Post by The Curmudgeon on Nov 18, 2017 16:22:09 GMT 2
I realise I'm a little late with this one, but well, if you've read the Rampage thread you'll know why.
On-wards we go, and its safe to say that biopics don't get much attention in the Fortress of Solitude. That's not to say they're bad movies or anything, but there can be great ones (Tina Turner's) and downright awful ones (there was a recent TV movie about Prince that pretty much pissed off everyone who saw it). So I thought we'd look at a recent one, and one I blind-bought on Bluray without even seeing the trailer once I knew it existed. Because maybe I missed it first time around, but I'm sure that, despite the warm reviews it got, it seemed to come and go and no-one even noticed.
So let's change all that. When it comes to the cliche of "the story behind the music", one story that has always fascinated me has been the story of the Beach Boys. Behind the harmonies and the finger clickin' sounds was a story of Brian Wilson, a man on the brink of madness. LSD, fall-outs with the band, controlling managers, run-in with cult leaders.. I'd heard about all of this stuff so a movie capturing all of that? I'll buy that for a dollar. (It was actually six, thank you Amazon)
So "Love and Mercy", written with Brian Wilson's input and final say on everything so there's no nagging "well, that didn't happen" feeling you can get with these things, is split in two parts. The first is set in the 60's and shows the time where Brian was trying to move beyond the formula of the Beach Boys songs and trying to chase the Beatle's who were also moving beyond their pop roots and actually making ALBUMS, not just hit singles. "Pet Sounds" would obviously be that record. Turns out it was an OK album, by all accounts.
The second part is set in the 80's, and Brian Wilson is a broken shell of a man. Dennis has just died, his manager controls his every waking moment and the hits are long gone.
If you can get past the fact that John Cusack looks nothing like Brian Wilson (certainly not the same as Paul Dano's 60's portrayal) it's a great movie. Sad, brilliantly performed and, well, you can't fault the soundtrack.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ
On-wards we go, and its safe to say that biopics don't get much attention in the Fortress of Solitude. That's not to say they're bad movies or anything, but there can be great ones (Tina Turner's) and downright awful ones (there was a recent TV movie about Prince that pretty much pissed off everyone who saw it). So I thought we'd look at a recent one, and one I blind-bought on Bluray without even seeing the trailer once I knew it existed. Because maybe I missed it first time around, but I'm sure that, despite the warm reviews it got, it seemed to come and go and no-one even noticed.
So let's change all that. When it comes to the cliche of "the story behind the music", one story that has always fascinated me has been the story of the Beach Boys. Behind the harmonies and the finger clickin' sounds was a story of Brian Wilson, a man on the brink of madness. LSD, fall-outs with the band, controlling managers, run-in with cult leaders.. I'd heard about all of this stuff so a movie capturing all of that? I'll buy that for a dollar. (It was actually six, thank you Amazon)
So "Love and Mercy", written with Brian Wilson's input and final say on everything so there's no nagging "well, that didn't happen" feeling you can get with these things, is split in two parts. The first is set in the 60's and shows the time where Brian was trying to move beyond the formula of the Beach Boys songs and trying to chase the Beatle's who were also moving beyond their pop roots and actually making ALBUMS, not just hit singles. "Pet Sounds" would obviously be that record. Turns out it was an OK album, by all accounts.
The second part is set in the 80's, and Brian Wilson is a broken shell of a man. Dennis has just died, his manager controls his every waking moment and the hits are long gone.
If you can get past the fact that John Cusack looks nothing like Brian Wilson (certainly not the same as Paul Dano's 60's portrayal) it's a great movie. Sad, brilliantly performed and, well, you can't fault the soundtrack.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ
