Bohemian Cinema By Jonathan Pacheco

But It’s a Musical!

Tags: Musicals, Across the Universe, Beatles, Music

I sat on the DART bus on my way to work one morning. It makes a stop near a Movie Trading Company that sits along some other stores on a strip. In between two of the businesses, I saw a girl skip out of the building, bobbing her head while stretching out and waving her arms; there was a definite spring in her step. Walking to the nearby parking lot, she looked into one car, stuck her head in another, and skipped back into the building, head wiggling.

Did I just witness an actual musical? Was she singing, “Good Morning, Baltimore!” or an opening number of the same fashion? I could imagine her talking to customers in the car, sticking her head in, singing, “Good Morning Mr. Such-and-such! And here’s Mrs. Goldfarb!”

I didn’t know those things happened in real life….

---

Speaking of musicals, if you’ll remember, I looked at the trailer of Across the Universe back in March, and this is what I predicted the final film would be:

An episodic film with too long of a running time, a lack of charismatic performances, but a couple of really great musical sequences.

The film went into limited release and the reviews seem pretty mixed, with some calling it a total catastrophe (am I the only one sick of the “cute” Beatles jokes in all these reviews?). Despite being a gigantic Beatles fan, I was in no rush to see this film. Yet, it’s funny what a glowing review can do to your perception of a film.

All of a sudden this film is looking more and more appealing. At the very least, I’ll get to sit through a ton of great Beatles songs; is that such a bad thing? As I learned more about the film, I got a little more excited; sure, naming the main character Jude was a bit unoriginal, but I can’t help but grin at the idea of a character named Max and another named JoJo. Does this mean that “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” or “Get Back” will be featured in Across the Universe? Bono (yes, that Bono) makes a cameo as Dr. Robert—can I expect a performance of that ditty as well?

Part of me doesn’t want to know the track listing. Sure, I know all these Beatles songs, but finding out which ones are in the film will only ruin the surprise and some of the story as well. Yet, I found myself “accidentally” seeing some of the tracks, though not all of them; I would still like some to be a surprise. Looking around the web, it turns out that a dozen or so short clips had been released to hype up the film, each being a sample of a covered Beatles song. Some are atrocious, some are okay, and some are pretty darn good. Here are a few random samplings:

“It Won’t Be Long”

“I’ve Just Seen A Face”

“I Wanna Hold Your Hand”

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

“Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite”

“I Want You”

After watching all of the clips, the good and the bad, I am now upset that Across the Universe was only released this past week in San Fran, New York, and LA. I’m on a Beatles kick, and until I see the film for myself, I’m remaining obliviously optimistic.

As a parting gift, here’s the correct way to do a Beatles cover (despite Moby’s best efforts to ruin it):

Wow, that’s Rufus Wainwright live? Color me impressed. And now, here’s the incorrect way to cover the same Beatles song: