shyGirl
Jan 05, 2002, 06:37 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,159%7E%7E%7E,00.html
Movies still love Beatles
Fab Four songs figure prominently
By Steve Rosen
Denver Post staff writer
Friday, January 04, 2002 - In the movies, Beatles never die.
Either through their use of Beatles songs, or by having characters talk about the group and its music, or both, a surprising number of new movies refer to the Fab Four and the recently deceased George Harrison.
Here's a guide:
"Vanilla Sky": Crammed with pop-cultural references as well as a soundtrack more varied and eclectic than the hippest college station, this film from former music journalist Cameron Crowe features a discussion between an imprisoned Tom Cruise and his therapist (Kurt Russell) that includes the Beatles. Psychologist Kurt Russell, musing to masked patient Tom Cruise on what the maturation process has meant to him, says "My favorite Beatle once was John, now it's Paul." To which Cruise answers his was always George.
And "Vanilla Sky's" title song is a new composition by Paul McCartney. Paramount Pictures is pushing for an Oscar nomination for it in the best original song category.
Meanwhile, last year's best-song winner, Bob Dylan, also gets quite a plug in "Vanilla Sky." The film features Cruise and Penelope Cruz walking down the same New York block, in the same pose, as Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo did on the cover of 1962's "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."
"Ali": Cassius Clay became a world-famous celebrity in connection with defeating Sonny Liston and becoming heavyweight champion in 1964. As part of that celebrity, he engaged in every possible photo opportunity - including clowning around with the Beatles in a boxing ring during their American visit. Michael Mann's biopic doesn't re-create that moment, but it does have Will Smith (who plays Clay/Muhammed Ali) mentioning the momentous event after the fact - he opines that the only smart Beatle was "the one with glasses."
"I Am Sam": In this new film, scheduled to open here this month, Sean Penn plays a mentally disabled man who must fight for custody of his bright-eyed and extremely mature 7-year-old daughter. To do so, he seeks the help of a high-strung, Type-A attorney, Michelle Pfeiffer.
The Beatles have had an inordinate amount of influence on Sam's life and belief systems. Indeed, he seems to use them and their songs as constant reference points. He has even named his daughter Lucy Diamond, after "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." Plus, he and his mentally disabled pals mimic the Beatles' pose on the "Abbey Road" cover while crossing a street.
And, in a conversation with Pfeiffer about the Beatles, she volunteers that her favorite was George.
The soundtrack features new versions of Beatles tunes by such acts as Eddie Vedder (lead singer of Pearl Jam), Sarah McLachlan, the Black Crowes, Ben Folds, the Wallflowers, Paul Westerberg, Nick Cave, Ben Harper and more. It's due Tuesday.
"The Royal Tenenbaums": Director Wes Anderson may use pop music - especially older rock songs - better than any filmmaker. This ensemble piece begins with a spirited and fluidly dynamic extended prologue that introduces the characters while a rousingly orchestral, instrumental version of "Hey Jude" plays. The effect is similar to the way director Paul Thomas Anderson's (no relation) "Magnolia" uses Aimee Mann's version of Harry Nilsson's "One" to establish mood and tempo.
Also featured on the "Tenenbaums"' soundtrack is John Lennon's lovely ballad "Look At Me."
But, just as they occasionally did back in the 1960s, the Rolling Stones upstage the Beatles in this film. In a scene both humorously offbeat and also quite touching, two troubled Tenenbaums - played by Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow - sit in a tent in his bedroom and play on a turntable an old Stones LP featuring the lovely "She Smiled Sweetly."
"Heartbreakers": While this early 2001 release is neither a new movie nor a very good one, it does have some inspired moments. In one, Sigourney Weaver, posing as a Russian woman in a smoke-filled Russian restaurant, is called upon to sing in Russian. Improvising, she leads the house band in "Back in the USSR."
I'm sure I'm missing some Beatles' references. If anyone has noticed others, e-mail srosenone@aol.com or write Movie Mania/Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver 80202.
