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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 12, 2009 19:10:45 GMT
After having the DVD on loan from a friend for almost a year, I finally got around to watching the 2007 'motion picture' Across The Universe starring Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess, not to mention cameo appearances from the likes of Bono, Joe Cocker and Eddie Izzard.
I can't decide if I like it or not. There is no doubt there are some superb arrangements of songs we love, with superb vocals, but I can't help wondering if film is the best outlet for this, maybe a musical along the lines of Queen's We Will Rock You would have been better? Or have they tried to capture that on film, and thus having the best of both worlds?
I like all the scenes around Stanley Dock, the Beatlelles will know this area as they had a photo shoot there last year and the beach scenes as well, no doubt in the Crosby / Formby area.
Anyone else seen it? Verdict?
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sprucy in the sky
I'll Be On My Way
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
Posts: 313
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Post by sprucy in the sky on Sept 12, 2009 20:58:19 GMT
I personally love it, i think the songs are done beautifully. The story line simple but very effective, i would recommend it to any beatle fan There are also acouple of local (liverpool) people in the film as extras.
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Post by The End on Sept 13, 2009 0:56:01 GMT
I did not know what to expect with this film, but I absolutely loved it (except for the Eddie Izzard bit!)!
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alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
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Post by alix on Sept 13, 2009 11:16:06 GMT
i like the film,
for some reason Beatles songs seem to cause problems when put into musicals. Seem to remember an interview re: LOVE where Paul or someone commented that the Cirque format worked better for Beatle songs than a traditional musical format.
Anyone else remember the ill fated All You Need Is Love! which ran at the Queen's Theatre in 2001 for 3-4 months? By the time the reviews ran in the papers, my mum was booking tickets for the last day. Which was no reflection on the amazing cast. In fact linking into WWRY - one of the girls (Hannah Jane Fox) became part of the original WWRY cast as the original Scaramouche while one of the guys (Jon Boydon) yesterday made his last appearance in the cast of WWRY (at different times he's appeared as Gallileo, Brit & Kashoggi), so that tells you the standard of the performers.
Possibly the abstract nature of the plot didn't help (it was just about love and its many forms and a drive to the countryside), but people do get funny about how they receive their Beatle dosage. Just look at how different bands go down at BW.
Think there's been a couple of other attempts to use Beatle songs in musicals, none of which have captured the world in the same way WWRY has.
perhaps one day some one could try to adapt Julie Taymors work for stage.
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elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
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Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 13, 2009 18:10:09 GMT
i don't really like alot of the renditions of songs in it. i don't really like Revolution,the 'Lut' bit is on the wrong key. but the renditions of Hey Jude,across the universe,all the you need is love etc are brilliant.
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sprucy in the sky
I'll Be On My Way
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
Posts: 313
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Post by sprucy in the sky on Sept 14, 2009 14:12:44 GMT
I did not know what to expect with this film, but I absolutely loved it (except for the Eddie Izzard bit!)! now i loved that, found it hilarious. i didnt however appreciate bono! i agree with elementrypenguin about the renditions of the songs. Hey Jude is actually good haha. Really love all my loving, think jim sturgess sound beautiful! Also it wont be long, works great with a girls vocal.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 14, 2009 18:36:50 GMT
There are also acouple of local (liverpool) people in the film as extras. Yeah, thought I saw you at the bar in The Cavern scenes!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 14, 2009 18:45:02 GMT
In fact linking into WWRY - one of the girls (Hannah Jane Fox) became part of the original WWRY cast as the original Scaramouche while one of the guys (Jon Boydon) yesterday made his last appearance in the cast of WWRY (at different times he's appeared as Gallileo, Brit & Kashoggi), so that tells you the standard of the performers. Wow, I did not know that, thanks! Hannah Jane Fox is amazing! Thanks for input / feedback folks. I think Across The Universe is a bit "too musical" for me, I think perhaps it would work better with fewer songs it just seems a bit saturated. I enjoyed it though, I had nothing else to do last Saturday afternoon!
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sprucy in the sky
I'll Be On My Way
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
Posts: 313
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Post by sprucy in the sky on Sept 14, 2009 20:26:47 GMT
There are also acouple of local (liverpool) people in the film as extras. Yeah, thought I saw you at the bar in The Cavern scenes! what can i say the caverns not the cavern without its resident drunk lol
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rhian
And That's A Start
Posts: 23
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Post by rhian on Sept 16, 2009 12:12:12 GMT
Well as my plans to catch a Birmingham somewhat fell through due to me being a minute late for the train and as my back up plan, District 9, doesn't start for another 20 minutes - thought I might as well post about Across the Universe.
I really, really want to like it but I just don't. It's not that I hate it, more that it has too many niggling things for me to get past. I mean I own it but I've only ever watched it once and despite my hundreds of DVDs that's not common for me.
I think visually the film is mostly beautiful and striking and something I like very much - but then there are whole sequences that feel very late 80s to me and the inconsistency between the two bugs me.
I quite like the arrangements of the songs, though that's partly because I just like hearing different versions and I've heard plenty better. And I agree that they tried to squeeze too many songs in.
Mostly though where it loses me is I really don't like the story and that's always the most important thing for me. I think one of the problems with using the Beatles for this type of project is that the Beatles always had a strong story telling element in their songs - they paint very specific pictures and you either have to ignore those images and risk the songs seeming disconnected or you have to base the story around the pictures which for me makes the story seem unimportant and facile.
So, for example, you have the character of Prudence whose only really in the story and only a lesbian so they can sing - "Dear Prudence, won't you come out and play" - which annoys me for a whole bucketload of reasons. That's basically her only purpose in the story, they're not interested in telling a story about her or about her experiences. Which is a shame because the life of a lesbian in 60s America is probably a fascinating story if not right for this sort of film.
