Six months of this newsletter, who’d have thought? Thanks for sticking around, most of you!
Miss ‘Rona to all of us six months ago
If you were waiting with bated breath for the TIFF movie I was excited to rave about in last night’s newsletter, I can now reveal that it was … I Care a Lot, which gives Rosamund Pike the role you’ve been wanting her to play since Gone Girl. No word on release or a distributor yet, but here’s my rave review for The Playlist.
Anyways, on with the show! I think I’ve probably banged the drum enough for the USPS on here. But … if you want a charming Sunday read that combines a Sesame Street-style “who are the people in your neighborhood?” feature with a New Yorker cartoon, you might enjoy this New York Times interactive story profiling all the people mailing letters in Park Slope.
And if you’ve got a little time for a little bit of a longer read today, I’d really recommend this funny and touching essay by Sarah Lazarus on Crooked Media about the practical and ethical complications of being a bone marrow donor in the era of COVID-19. A throughline running through the back of the essay is the heroic work of Be the Match, still working hard because cancer does not care that there’s a pandemic happening. I did some research afterwards, and it looks like the process is pretty simple to get in their registry — and potentially save someone’s life — by requesting a kit online!
Now, what you came for…
DAY 185: Almost Famous (available to rent through various digital providers)
I was seven when Almost Famous hit theaters 20 years ago today, so I can’t exactly marvel at how the decades since its release have flown by. But wow, does this film feel fresh, moving and energizing as if it hasn’t aged a day. If you love and believe in the power of art with a religious fervor, then Cameron Crowe has made a movie that sings to someplace deep within the soul. Having that passion reaffirmed without sneering irony will always feel like a balm, which is why I think it’s really stood the test of time.
I certainly won’t deny there’s an element of wish-fulfillment in my love of Almost Famous as it centers around the adventures of a precocious but sheltered teenager who goes on adventures beyond his wildest imagination through writing about the art form that inspires him. But given that I have plenty of non-critic friends who also worship at the altar of Almost Famous, I feel confident in declaring that this film’s pleasures are by no means limited to those who feel such a kinship with the protagonist. No matter how you enter the film, Crowe has someone there to generously welcome you in.
Almost Famous takes us along for the ride with 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) during a whirlwind string of events in which he emerges from under the wing of his censorious mother Elaine (Frances McDormand, steely and commanding as ever). After his sister turns him onto the power of rock, William begins penning freelance music journalism for small local publications in his hometown of San Diego and muscles his way into an assignment for the estimable Rolling Stone. He stumbles into the story of a lifetime with Stillwater, an up-and-coming group riding high as the opener for Black Sabbath and rising quickly … just as William is himself.
Whatever semblance of journalistic objectivity William might have had quickly fall by the wayside as he gets caught up in the irresistible rise of Stillwater that he’s been commissioned to cover, not cheerlead. (Speaking from experience, albeit never fully embedding anywhere, this is a tough line to toe under normal circumstances.) As I learned from listening to the Origins podcast about the making of the film, part of why this comes through so strongly is that Fugit was a first-time actor experiencing the production of the film as the same emotional rollercoaster as his character.
But that’s also the joy of Almost Famous, losing yourself inside a piece of culture that’s impactful as it instructs you about yourself and the world around you. And for twenty years now, it’s provided the same kind of gateway to self-actualization through art that the story itself documents.
Be good to yourselves and to each other,
Marshall