Almost Famous

“Almost Famous” (Directed by Cameron Crowe 2000)

            “Almost Famous” is the ultimate feel-good film for aspiring journalists and the music obsessed. At times it’s a little too lame, a little too predictable and perhaps a little too unbelievable but it’s fun and that’s what really matters.

            The film’s main character William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is a 15-year-old, dweeby, adorable, music obsessed kid who finds his future in the guidance of rock-critic legend Lester Bangs (Phillips Seymour Hoffman). Through Miller the audience gets a bird’s eye view at the supposed life and times of Cameron Crowe, the director and reason for “Almost Famous.”

            The entire film is filled with several sort of magically satisfying quips that seem to click and make sense for any moment in anyone’s life. Early in the movie Miller is riding in a car with the matriarch of the “Band-aides,” Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) and she offers him the line, “ I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriously, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.” The quote is undeniably cheesy but incredibly true. Music is a comfort that almost everyone enjoys and feels nostalgic towards and if there’s no feeling of happiness or satisfaction from a song or an album your problems are larger than taking life too seriously.

            Perhaps the most romantic and lip-quivering quote comes from Bangs near the end of the movie. While on the phone with a deflated Miller, Bangs says, “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re un-cool.” This line is perfect. Fanatics the world over are all tragically un-cool but it’s a united front that bring the music scene to life on a day-to-day basis.

            Coinciding with the satisfyingly cliché, feel-good dialogue is the Grammy award winning soundtrack. Each song properly brings to a point the moment and movement of the film. The portion of the film’s music that stands out is the Elton John “Tiny Dancer” sing-along on the bus after the lead guitar player of Stillwater, Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), has a crazy, acid filled night out without the band. The sense of unity is rewarding and the urge to join in is undeniable.

            Moving along with the precise dialogue and soundtrack would have to be the acting. Luckily for Hudson this movie was pre “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” so the looming sense that she’s a romantic-comedy only sort of leading lady is left at the wayside and an undeniable talent is revealed. Hudson’s charisma is complimented by Fugit’s perfect pass as a teenager trying to figure out the world and himself. Along with Fugit and Hudson are Crudup’s love to hate him rock-n-roll giant and Jason Lee’s bigger than life ego- both played to a ‘t.’

            “Almost Famous” will leave you with a silly smirk on your face and an overwhelming urge to sing “Tiny Dancer” on the top of your lungs; an admirable accomplishment for a semi-biographical film.

Dracula Don't

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1992) falls short of being even remotely enjoyable. “Dracula” starts with an extended yawn, moves to a catnap and ends in a deep snore.

The movie starts with Vlad III Draculea (Gary Oldman) slaying the anti-Christians only to come home to his sprawling, gothic castle to find his beloved Elisabeta (Winona Ryder) dead after leaping to her death once receiving a faulty letter about her fiancé’s death. The Catholic priests, one of them being Anthony Hopkins, tell Draculea that Elisabeta will not go to heaven because she has killed herself. Draculea, devastated by the news, denounces his catholic faith and crosses over to the dark, hairy and bloody vampire side.

            And so the story starts with blood flowing from crosses, candles and angel’s eyes. Draculea births Count Dracula and officially becomes an undead vampire in order to reunite himself with the love of his life.

            There was hope that the story would bulk up with a bounty of gore, greatness and some semi-decent acting but no, not with Keanu Reeves and Ryder leading the bill.

            It’s at the point where London based attorney Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) journeys to Transylvania to sign off on a real estate deal for homes in London for Count Dracula that things start to get a little too campy, lame and strange. The journey is filled with Sleepy Hallow-esque carriage drivers, evil dog-like werewolves and fiery blue flames popping up on the trail to the dark and demonic castle.

            Harker’s voice echoes a letter from Dracula as he travels through the cavernous terrains of Transylvania whilst Dracula’s scheming eyes are etched in the red sky, blinking as Harker stares aimlessly at the foreshadowing letter. It’s with Harker’s blank stare that cinematic greats like “Bill and Ted” and “Point Break” start to come into the forefront of the mind and the impending doom of boredom that will inevitably ensue make the two-plus hour film seem like it will drag on for infinity; drag on it does.

            Time seems to be lost once Dracula regains his youth and goes in search of Harker’s fiancé Mina Murray (Rider) who is the spitting image of his beloved Elisabeta. Everything moves at a snail’s pace once Murray and Dracula meet each other’s acquaintance and the ending never seems to come.

            With myriad of characters and big name actors big things were expected of this film but the film leaves an overwhelming sense of loss and disappointment; loss for the 218 minutes of life that were wasted on the film and disappointment in the overall content within the film.

Sugar Sweet Tales and Bitter Twists

Gesine Bullock-Prado’s writing debut Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman’s Sweet Journey From Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker (Crown Publishing Group, 2009) is a sugar-woven tale of the ups and downs of the bakery business and the bittersweet memories that come along with each and every homemade delight.

            Bullock-Prado leads the reader on her exodus from the Hollywood Hills to the countryside of Vermont.  As she battles her urges to escape Hollywood and the shadow of her famous sister, Sandra Bullock, she finds her bliss in baking and Vermont.

            “No road rage, no cell phones, no fake tits or tans, no prestige handbangs, no billboards, no stop lights, no breaking, no traffic, no nothing. Welcome to Vermont. Just heaven,” Bullock-Prado boasts.

            Bullock-Prado is not shy in offering up sound advice to her readers about the unrelenting task of becoming a baker and owning a business. But Bullock-Prado never ends a chapter on a sour note.

After she outlines her years and summers in Germany with her opera-singing mother and grandmother and her decision to move from West to East, Bullock-Prado offers up a recipe for one of her masterful delicacies with writing constructed in a fashion much like the steps in baking.

She pre-heats her audience with minute descriptions of almond croissants and Parisian macaroons and then progresses to the chemistry. She starts with wet, juicy and sugary details about her morning routines or summers in Germany. She then sifts together the dry and binding details, then slowly mixing the wet with the dry to harmonize the abstract with reality. A tedious, yet needed process in order to achieve the precise taste desired.

Bullock-Prado uses the pages of her book as a memoir of her past and a reliving of her mother who passed months before she opened the doors to her bakery in Montpellier, Vermont.

Her words are sweet and sincere, but ultimately leave the reader wondering whether or not she’s truly happy. Then, at the very end she utters into her audiences’ ears that the glory of the baking world is in the process of production and the simple smile on a satisfied customer’s face after they’ve devoured a warm cherry tart.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker is a pleasant reminder of the magic that accompanies a homemade sweet.