Films of the 2000s Rankdown

[Alex95]

17. Almost Famous

12.71/20

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@*Diana - 5/20

@~Tom~ - 9/20

@Steven_ - 10/20

Public - 11/20

@Deeee - 17/20

@FrogLenzen - 18/20

@*Chris - 19/20

 

@#jeah - 3/20

@*Wallace - 5/20

@Elliott - 8/20

@Alex95 - 10/20

@totes4totes - 14/20

@.Rei - 20/20

 

Diana

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Another legendary film in our top 20 is Almost Famous. Actually how did I not know or remember that Zooey Deschanel is in this movie too? Slay at her having more than one film in this top 20! The main actress in this is actually Kate Hudson. Who you either love or hate I think lol. Another role I think they casted perfectly. What can you say about Almost Famous that has not been said many times before? I saved it a lot for a reason and I feel it warrants it place in our top 20 which I can't say for all the movies.

 

Tom

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Released in 2000 and directed by Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous tells the story of 15 year-old William in the early 1970s is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour. His overprotective mother naturally raises objections. It's hilarious and brings a smile to my face whenever I watch it. In addition to capturing the downsides of fame, I also enjoy it for the nostalgia. In addition to the above, it has an incredible soundtrack containing two of my favorite artists (Led Zeppelin and Simon & Garfunkel). It's a big favorite of mine and one of the few films that Dee, Diana and I all like so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it could do well in the top 20 rankings.

 

Steven

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Almost Famous making it to the Top 10 of my ranking was not what I expected, but here it is. I thought I would’ve enjoyed films I ranked below it more, but that didn’t happen. So, I've seen parts of Almost Famous on TV before, but never the whole film until now. By the end of the film, I thought it was good. The story is about a teenage journalist interviewing a rock band while on tour. Yet somehow, this ended up being one of the more interesting movies in this Top 20. The pacing was done well, and I never felt bored while watching this film. Kate Hudson was especially great in this film. I've heard people say that Almost Famous is her best role, and now I see why. Is Almost Famous a movie I would care to watch again? I'm not sure, but I still enjoyed it enough to place it at #10 on my ranking.

 

Alex

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MVP: Kate Hudson

Favorite Scene: Tiny Dancer

 

One word I would use to describe this movie is earnest. It's messy. It doesn't land every plot point. But dammit I'm sold every second of the way. After watching Daisy Jones and the Six I had a whole new appreciation for Almost Famous. While I've never lived in the world of rock & roll I feel like it would be something like what we saw in this film. Movies don't have to say all the right things. Movies don't always have to do the right things. I can watch Almost Famous for two hours and just smile the whole time and feel good. The music is electrifying. The performances are amazing. Penny Lane is an iconic character played to perfection by Kate Hudson in a career best role for her. Frances McDormand took what could have been a nothing "mom role" and turned it into something special. Billy Crudup being the sleazy guy...tracks. The story is the weakest part of the movie but I don't care. Just give me 120 minutes of this movie and music magic any day of the week.

 

Megan

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I think the last time and probably only time I've watched this movie was back when I was in college. So over a decade ago (which is weird for me to think about!) and honestly, glad to see it still holds up. I don't think that I like this movie as much as I liked it about a decade ago but that's probably because 1) I've seen more movies since then and 2) I'm not as pretentious as I used to be. Almost Famous is Cameron Crowe's last good movie, and for his legacy's sake, we should all probably pretend that he's stopped doing things other than writing and music documentaries since. The movie won Best Original Screenplay and that's incredibly deserved. It's a smart screenplay and that's more due to the smaller moments rather than the plot. Honestly, reminds me a bit of the best Paul Thomas Anderson stuff (honestly criminal that neither Punch-Drunk Love nor There Will Be Blood didn't make it to this Top 20). Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup are both excellent and give career performances. And Frances McDormand straddles the line of loving and overbearing perfectly. If there's one thing that doesn't hold up in this movie, it's Patrick Fugit as William. He's fine. He's like 17-years-old or something when this was filmed. But we are supposed to just understand that this kid is an excellent writer (the kind that gets personally mentored by one of the greatest music critics to live and gets a cover feature on Rolling Stone at 15) but it just doesn't feel there with the performance. He falls a bit flat. But again, thankfully the scripts strengths aren't really in William's journey but in the excitement and experience of following an up-and-coming rock band.

 

Rei

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The movie could have easily been thirty minutes shorter. It was a fine movie but somehow I was expecting more. I do think that it is my favourite Kate Hudson performance that I've seen and I'm glad that she got acclaim and Oscar nominations for it. I liked it but wouldn't have it on the Top 20 of the 2000's.

 

Dee

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Ten years ago, this would have ranked higher. Because I have loved Almost Famous for so long. Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, and Kate Hudson deliver three performances that have stuck with me for two decades. But really the entire ensemble cast is incredible. The soundtrack is amazing if you grew up with or love 1970s rock music. While I might not be ranking this well, I still adore this movie and I am happy to have saved it once or twice. I do think it is a standout of the decade, even if my love for it has waned some over time. Penny Lane, the icon that you are. 

 

Derek

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If a couple things went differently, this would have been my final cut. And I’m kind of surprised it didn’t get cut anyway because it seemed like one of the uncontroversial options. I’m going to make a fool of myself and predict that this gets #19 or #20. The first time I saw this was with my parents 100 years ago and I don’t remember anything significant about it. On rewatch, I made the GRAVE error of accidentally downloading the extended version. And I didn’t even notice until I was 2 hours deep. Lauren and I were looking at each other like “how long is this f*cking movie” and then I realized we still had like 40 minutes to slog through. Big mistake, I do not recommend ever watching the extended version ever. I am kind of bummed because I wish I never watched it because I’m sure I would liked this more. But it’s whatever because it’s not like I had any room in my Top 10 anyway. 

