Across the Room to Turn off Across the Universe

Last night, watched Across the Universe with our friends.

Wow. I'm a huge fan of the director, Julie Taymor (the creator of the wonderful stage adaptation of The Lion King, and the very twisted Shakespearean adaptation, Titus). So like I said, wow.

It was horrible.

I know some people liked it... from what I hear it's even becoming somewhat of an underground hit, with many devotees (but from what I've seen, all with people who weren't even close to being around when the Beatles were making music). But jeez, people, this movie sucks.

"What's her name?" "Prudence." "Where's she come from?" "She came in through the bathroom window."

A whacked out timeline that seems to start early Sixties and jumps seven years in the span of a week... suddenly, it's the Detroit riots of (late summer) 67, then time passes and the main female lead decides to visit NY and stays there, her brother is drafted and is in Vietnam by the assassination of MLK.

Insipid name dropping. Oh, he's JoJo. She's Sadie. (the aforementioned Prudence). And of course, our three main characters, Jude, Lucy and Maxwell. ... and folks, if you're going to do that, and in this film you're going to, then make sure the songs make sense: "Hey Jude" was all right, but "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was tacked on over the final credits, and there was no "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."

Are there some good things? Sure, the image of soldiers carrying the Statue of Liberty while singing, "She's so heavy..." was breathtakingly awesome. Both Bono and Eddie Izzard's turns as the film's surrogates for Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary was also great (I don't think it's any coincidence that the best performances were done by those with experience playing to a live audience... that sort of "playing to the rafters" was crucial to Taymor's style. The nice bookending "band" performances (in the beginning, at what looked to be the Cavern club, and at the end, on a rooftop concert a la Let It Be... the beginning and end of the Beatles' performing career).

But it's been Lisa and my contention that there's two kinds of people: Beatles people and Stones people. Give me three minutes of dirty R&B-infused dangerous rock with out philosophical pretensions and I'm a happy guy.



I know, it's ONLY rock'n'roll but I like it.