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Across the Universe (2023)

post #1 of 26
2/5/08 at 12:41am
Thread Starter 
I'm in the middle of this trainwreck right now. I almost never divert my attention from a film as I watch it, but this is unbearable. Do these people think no one has heard of the Beatles?

I remember a lot of shitty people I know were so enthusiastic about it, and I was pretty weary. I didn't catch it in theaters, and heard a lot of groans and negativity coming from this site. I went in thinking I'd at least be entertained but wow.

I don't know if a thread on this exists but I doubt it. If anyone has seen this shit and liked it, please explain what I missed. The Beatles songs have almost no connection to the story and come out of nowhere. Most of them don't even come close to having relevance to the scene. They're literally just sung at random. Some chinese girl sang "I wanna hold your hand" at football practice, then got on a bus out of town. What? I think she may have been a lesbian.

This movie is so noxious I don't know if I can finish it. Whatever happens, I'll be back to conclude why this is my most hated (note: not the worst) film of 2007 (and 2023) already.
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post #2 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:07pm
It didn't turn out as shitty as I had previously believed, and while there were some instances where I was mildly entertained by the visuals ('Strawberry Fields Forever' in particular), it's pretty much a clip show of the Beatles' catalog. And therein lies my rub with the film: there are way too many songs in here that really don't need to be in here and make the film more bloated than it needs to be (along with its bubblegum '60s image).

I don't think I hate the film per se, but it is a case of too many ideas being thrown in and not having a cohesive script to connect it all. Sometimes that works. Here, it doesn't.

Oddly enough, I like what Cirque du Soleil did with the Beatles; and that's as over-the-top as this is.
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post #3 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Oddly enough, I like what Cirque du Soleil did with the Beatles; and that's as over-the-top as this is.
George Martin's remixes for LOVE were indeed great. The only thing that disappointed me about it was how they didn't take it a little farther. I understand leaving some songs in original form, but if we've heard them a million times before, I think it'll be okay. He's George Martin - if anyone's going to go nuts with the tracks, who'd be better?

Oh yeah, Across the Universe...

Hate it a little more with each passing day. Mainly because I'm running into people who are just now watching it and loving it thanks to the dollar theater or DVD I guess (I'm guessing it's out since this thread's here). The people I know who love it didn't give two squirts of piss about the Beatles before so I'm assuming their love comes from the fact that they're just now hearing some of these songs for the first time. Because there's really no other reason. And those fx shots looked like ass.
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post #4 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:50pm
This movie is visually spectacular, and as a story is just sorta there. But the visuals are so arresting, and the music is done well enough that I enjoyed it. Having seen Frida and her staging of The Lion King (but not Titus) this feels like the most Taymor of them all. I loved it for her sense of rhythm, her sense of montage. It didn't add up to much, but it's the sort of film other people say is good to take drugs to, and if that's your thing, it probably is.
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post #5 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:52pm
See, I hated the music too much to even enjoy it on a purely visceral level. Too many vamps, too many bland sounding broadway voices, too much stupidity. Maybe it'll be hilarious in 20 years or so, but I just found it annoying.
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post #6 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:54pm
I was won over by her staging of "It won't be Long" and went along with it. Way better than Xanadu.
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post #7 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:57pm
I had a chance to watch this this weekend, but turned it down. After growing up with two sisters who insist that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club is a GREAT movie, I'm a little leary of Beatles inspired musicals.
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post #8 of 26
2/5/08 at 7:59pm
I was quite surprised at how much I liked the flick. My dad, who is a supreme Beatlemaniac loved the flick too when he saw it.
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post #9 of 26
2/5/08 at 8:00pm
Quote:
I had a chance to watch this this weekend, but turned it down. After growing up with two sisters who insist that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club is a GREAT movie, I'm a little leary of Beatles inspired musicals.
Sgt. Pepper: simultaneously the greatest album and the worst movie of all time.
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post #10 of 26
2/5/08 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Eaton View Post
Sgt. Pepper: simultaneously the greatest album and the worst movie of all time.
Yeah, but one of the BEST worst movies of all time! It really is time capsule-worthy.
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post #11 of 26
2/5/08 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Eaton View Post
George Martin's remixes for LOVE were indeed great. The only thing that disappointed me about it was how they didn't take it a little farther. I understand leaving some songs in original form, but if we've heard them a million times before, I think it'll be okay. He's George Martin - if anyone's going to go nuts with the tracks, who'd be better?
There's a funny part on the LOVE documentary where Martin's son Giles is mixing a song. He explains "We add in a bassline to enrich the sound" or something, and does so on the mixing table. And George gets this amazed look on his face like he's seriously just realised that the concept of "bass" exists at all.

Really dumbfounding. I'm not surprised a confused 112-year-old man's remixes were more than a little prosaic.
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post #12 of 26
2/5/08 at 9:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul McCartney View Post
There's a funny part on the LOVE documentary where Martin's son Giles is mixing a song. He explains "We add in a bassline to enrich the sound" or something, and does so on the mixing table. And George gets this amazed look on his face like he's seriously just realised that the concept of "bass" exists at all.
That was hilarious - I know exactly what you're talking about. I love George Martin's work, but that was priceless.

