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John Robie creams his jeans over Cameron Crowe's UNTITLED
Hey there all you film fans, Harry here. Now the following review is going to read like one continual orgasm, but before you start believing that this is some sort of shill, let me tell you a bit about AICN's resident cat burglar. John Robie is a pure movie fan. I've known him for about 2 and a half years now and.... As recent as a week ago he was calling Dreamworks "a b*nch of f*cking c*cks*ckers" because he got turned down for a job there. He felt that getting an industry job was his only chance to leave people's property in their homes... But no. He's still forced to a world of crime alleys and rooftops. He still sneaks into sneaks and when he found himself at this high profile DREAMWORKS film, he felt that this was his chance to exact revenge. But then he found a film he thought was genius. All the rage went away, and all he was left with was thanks. Enjoy a review from someone that had a great film experience tonight.
For me it was hearing a Ramones tape that my buddy Josh gave me when I was in the fifth grade. It hit me like lightning. That was it, that was what I was waiting to hear. I still get the same feeling listening to it. My pulse quickens, I can feel shivers on my back, the hair on my arms stands on end, I get a warm feeling that starts way, way down and works its way up.
It’s the same feeling I got watching Cameron Crowe’s new film tonight.
It’s like that line in the Marley song. “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.” That’s it, that’s exactly it, that’s where the heart of this movie is, and it’s realized in such an true way, the sentiment is so pure… it’s a credit to Crowe and everyone else involved that they could craft something so moving.
This is Crowe’s story. In a big, big way he lived it. It’s culled from his experiences as a young writer for Rolling Stone back in the early 70s. William is the kid, Stillwater is the band. William gets to follow Stillwater around on tour, documenting the band for a story, becoming friends with them, finding out about himself, finding out some truths about life, however ugly or brutal they may be, finding that maybe he isn’t as close to the band as he’d have liked. He makes mistakes. He is a kid, after all. A lesser movie would’ve forgotten all the frailties and foibles that a fifteen year old goes through. This one doesn’t. Ever.
William is me. He’s going to end up being a lot of people. He’s the guy with the band that we always dreamt of being, and he’s the awkward outsider that we actually are. And he’s got the love, man, and he’s just like any of us geeking out because we got to shake the hand of the guy who ran around in our favorite movie or wrote the book or sang the song or did the thing that helped us decide what we wanted to do with our lives.
This wouldn’t have worked unless the kid playing William was just dead on. Patrick Fugit is perfect. The kid’s a newcomer, brings absolutely no baggage with him. He totally, totally lives the role. Everything is right there, from the excitement to the anger, and none of it ever plays as trite. Jason Lee gets to prove that he’s actually a hell of an actor and Billy Crudup finally has the role that’s going to make everyone take notice. Kate Hudson, playing something like a groupie, is so goddam lovely that she just melted me every time she was onscreen. Anyone who knows the work of near-god rock writer Lester Bangs knows how big the guy’s shoes are. Philip Seymor Hoffman, playing Bangs, is fucking king.
Let the name of this thing stay Untitled. Stillwater isn’t right. The movie’s not about the band. It’s not even about William. It’s about something somewhere around love. There’s no name for it. It’s just a gut feeling. It’s kinda like the feeling you get when you kiss someone you really like for the first time. No, it is the feeling you get when you kiss someone you really like for the first time. That’s what this movie is about, that’s why it works. Putting a name on it, that’s impossible man. You just feel it.
There’s only one minor, minor, minor gripe I have with the movie. During a crisis situation one of the guys lets everyone else in the band know that he’s gay. Cut the line. It’s been done before. Coming after a dialogue from William that perfectly and realistically sums up how the kid feels, the gay line just feels cheap, like a step down. Sure a laugh helps at that point, but you don’t need it this way. I feel like an ass telling Crowe to cut a specific line, but I’m pretty sure about this one.
I’m no great lover of early ‘70s stadium rock. I was and still am into punk. Doesn’t matter. There’s such heart behind the music here, you become so infused with both the band’s passion for what they’re doing and William’s passion for what the band’s doing, that any big questions of whether or not the music works for you in an outside-the-film context melts away. This isn’t played up as pump-the-metal-sign-and-bang-your-head. It’s not that crass. There’s something a lot deeper, a lot more moving, going on here.
It doesn’t matter what type of musiclights that fire in you or sparked something. Rap, electonica, country. It could be a book you read when you were younger. It could be writing about movies because you dig them so much, hanging out with friends and talking all night about what you just saw. It’s about a total and complete love of something because it makes you feel like something greater than you are, and it helps you forget any kind of pain you might be feeling and takes you to a place you wish you could always be.
This movie taps into something so right, something just so true…there were times in the film I felt myself choking up, near tears, and all that was going on was a few people talking, a few little scenes cut together. No big proclamations of love, no one telling anyone how much they cared about each other. All that was going on was a kid falling in love with the music. That kid was me, is me, and I really had to hold myself back from an all out breakdown. No movie ever really got at this thing in me like this one. I don’t know that many have even tried.
There is a beauty to truth, a grace in the simplicity of a story well told. This one is flawlessly told. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in the past few years. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s honest, and it’s right.
I just fell in love with a movie.
Thanks Mr. Crowe.
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I'm looking forward to this film but I gotta disagree about the title. Leaving it "Untitled" is a marketing mistake. It's too generic to pull asses into the seats. People won't remember any advance buzz about a movie with such a nondescript title. If "Stillwater" doesn't work then they need to find something else that does. Anyway, speaking of Crowe, has anyone out there read the book that "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" is based on? I'd like to hunt it down at the library since the movie is one of my all time faves but I'd like to know how closely they resemble each other. Anybody?
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I didn't think I would like this one, but then again....
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The asterisk is unnecessary.
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The son of a military flight officer that was killed in action, Hogarth Huges spent the early years of his childhood in Rockwell. He moved to Toas, New Mexico in his teens after his mom remarried Dean and they both became devout Buddhists, and the major benefactors of the largest Buddhist temple in Taos. Hogath went on to graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and at the age of 15 he received a degree in Chinese history with a focus on The Warring States period. Hogarth then moved to Biloxi, Mississippi where he worked as a security guard on a riverboat casino. It was at this time that he began playing stand-up bass in a rockabilly band called "The Hillbilly Hooligan Choir". While on tour with the band in Hong Kong for the Tsingtao Greaser Fest, Hogarth met and fell in love with Sunshine Typpo, lead vocalist of "The Impala Syndrome", a Finnish rockabilly-ska band. Unfortunately, the manager of The Impala Syndrome took a disliking to Hogarth, which culminated in a fight where Hogath proceeded to embed a hand shovel in the man's forehead. Unfortunately, the manager was also a drug smuggler whose friends assumed that Hogarth was a member of a rival gang. While fleeing from the police and the dead manager's cronies, Hogarth and Sunshine were involved in a car accident with a milk truck. Sunshine was killed when she was crushed by a large milk containers, which fell on her side of the car. Devastated, Hogath escaped Hong Kong and vanished into a life of quiet obscurity in the city of Holister, Ca were he works with Iron. It would seem to me that if this happened to Hogarth Huges from THE IRON GIANT after he turned 15, then another film about a boy of the same age could be full of suprises. Both Hogarth and William (and even Roland from THE DARK TOWER books) seem to diplay the frailties and foibles that teens do go through.
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this film is coming out. I don't know how much autobiography was in Say Anything or Jerry Maguire, but it looks like Crowe might be giving us his life in this one. My only problem is having a fictional band stand in for what in Crowe's real life was Led Zeppelin. Will we feel the awe that the journalist character is feeling? I guess getting Page & Plant to make cameos would have been an even bigger mistake, or splicing in clips from The Song Remains the Same. I just hope the script is more on the Say Anything sarcastic-sappy side than the Jerry Maguire sappy-sappy side (although I loved that film too). The good thing about Crowe mentor James L. Brooks, as we saw in Broadcast News & As Good As It Gets, is that whenever something is getting too sentimental or sappy, someone makes some smart-ass or cynical remark to bring it back to reality (Albert Brooks, Nicholson). Is this the role that Jason Lee is playing? I'll see anything he's in. "What does it matter if I call the Hartford Whalers a bunch of faggots?"
