The Lesson: Beware group recitals of Elton John. Like nurses and vets, journalists need to keep a professional distance from their subjects and a sun-soaked renditions of Tiny Dancer will never allow for that.

The Publication: Rolling Stone

The Editor: Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen).

The Star Reporter: William Miller (Patrick Fugit).

The Scoop: The story behind up-and-coming rock band Stillwater.

If aspiring journalists are ever worried that breaking into the industry is difficult, they need only look to Almost Famous for immediate reassurance that it's a piece of cake. Socially awkward, 15-year-old rock-fan William meets one of his favorite bands and gets invited to tag along on their tour by showing them that he knows the titles of a few of their tracks. On the way he has an article on the band commissioned by Rolling Stone and falls in love with Groupie (sorry: 'Band Aide') Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) who proceeds to initiate him into the world of rock'n'roll. Sadly, the piece William eventually writes is too revealing for the band who proceed to deny most of it and block the story from going to print. Well, until they have a change of heart anyway.