by Quinto

The fairy-tale angle of the film is pretty cute and entertaining, though the romantic one is certainly uneven. Still, Christina Ricci looks very adorable. I just kept wanting to have eskimo make-out sessions with her. I also really liked the wardrobe and the production.

by Sam

Juno is definitely one of the funniest films of 2007. This film brings a lot of delight and pleasure to the viewers not just because it is funny but it is beautiful what a teenage girl becomes when she discovers she is pregnant and what she decides to do aswell. Also, it isnt just the situation that Juno is in, it is also all of the characters that are involved in the film. I love that a cool chav-ish girl like Juno gets pregnant by nerd and quite bizarre Paulie Bleeker. Juno acts like a girl who is a bit of a know it all and acts all hard and like she is so tough but when she becomes pregnant everything changes around. I am sure that everyone who watches the film and even most of the characters in the film wonder why her name is Juno. It is just a very unknown and bizarre name that apparently has the name of Zeus wife in Ancient Greek which is what Juno mentions in the film. Ellen Page delivers an outstanding performance as Juno. Her performance is one of my favourite leading actress performances and is certainly my Oscar Best Actress winner in 2007. I believe she should have won instead of other two favourites Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose and Julie Christie in Away From Her. But Ellen should have won her Oscar. Michael Cera delivers an average performance as Paulie Bleeker. I think a better actor could have been his character. He was better in this than he was in Superbad. Jennifer Garners performance is excellent aswell as soon to be adoptive mother Vanessa Loring. I think she was snubbed from earning her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. One that I think should have been her instead of Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone. At first I didn?t think that an actress like Jennifer Garner who appears in Elektra, Daredevil and other fantasy films be any good in this film but she really was brilliant! J.K. Simmons was good as Junos father Mac MacGuff, Allison Janney was poor as Bren MacCuff, Jason Bateman was pretty good as soon to be adoptive father Mark Loring but worst of all of them was Olivia Thirlby as Junos best friend Leah. She acted a bit too hot as Junos best friend. And also Juno looks like a completely different sort of girl to Leah when they hang out and be best mates. My second favourite Oscar Best Picture winner after No Country For Old Men. This film is like last years Little Miss Sunshine. This is definately the number one comedy of 2007. This film is very similar to Knocked Up but better. Masterpiece!

by Gregorius

Walden Media, the production house that create The Chronicles of Narnia made another based-on-novel-fantasy movie. I was interested to watch this movie, because i thought it was a good one. But I'm wrong, well not totally wrong.

What's wrong with this movie? Well, I've noticed that this movie main mistake was on the cast. No extraordinary cast in this movie. Alex Etel's and Priyanka Xi's performance remind me of those stupid Pevensie's (You know what I mean right?). In this movie, Emily Watson was the best of the rest I might say, while Ben Chaplin's wasn't good but averagely quite (maybe almost) acceptable.

I could give more stars to this movie if those cast could perform better. This movie has a brilliant score (similar to the Narnias) and great story. Beside, the special effects of the movie was a nice one, and so smooth. I was concern about around the end of the movie (in the climax), I felt for a while like I was watching some horror movie such as Primeval,etc, but I know that's one the strength of the story or the movie itself. Last thing that I concerned was some of needless scene like the interruption of the narration, which bring us back to the old Angus (this movie was a flashback).

After all, for my last words, this movie was a decent one and suited for family. Light entertainment and sweet creature was featured here. And just for my last info, this was one of the (fiction) story based on the Loch Ness Monster's Legend.

by Inez

Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it.

DIRECTED BY: Cameron Crowe
STARRING: Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Philip Seyour Hoffman

Synopsis

Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to Rolling Stone while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) strict single parent whose distrust of rock music has helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer, an editor at Rolling Stone offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother , and after some stern advice from Bangs, Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a Band Aid traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Lester Bangs and Ben Fong-Torres, incidentally, were real-life rock writers Crowe worked with closely during his days as a journalist.

