Growing up, my parents were always hounding me to watch the movies they liked with them. The issue with that was the content, shying us away from the heavier topics and the movies that would really make me think.
So when I came to the right age, I had a list of movies to watch. It was almost like some of them actually made me look at the world in a completely different light. The first of these, is "Into the Wild", a movie about self-discovery directed by Sean Penn.
"Into the Wild" is based off the life of Christopher McCandless, A man who decided to destroy his identity (credit cards, etc), donate his money to charity and venture off to Alaska. This trip consists of hitchhiking, (almost) a night at a homeless shelter, some new friends, and phenomenal scenery.
Viewers are the given the feeling of watching a nomad talk the truth in this realistic drama. McCandless, played by Emile Hirsch, is searching for something beyond human contact, something that he perceives to be the ultimate "freedom" and reality of life. My favorite scene in the movie is between McCandless and a farmer he met, played by Vince Vaughn. McCandless and Hirsch are in a bar talking and Hirsch brings up his anger with society saying, "I don't understand why people, why every f**king person is so bad to each other so f**king often. It doesn't make sense to me. Judgement. Control. All that, the whole spectrum."
To me, that line meant everything that I felt about school, about life and about what I imagined things to be like. I may not perceive it the same way now, but the first time I saw this movie I felt that someone had voiced what so many people felt and it was genuine as f**k (no pun intended).
The rest of the movie is a masterpiece of beautiful landscapes, genius dialogue and a pre-"Twilight" Kristen Stewart. Hirsch adds a sense of humility and compassion to McCandless' tribute and he truly is in the moment. This movie is easily one of the most interesting, revolting biopics I have ever seen.
Now, the first time I learned of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I was about 12 years old watching "Almost Famous". My parents had begged me to watch this movie for easily a year and I finally caved.
Cameron Crowe directed "Almost Famous",a movie that quite possibly launched Kate Hudson into super stardom with the role of Penny Lane, a pretty groupie girl. Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Fairuza Balk, and Zooey join Hoffman and Hudson in this brilliant movie.
"Almost Famous" follows 15 year old named William, played by Patrick Fugit, who is an aspiring writer. Unknowing of his age, Rolling Stone asks William to write an article about the band "Stillwater", prompting him to pursue the band at one of their concerts. The band is reluctant to give an interview at the time so William ends up following them on tour in order to insurance he gets the information for his article.
Within the time of the tour, William becomes good friends with the band.He does this despite Hoffman's character, a DJ, having warned him specifically not to. Penny Lane and William become quite close as well, Penny being William's first love.
This movie marks adolescence and becoming comfortable in who you are but also the importance of relativity. The closer William gets to the mega-famous band "Stillwater" the more he sees the conflicts that reside in the band members and the band itself.
"Almost Famous" reminds me of the love I have for music because of it's Grammy award winning soundtrack (Led Zeppelin, Simon and Garfunkel, Lynard Skynard, Elton John and more) and the casts' rendition of "Tiny Dancer" on the tour bus. Also, it reminds me of the way we all are underneath it all, flawed but in love with something. Maybe you love music or maybe it's writing or maybe it's soccer, but it's something and it ties you to this world and to other people. Whatever it is, you are damn well lucky to have found it.