 

So this movie is borderline dumb and boring to me. It goes without saying that it had major pacing issues, but that’s because I watched extended. The Kate Hudson character is just… not profound to me. She was presented as this really special person and I just never got on board. In the end where that one girl is like “the story is actually about [Kate Hudson] and not the music” I was like BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO get out of here, she was the least interesting part. And watching the kid lead just kind of go through the motions with almost zero agency and doing almost nothing the entire movie was pretty lame. The only thing he had to do was a bunch of homework basically, and it honestly gave me some of those pangs of panic, as if I also had something due. My whole life is something due. Don’t want to watch it on screen lol.

 

And then when he confesses his love and kisses the girl who is unconscious and overdosed on pills???? Like. Guys. What. Make it stop. And the very end the guy goes to the wrong house (cute) but then he’s like “oh I already told the magazine that it was true” then what is the point of you being at the house???? Why do the interview now when the piece is already written? Dumb. Again, I probably would have liked this more with the theatrical version and if we weren’t wasting so much time sitting around and got to the plane crash a lot sooner.

 

Chris

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Almost Famous is a 2000 film about an aspiring young journalist, William Miller, who goes on tour with a rock band called Stillwater in the 1970s. While the film has its strengths and I enjoyed it, it didn't have the same impact on me as the other films in the Top 20. 
 

What I did enjoy about the film was the attention to detail and how it captured the spirit of the 1970s music scene. The performances are outstanding, especially those of Kate Hudson, Billy Crudrup and Patrick Fugit, as well as Frances McDormand. We can't talk about Almost Famous without mentioning the film's music, especially the "Tiny Dancer" scene on the bus. 
 

However, despite these strengths, there are aspects of Almost Famous that did not live up to my expectations after watching it for the first time in many years. The plot didn't move me as much as some of the other films in my top 20, and I felt like this was a film I enjoyed more before than after I saw it again. We also can't talk about the film without talking about the pacing and length of the film which has been mentioned by others in the thread; I could have done without some of the scenes to make the whole thing more effective and keep the attention longer. 
 

Overall, I can appreciate the impact the film had on many people, but personally, it didn't draw me in as much as some of the other films in this Top 20.  One could say that it is simply a good movie and that's it.

 

[FrogLenzen]

Notice how Alex said he could watch the movie for 120 minutes and not 160 minutes 

[Alex95]

Steven writing about movies in his top 10 that he still doesn't like

[Alex95]

3 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Notice how Alex said he could watch the movie for 120 minutes and not 160 minutes 

Movie should've been 130 minutes long

 

[FrogLenzen]

I’m sure Steven liked all my top movies better and I’m sure he didn’t tank anything I love 

Edited April 22, 2023 by FrogLenzen

[FrogLenzen]

I really thought this would be last place but apparently Steven liked it and hates France and also Diana was mad at Chris 

[FrogLenzen]

I agree with all praises above for Frances, she would be my MVP for this 

[~Tom~]

Almost Famous wasn't too long for me, tbh.

 

 

[*Wallace]

Aww I wish Almost Famous ranked higher but oh well.  Glad it avoided the bottom 3 though.

[FrogLenzen]

It is sending me that Steven was meh and put it at 10 and Dee loves it and put it at 17

[*Wallace]

4 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

It is sending me that Steven was meh and put it at 10 and Dee loves it and put it at 17

LMAOO wow this so sounds like me in Steven's Songs game.  

[FrogLenzen]

2 minutes ago, *Wallace said:

LMAOO wow this so sounds like me in Steven's Songs game.  

I may or may not have said that to him recently 

[totes4totes]

39 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Notice how Alex said he could watch the movie for 120 minutes and not 160 minutes 

if i had to watch 160 minutes of almost famous it would have been my #19 lol

[FrogLenzen]

 

[FrogLenzen]

gonna savor this moment.. probably the last time I will be doing better than everyone else

[FrogLenzen]

so this time I guessed the right placement but it was the public ranking that I got the most wrong, off by 4. Everyone else I was off by 0-3.

 

For the individual public rankers, it was Andy's fault mostly because I have literally zero idea with him lmao

[Elliott]

The 160 minute cut of Almost Famous is the superior cut.

[FrogLenzen]

47 minutes ago, Elliott said:

The 160 minute cut of Almost Famous is the superior cut.

[Steven_]

Yeah, I didn’t end up liking a lot of these films that much.

[*Chris]

1 hour ago, Steven_ said:

Yeah, I didn’t end up liking a lot of these films that much.

I ended up liking a lot the films 

[Steven_]

I was about to say I preferred the 2010s Top 20, but I didn’t dislike any of these movies as much as I disliked The Master.
 

Both Top 20 lists had highs and lows for me.

[Alex95]

Who is ready to close out our bottom five?

[FrogLenzen]

There's definitely some on this list that I was hoping I would like more after 20 years (and/or the first watch) but that didn't always happen. But I was still able to feel strongly about my Top 10 thank goodness

[FrogLenzen]

1 minute ago, Alex95 said:

Who is ready to close out our bottom five?

go ahead and break my heart

[Alex95]

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