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This is going to be my defining film of the year, it's a subject I love possibly more than anything else. Everything about Stillwater sounds wonderful and Jason Lee playing the lead singer is just the icing on the cake...
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Bad Company, Lynrd Skynrd, Derek and the Dominos's, Allman Brothers, Humble Pie, The Faces, Stones, Who, Led Zep - all of these bands are interconnected and the life these people describe on the road is the most amazing life I've ever heard. All Crowe has done is finally and thankfully shown us what it was like. I hope it's appreciated by people who aren't into the music. By the sounds of it, it looks like it has...
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Anyone seen The Last Waltz?
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..... never let Cruise cry on screen. He's great at everything else. That's one hell of a rave from Robie, and, having agreed 100% with him on FINAL DESTINATION, my expecations are now higher than Ol' Dirty Bastard at the Grammys. Crowe's greatest strength is his honesty. It sounds like it's on full display in UNTITLED. Wonderful. P.S. Note to Todd: that was your best post.
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Fast Times at Ridgewood High was based on a magazine article. I think it was in Rolling Stone or New York Magazine. Early 80's I think. I think Cameron Crowe wrote it. I think Todd's IG missives are terrific (and I know terrific). Todd - please collect all of them and put them on a site for our perusal. I think I think too often.
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Don't you see why (I can't believe no one has mentioned it yet)? Cameron Crowe wrote about and followed Led Zeppelin. Their fourth album is almost always either called 4 or UNTITLED. Crowe originally wanted to make his movie an autobiography about his days on tour with Zep, but as that proved unfeasible he wrote the movie about a fictional band instead. That is where the title UNTITLED came from, and that is the title that should be on the poster when this beaut comes out.
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Just thought I'd say "Hi!" from good old Biloxi, MS. Where'd you come up with that reference? Have you been here, or do you just know it from "Biloxi Blues"? The fact that you know that gambling is legal here would lead me to believe that you've been to the coast, although there no longer is a riverboat casino (the Biloxi Belle shut down before the real boom down here). Anyways, I would again like to ask if anyone else who read AICN is from the area, and if so, will you be attending Coast Con this year?
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Zeppelin have the best stories of them all. But making a film about them specifically is almost impossible. Scaling it down to a younger fictional band is a wonderful way of telling those stories. Don't even call it 'Untitled,' just market it as the new film from the director of **** and play 'Black Dog' over the trailers. You'll be fine.
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you can't market a film with no title can you? I'm getting carried away now.
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I believe it's HUGHES...as in Ted Hughes, the English poet who wrote the original children's story on which THE IRON GIANT is based. F.Y.I.
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...Naughty Sauce was asking about the book. Cameron Crowe actually spent a year undercover in a real high school in Southern California, pretending to be a real student. In the introduction to the book, he says that he was probably remembered as "the kid with the bad bladder" because he was always running off to the bathroom to jot down notes. The movie follows the basic arc of the book, but of course, the book goes into much more detail. It is a facinating read. I remember purchasing it for a friend's birthday present back in 82 or 83, then reading the whole thing in one night before I gave it to him. I guess I was a pretty cheap little bastard. I've been trying to find a copy of the book off and on for the last couple of years, but it appears to be out of print. Even amazon.com has no listing. I wonder if there is some legal reason for this, as a reissue of the book would have been a logical tie-in with the recent DVD release. If you can find the book at a used shop or garage sale, I highly recommend picking it up.
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Jason Lee looks like Paul Rodgers doesn't he?
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...Mr. Robie. I got the feeling you got, why you got it, and that's all I want to know before I go to see this movie. Bonus points for actually writing well using the English language ;^) Thanks and well done.
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I heard Jimmy (of SNL) was going to be in a Crowe film. Is it this one or the next one? I've been a fan of his since we worked together in his humble beginnings.
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The Music film we've all been waiting for!!!!, now if you people are music and film fanatics like myself then you couldnt be more happier with this review here!, if there are two things Cameron Crowe knows about its Sports and Music!, Remember the scene in JM where tommy boy sings Freefalling?, hehe, that was cool!, IM BOUT TO BUST A NUTT HERE FOLKS!!!, When can i see this?!!!!!!! NMMM Outtie!
