the beatles Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's 09-09-09 today, an event that won't happen for another hundred years in 2109, and it's also the day that a marketing executive somewhere decided, "Hey! That's a perfect release day for The Beatles!" So they're packing it full from top to bottom with the releases of the meticulously remastered Beatles albums on CD in massive mono and stereo sets, and of course The Beatles: Rock Band video game comes out today, allowing you to pretend you're John, Paul, George, or Ringo. No Pete Best, sadly.

However, not included in this barrage of Beatledom are any of The Beatles' movies. They made five motion pictures over the course of their career, but you hardly hear about them these days. Check out the list below ranked in order from Fab! to Flop, then get your own Revolution going.

A Hard Day's Night
Arguably the best Beatles movie, and the band's favorite, Richard Lester (Superman II, Help!) directed this tongue-in-cheek look at the band by structuring it around what their lives were actually like at the time: running from fans, answering inane questions from reporters, and playing music. There's an amusing subplot tossed in about Paul's grandfather ("He's very ... clean"), but the black and white look captures the early Beatles at their vintage best. Even normally quiet and wooden George Harrison is funny in this thing. A reporter asks him what he calls his moptop haircut and he deadpans, "Arthur."

Robert Zemeckis just can't get enough of his 3D motion capture, and clearly no film or concept will elude his grasp. According to Variety, Zemeckis and Disney are in the middle of a complicated deal that will allow them to remake the Beatles' psychedelic cartoon Yellow Submarine.

It's been a long time since I saw Yellow Submarine and if I need a refresher on the plot, you might as well. The trippy adventure takes place in Pepperland, a magical undersea place protected by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The music-hating Blue Meanies attack, seal the band in a bubble, and turn the citizens into statues. The Mayor seeks out the help of the Fab Four, who travel in a yellow submarine through several musical interludes. The power of the Beatles restores Pepperland to its colorful, musical self before returning to London. Naturally, it's enjoyed best if you're on drugs.

The remake negotiations have been taking place for months, as Zemeckis wants to use all the original Submarine tunes and spin it off into an original Broadway musical, but meanwhile the Beatles catalog is a complicated thing. The goal is to have it filmed, and in theaters by the 2012 Summer Olympics, which are taking place in London. Zemeckis is hoping that a 3D motion-capture approach will introduce the Beatles to a new generation, who are already enjoying a surge of youth interest thanks to the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band.

"As we approach the 40th anniversary of the storied summer of 1969," our friends at SnagFilms remind us, why not celebrate the life of one of rock's biggest icons? Admittedly, Inside John Lennon, an unauthorized, 52-minute feature written and narrated by Henry Stephens, could have been titled Worship John Lennon. It's respectful and reverent almost to the point of religious devotion. Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, gets center stage; she's eager to set the record straight about their banjo-playing mother, trash the Beatles' first single Love Me Do ("It was a load of rubbish, wasn't it?"), explain away John's leaving behind his first wife Cynthia and son Julian as necessary in order to keep his career on track, and vilify Yoko Ono like the Devil.

Other, apparently new interviews for this 2003 doc were conducted with original members of the Quarrymen (as John's late 50s skiffle band was called before it morphed into the Beatles), the Beatles' first manager, their chauffeur, the general manager of Apple, and similar supporting players. John's voice is heard on audio tape, as is Paul McCartney, and a multitude of TV clips are included. All the expected highlights are touched upon: John's early ambitions to be an artist, meeting Paul, the death of John's mother, Hamburg, Pete Best, Brian Epstein, the movies, the mania, "bigger than Jesus," Shea Stadium, the "lost weekend," and his tragic death. There's nothing revelatory here, but it brings back many good memories, and that feels like summer to me.

We've embedded the film below for your viewing convenience. More information is available at SnagFilms. Please note: NSFW due to occasional profanity.

We've seen tons of movies about both John Lennon and The Beatles. One focused on the early days of the band; another focused on the killing of Lennon. Documentaries galore displayed the artist's life and/or career, comprehensively or specifically. And, of course, Lennon and his band mates have starred in their own movies. But how about a dramatic telling of little Lennon, the kid who would grow up to be one of the most famous men of the 20th century? Last week, a film titled Nowhere Boy, based on the book "Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon," penned by one of Lennon's half-sisters, Julia Baird, received funding from the UK Film Council, and is therefore on its way to your Beatlemania collection in only a matter of time.

