Continuing (after too long a gap!) my Beatles retrospective, I look at the curious case of Let It Be. Watching Let It Be (1970) today is an odd experience. The oddity lies not so much in the actual movie as the imbalance between the movie and the wealth of associated stories, supplementary materials, and interpretations …
Tag Archives: Beatles
Snapshots from the Eye of the Storm: Eight Days a Week and Beatles ’64 Review
Next in my Beatles retrospective, I look at two documentaries that get back to when the Fab Four first hit it big. Following the release of Yellow Submarine, the Beatles went on to participate in a documentary that ultimately became the film Let It Be. This would be the final film they participated in while …
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Living Beneath the Waves: Yellow Submarine Review
Next in my Beatles retrospective, I turn to the dazzling Yellow Submarine. When I was a kid, my introduction to the Beatles came from two sources. The first was my older sister, who was a massive Beatles fan in her teenage years. Beyond owning many of the albums, she plastered her room in our house …
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Please Don’t Be Long, or I May Be Asleep: Magical Mystery Tour Review
Next in my Beatles retrospective comes Magical Mystery Tour, a less-than-successful episode in the band’s career. Sooner or later, like nemesis accomplishing her fateful designs, comes the moment that has been the downfall of many a pop culture titan: the TV holiday special. For the Beatles, the special in question was the Magical Mystery Tour, …
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Not So Self-Assured: Help! Review
My Beatles retrospective continues with my review of their second cinematic outing, which marks a bit of a sophomore slump. Help! (1965), directed by Richard Lester and written by Marc Behm and Charles Wood, was the second movie made as part of the Beatles three-picture deal with United Artists. Released one year after A Hard …
Making Us Feel All Right: A Hard Day’s Night Review
I kick off my Beatles retrospective by looking at the movie that started it all, A Hard’s Day Night. Expressions such as “one of a kind,” “sui generis,” and “lightning in a bottle” exist to describe A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Directed by Richard Lester and written by Alun Owen, the movie is pure, concentrated …
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Announcing a New (Gear! Fab!) Cameraman Retrospective
Along with my love for movies, my enthusiasms include a no-less-intense love for the greatest rock band of all time, the one and only Fab Four, the Beatles. For Beatles fans, the past few years have been something of a new golden age. In 2021, Peter Jackson’s epic Get Back documentary gave us a fascinating, …
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The Cameraman 