Taking Sides: "Velvet Goldmine" versus "Almost Famous"

glam is classic. david bowie is classic. iggy pop is classic. "citizen kane" is classic. despite all these things, "velvet goldmine" is a dud.

People who hate it seem to be responding to the director (hey, I can't stand any of Crowe's other movies) or the culture's response or even just looking for something 180 degrees from what Crowe wanted to show.

Holy shit! I need to hear that song again to hear this for myself. Uh, but first, where did I put my VG soundtrack? *laughs* Oh wait, I think I know where it is. Anyway, this thread could very well cause me to dig up my VG soundtrack and stop (temporarily) with the classic New Wave stuff I'm massively into right now. OH! And it's pretty cool seeing most of Radiohead SUCCESSFULLY do glam; if I had been a rational-thinking individual, this should've given me an impetus to check out the band's musical output. But, hey, "Creep" was one of my favorite songs of the year it came out in and that wasn't enough to... uh, excuse me, I think I'm going to kick my own ass now. ;)

Really, though, I think I was most intrigued by the fact that the movie afforded me the first chance I'd ever had to hear the original Cockney Rebel version of "(Come Up And See Me) Make Me Smile". The only version I'd heard of that song was the Duran cover and these were still pre-file sharing days for me, so when I heard the original in the closing credits for the very first time, my heart skipped multiple beats and I almost sucked the air out of the auditorium. Verdict at the time, though, was that I was kinda disappointed by how mellow it was, though now I'm totally equally in love with both versions.

holy shit almost famous is the probably the worst movie i've ever seen in my life

this actually gets more inexplicable by the scene

oh lol here is the sister randomly in the same airport ^_^

i'm bewildered by the anti-grandmother stance of blount's first post

ned's first post on this was so right, no more needs to be said.

almost famous is the big chill of my generation (people who were teens in the first half of the 70s)

in other words -- sentimental and mawkish exercise in nostalgia. but hey, i liked it so shoot me now.

i liked it

almost famous' only saving grace is that it introduced me to Zooey Deschanel.

actually, it might have been Mumford that did that (underrated flick btw) but I think AF is where I fell in love.

The rest of it is a steaming pile though.

which is kinda funny cause Mumford and the Big Chill both written & directed by Kasdan

oh lol here is the sister randomly in the same airport ^_^

hahaha

Almost Famous had some great moments and solid acting (especially on the part of Crudup) but I remember being disappointed that it had such a cliche Hollywood ending (Everyone is saved and it all works out thanks to the power of Rock 'n' Roll).

Its mistakes aside, it is miles better than Velvet Goldmine. As much as I like Bowie, Roxy, etc more than early 1970s blues rock VG is the crappier film. The Bowie character is unlikeable, the Iggy Pop character somewhat interesting (but he sadly gets less time than Bowie) and the Bale character is left to be too mysterious for his own good.

Also, it's incredibly pretentious (The Oscar Wilde connection/Gay ring scenes FTL) and, ironically, manages to outdo Cameron Crowe in the hero worship department. As much as Crowe gets hammered for being a wistful and self-congratulating baby boomer he at least showed some distance and had some criticism for certain parts of the "rock and roll life" (though he sort of undoes all the criticism with the aforementioned Hollywood happy ending). Haynes' movie just reminded me why I couldn't stand more than fifteen minutes of I'm Not There: it's flat-out idolatrous towards its subject matter, and ends up providing little insight because of it.

I'd think you'd have to be of the mindset that the VG-inspiring period, culture and archetypes are infinitely more interesting than the ones found in Almost Famous to excuse all the nostalgia and bedroom-poster worship that goes on in VG and then have all sorts of unbalanced hate for AF for going on a nostalgia trip.

The 'surprise' end of VG, that the loungey singer right at the start of the film was the 'missing' whassisname, um, I thought it so obvious that it was a given for the audience...

Almost Famous is amazing! I thought it would inspire me to write a great article, but instead it inspired me to quit my job!

I don't know what I would think of it had i not related to the film so well...I'm very similar to Fugit's character (granted, I have yet to write for Rolling Stone or Creem).

John Simon articulated my own feelings about Almost Famous better than I did earlier regarding the cop-out tone of the movie:

"William's big dilemma is whether to tell the truth about the tour and alienate the band, or write a puff piece, and have Rolling Stone reject it. The youth opts for the former, but is forgiven by the band, whose reputation soars because of the article; Crowe makes the opposite choice with his movie and, whatever success it may reap, loses me."

"Some films are just good enough for you to have wished them a bit better. They are a little too sentimental, soft, and mildly dishonest to be much more than a slightly melancholy missed opportunity."

holy shit almost famous is the probably the worst movie i've ever seen in my life ― J0rdan S.

vs.

Almost Famous is amazing! I thought it would inspire me to write a great article, but instead it inspired me to quit my job! ― Tape Store

I just watched this last night, so I searched to see how ILX viewed it.

If I had taken this movie at all seriously, as a heartfelt statement about youth and coming of age, or as an homage to an era of music I felt deeply about, or as an ode to the value of music journalism, I probably would have been as disgusted as Jordan. I suppose, if I were young enough, there's an outside chance I might have been as inspired as Tape Store. As it was, I merely enjoyed it because it was affectionate and shallow and cartoony and it made me laugh out loud five or six times. It entertained me for two hours and I'll have forgotten all about it in two weeks.

PSH as Lester Bangs was pretty awesome
Side-stepping the statutory rape groupie thing much less so

Randomly started watching clips the other night because of youtube recommendations - as not-particularly-good as the movie is, I'd totally watch a movie about Stillwater 2017, playing the Three Dog Night town arts festival circuit

I hated teh Veklvet Goldmine treatment of Iggy as someone with no rhythm. Preferred Almost Famous .

Velvet Goldmine.

I kinda love Velvet Goldmine, and as messy as it is I think it's the key to understanding Todd Haynes. He's made better films, but I think they become even better by watching Velvet Goldmine a couple of times and thinking about it.

20 years! Feels like 10

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/almost-famous-20th-anniversary-reunion-1017345/

I was watching Gone Girl two nights ago, which is the only time I've seen Patrick Fugit (William) since.

His career really didn't take off. I forgot he was in Spun. Also really creepy in Queen of Earth.

finally saw the “Untitled” cut aka Bootleg version

if you hate the movie you’ll still hate it obviously but imo it’s better than the theatrical cut, has a lot more moments btw characters, it benefits from being a bit slower paced

there is an extra scene where Stillwater do an on-air radio interview with Kyle Gass playing a stoned radio dj that is hilarious & perfect
(imo you could put it in the dictionary under “Album Oriented Rock radio station”)

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/stillwater-almost-famous-cover-story-1165517/

William Miller's Stillwater story

Velvet Goldmine coming to Criterion!

https://www.reddit.com/r/criterion/comments/veyf4w/so_i_was_at_the_premiere_of_the_new_restoration/

LOOOONG overdue, just waiting on whenever the formal announcment is.