The most exciting thing about Nowhere Boy, the thing that makes it more than just another movie about Lennon, is that it's being scripted by Matt Greenhalgh, writer of the phenomenal Ian Curtis biopic Control, who was attracted to the book's psychological insight into Lennon's character. Baird's telling is not without controversy, mostly due to its portrayal of Mary "Mimi" Smith, the aunt who raised Lennon from the age of 4 (and who Baird did not live with). Because it's about the childhood of a person idolized by millions, there are sure to be other criticisms and controversy once the movie is released. Will it be permitted, though, or even necessary to feature any of Lennon's later music, either from The Beatles or solo?

No, no, there's not going to be a remake of A Clockwork Orange starring Mick Jagger. At least I don't think so. This is just a fun bit of what-could-have-been. We like to play around with alternate-universe casting here once in a while, and this one's a doozy. Someone found a letter from producer Si Litvinoff to legendary director John Schlesinger, urging him to consider directing an adaptation of Anthony Burgess's novel. And part of the pitch was that Mick Jagger wanted the role of the psychopathic Alex, and that the Beatles "love[d] the project" and wanted to provide the musical score. Fortunately (?) Schlesinger wasn't interested and the project eventually wound up falling to good old Stanley Kubrick.

The Clockwork Orange we got was -- like all of Kubrick's work -- too singular a film to even try to imagine how someone else's version would have been different. But I admit I'm amused (and intrigued) by the notion of Jagger taking on the Malcolm McDowell role. Hell, after watching the manic two-hour stage show he put on in Shine a Light at age 63, I'm kind of convinced that he's actually omnipotent. As for the Beatles? That's just creepy. I'll stick with Kubrick's classical selections.

[hat tip: Movie City News]

• Abby Mann (1927-2008) - Oscar-winning screenwriter of Judgment of Nuremberg. He was also nominated for writing Stanley Kramer's Ship of Fools. He also worked on Vittorio De Sica's The Condemned of Altona, wrote John Cassavetes' A Child is Waiting and Gordon Douglas' The Detective, which starred Frank Sinatra, and created the TV series Kojak. He also appears in the documentary Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust. He died of heart failure March 25, in Beverly Hills. (Variety)

• Art Aragon (1927-2008) - Professional boxer-turned-actor who appears as himself in the Bob Hope comedy Off Limits and in Kur Neumann's film-noir The Ring. He also appears in John Huston's boxing picture Fat City and in the WWII film To Hell and Back. He died of complications from a stroke March 25, in Northridge, California. (NY Times)
• Paul Arthur (c.1948-2008) - Film historian, scholar and critic who taught English and film studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He was known for his writings on avant-garde and documentary cinemas and had made a number of short films, himself. He died of melanoma March 25, in White Plains, New York. (NY Times)

With its concentration on the music industry, it's easy to forget that the Grammys have a few movie-related categories. They include best compilation soundtrack album, best score soundtrack album and best song written for motion picture, television or other visual media. One thing that's always odd with the Grammys, though, is how many nominees are so old. Take a look at the score/composer nominees, for example: Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla); Blood Diamond (James Newton Howard); The Departed (Howard Shore); Happy Feet (John Powell); Pan's Labyrinth (Javier Navarrete); Ratatouille (Michael Giacchino). Only the last of those films came out in 2007. But the eligibility period for the Grammys is always October of the previous year until the end of September of the current year. All but Ratatouille's soundtrack were released in October, November and December of 2006. Since the Grammy ceremony is only a couple weeks prior to the Oscars, the ancient films honored are easily seen as that much more old news (Babel won the 2007 Academy Award for score).

Happy Feet was also recognized in the best song category, for "The Song of My Heart" by Prince (who already has the best soundtrack of all time), despite its not having received an Oscar nomination. Same goes for one of its competitors, Casino Royale theme song "You Know My Name", co-written (with David Arnold) and performed by Chris Cornell. Dreamgirls' "Love You I Do", written by Siedah Garrett and Henry Krieger (performed by Jennifer Hudson) is the only overlap from last February's Oscar nominees (it lost to Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth). The other recognized tracks, both from 2007 releases, are Eddie Vedder's "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild and Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's duet "Falling Slowly" from Once.

Once is also a contender for best compilation soundtrack, though it faces a huge challenger in The Beatles, who are recognized for the album for the Cirque du Soleil show Love (how does that fall into this category and not the one for musical show album?) and indirectly for the soundtrack to the movie Across the Universe, which features covers of the band's tunes performed by the movie's cast. Other soundtrack nominees are retro musicals Dreamgirls and Hairspray. Sorry, fans of High School Musical 2.

