Almost Famous

"Never take it seriously, you never get hurt. Never get hurt, you can always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends." -Penny Lane(Kate Hudson)


Almost Famous was once a movie I saw on a shelf at Wal-Mart in the aisle separating the housewares from the entertainment center. I had 2 or 3 copies of "Tiny Dancer," (Elton John's original, Ben Folds' cover, and Dave Grohl's *ouch*-bless-his-heart-he-went-for-it cover) that was made legendary in a brief 2 minute clip.

Did I watch it as soon as I got home?

The answer is.....no.

But I have finally seen it, and it's definitely a must-see. Almost Famous centers around a high school student named William Miller(played by unknown Patrick Fugit) who is asked by Rolling Stone magazine to tour with rising rock n roll band Stillwater, and write a story about them.

The movie is basically a re-telling of director Cameron Crowe's(Jerry Maguire, Say Anything, Fast Times At Ridgemont High) storied teenage years. For he was Rolling Stone's youngest contributing editor and was indeed sent with many bands on tour to get their stories. (read: Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, Peter Frampton) In this DVD, Crowe's articles are included in the extras section.

Almost Famous is Crowe's tribute to rock and roll in those years. Stillwater is based off the great bands he had the pleasure of touring with. Lester Bangs--his friend and mentor, was part of the film as well, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman(Patch Adams). Penny Lane (Hudson) was based on a "band-aid" that Crowe was close friends with.

I realized, midway through watching Almost Famous, that I was not only seeing Crowe's life through his eyes(or through William Miller's, I should say)...I was also seeing life from the other character's eyes. By the end of the movie, I understood where the three main characters--William Miller, Penny Lane, and Russell Hammond(Billy Crudup)--were coming from. This wasn't just a music lover's movie. In some ways, it went much more deeper than that...but music was, most undeniably, at the very core of this film.

Cameron Crowe, I salute you.

Aeon Flux - Trailer

Trinity Redux

Okay, is it just me or does the new Aeon Flux movie look a bit lame? I remember watching some of the cartoon on MTV a while back and remember that although it was a bit weird, it kept me interested. Aeon Flux was a hard bodied agent of some sort in this post-apoctalyptic world who went on missions and battled weird looking creatures and even weirder looking people. I remember though she was insanely flexible, but not perfect since sometimes she died right after her missions, and was handy with her guns. I don't understand why she'd show up during the next episode if she died in some of them, but whatever. And she kept getting that fly trapped in her eyelashes for some reason, but that's another story.

The new movie looks fine as an action story, but is something I'd expect to see on the Sci-Fi channel. The special effects look sub-par, nothing that I haven't seen on TV before. The story doesn't seem to match up with anything in the series. In the movie, Aeon Flux is part of an order that instructs her to assassinate some chancelor guy that doesn't really seem all that evil. In the cartoon, I never really remembered Aeon working with anyone. She was more a lone wolf. AND Charlize Theron looks a bit too "soft" to play the role of Aeon. Her facial features aren't as chisled as Aeon's, Aeon had those hair weird curls AND Charlize has a layered-Hollywood haircut, and Aeon's outfit had more material on the top and less on the bottom where Charlize's is like a Matrix-Trinty knock off. I really don't mind the outfit though. When watching the series, I thought Aeon should cover up a bit more.

Well, I guess might watch the movie anyway. We'll see what's available in the theaters by the time it premieres. I'm not keeping my hopes up though.

Sahara

It's getting hot out heeere ... or is it just Matthew McConaughey?

Sahara, I would have to say, isn't that bad of a movie. It starts off exciting. Then, is a bit slow at the beginning, and then picks up again around the last half of the movie. It has the basic elements of action and adventure, not a lot of drama. And a few comedy bits here and there thanks to the funny buddy charm Steve Zahn adds to the movie.

Sahara basically features Matthew McConaughey as Dirk and Steve Zahn as his buddy that venture on a treasure hunt to find a lost Civil War submarine that is rumored to have traveled to Africa 150 years ago, containing a large amount of Confederate gold coins. On their way to find the submarine, they meet Penelope Cruz who plays a doctor trying to find out the source of a mysterious disease afflicting many of Africa's citizens. However, the doctor and the treasure hunters get attacked by African army terrorists, and have to fight their way to escape. This leads to an adventure that leads our heroes to the source of the disease as well as the mysterious cave drawings that appear to depict a confederate submarine. Will the doctor destroy the disease before it affects the rest of the world? Will the treasure hunters find their gold? You'll have to watch the movie to find out, but I think you know the answer to this one.

What I like about this movie is how it breaks the "buddy" stereotype in most movies. In most action movies, the "buddy" is there for the comic relief. He does some of the work, but the main hero is the one who does the punching, fighting, puzzle-solving, etc.. etc.. and gets the girl in the end. In this movie, Zahn is the one who knows how to operate the boat, the power plant in the middle of the desert, the machine guns, etc... etc... He's the useful buddy that is just as capable as our main "hero" McConaughey and needs McConaughey just as much as McConaughey needs him. AND he's funny, so I applaud Sahara's take on making Zahn more than just a sidekick, but an actual player on the team.

Overall, Sahara's an enjoyable movie. It's no Indiana Jones, but is just enough fun to watch.