THE BEATLES : EIGHT DAYS A WEEK : Friday 16th September 2016

The Beatles were bigger than Jesus so John Lennon once claimed, and looking through much of the archive footage that comprises the film 'THE BEATLES : EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - THE TOURING YEARS' it is easy to see why he had made that controversial remark. Directed by Ron Howard with the full approval, support and co-operation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison this fan film traces the four likely lads from Liverpool rise to fame from 1962 through until 1966 during which time they staged some 250 concerts, recorded numerous singles and albums, toured the world, were interviewed to within an inch of their lives, made a couple of feature length films, but still remained the lads from Liverpool at heart just out having a laugh!

Ron Howard's documentary tribute starts off in 1962 with the four mop-top lads playing the club scene in and around Liverpool gaining a relatively strong underground audience from their humble beginnings at Liverpool's Cavern Club. As mid-teenagers with a keen interest in music John, Paul and George had been playing together for some years with Ringo being the last to join the ensemble in August 1962. Those early days show how John, Paul, George and Ringo just clicked and became a band of brothers, how they shared everything, and how tightly knit they would become. It would take Brian Epstein who managed them having discovered them at a lunchtime gig at The Cavern Club in late 1961, to tidy up their act, put them in suits and ties, and help propel them into the stratosphere.

With found footage film, new stills and video that has subsequently come to light, and interviews with the likes of Elvis Costello, Whoopi Goldberg, Sigourney Weaver and Eddie Izzard who were there in the thick of it as young kids when Beatlemania gripped the world like never before seen, this documentary provides a chronological account year by year of the band as they played, toured, wrote, filmed and interviewed their way around the world relentlessly for a four year plus period. During this time they played a staggering 250 or more concerts in between doing everything else as well as simply trying to live their lives.

Greeted by hordes of literally tens of thousands of teenage fans (mostly girls who dragged along their boyfriends and often parents) everywhere they went, the four lads were mobbed and hounded by their adoring fanbase and the media. Television was still a relatively new concept and it was their live performance on The Ed Sullivan Show that established their further fame in the US - naturally a highly lucrative market. Record sales got their name out their but it was the concerts that made them real money, and by 1965 their famed US tour took in sixteen concerts in sixteen days including the ground breaking and history making Shea Stadium gig that played in front of 56,000 fans (a record number at that time). Seeing this 30 minute concert digitally remastered and presented after the closing credits of the film in 4K makes you realise how primitive live concerts were back in the day and just how far live performance has come. But for all of that, you can't knock the music, and the lads enthusiasm and their ability to play to an unprecedented audience of that size.

And so Howard's tribute continues to their final full concert in 1966 in San Francisco at Candlestick Park on August 29th, where again in front of a huge capacity crowd the boys sound was drowned out by the screams of wild fans, as their music played through the grounds tannoi system. Tired and just over the never ending spiral of gigs, media attention, travel and recording, the boys unanimously decided to call  it a day from touring. Every decision they ever made as a collective band all in it together was that it had to be an all in unanimous decision, and in touring that die was cast. They spent the next five or so years in the studio with their Music Producer George Martin reinventing themselves, experimenting and releasing studio albums and producing arguably their best work. They were after all, growing up, maturing in their musical styles and ready to take The Beatles in a new direction.

This film is a real trip down memory lane for those who can remember The Beatles back in the day and even the time when the four Liverpool likely lads split and each followed their own musical destiny afterwards. Or, for those who have only recently discovered The Beatles and their musical legacy, it is an insight into The Fab Four - how they came to be, how they clicked together as a cohesive unit, their shared beliefs, their creativity, their defining moments and what made them singularly and collectively. Howard's film will make you tap your feet, make you smile, make you laugh at the freedom the lads had to voice their opinions in a time before social media or the Internet without fear of instant rebuttal. They didn't take life too seriously, just in it for a 'laff' but they and the world got carried along on a tidal wave of fan frenzy, an avalanche of media attention, and a four year firestorm of musical output in just about every sense that was completely unique at that time.

I enjoyed this film, more than I thought I would, never having been a huge Beatles fan and more a product of the '80's with just a passing interest in the music of the '60's. But nonetheless, this new and refreshing perspective sheds welcome light on John, Paul, George and Ringo for me that I found compelling, interesting and rewarding viewing. If I had to pick any fault, it would be that of their personal lives was barely touched up, and with three of the band being married by the time they stopped touring in 1966 this is skipped over completely other than a single still photograph of John & Cynthia Lennon with young Julian. On this I would have liked to see a little more depth - the impact of the concerts, time away from loved ones, travelling with family, The Beatles immediate 'community'. All of that said, catch this film while you can - you won't be disappointed whether you're a Beatles fan or not - it makes no difference - see it for the nostalgia, see it for the history, see it for the music, see it for the legend, see four Liverpool lads having a laff riding the crest of a wave in all their cheekiness, euphoria, charm, musical talent and unwittingly creating a legacy that is still strong today.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 23rd October 2014.

With Spring time in Australia warming up the cockles of our hearts - gradually - we are welcomed by another variety of filmic content with which to entice any moviegoer out in front of a big screen for action, drama, comedy, tears, laughter and not all necessary in the same outing! Nonetheless, we have war time drama as Uncle Sam goes head to head with 'Ze Germans'; we have a drum thumping chest beating push it to the limits no holds barred musical upbringing; then there is a family in mourning at the passing of the patriarch and the effects on those he leaves behind; a disgruntled psychologist travelling the world in search of himself; and a throw back to Beatlemania as it hits southern Spain!

