Across the Universe- Page 3

[masterthes]

Posted: 8/24/07 at 11:53pm

Less than a month away. I am so ready for this

[jpbran]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 1:38pm

Since just about every posting between the end of August and this weekend is lost, I thought I'd bring this one back up again.

Just saw it this weekend and despite getting bored in the last 30 minutes or so, I really liked the big mess. Not a masterpiece, but some of the early character-introduction scenes were genius and had me grinning from ear to ear.

My partner and I agreed that it was Moulin Rouge meets a liberal Forrest Gump. (With some Rent and Mamma MIa thrown in.) I know a LOT of people hated this movie (and a lot of Beatles fanatics hate it without even seeing it), but I still was glad I went -- and glad I saw it in the theater and not on DVD.

PS- Am wondering if the disputed studio cut would have been less draggy in the last third... I love Taymor, but some studio-tinkering might have kept me from looking at my watch at points.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:28pm

I agree with the movie dragging. I think it had a lot of great ideas, but some of them just did not work.

I think the movie really clicked with the more character/plot driven songs. Like the "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" sequence was brillant, and the girl singing had an incredibly unique voice. But then parts like "I Am the Walrus" just did not do anything for the movie, and just remained pointless. I think the best part of the movie was the "I Want You" sequence. If more of the movie had that creative aspect and yet still remained plot and character driven, the movie would have been stellar.

Also, I didn't like the part with the pimp and the prostitute. It seemed to "Disney does prostitution." Like, it seemed so clean cut, and maybe that's what Taymor was going for, but I didn't like it. I missed the grit.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:33pm

I saw it yesterday, and absolutely loved it. It would have been much better without the Mr. Kite song and I Am the Walrus, but overall, I thought it was beautiful. I am for sure getting the soundtrack and DVD.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 3:46pm

"ell actually the "hair" itself doesn't look all that authentic. But the giant LBJ puppet has to be an homage to that film."

There's also a scene where they're running through a field w/ trees and it screams "hair"

As a rent fan it was exciting to see the familar faces of T.V. Carpio, Matt Caplan, Luther Creek, Antonique Smith, Destan Owens, and a few others.

Anyway, though slightly flawed, overall I did enjoy this movie a lot and I look forward to seeing it again and noticing new things.

The woman who played Sadie (I'm blanking and am too lazy to IMDB it) was AMAZING

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 3:46pm

I agree with people who say that Taymor isn't a story teller. She's a visionary for sure, but she's not too good at telling the story. Also, I don't think that the singer/guitar player storyline was even needed, and I wish they would have expanded Prudence's character.

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 4:40pm

GO SEE IT !!!!!!! i did and i loved it

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 4:41pm

i saw it and my god i fell in love with it from the beginning this movie Is a MUST SEE !

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 10/14/07 at 7:59pm

I absolutely loved this movie. The only thing I did not like about this was the whole Bono part. Other than that, the movie was visually stunning and the Beatles song were surprisingly well used in the film.

[Brokenlizard14]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 12:51am

Just got back from it and I absolutely loved it. The entire cast did an amazing job. I especially loved the way they played out "Oh Darling" with Sadie (Dana Fuchs), and JoJo (Martin Luther McCoy).

[jpbran]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 1:05am

Becoz: Agreed! The Bono part was where I started to disengage from the movie a little... Great until then!

(And am completely in love with Jude/Jim Sturges)

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 1:26am

I loved the film, warts and all - I'll take messy but thrilling over clean but safe any day.

I disagree with a lot of the posters, though, and feel the "I am the Walrus" sequence was absolutely essential to the film and what Taymor was trying to accomplish.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 2:41am

Ahh, the 1960s. It was America's adolescence; a time where America sprouted angel-woven nipples that lactate wondrously pure spring water (Located somewhere in Nebraska) and its testicles descended into the lower depths of hell. It was a time of radical change. Teenagers, obsessed with proving how uncool and overly conservative their parents were, decided to rebel by doing the most dangerous thing possible: Take voice lessons and abruptly break out into mediocre covers of Beatles songs in an effort to be louder than the civil rights leaders that they were trying to assist. It was also a time of war: A war that was declared by President Taffy McHorseapples in a method of necessity, as future generations of poets, writers, and filmmakers would need a war to refer back to when a similar war would break out nearly thirty years later. That President McHorseapples...ran that White House straight into the ground (Almost literally. LBJ had to suck it out with his succulent, pink lips.).
I realize I'm straying a bit from talking about this movie. This is the sort of thing that sounded like a good idea on paper but when you actually see it being accomplished, you realize that folly of your ways. In addition, the overriding flaw of this film is that it is, in fact, a film. If I were Joe Roth, not only would I had cut this film myself, but I would have taken a magic paintbrush to the film strip, draw out outlines of its actors, and order them, at gunpoint, to march on to the nearest stage. This sort of heavily allegorical Kit-Kat bar is something that rarely works on film (SOMETIMES it does. Film Allegory CAN BE koo!) but here, it feels as if Taymor's main idea was to go into it while saying "I've always wondered who Jude truly was and why people were saying "Hey!" to him." In ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, not only do you find out, but you realize that he's going to have to come together if he will want to become the walrus that he so desires.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 3:37am

