PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor, director, and producer of film and theater. Best known for his supporting and character roles – typically lowlifes, bullies, and misfits – Hoffman was a regular presence in films from the early 1990’s until his death at age 46. Hoffman was also an accomplished theater actor and director. Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters, and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles, Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as “perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation”. (More from Wikipedia)
The author of the tongue-in-cheek liner notes on Pebbles, Volume 2 (LP) where I first encountered “I Must Run” by Phil and the Frantics is listed as “A. Seltzer”, and I think they are supposed to be satirically in the style of legendary rock critic Lester Bangs, though I am not positive of that. (Philip Seymour Hoffman played Bangs in the 2000 film Almost Famous). About this song, “Seltzer” writes: “And if you just moved to Dacron from some dumb place like Phoenix, Arizona, take heart cuz they’ve included YOUR favorite band, Phil & the Frantics with their famed plagiarism of the Zombies ‘I Must Run’. I’ll bet they did when the real songwriters came after ’em for taking credit for this song! Real sleaze, but a shoo-in for punk posterity.”
(August 2012)
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Even more than the delightful portrayal of a rock groupie by a young Kate Hudson (she won a Golden Globe), the best part of the 2000 film Almost Famous – about the early exploits of Cameron Crowe as a rock journalist for Rolling Stone magazine – is the gonzo performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman as legendary rockcrit Lester Bangs, the editor of Creem magazine. As he and the Cameron Crowe stand-in William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit) are beginning to bond, Bangs starts raving during an interview with a hapless radio station DJ: “What is this hippie station?! Where’s Iggy Pop? Don’t you have a copy of Raw Power?!” He paws through some albums, calling out after awhile, “Found it!”, and then starts playing “Search and Destroy” as the DJ mumbles: “Lester, isn’t it a little early for this?”
In his September 2000 appreciation for the Chicago Sun-Times of this film and the rest of the Cameron Crowe oeuvre – Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jerry Maguire, and Say Anything – Jim DeRogatis allows that his favorite “music-movie pairing” in Almost Famous is: “Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs doing the chicken dance to ‘Search and Destroy’ by the Stooges.” While not taking away anything from the excellent music choices made during the film Almost Famous, the contrast could hardly be more stark between this thunderous song and the genteel sounds by the more popular 1970’s bands. This was true not just in the film but in the time period when Raw Power was released in 1973. Jim DeRogatis also wrote a biography in 2000 called Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic.
(March 2017)