Which also bugged me they touch on a lot of serious, important topics - like LGBT rights, the Vietnam War, Racism - but only in the lightest way and I'm really not sure if this is the right film to be doing that. I think it'd be different if you were making a film about the serious issues that affected people in the 60s and used the Beatles to illustrate the voice of the time but in a fairly simple love story it jarred for me.
That's the other thing, the Beatles were in the business of writing beautiful love songs so any story using a lot of their music as influence is likely to have that as a central theme. Unfortunately Jude and Lucy didn't work for me - I liked both of them better outside of the relationship. And beyond that I liked Max, Jojo and Sadie a hell of a lot more than either of them - so seeing those characters side lined was frustrating for me.
Oh well, still there were lots of good things about the film and if you liked the Jude and Lucy story I think you'd get a lot more enjoyment from this.
Rhian
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Post by The End on Sept 16, 2009 13:49:45 GMT
Wow, you got all of that from watching the film just once!? You bring up a lot of interesting points though - but I think if someone were to make a 2 hour serious documentary about everything important that happened in the Sixties, the subjects you mentioned would probably also only be lightly touched on. Personally, I enjoyed the film because it took me surprise as I thought I'd really hate it! Also, I didn't take it too seriously, so the little Beatle historical inacuracies brought simply a wry smile. I thought it was just a good vehicle to get Beatle music out there.
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rhian
And That's A Start
Posts: 23
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Post by rhian on Sept 16, 2009 17:42:49 GMT
Wow, you got all of that from watching the film just once!? You bring up a lot of interesting points though - but I think if someone were to make a 2 hour serious documentary about everything important that happened in the Sixties, the subjects you mentioned would probably also only be lightly touched on. Personally, I enjoyed the film because it took me surprise as I thought I'd really hate it! Also, I didn't take it too seriously, so the little Beatle historical inacuracies brought simply a wry smile. I thought it was just a good vehicle to get Beatle music out there. Yep - unfortunately I think too much. Actually I think that was probably the problem half way through watching it I'd already slipped into analytical mode and was trying to work out why I wasn't completely enjoying it. Then again at the beginning of Beatle Week I could be found in our hotel bath at 3am writing a 5 page review of a play I'd only seen once, so maybe that's just what I do. I tend to be a bit overly analytical of Beatles inspired films anyway - way back in the distant past me and Alix used to run a fanzine about tribute bands and every issue I'd post an in depth review of a film - I remember doing Backbeat and All You Need Is Cash and the Linda McCartney Story and I'm sure there were others - it's been a bit tough to turn off that way of watching the films. I think as well that it didn't help that I went in the opposite to you - thought I was going to love it as I'm a bit of a musicals geek and had liked the clips I'd seen - expectations were a bit high. I completely agree with you about the two hour doc - despite the fact that I'm a firm subscriber to the idea of intersectonality - those issues definitely would need to be covered in films of their own. I'm just not sure they belonged in the way they were presented in this sort of film. It'd be a bit like having a light hearted musical look at 9/11... oh dear, just lost my train of thought in a Skins flashback. Also apologies for any typos - been uploading Beatle Week photos and the software seems to be playing havoc with this post - all the letters keep rearranging themselves. Rhian
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Post by The End on Sept 16, 2009 21:03:30 GMT
Do you fancy posting some of your old reviews from your fanzine on here? I would love to read them, as I'm sure other members would :-) Nothing wrong with being over analytical, writing a 5 page essay is just not something I'd do in the bath though!! LOL
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alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
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Post by alix on Sept 17, 2009 13:20:56 GMT
Do you fancy posting some of your old reviews from your fanzine on here? I would love to read them, as I'm sure other members would :-) Nothing wrong with being over analytical, writing a 5 page essay is just not something I'd do in the bath though!! LOL From what she said the next day the bath was empty. plus it was a very nice bathroom. scans from earlier incarnation without film reviews bbt.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=5358062you'll find bits about BWs past in there too. one day when we get access to scanners that work the second incarnation may join them
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Post by The End on Sept 17, 2009 13:29:27 GMT
Cool - cheers for those
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rhian
And That's A Start
Posts: 23
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Post by rhian on Sept 21, 2009 22:47:12 GMT
Do you fancy posting some of your old reviews from your fanzine on here? I would love to read them, as I'm sure other members would :-) Nothing wrong with being over analytical, writing a 5 page essay is just not something I'd do in the bath though!! LOL Sure - I'll dig them out next time I'm at my parents - though don't think that'll be until the end of October. Rhian
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Post by sheepdog on Aug 16, 2013 18:54:03 GMT
Im good at posting on old threads, lol. i got this the other day, thinking im either gonna love it or hate it, and i really liked it, i loved hey jude, with a little help from my friends, strawberry fields, the mr kite bit was scary, but overall i loved it
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Post by Amadeus on Aug 17, 2013 0:16:55 GMT
I really liked the film too. Some covers were a bit weak, like, 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' lacked the viciousness of The original.
The best cover, Bono/Secret machines 'I Am The Walrus'. Honourable mention; the montage with 'Across The Universe' and Helter Skelter'.
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Post by sheepdog on Aug 19, 2013 19:53:28 GMT
Yes, i agree about the across the universe, helter skelter montage. done so well
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Post by beatlesfansunite1 on Sept 21, 2013 8:03:59 GMT
I just recently watched the movie, and personally I didn't really like it. The acting wasn't very good and the plot line seemed pretty scattered. There where a lot of times I didn't even know what was going on. Like during the Strawberry Fields sequence, I wasn't sure what they where trying to do there. The music was great though, so that made up for some of the bad acting. Just my opinion
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