------------------
Song of the moment-Blackbird
Movies still love Beatles
Fab Four songs figure prominently
By Steve Rosen
Denver Post staff writer
Friday, January 04, 2002 - In the movies, Beatles never die.
Either through their use of Beatles songs, or by having characters talk about the group and its music, or both, a surprising number of new movies refer to the Fab Four and the recently deceased George Harrison.
Here's a guide:
"Vanilla Sky": Crammed with pop-cultural references as well as a soundtrack more varied and eclectic than the hippest college station, this film from former music journalist Cameron Crowe features a discussion between an imprisoned Tom Cruise and his therapist (Kurt Russell) that includes the Beatles. Psychologist Kurt Russell, musing to masked patient Tom Cruise on what the maturation process has meant to him, says "My favorite Beatle once was John, now it's Paul." To which Cruise answers his was always George.
And "Vanilla Sky's" title song is a new composition by Paul McCartney. Paramount Pictures is pushing for an Oscar nomination for it in the best original song category.
Meanwhile, last year's best-song winner, Bob Dylan, also gets quite a plug in "Vanilla Sky." The film features Cruise and Penelope Cruz walking down the same New York block, in the same pose, as Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo did on the cover of 1962's "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."
"Ali": Cassius Clay became a world-famous celebrity in connection with defeating Sonny Liston and becoming heavyweight champion in 1964. As part of that celebrity, he engaged in every possible photo opportunity - including clowning around with the Beatles in a boxing ring during their American visit. Michael Mann's biopic doesn't re-create that moment, but it does have Will Smith (who plays Clay/Muhammed Ali) mentioning the momentous event after the fact - he opines that the only smart Beatle was "the one with glasses."
"I Am Sam": In this new film, scheduled to open here this month, Sean Penn plays a mentally disabled man who must fight for custody of his bright-eyed and extremely mature 7-year-old daughter. To do so, he seeks the help of a high-strung, Type-A attorney, Michelle Pfeiffer.
The Beatles have had an inordinate amount of influence on Sam's life and belief systems. Indeed, he seems to use them and their songs as constant reference points. He has even named his daughter Lucy Diamond, after "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." Plus, he and his mentally disabled pals mimic the Beatles' pose on the "Abbey Road" cover while crossing a street.
And, in a conversation with Pfeiffer about the Beatles, she volunteers that her favorite was George.
The soundtrack features new versions of Beatles tunes by such acts as Eddie Vedder (lead singer of Pearl Jam), Sarah McLachlan, the Black Crowes, Ben Folds, the Wallflowers, Paul Westerberg, Nick Cave, Ben Harper and more. It's due Tuesday.
"The Royal Tenenbaums": Director Wes Anderson may use pop music - especially older rock songs - better than any filmmaker. This ensemble piece begins with a spirited and fluidly dynamic extended prologue that introduces the characters while a rousingly orchestral, instrumental version of "Hey Jude" plays. The effect is similar to the way director Paul Thomas Anderson's (no relation) "Magnolia" uses Aimee Mann's version of Harry Nilsson's "One" to establish mood and tempo.
Also featured on the "Tenenbaums"' soundtrack is John Lennon's lovely ballad "Look At Me."
But, just as they occasionally did back in the 1960s, the Rolling Stones upstage the Beatles in this film. In a scene both humorously offbeat and also quite touching, two troubled Tenenbaums - played by Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow - sit in a tent in his bedroom and play on a turntable an old Stones LP featuring the lovely "She Smiled Sweetly."
"Heartbreakers": While this early 2001 release is neither a new movie nor a very good one, it does have some inspired moments. In one, Sigourney Weaver, posing as a Russian woman in a smoke-filled Russian restaurant, is called upon to sing in Russian. Improvising, she leads the house band in "Back in the USSR."
I'm sure I'm missing some Beatles' references. If anyone has noticed others, e-mail srosenone@aol.com or write Movie Mania/Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver 80202.
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Song of the moment-Blackbird