There was no official CHUD review on ATU, but I only remember Jeremy saying something not nice about it. Or maybe I imagined that.
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post #13 of 26
2/5/08 at 9:40pm
I believe the term "career-ending" came up more than once on this site concerning this. Is it really that bad?
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post #14 of 26
2/5/08 at 9:51pm
i think i hate this movie.

being a new-ish convert to the beatles i saw the trailer and had high hopes. some images actually got my excited.

in the theatre i enjoyed myself i suppose, in a bored, look at the pretty colours sort of way. the more i thought/think about this movie the more i loathe its very existence. what almost gets me even more is the devoted following it got by (mainly) wannabe hipster girls who think the beatles "are cool" (at least in my personal experience, ahem). it seems they find it to be the greatest thing since the invention of the all-hemp ruffled tube top and the garden state soundtrack.

so much wrong with this. the interpretations are either way way way too on-the-nose ("i want you (she's so heavy)", "revolution") or so far-fetched and shoved-in they don't make sense in almost any capacity (im looking at you "come together", "helter skelter", "let it be").

the more i think about it the more i get frustrated.. what a waste of a beatles musical.

ugh.
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post #15 of 26
2/5/08 at 9:53pm
double post. guh.
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post #16 of 26
2/5/08 at 10:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Gulager View Post
I believe the term "career-ending" came up more than once on this site concerning this. Is it really that bad?
It did alright for itself, financially, which is all that matters when it comes to the careers of those involved. So, no.
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post #17 of 26
2/5/08 at 11:25pm
Yeah, the movie did well enough. Still, the best way to do a Beatles musical: get Todd Haynes.
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post #18 of 26
2/6/08 at 1:44am
The only bright spot on this crapfest was Eddie Izzard's short appearance. The rest was torture
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post #19 of 26
2/6/08 at 2:11pm
I'm almost ashamed to admitting that I enjoy this flick. I loved the campy, over-the-top, visually balls-out approach it took. True that some of it doesn't work, but overall I'd give it a solid thumbs-up.
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post #20 of 26
2/8/08 at 9:49am
I liked it, too. Despite the fact that the depiction of the 60s was far from gritty, the film as a whole felt sincere to me.

The only musical number that I wasn't too fond of was "Let it Be". I don't think the song works as well as a big gospel number. Part of the reason why the original version is so effective is because of the simplicity of it.
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post #21 of 26
2/8/08 at 5:38pm
The visiuals are pretty good. But the Music is garbage. I love the Beatles almost as much as I love breating. But the covers in this movie were Horried.
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post #22 of 26
2/9/08 at 9:17pm
The music wasn't horrible. I really dug Prudence singinging I Want to Hold Your Hand. Great take on it even if they borrowed the balladizing of it from someone else.

I don't see top 10 material like Ebert but it was still fun even if I shook my head when we found out everyone's names. Where was Michelle? I liked the different takes on the songs and thought Jim Sturgess(Jude) had a great voice. I'm looking forward to seeing him in 21 with Spacey.

It wasn't perfect but it worked for me.
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post #23 of 26
2/10/08 at 3:11pm
Can the fellow portraying Max look a little more like Kurt Cobain next time?
Jesus.
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post #24 of 26
3/5/08 at 1:13pm
My friends and I smoked and watched this last night. It's amazingly easy to make fun of. Whoever said this will be funny as hell in 20 years is off by 20 years. This movie is hilarious now.
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post #25 of 26
3/6/08 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post
I liked the different takes on the songs and thought Jim Sturgess(Jude) had a great voice. I'm looking forward to seeing him in 21 with Spacey.
Yeah, I thought the cast was very strong and helped make the film bearable, especially Evan Rachel Wood and Joe Anderson (who, since he was also in Control, has earned the interesting distinction of being in both the best and worst rock movies of 2007).
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post #26 of 26
7/13/11 at 11:56am

God, I love Julie Taymor and it took me three seperate attempts to actually get through the film. It's torpedoed by the fact that

 

a) None of the characters are likeable

b) None of the characters are likeable because they're constantly singing their feelings

c) They're constantly singing their feelings and after a while the CONSTANT musical numbers actually wear you down.

d) They're constantly singing their feelings with bland, broadway, voices. Considering the actual music it's kind of sad to see such soulless performances.

e) It's crushingly literal at times.

f) Bono. God, just...Bono.

 

I LOVE musicals, but I just wanted at least a little respite between the musical numbers. Just a little breathing space, but I swear there are moments where musical numbers segue into musical numbers which segue into musical numbers. What it does it dilute EVERY song because you've no time to really appreciate what's going on. There are a bunch of fun numbers in this film, with some great staging, but the sheer weight of production sort of numbs your mind to them.

 

Over the course of two hours we get 34 seperate musical numbers.

 

It's a shame because when you're engaged the numbers are shot and choreographed with the style that Taymor's famous for.  In particular I think the staging of 'Come Together' and 'It Won't Be Long' are great, they'd probably be standout numbers in ANY other film.


Edited by Spike Marshall - 7/13/11 at 12:23pm
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