Favorite Beatles movie?

[elperromagico]

Poll question: Favorite Beatles movie?

[ForrestGump]

1. Can't decide

Magical Mystery Tour was a train wreck, so it doesn;t count, but it's got a few decent moments. Not their most inspired idea, as it turns out.

Yellow Submarine barely qualifies as a Beatles film, and it's interesting but I'd probably like it better if I used drugs. Maybe.

A Hard Day's Night is the classic. Ringo was, really, the only actor among the Beatles but here they all shine because the writing's great and they're basically playing the public persona. Well filmed, too. Not one I've seen in a long time but, by any objective measure, probably the BEST,

Help at least got the boys the exotic locations they asked for, and provided some great songs, but it's a mere shadow of the film from a year before. Still, has some nice moments.

Let It Be is wanting to be my pick, if only because I'm one who's always been fascinated with what I guess you'd call the 'creative process' and my collection of Beatles outtakes is oustripped only by my Elvis bootleg collection. It's not a happy film, and I could see it being tedious to many, but -- despite having not seen it in years -- how can you forget things like John and Paul doing an Everly Bros on "Two Of Us" and, of course, the climactic rooftop concert. Excellent. Pretty sure it's not out on DVD yet and it's long out of VHS production...it's always been a rarity. Weird, considering the fame of the dudes whose last hurrah it chronicles.

So I guess I'd maybe grudgingly choose A Hard Day's Night if the power of the rooftop session and the pleasure of seeing the Beatles at work in the studio were not confounding factors.

[elperromagico]

2. I liked the Anthology CDs for the same reason you like Let it Be.

It's fascinating to see how a song (or any piece of art) was "worked out" before it reached the eyes and/or ears of the public. Different interpretations and arrangements are attempted, and it's fascinating to see how the Beatles worked together as a band.

Of course, by the time of Let it Be, they were out of shape as a live band and not terribly fond of each other. But there are moments when they're really cooking as a group and you think, "The magic's still there."

[ForrestGump]

3. Yep, and they DID pull it together again for "Abbey Road" -- much of

the negative waves going around in the film, a minor part of the proceedings if outtakes are any guide (much jamming on old songs was done, rather joyously), was a direct result of the film studio location used for the first part of the filming. Twickenham, I think, before they moved into (and on top of) the Abbey Road studio. They also had problems definign the project, probably a key reason why the LP ended up in someone else's hands.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. You mean "Let It Be."