As well as these there are still plenty of offerings out there in movie land doing the rounds from weeks gone by, that is sure to ensure that just about every taste is catered for. Whatever your choice in the coming week, drop me a line or two in the 'Comments' section following this or any Post, and let the movie going world know what you think! Don't be shy - your feedback is welcomed! Enjoy your film . . . or two!

FURY (Rated MA15+) - Written and Directed by David Ayer this is WWII action drama as seen from inside a Sherman Tank in the closing months of the war. 'Fury' is the name of the said Sherman Tank as helmed by Sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt) as he grinds across Europe with his crew of four others to close in on German territory with the end of the war in sight. Wardaddy is a grizzled, hardened, battle weary, violent calculating piece of work commanding his crew inside a reinforced armoured tin can to blitz their war through enemy lines at any cost and advance on Berlin - officers are killed in cold blood, towns and villages ripped apart, civilians mowed down in support of the Allies cause.

The four other grunts contained within 'Fury' all have their own story to tell starting off with new wet behind the ears recruit Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) commandeered to the front line in all his innocence having just about driven a desk as a typist up to the point of joining this lone tank command. He will very quickly grow a pair at the hands and mercies of Wardaddy, and with the bitter war battles that he will soon witness - innocence is often the first casualty of war . . . and here it comes! Then we have Boyd 'Bible' Swan (Shia LaBeouf) as the moral conscience of the troop but battle hardened enough to blast his foe to kingdom come when the need eventuates. Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal) is the Italian thug, and Trini 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Pena) is a Mexican machine gunner just about at the end of his tether with all he has seen and done from the confines of his tin can mobile home. In some respects this might be as claustrophobic as 'Das Boot', as we see the atrocities of war unfold through a post-box sized window with which to pinpoint the enemy and destroy them before they destroy you. Then there are the tiny confines in which five men haul across Germany in the last days of war and the close quarter living conditions that had to be endured. The story has lots of promise, but, will it live up to the realism we have seen in 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Enemy at the Gates', 'Platoon' or 'Apocalypse Now' - only you can decide!

WHIPLASH (Rated MA15+) - this Damien Chazelle Directed and Screen-written film has had much praise heaped upon it since its overseas release, and now it arrives at our screens. This tells the story of promising teenage jazz drummer Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller - who incidentally has played drums for real since his early teens and beats out the tunes in about 70% of the films musical numbers) and his enrolment in the acclaimed Shaffer School - New York's music conservatory. The story here surrounds Neyman and his drumming teacher/mentor/conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K.Simmons) who will drive Neyman so hard to the point of perfection that his hands will bleed and his mind all but cracks. The end game is a chance to compete in the schools prestigious Studio Band and so there is much as stake for Fletcher and Neyman, and only drumming perfection will be good enough! Lauded performances, tense drama, a gripping story and a great jazz soundtrack make this unlike just about any other sappy musical you have seen before!

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (Rated M) - it's good to see Jane Fonda back up on the big screen after an absence of a few years. Directed by Shawn Levy, here he has assembled a solid cast of a family brought together by Hillary Altman (Jane Fonda) as the newly widowed mother intent on grieving the recently deceased Husband and Dad with the immediate family for a week of family bonding and mourning. Judd Altman (Jason Bateman), Wendy Altman (Tina Fey), Paul Altman (Corey Stoll) and Phillip Altman (Adam Driver) all come together with Mom and various other past & present hangers-on, in the family home to spend a week in grief, and so embark on a journey of discovery about their grown-ups selves, their childhood, relationships, partners, work, life, play, and more. With such a cast and such an unassuming story this is likely to resonate in a down to earth, funny and considered way.

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (Rated M) - with a cast comprising Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Jean Reno, Toni Collete, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard this film should have all the trappings of another comedic hit. Pegg plays our Hector - a disenchanted psychologist with all the trappings of success - great girlfriend Clara (Rosamund Pike), great apartment and great lifestyle, but, he is unhappy. And so off he trots around the world in search of himself and to contemplate his navel, while making observations on life, people and the circumstances he finds himself in during his travels. But even as he follows his dream and goes off in search of happiness he remains unhappy and unsatisfied with his lot, until he comes full circle and realises that his true happiness was in fact starring him in the face all the time! Sound predictable? And well it might be! Sometime you gotta go a long way to realise what you already knew!

LIVING IS EASY (WITH EYES CLOSED) (Rated M) - this is Spain's selection in the 2015 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film category and is set in 1966 when The Beatles were at the peak of their popularity. Antonio (Javier Camara) is an English/Latin Teacher who is such a fan of the Fab Four that he takes himself off on a road trip to Almeria in Spain's south-west in the hope of meeting John Lennon who is based there temporarily filming Richard Lester's 'How I Won The War'. En route he picks up hitchhikers - Juanjo (Francesc Colomer) and Belen (Natalia de Molina) and the unlikely trio go in search of their dreams and their own sense of freedom. Antonio's dream is to have John Lennon leave some of his lasting lyrics in the pages of his notebook, and to capture a rare moment in time when film-makers, Actors, Producers and obviously Singers flocked to 'Mini-Hollywood' to produce some of that era's classic films in sun-drenched locations and relatively inexpensively. This is based on a true story and the film title is taken from a lyric in the Lennon penned song 'Strawberry Fields Forever', which he wrote while in Almeria.

Five films to choose from this coming week that surely offer enough to get you out in front of a big screen one evening this week at least. Remember, that when you do let us know your thoughts and opinions, and share with your like minded film fanatics.

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-