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...Cooper's right. It was a book. And, if you can find it and you haven't read..you should. It's like the movie but so much more. Also, the book is out of print. It happens. For some reason the publisher doesn't feel that there is enough interest to re-issue it. It took me about a month to find a copy, and when I finally found one i was hardcover first edition....well worth it.
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A movie about music that isn't a fake-ass, Hollywood-ized piece of shit? What will they think of next? I totally trust Crowe's instincts as a director. I think he is making huge leaps behind the camera as well as behind the typewriter. He's totally underappreciated. And UNTITLED is an amazing title!!! To do something that unconventional in a studio film would create word of mouth buzz. People that don't get it don't belong at this movie. Fuck em. The rest of us will be there. -
Cameron Crowe should direct a live action version of the Iron Giant. TODD could play the Iron Giant and the Iron Giant's "little friend" Hogarth could be played by a Jon-BenetRamsey-type. **Hey Now!**
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What the hell. That was some funny stuff. Being a Central Cali boy myself I noticed that you spelled Hollister with only one L, it has two:) That is ok though, I can forgive hundereds of typos when the writing is good and entertaining, That is why I like reading Harry's stuff. PS, I think it would really be hard to shove a hand shovel into someone's forhead.
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I was talking with a guy at work and he pointed out an interesting fact to me. Crowe's movies are sort of chronological. Start with Fast Times. While he didn't direct the film, it was about students in high school. Then comes his first outing as director, Say Anything. Takes place right after high school graduation. Next is Singles. A bunch of twenty-somethings coping with love and growing up. Then, Jerry Maguire, a grown man. In a sense, we are sort of seeing the life of Cameron Crowe in all of his films. There are undeniable similar qualities in each of his main characters. Lloyd Dobler, Campbell Scott's character in Singles, Jerry Maguire. You could see how there were parts of each in the others. It's common for writers to invest parts of themselves in their characters, particularly their main characters. Now comes this new film where he really thins the veil. This sounds amazing. And having been there and experienced the events in the movie and with the evolution of his characterizations on film, this is going to be one great film. It's smart of him to wait until now to tell this story. While I think he has always been an excellent screenwriter, you can see how his writing has improved even more. I can't wait for this. Cameron Crowe is one of my absolute favorite filmmakers. Say Anything is just a masterpiece. And I like the idea of leaving the title Untitled or even just market the film as the next film from Cameron Crowe with no title. Vegas' explanation as to why is dead on.
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anyone else notice that hese two reviews are REMARKABLY similar? both vote to give the gay gag the boot, for example. the writing styles are also kind of alike...hmmmmm. still, crowe's the fucking man. a little touchy-feely at times, but in a good way (and at least he recognises it - he even called it in 'jerry maguire'). i think this movie's going to be brilliant, but only
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Mar 23, 2000 3:56:18 PM CST
john robie and gregor samsa: ONE AND THE SAME??? (second draft -
by tommy five-tone
anyone else notice that hese two reviews are REMARKABLY similar? both vote to give the gay gag the boot, for example. the writing styles are also kind of alike...hmmmmm. still, crowe's the fucking man. a little touchy-feely at times, but in a good way (and at least he recognises it - he even called it in 'jerry maguire'). i think this movie's going to be brilliant, but only
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How many movie sites are there now? Harry, you are still the Original Gansta.
I just found these...
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/mar2000/marchd.htm -
Not related to the topic at all- I'm kinda new here, so can someone tell me what cross posting means and why it is so bad. Someone mentioned it, and I have no clue what it means.
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I get a little nervous about Cameron Crowe films after Jerry Mcguire. I just remember him bragging about the years of undercover research he did on sports agents, (a la Fast Times...), but all he wrote was a friggin' love story. So, with this movie, did he spend the past decade hanging out with rock bands, posing as a roadie, only to write a coming of age story. His movies are good, I just have troubles with all the pretense that comes before them.
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I think is so cool. My older sister told me about this thing and I did it and am so impresed with it. Am I the only girl who does this stuff? I am using my ex-boyfriend's email accout. Ha ha, screw him! Anyways, this might be as good as mky other favorite movie, TBH.
PS-Is Harry really fat?
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