Source: Starpulse

My Review

Almost Famous is one of some real proves in the existancy of wheel of life. What I'm trying to say here is, you see Cameron Crowe here, and you see him 5 years later in Elizabethtown. Got the idea? If you haven't, let me make this clearer that Almost Famous is a real PIECE OF WORK and Elizabethtown is RUBBISH.

The whole idea is BRILLIANT, about the lives of rockstars, the rise and fall and all is really caught me. This is why I put Cameron Crowe as a good director in my list, his work here is untouchable, way too far from his downfall in Elizabethtown. I'm sorry, I just still don't get why those great directors who have gained good movies want able to cast Orlando Bloom as the lead actor in their movies. (NOTED: Ridley Scott-Kingdom of Heaven, Cameron Crowe-Elizabethtown) And thank God that the Penny Lane role was not given to Kirsten Dunst who was rumored to play the role, instead, she played in (again) Elizabethtown 5 years later. Bloom + Dunst = EARLY DOOMSDAY. Smart choice, Crowe! (total joking)

Back to the movie, Almost Famous gives a well written script, solid casts (the great actings from Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson, both deserve the Oscar Nomination), good rock musics, and the 70's set works. What I concern about is Anna Paquin that she should given more role here. She's a great actress (an Oscar in her age of 11 by the movie The Piano), it's a great start of career for the young girl. But until now, she mostly only known as the girl named Rogue in the X-Men series. She should be a promising Hollywood talent.

The characters bond to each other, but of course Penny Lane, played by Hudson, got the center of attention. This is the best Hudson's performance in a movie. The character's chemistry with Russell Hammond, played by Crudup is inevitable. Both barely speaks, but I guess Crowe got a great sense of picking the great actors for the roles ONCE. (I guess you all know why I bolded, biggered, and underlined the word)

Overall Almost Famous is a movie with interesting characters about how life can turn into, possibilities and most of all, ALMOST FAMOUS MADE A SPOT IN 2000's BEST LIST.

You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars. That's what's important. If you're a rock journalist - first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they'll buy you drinks, you'll meet girls, they'll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs... I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.

-Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs-

by Sam

This is without a doubt my favourite Marlon Brando film and is my favourite performance from him and even one of my favourite performances by an actor in a leading role of all time. Marlon Brando was one of my favourite actors when I saw my first film from him The Godfather. I loved his performances in On The Waterfront and Apocalypse Now aswell. I have watched 4 of his films so far and not one has disappointed me yet. Marlon Brando portrays Stanley Kowalski so well because he acts like charming and nice looking guy as Marlon actually was at that age but he also acted like a slightly disturbed character with a lot of different problems. Marlon is good as portraying both heroes and villains. He was a good hero in On The Waterfront but he was a good villain in this aswell. I am unsure who is the real villain in this film between Stanley and Blanche because they are both very puzzling and mysterious characters to calculate. I think Stanley is more of the villain than Blanche is. The quote Stanley speaks in this film Hey, Steeeeeeella! is a classic and a memorable quote aswell. Vivien Leigh delivers the best performance from the whole cast and in my opinion the greatest leading actress performance of all time. Vivien Leigh portrays a mysterious character who is starting to get old and she still likes fashion design. She goes to visit her sister and meets her husband and she moves in for months and this causes a real rivalry and confrontation between Blanche and Stanley and Blanches younger sister Stella is torn between the two of them. Kim Hunters performance was another outstanding one aswell because she easily showed her emotion towards this character and shows that she cant choose between her husband and her sister. Karl Malden does well aswell as Mitch. Mitch is a man who falls in love with Blanche and he doesnt know how old she is until near the end of the film. I think this film is the best film that I have seen where the entire cast have delivered the best performances. Vivien, Karl and Kim all earned Best Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress Oscars but Marlon was nominated but didnt win. I think that would have made history of two actors and two actresses winning all four Oscars for the same film which this film won 3 of the 4. I dont think a film has ever done that before. Marlon should have won though. His performance in this film is my number 5 Best Leading Actor performance of all time. This is definitely a masterpiece. This film begins with a collaboration between Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando. One of greatest films I have ever seen!!!

by Cris

An amazing americanized anime and a welcome addition to the Batman franchise.