Confession time: I’ve never been a big Beatles fan. It’s probably just a matter of extreme over-exposure, but if I never hear most of their stuff again I won’t miss it.

I’m also heartily sick of baby boomer cultural hegemony and self-congratulation. Yay. You protested the Vietnam War. Good for you. But shut up about it. That’s like being proud of saying you oppose putting broken glass in baby food. As in DUH and the news would be how criminal it would be not to have done.

That said, I did kind of get a kick out of this film. I like what happens when somebody puts Julie Taymor in charge of a film - Titus was a big bad trip worthy of the big bad trip that is the original play - and lets her go nuts. And she did go nuts in very imaginative ways.

This movie is best viewed as a piece of expressionism. So when a bunch of potential draftees at their medical screenings are broken up into pieces and parts and then put back together only to march through the swamp shouldering the Statue of Liberty and singing “She’s So Heavy” you know exactly where they’re coming from.

And the fabulous Eddie Izzard’s turn as Mr. Kite is worth sitting through the rest of the movie for right there. Brilliant and highly quotable. My best friend and I are still wandering around saying “it’s great; they’ve got stuff” and “that’s me! In the thing.”

And I also liked Bono’s cameo as the film’s fictionalized Ken Kesey. Surprisingly good casting and he pulled it off.

Will I rush to add this movie to my DVD collection? No. Will I pan it? No.

Will I object to its being put on during a card party or other random gathering of friends? No.

It’s got stuff.

Well..let me start off by saying that the movie has its merits and demerits.

Merits:
- Fun to sing-along to if you’re an avid Beatles fan

- Like some have said, it’s like a piece of art. (which sometimes means it doesn’t make sense too)...so prepare for lots of experimentation and interesting scenes

- I liked Prudence’s version of ‘I wanna hold your hand’. Haha!

Demerits:
- Not a love story that gets you satisfied

- The story was not woven well enough to integrate seamlessly with the songs…like putting a cart in front of a horse, it was written in a way that the songs chosen will make some sense

- Caused quite a number of ‘huh?’s throughout the movie. First one was the brief 0.5 second scene of Prudence trying to hitch a ride before suddenly jumping to a much longer-scene of Jude trying to hitch a ride and allowing the audience to make sense of his scene but not hers. It was only after a series of scenes involving Jude, did we finally see Prudence again…and then try to connect the 0.5 second scene of her hitchhiking with the scene of her coming through some apartment window now. Second one was the odd quarrel between Sadie and her guitarist boyfriend…didn’t see how that contributed to the film…like, huh?

- The whole circus scene left me completely confounded. Whaaat?

Loved the Prudence part. Wished her part was bigger.

gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous

juie taymor is a goddess

SUCK SUCK SUCK SUCK SUCK LAME LAME BAD

and THEN, you bring in freaking BONO!!!! oh jeez, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

thank god i had a couple of glasses of wine during this…drunken heckling is the only thing that i was able to cling on to for entertainment.

plus, were they really trying to craft janis joplin and jimi hendrix pseudo characters??? i’m deeply offended…

i love this, multiple entries on how you couldnt finish the movie. im in the same boat. tried watching it on valentine’s day at the suggestion of our roommate who said she cried like 3 times. i was up for it, being a big fan of julie taymor’s previous work. well, i dont know what the hell she was doing here. just..just bad. characters, story, integration of music, all of it..just poorly done. very disappointing.

A lot of it just seemed forced for the sake of the lyrics, like the “Prudence” character – she was completely unnecessary to the main plot and only thrown in so they could add a few songs. Or the fact that there happened to be a band in the story so whenever they wanted to use a song that didn’t fit the main plot (and they couldn’t make up another unnecessary character for it), they could just have the band play it.

I know it must have been difficult to come up with a story that would involve only Beatles songs but I think my point is, they shouldn’t have attempted it in the first place. Anytime you try to create a story out of pre-existing songs – songs which are unrelated to each other and therefore trying to make them related to the same story is going to seem forced and unrealistic.

Plus, the psychedelic scenes… I understand they were just trying to portray the times but enough already, it’s difficult to appreciate scenes like that unless you ARE high (as proven by another member’s review who recommends that everyone watch it while high).

This weekend, I started reading the Illuminatus! Trilogy and watched this movie. So, is this how the Sixties are remembered by people who experienced it? Is it all one hazy psychedelic blur?

I didn’t make it to the end of the movie. The music would have been great, if not for all the annoying vocoding. But I knew the songs were going to be good going into it. I just really don’t like musicals. And “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” is the last song I would put in a movie.

Illuminatus! makes me wish I was alive during the sixties. Across the Universe makes me wonder if Paul McCartney is rolling over in his grave.

I thought it was an amazing movie. I rented it, watched it once…then turned around and watched it again. I found it very interesting how they applied Beatles songs to everything. Many parts of this movie are trippy. I agree definately that not everyone would enjoy this movie. I work at a Movie Rental store and deal with every local movie critic. You have to really enjoy this movie for it’s love, it’s moods, it’s story.

one of the best movies i have ever seen.

When I watched this movie I went into it thinking of it as a piece of art. I thought it was very interesting how they applied some of The Beatles songs in the story, especially Happiness Is A Warm Gun in the hospital ward. I don’t think this movie is for everyone. People who would see it just because they are a Beatles fan or like musicals may be disappointed. This film is artsy and thought provoking so people who only like big mainstream films may not like this. However, if you are open-minded, I think you should check this out because it is interesting. And you’ll know most of the songs!

some songs are interesting, great special effects and visualization
on the other hand the story is pretty one-dimensional

watch it high.
amazing.