Rating: 
Summary: Better than the theatrical release (includes both versions)
Review: If you liked this film, be prepared to like it more. Cameron Crowes semi-autobiographical film is hillarious and intellegent. You must see this film. The best part of this special edition, the commentary with Crowe and his Mother!!! You would never believe the stuff in this film that's true until you hear this. The pacaging and extras (especially the menus) are too laid back and sentemental feeling, but the movie makes up for it.
Rating: 
Summary: OK Movie, Kate Hudson totally overrated
Review: The movie, basically a coming-of-age-story (for all parties involved), was so conventional it was rendered totally inoffensive (except for the painful Elton John singalong...) and palatable. The real reason for those two stars is Kate Hudson's "performance." She did little but sparkle her eyes and look slightly devious, but somehow this was enough to enchant the drooling hordes into believing she actually put any work or thought into her performance. She owes a great debt to Crowe (who is a master at creating likeable, yet shallow characters who play off all the obvious archetypes).
Rating:
Summary: A love letter to music.
Review: "Almost Famous" (2000) You may not know it, but Cameron Crowe - Almost Famous's director - is in love with music. Almost Famous is based on his experience with Led Zeppelin back in the 1970's, and it is a startling and amazing film that intrigued me with its developed characters and viewpoints of live in its set decade. Cameron Crowe is really getting on my good side. I loved Jerry Maguire, and thought it was one of the best films of 1996. Almost Famous is very different to Jerry Maguire, and I am thoroughly enjoying the way Crowe is changing his styles. He's done teen movies, romantic comedies and now Almost Famous is his tribute to music, that has a bit of everything - drama, funny and comical scenes and a mysterious romance. Crowe comes off as a natural in his directing department and his writing skills are even better. Crowe also wrote the film, and he shows true talent for bringing his stories to the screen. The acting in the movie is outstanding. It is headlined by a marvellous cast, including Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk and newcomer Patrick Fugit. Crudup and Lee are horribly underrated as actors. They gives a very realistic performance of band members struggling on the hard side of rock 'n roll and still managing to party on and have a good time. McDormand is now one of my favourite actresses. She just has amazing on-screen presence. Fargo won her Oscar, this one gave her a nomination and in Wonder Boys her underwritten performance was very enjoyable. I strongly recommend seeing how this woman works. Fugit, the newcomer of the actors, is very human and sweet, however hard his character tries to be "the enemy", Fugit comes off as just a cutie on the edge of stardom. Hudson will be huge! Also starring in Gossip in 2000, Hudson pulls off a performance like no other actress this year. Her character is mischievous and mysterious, and Hudson is truly a perfectionist in her role. I couldn't imagine seeing anyone play Penny Lane better. Balk and Paquin are pretty much there just to look at, but they have some good scenes, especially Balk, who has a hilarious telephone conversation with William's (Fugit) mother. "Is this Mary-Anne with the pot?" The chemistry between Fugit and Hudson is very believable. These two don't come across as 2 people who are meant to be together or anything on the outside, because one is a rock 'n roll groupie and the other is a 15 year-old journalist, but because the script really allows you to go deep in Penny and William's souls, you see really these 2 would be hopeless lovers in real life. I'd love to see them do more work together. The Oscar nominated editing in the film is also a highpoint. The sequences in which the band perform use many techniques and extras to bring the concerts off as believable and exciting. The editing was used particularly in these scenes, but there are also little things you might notice too. To fully appreciate Almost Famous you have to at least like music a little, and I like music a lot. This movie worked for me on many levels, it had the power to engage me, I had lots of people to care about, and overall I just had a heck of a fun time. Cameron Crowe - welcome to fully official stardom. MY GRADE: A+
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie, wonderful extras
Review: Almost Famous has become my favorite movie, ever! I fell in love with each and every character! My two favorites are Elaine Miller and Penny Laine. Two very different, but equally colorful, characters. I was thrilled that Cameron had his own MOTHER (the inspiration for Elaine) join him in the director's commentary! It was funny. I also enjoyed hearing more about Penny Lane from Cameron's own mouth. Not surprisingly, she was inspired by real-life girls he met while touring with bands. He names two of them: a Penny Trumble and a Bebe Buell. I would've loved to see pictures of these two ladies, heard them comment along with Cameron's mom. But I'll settle for looking up these two entities online! Oh well... What else? I loved watching the interview with real-life Lester Bangs---Philip Seymour Hoffman did an EXCELLENT job! Many of the cut scenes were good enough to be in the actual movie. Especially the hilarious Stillwater radio interview (what a whack job that DJ was!), Penny and Russell alone at the Riot House, and Penny "cutting the cake". The Stillwater concert is a great perk, especially "Hour of Need", my favorite song by a band that doesn't exist! The ode to Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, "Small Time Blues", is shown being sung in its entirety at the Riot House! There are so many great "little" scenes in this movie, I would've loved to zero in on like that. This is a wonderful movie with wonderful extras!
