It’s just impossible to describe this movie so I’m not even going to try, except to say that though it took a while to get started, longer to even come close to comprehending (I’m still working on it, as is probably annoyingly evident), there wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t completely absorbed in it.

It might be the “something even better” from 2007 I wondered about in my Oscars post last week. It might just be a load of claptrap – the thought certainly crossed my mind more than once over the 100 minutes. But going by the feeling it left me with … a heady mix of sadness, worthlessness, joy that just felt like a warm blanket when I was 2 or something … this movie goes further out there even than Vanilla Sky yet what it comes down to in the end is so real and right and wholesome … for now I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. A second viewing is a must … but whatever the case, it’s certainly a mindblowingly original piece, and a far cry from anything I could’ve expected from my occasional dips into writer-director John August’s blogs about it, that’s for sure. It honestly felt almost like a religious experience, and I know how corny that sounds but I just don’t know how else to describe it. A lot more Elle Fanning than expected (well – I didn’t actually know she was in it, lol, so that wasn’t gonna be hard) didn’t hurt either

What? I haven’t reviewed this one yet?!?

This is one of my all-time favourite movies. This viewing was the original theatrical cut, and though I prefer the longer “bootleg” / “Untitled” cut, there’s barely any difference except the length. It’s just, if you love the movie, you just don’t want it to end: that’s why I think the longer cut is better. This movie is pure love to me.

I’m guessing I first watched this movie in 2003 (it certainly wasn’t last year but I remember thinking at the time ‘why has it taken me so long to see this?’) and the biggest reason for my love of it is how much it changed my love of music. In a way, the movie acted for me the same way Zooey Deschanel as William Miller’s sister does for him when he is a young boy – dropping a handful of hints about what rocks, hints that lead to a whole journey of personal and musical discovery. “One day, you’ll be cool,” she tells the 11-year-old in flat-on, talk to the camera close-up before she leaves, one of my favourite shots of this or any movie. If only all of us could have such a big sister. When she reappears at the end, the relief is so palpable. Zooey Deschanel must be onscreen for less than 10 minutes of the movie but she makes a hell of an impression.

I love how real the movie comes across. Of course it’s all partly Cameron Crowe’s autobiography, but even the little things like character names etc come across as very authentic. After first viewing the movie I was entirely convinced that there really was a band called Stillwater back in the Seventies (there actually was, apparently, but they weren’t anything like the Stillwater in the movie).

But most of all, my love of this movie is down to two things – the blending of Nancy Wilson’s score and Kate Hudson’s performance as Penny Lane. When both are working together, like when Penny first meets Russell Hammond, and when she asks William “What … kind of beer?”, and when she’s dancing alone in a post-concert empty hall; this movie touches me like nothing else but love itself. I want to be with these people, I want to sit on that bus and sing “Tiny Dancer”, I want Frances McDormand to be my overconcerned mom, Zooey Deschanel to be my offbeat big sis, I want to be around these people who say things like, “If you ever get lonely, just go the record store and visit your friends.” This movie is as much a part of my life as any movie will ever be, I love it.