I absolutely loved the movie, it was a trip and Im planning to see it again with my parents. I enjoyed their voices for the most part, the girl playing Lucy had the weakest voice in my opinion, but then I learned she had virtually no experience with singing so with that in mind I was impressed. The graphics werent exactly top quality but worked for the fantasy mind bending look they wanted. I enjoyed playing spot the bway performer, but despite Cruel's well thought out suggestion of it being better off on stage, I disagree. I dont think half of those visuals would translate well on stage, and if it had been done for stage it would have had the same fate as Lennon and Times... Changin'. Perhaps it might have been better off playing in more 'art' driven movie houses, but I respect that they gave it a mainstream release.

[jpbran]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:02am

Some quibble I'd forgotten to mention: Lucy's voice. (Mistress reminded me)

Everyone else sounded mostly natural, but Evan Rachel Wood's voice had that strange metallic, tinny sound that only comes from an insane amount of digital tweaking and "smoothing." Not quite Britney-level, but certainly Madonna-in-Evita level.

Not REALLY bad, but it definitely stood out from the others. (LOVED Jude and Prudence)

[BillFinn]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 12:14pm

The harmonies were gorgeous...

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 12:29pm

The harmony on the "Guitar Gently Wheeps" sequence when Jude and the other guy harmonzie on the same line about troubles or something...like that. It was beautiful. Moments like that really just clicked, but then you had these weird moments where Prudence was walking through a football field or Jude was walking down the bowling alley that just didn't seem to work.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 12:47pm

Actually, JPBran, listening to the soundtrack, I think Wood sounds mostly natural and Sturgess sounds fairly digitized. She certainly sounds untweaked in songs like "Blackbird."

That said - I think they both sounded good in the movie.

Rentboy - for me those two moments were two of the most memorable in the film. The "weird" moments you describe are the sort of fabulous visualization of internal musical numbers that you can really only do in a film musical, IMO.

[wickedfiyeroofoz]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 2:31pm

Saw it last night. I was so disappointed. It seems like the plot was haphazardly written to accompany the songs rather than using the songs to accompany the plot. I felt zero emotional connection to any character, which is saying something because I tend to get very emotional over movies. There were some excellent scenes, but the movie, as whole, was a mess. Soundtrack is wonderful though. I recommend buying the CD but not a movie ticket. It's not worth the price of admission. I kept trying to like it but I just couldn't.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 5:20pm

I think the only way this movie could have worked was if it wasn't so solemnly serious. The Beatles were not pompous asses, really. They were whimsical surrealists.

[Chason]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 5:20pm

Saw it this past weekend, and loved it. I loved the characters and their voices were awesome. It might not be perfect ... but damn near it.

[jpbran]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 6:08pm

Michael Bennett: I agree that they all sound a lot more digitized when listening to the soundtrack on my computer. Even Sturgess... But in the theater, the effect was much less, even with a loud THX theater.

I still think Wood is the most "finessed" sounding. Black Bird specifically. Sounds like a robot on that one.

[Broadwaywest2]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 9:09pm

I finally saw this movie over the weekend. ( It finally came to vegas). I have to say as much as I wanted to love this movie. I didn't care for it as much as I would thought. Some of the numbers were just fantastic,i.e. strawberry fields, It won't be long, Helter Skelter, and I want you. Those were brilliant. There were a couple of others that stood out as well. I just felt that film, somewhere along, just ran out of seem. The last 15 min to half hour just dragged.

I applaud the talent of the entire cast. Especially, the girl playing Sadie. Why she wasn't a contender for that new Joplin movie, I don't know? Also, just like all of Taymor's work. This was a visually stunning piece. I would love to just get in this woman's mind and play around a bit.

Even though there was a whole controversy over the editing. I felt the film could have used some. It just seemed to drag.

I did enjoy this film, just not as much as I would hope. I actually think, it's the weakest of Julie Taymor's films so far.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 9:28pm

Why she wasn't a contender for that new Joplin movie, I don't know?

I have no idea, but she should do the dubbing for whatever movie star they cast.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 9:49pm

jpbran - there are actually clips of them singing live on a bunch of talk shows and they all sounds quite good. I have no doubt that they were sweetened for the soundtrack, but I think they are all pretty strong singers, sweetening or not.

I actually don't think Wood sounds finessed much in Blackbird at all. You can hear her breathing and a rasp in her voice that is usually taken out when someone's voice is digitally altered.