Rating:
Summary: the meaning of friendship
Review: On an assignment for Rolling Stone magazine, painfully uncool adolescent William Miller meets deeply cool rock groupie Penny Lane, falls in love and ends up saving her life. First off, this is a great movie for fans of rock movies. At times it shows some of the comic genius of Spinal Tap (especially the scene in the aeroplane). The fictional band Stillwater have some great early 70s tunes that really take you back (or take you there, depending on how old you are...). But it's also worth watching even if you hate all that kind of thing. Almost famous is really an exploration of the meaning of friendship. In a rock-tour world where every relationship is as shallow as a one night stand, William unwittingly shows what real friendship can be, and calls those around him to live up to the best in themselves. I expected this movie to be merely Ok. It far surpassed my expectations. Every performance is superb.
Rating:
Summary: It's worth it!!!!
Review: I already had the first release of this on dvd, but the Bootleg is totally worth it! There's so much packed in here, I've been listening to the Stillwater cd on an almost daily basis. I really enjoyed the deleted scenes, even if they didn't add much to the plot. It's great to see it all, even if it's not ALL the deleted scenes! The extras, like the Stillwater concert, are fantastic. I found the director's commentary particularly interesting. I liked hearing about what inspired Cameron Crowe to make this movie. He mentions a Bebe Buell as being a partial influence on the Penny Lane character. If you want to know why Penny wanted to go to Morocco, try doing a search on Bebe Buell. In a chat transcript for Playboy online, Bebe mentions always wanting to visit Africa someday! There are interviews online where Bebe says the very first conversation she had with Cameron in 1973 was about their ages. Sound familiar?! I recommend reading "Rebel Heart" by Bebe Buell too. You're bound to see other "Penny Lane" similarities.
Rating:
Summary: A time portal and a crystal ball and a backstage pass all in
Review: I avoided seeing this one for ages because I assumed from the previews it would be another "kids are cool - adults are stupid" piece of trash. What was I thinking? Every now and then a movie grabs me, and I watch the DVD literally every day for a couple of months. Contact. L.A. Confidential. 54. That sort of thing. And now, Almost Famous. This movie works on so many levels and rings so absolutely true from start to finish that you don't watch it, you live it. If you were around in the 70's, and you didn't live under a rock, you knew this world, in the same way that a young boy feels he knows the players on his favorite baseball team. I read Creem Magazine all the time. It was like a sacrament. At last, I get to see the other side, the lives of not only the people who wrote those sacred words, but also the people they wrote them about. Although there is plenty of star power here, all the monumentally talented actors are still unknown enough to bring nothing but talent to their roles. There's no star baggage or hype. Even Kate Hudson, the archtypical Hollywood insider, is fresh and new and utterly believable. The exception, of course, is Frances McDormand. As an Oscar winner and three time nominee, she's nobody's unknown, but her gift for loosing herself in memorable roles shines again as the mother of a young Carmeron Crowe-like character angsting over the sudden maturity thrust upon her prodigal son. There are moments; the band on a bus singing "Tiny Dancer", the guitarist on the roof proclaiming "I am a Golden God" (once uttered in real life by Robert Plant), and just about every scene with Patrick Fugit, who is nothing short of amazing, where this movie transcends its medium, its message, and becomes something much more. It's a time portal and a crystal ball and a backstage pass all in one. It lets you relive your childhood and fill in the parts that were denied to you the first time around. Don't miss this movie, and don't wait too long before you see it. You've waited far too long already, and in a magic instant it could be the 70's for you all over again, only better.