I have been seriously looking forward to Across the Universe since it was announced a few years ago. I think Julie Taymor's previous two films (Titus; Frida) were visually brilliant (and not too bad in the non-visual departments), I think Evan Rachel Wood is a terrific young actress (I hope Marilyn Manson doesn't ruin her career), I love the Beatles' music and I love "the '60s" as a subject and a setting (even in the form of cheesy amalgams like Forrest Gump and The '60s). More specific to this film, though, I think the trailer captures all these things I love together in a beautiful little montage. I don't see how I could possibly not love the whole package when it arrives in theaters this September.

But recently I've been growing more and more worried about the film. In March, we learned that Taymor and Revolution Studios were fighting over the final cut of the film. The director even threatened to remove her name from the film because she isn't happy with Revolution's editing the pic without her involvement. Some of us sided with Taymor, while others explained in detail why Taymor shouldn't be allowed complete control. Now we get this bland poster, which provides no hint of how stunning the pic will look. The strawberry frame makes sense, as it is part of the film's original logo (where did it go?), but otherwise the poster seems to be advertising a simple love story. Maybe that is the best way to sell this romantic musical, but following the posters for Titus and Frida, both of which I would be happy to put in my dorm room -- if I lived in one -- the poster for Across the Universe is just not that aesthetically interesting.

I know, it's just a poster. But the marketing decisions for the film continue to make me wonder if Revolution's cut is really going to pander too much to a wide audience. With the trailer, this was fine, in keeping all the artsy images short and at the end, it left me wanting more. I just hope that the actual film doesn't also leave me wishing for more of Taymor's imaginative imagery and less of the studio's need to cater to a less art-minded crowd. Feel free to argue for the business and the storytelling; sometimes I just want the mind-blowing eye candy -- on film, and on the poster.

Indie niblets for you:

• It's been a few months since director Adrienne Shelly died at the hands of a short-tempered construction worker. Now, while her final film gears up for a pie-licious May release, a number of awards and initiatives have been announced to continue women's filmmaking in her memory. The American Film Institute is launching a production grant what will underwrite a Master Class in Directing under her name, Columbia University is starting an annual Adrienne Shelly Award for best female directors, New York Women in Film & Television is launching an ASF Finishing Funds Grant and an annual ASF scholarship with be awarded annually at the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television (part of NYU). It's great news for future female filmmakers, but it's a shame that it couldn't come years later, after Shelly enjoyed an extremely long and successful life.
• As part of a Q&A with TOMB, Mira Nair, the Indian director responsible for works like Vanity Fair and The Namesake chatted briefly about another feature in the works -- this time, a documentary on The Beatles. Nair has an interesting spin on the epic band. It will delve into inspiration and how it strikes. In the late 60's, the group went to India, where it is said they created most of their White Album and part of Abbey Road. As Nair describes: "This moment of amazing inspiration that the Beatles had in this remote place on the banks of the Ganges -- how does it happen?" It could be a great view into the band, and at the very least, have some great tunes to accompany it.
  
• Walter's son, Charlie Matthau, is getting busier and gearing up for another film to add to Freaky Deaky, which I posted about in January. He will direct Mikey & Dolores, a jazz-infused love story about an unlucky talent manager who falls for a jazz singer who is a client of his. The lead is being played by David Proval, who also penned the script with wife Cheryl Meccariello, and there is no word yet on his love interest. However, according to Matthau, he's looking at a tasty little cast to round things off. He says that he is in talks with Eric Roberts, Steven Bauer, Vincent Pastore and Tanna Frederick, with two already signed on -- Don Rickles as a standup comic and Pete Rose as a Vegas celebrity. It will shoot this May in Vegas and L.A.
  

When it was revealed Tuesday that Across the Universe was having some creative control issues, a lot of people (myself included) sided with the film's director, Julie Taymor. While I didn't go so far as to compare Taymor to Orson Welles (that would be the NY Times), I had to put in my usual two cents about how a visionary director should at least be in the loop regarding the final cut if he or she isn't actually given authority over the final cut. Apparently Taymor is too stubborn for such a privilege, though, as she has a reputation for not being willing to compromise. L.A. Weekly's Nikki Finke wrote up a story on how difficult Taymor is and why it is in fact her fault that Universe is having troubles.

Finke goes into great detail regarding Taymor's career and cites examples of problems she's had since becoming a big hit on Broadway with the stage adaptation of The Lion King. Both of the director's previous films had their share of difficulties and Finke finds it surprising that anybody would even hire Taymor for anything anymore. So, in a way, Joe Roth is at fault for not knowing any better. This story is illustrative of what I and others despise about Hollywood, how the business side of the movies is always more important than the art side. And I understand this is the way it is and I understand this is best for the industry. But as much as whining doesn't help, it is often our job as writers to complain about the system, and Finke sure isn't going to change my mind about supporting Taymor on this one.