Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Sixth Post-- The Fab Four

One thing you should know about me (and a large majority of the world) is that I'm a big fan of The Beatles.  I generally like all 60s music but The Beatles hold a special place in my heart...  Now, this is a movie blog, you may be thinking "what is this kid talking about The Bealtes for? THIS IS A MOVIE BLOG!!" well, I assume you also know (at least if you're a fan of The Beatles or movies) that the band had created many movies during their 7 year run... well I'm going to take the time to tell you a bit about them, and perhaps do a review of sorts.  Enjoy!

A Hard Day's Night was the first Beatles film.  It was made in 1964 and directed by Richard Lester.  The film was a very interestingly done comedy film and was done in the style of a mockumentary (a fairly entertaining style that was used in other films and TV shows such as This Is Spinal Tap, The Rutles, Orson Welles' The War of The Worlds and The Office).  The film shows the Beatles going to play a show in London with Paul's grandpa and once there, skipping out until the last minute to randomly run around an empty field.  The film was actually fairly well written, the dialogue, while being hard to understand mostly, is actually perfect for a group of people who aren't professional actors.  More or less the screenwriter, Alun Owen, attempted to make the dialogue consist of things the four would actually say.  The story is also really well done, being a tale of The Beatles and their need to escape their fame for whatever amount of time they can manage (although, that deeper message requires a bit of digging).  Overall the movie is a classic example of the light-hearted popular cinema of the time, and more importantly a great example of British comedy (the movie actually influenced a lot of British comedy films to come).  It's a classic and definitely worth a watch (especially if you're a Beatles fan).  PLOT SYNOPSIS!  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/synopsis

Help! was the next in the line of Beatles films and this one was much more ridiculous than A Hard Day's Night.  Richard Lester directed this 1965 sequel that involves a religious cult, a war scene, two crazy scientists, a London flat cut into fourths and Ringo Starr being chased to be sacrificed.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059260/synopsis.  This movie I personally preferred to the last, it's WAY more ridiculous and psychedelic, the humor is absurd, but still really funny.  Check this one out also, but be aware, there is almost no depth and the comedy is absurd and slightly pointless but it's good for some cheap laughs.

Yellow Submarine came next, it's a 1968 animated comedy, I've never seen it, so I can't really give a recommendation but here's the summary... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063823/synopsis

Finally was the 1970 documentary Let It Be, this film was ill-fated and you actually can't find it anywhere anymore.  The Beatles kept the movie from sticking around due to the poor view of them that it cast.  It shows the rift in the band (including Paul McCartney's overzealous control and John Lennon's silence in any band issues) and how horrible things were up until their split.  I really wish I could tell you more, but alas, I have not seen it either (even though I really REALLY want to)... all I know about it is what I've read, here's the summary... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065976/synopsis

Anyway, no one can deny how influential and important The Beatles were (even if you hate them).  Check out the movies they're pretty funny... but sorry today's post was so short, here's a gift to end it out... http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2110954777/

Could be entertaining or SUPER lame, we'll see (my vote is for lame cuz Ryan Reynolds sucks, however, I like the Green Lantern so I wish it would be good)... anyway, have a great day and see you on the flip flop!

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