Rating:
Summary: Really Good Movie -- But Why Morocco ?
Review: This was an interesting, enjoyable film, particularly if you're into rock music... specifically the edgy stuff in the early 1970s, before Disco and New Wave. Kate Hudson was outstanding. But why did her character, Penny Lane, want to escape to Morocco? Isn't Morocco one of those countries where they treat women like dirt? Then again, that's how Penny Lane got treated by some of the band members. Perhaps Morocco seemed like an improvement.
Rating:
Summary: Better than crashing a party.
Review: Among the special features on the original DVD version is an interview with Joni Mitchell which was originally printed in Rolling Stone magazine. The great questions in the movie pushed the envelope, in an effort to understand what was cool, as that kind of question might be asked by a teenager whose mother was the Goethe-quoting college professor whose attitude about everything was the opposite of cool. In the process of being confronted by such an individual, Joni happened to remember a night when she wanted to crash a party, and someone at the door, who had been dubious about letting any stranger in, suddenly realized that Joni Mitchell being there was more cool than anything that had ever happened in the young lives of the people who had been invited. As I remember the interview, Joni was 36 and wondering if she might find a man who would be around long enough (six year minimum in modern times) for her to be an appropriate mother, and she wasn't likely to find him at that party, which was sometime when she was much younger, anyway. Watch the movie first, which is about being young, before you try to understand the interview, which is two aging people trying to get a grip on art, or escaping the grip of what is currently considered cool by fleeing the social scene, jumping into a swimming pool, or mostly, by growing old.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie About Rock and Roll I've Ever Seen
Review: Sometimes a film comes along, and it enchants and excites you. It makes you believe in movie magic again. This may happen infrequently, but when it does, it reminds you of what made you fall in love with the movies to begin with. Of course, even the best movie triggers these feelings in only part of its audience. For me, Almost Famous is one of those pictures. Since the print media and the visual media are so different, I doubt this review can tell you if the film has the same in store for you. Writer and director Cameron Crowe has had a charmed life, and he knows it, as can be seen in this partly autobiographical and partly fictionalized tale. When he was just fifteen years old, he got the first of several writing assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Almost Famous is the story of a kid on the road with a rock and roll band in the early 1970s. Young William Miller [Patrick Fugit] has come to the attention of Rolling Stone because of some articles he wrote for Creem magazine. The assignment comes via telephone, and the editors are unaware that they are hiring a teenager. William doesn't have much luck hooking up the band Stillwater until he gets a little help from a groupie called Penny Lane [Kate Hudson]. Penny is in love with Stillwater's lead guitarist, Russell [Billy Crudup]. Since he has a girlfriend back in New York, she tries to pretend she's just a friend, but everyone sees right through her. William's mother, Elaine [Frances McDormand], who has already alienated her daughter, Anita [Zooey Deschanel], is reluctant to let William go. She gives in when he promises to be back in time for high school graduation and swears he won't do drugs. He keeps his word on the drugs, but the tour and the group mesmerize the kid. He winds up on the road with them for weeks. It is, to say the least, an interesting trip. This is perhaps the best coming of age movie I have ever seen. It ranks arguably at the top of movies about rock and roll, and it certainly feels like the most authentic. The songs performed by Stillwater were written for the movie by Crowe and others, and they fit in seamlessly with the vintage rock and roll tunes played throughout the film. The look and the feel of the 70s is captured perfectly. It was a very different time for music. It was a period when talent and idealism ruled the scene. It would not be long until all pop music was all confiscated by vast corporations. You see the beginnings of this process in the movie when a creep from the record company comes in to replace the band's long time manager and friend. The acting is all world-class. Francis McDormand and Kate Hudson were deservedly nominated for Academy awards, but the whole cast is uniformly excellent. This movie has a lot of drama in it, but it also has a lot of laughs. It remains upbeat more often than not. It has heart, something that is lacking in many films, but it is never sappy or sentimental. it touches you without making you feel manipulated. It is, I suspect, the best movie of last year. Rated R for language, drug content and brief nudity. [I disagree with the MPAA on this one. I think Almost Famous is perfect for teens. Did they expect it to be historically inaccurate just because what was cool then isn't cool now?}
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