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Long live rock 'n' roll
By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001
NEW RELEASES
Almost Famous
[Photo: DreamWork]
Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson backstage at a concert in Almost Famous. |
(R) Writer-director Cameron Crowe was 15 when he began covering rock 'n' roll for Rolling Stone magazine in the '70s. Those hazy, crazy experiences are the inspiration for one of the best films of 2000, a semi-autobiographical valentine to writers and rockers.
Newcomer Patrick Fugit is a fine alter ego for Crowe, while Oscar nominees Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson play his smothering mother and fantasy girl, respectively. Billy Crudup and Jason Lee co-star as the boy's guides through backstage nirvana.
Rock fans will appreciate the film's reverent nods to classic bands such as the Who, and also find similarities with the fictional Stillwater band, Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
First impressions: "An engrossing series of road episodes, each revealing another layer of the power of rock 'n' roll, the needs of people who worshiped it and the void looming on the horizon. . . . Crowe's film is a eulogy for that dear, departed spirit, although that description is much too serious for such a buoyant film. This movie splashes a toast of Jack Daniel's on the grave, scribbling graffiti optimism on the tombstone: Rock is dead. Long live rock."
Second thoughts: No. 3 on my list of 2000's best movies, and it gets better with each viewing. Crowe's mentor is legendary director Billy Wilder, and the master's wistfully madcap influences are everywhere.
Rental audience: Anyone who recalls vinyl records, $10 concert tickets and an age when rock 'n' roll was more intoxicating than the drugs.
Rent it if you enjoy: American Graffiti; Rolling Stone when it wasn't a fashion magazine.
Wonder Boys
(R) Michael Douglas gives his finest performance in years as Grady Tripp, a burned-out writer and professor in the midst of a bad weekend. His lover, the dean's wife (Frances McDormand), is pregnant, his editor (Robert Downey Jr.) is bugging him for the next book, and a weird student (Tobey Maguire) is hanging around too close. Curtis Hanson made one of the best films of 2000, an overlooked gem that deserves a wide audience on home video.
First impressions: "Douglas slips into Grady's shabby existence with impressive ease, in a role that amounts to a minor comeback . . . inspired by Steven Kloves' immensely literate script, alternately poignant and pointed.
"Wonder Boys has an erratic style that suits its anti-heroes as they stagger through subplots with the woozy assurance of intoxicated party guests. Hanson made a movie of cumulative effect, not one relying on comedy or tragedy of the moment. Moviegoers won't laugh out loud much or cry at the end. Wonder Boys is simply one long, beautifully crafted smile."
Second thoughts: No. 2 on my list of 2000's best films. I can't wait to hear latecomers remark how fine it is.
Rental audience: Literature buffs, especially the gonzo writings of Hunter S. Thompson.
Rent it if you enjoy: Finding Forrester, Searching for Bobby Fischer.
DVD
New and noteworthy for digital players
Making a mountain out of 'The Rock'
The Rock (Criterion edition)
The Criterion label has been raising the bar for home video extras since digital time and laserdiscs began. However, this mammoth collection of additional odds and ends for a popcorn flick like The Rock feels like overkill.
Then again, so did Michael Bay's movie, a testosterone-fueled adventure concerning a grieving, vengeful war hero (Ed Harris) and the reluctant FBI agent (Nicolas Cage) chasing him. Biological warheads are aimed at San Francisco and only a grizzled Alcatraz veteran (Sean Connery) can invade the island to foil the plan.
The Rock was big, loud -- very loud -- fun that has been available on DVD for years. Only the ego of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Criterion's desire to show off justifies this kind of tribute. There can't be that many moviegoers who would immediately name The Rock as an all-time favorite.
The 2-disc DVD includes commentary from Bay, Cage, Harris, Bruckheimer and technical adviser Harry Humphreys, plus two featurettes on the film's special effects. Outtakes are always good for a laugh. Still photography, storyboards and production design drawings are common additions. Humphreys and Marshall Teague also contribute a short film explaining Do's and Don'ts of Hollywood Gunplay.
The parade of information continues with a one-on-one interview with Bruckheimer explaining his knack for pyrotechnic art, a documentary of the history of Alcatraz and scenes from The Rock's world premiere on the island in 1996. We don't know if they mention the number of seasick media guests that day, a legend among film reporters.
Suggested retail price of the overstuffed set is $39.99.
REWIND
Videos worth another look
The noblest Roman of them all
Beware the ides of March, some soothsayer told Julius Caesar. He didn't listen, and the cinema found a tragic, violent ending for a story told numerous times since.
Whatever an ide is, it's today. According to William Shakespeare's play, March 15 is the day Caesar was murdered by several of his closest political advisers. Why hasn't Oliver Stone done this movie?
Julius Caesar has played a role in numerous films, usually winding up with daggers sticking out of him. Some actors who played him have been buried, but we'll praise them one more time:
John Gielgud, Julius Caesar (1970) -- The best film version of Shakespeare's play. Charlton Heston was a noble Marc Antony and Jason Robards made a cunning Brutus. A staple of school libraries.
Rex Harrison, Cleopatra (1963) -- Probably the most famous portrayal due to his co-stars. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton became lovers on the set of the most expensive film to date.
Claude Rains, Caesar and Cleopatra (1946) -- George Bernard Shaw adapted the Bard's play for the stage and screen. Rains and co-star Vivien Leigh handled his anachronistic wit well.
Alec Guinness, Caesar and Cleopatra (1976) -- Made-for-TV version of Shaw's play with Guinness and Genevieve Bujold.
Louis Calhern, Julius Caesar (1953) -- Took a back seat to Marlon Brando's Marc Antony, then a backstabbing from James Mason as Brutus. This time, Gielgud played Cassius with that lean and hungry look.
Timothy Dalton, Cleopatra (1999) -- How does a trained British actor rebound from being James Bond? With a TV movie based on a theatrical film loosely based on a Shakespeare play.
And, finally, the noblest Caesar of all:
Dom DeLuise, History of the World, Part 1 (1981) -- A bit player in the world according to Mel Brooks, but the funniest Caesar by several leagues. Where's Part 2?
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