Julie Taymor's 'Across the Universe' trailer

[Ender Durden]

have you heard these ones? i think they're great
U2 - Helter Skelter
Johnny Cash - In My Life
Rufus Wainwright - Across the Universe
Sarah Maclachlan - Blackbird?

hmm, ill make sure to check those out then

 

[Warhammer]

I saw this movie trailer months ago.
With that said, I'm not interested. Maybe I'll catch it on TNT in 3 years.

 

[porchmonkey408]

Re-cuts!? That explains why no song had any reason other than to have a Beatles song play. That explains why the very little bit of plot was so scattered and badly written.

This film had so much potential.

This film was a complete and total mess.It is true when people say that all it is is an excuse to put Beatles music on-screen. There are no discernible threads that link songs and the songs for 98% of the time come out of nowhere emotionally or in any way to move the story along. Which can be okay in some cases...like a long music video. But not a narrative film in which you are trying to instill caring into the hearts of an audience.Want to know how to use music in film? Watch All That Jazz, Julie Taymor.Across the Universe is nothing but a poor excuse for a drug-film and even then I hate drugs and alcohol. So no matter what, this film fails and unlike many on Rotten Tomatoes, it does not fail big at all. I am dead-serious, there was no intrinsic value in the music and it was very insulting to see a screenplay that turns Beatles lyrics into dialogue because that is never good.It was a very disappointing experience.

The good?

The "I Want You" sequence is an example of having a point to your psychedelic visuals. And "A Little Help From My Friends" was hilarious, even if it needed a segue (but everything in this film did, and it they did not get it). Throwing your characters in water or anything else for that matter is not having a point unless we get into that water with them, unless we take that journey. Yet we never take an emotional journey because we can never connect to the story because its poorly written and completely disjointed, jaunty and full of holes.Across the Universe feels like Julie Taymor had two or three great sequences and released the best parts in the previews only to realize that as the release date drew near: "We have to make a movie? Let's see what we can piece together!" And it shows. It shows to anyone with two eyes, ears and a brain.

 

[tzarinna]

Hmm, thanks for that porchmonkey. I still think I want to see it though.

 

[Secret_Riddle]

I thought it was excellent, a really great musical.

You have to love the Beatles to appreciate it.

 

[Agentsands77]

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was very disappointing.

Boring characters in a boring story. The only charismatic presence in the film is Bono, whose cameo is hilarious and drips star power. Everybody else fades into mush.

It's a shame, too, since the visuals are impressive. Some of the songs do work pretty well (I say some, though, since a number of them do fall flat). I do wonder whether the film would have played better if they had just been cut into music videos for each song. The underlying story is so uninteresting that it drags the film down with it.

 

[Frodo]

I thought the film was so so . There are things I liked about it and things I didn't like .

First what I liked . The two leads Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess. I thought Jim had a great singing voice and really captured the spirit of John Lennon and Paul McCartney vocally . The guy also looks like a combination of the two . Wood looked so lovely in this film and I thought she did a good rendition of If I Fell from a Hard Days Night , but I still prefer the Beatles version. I did like how they combined the Beatles version of With a little help from my friends with Joe Cocker's version.

What I felt was weak were the choice of some songs , the story, and renditions of certain tunes . I've Just Seen a face and GirlIMO are the only real improvement's over the Beatles versions. Other songs like Hey Jude, Revolution, and While My Guitar Gentley Weeps were pretty underwhelming considering all 3 are pretty solid numbers.

There were also weaker Beatles material like Hold Me tight , and It Won't be Long.

Then their were WTF moments like Mr Kite (To be fair it's not one of my favs anyway), and I wanna Hold you Hand (american Idol style ) . Btw , you feature sexy sadie yet never play the song .

I did like Bono's I am the Walrus but it got me thinking, They should do a whole movie with U2 music . I was hoping he'd break into I still haven't found what I'm looking for . U2's my second favorite Band after the beatles .

Overall I give it a C . I'd recommend it . If you're a die hard Beatles fan like me you might be disappointed, but if not you'll probably like it. I went to see it to hear how they'd perform each tune.

 

[K.B.]

I snuck int othis after seeing 30 days of night (what? like I'm going to PAY to see this flick lmao)

Across the universe was a total and utter piece of crap. Has some good visuals but other then that...ugh. I was was shaking my head and rolling my eyes every 2 minutes over this crap they called a film.

This thing had 2 good things the whole 2 hrs and 11 mins it runs.

The character of Max is really likeable and enjoyable. He remined me of Jeremy Piven. So wha tdo the ydo with this great character? They shoe him away and he is virtually forgotten.

The other great thing is Selma Hayek doing a cameo dressed in a skin tight (and I mean PAINTED ON) black nurses outfit. F' ING HOT!!!

 

[DACrowe]

Meh I thought when I saw it a few weeks ago that it is okay and entertaining if you like Beatles music (which I do).

But the characters and plot are generic paper thin cliches of "60s revolution and drugs/love baby!" It is bland and boring and is a poor excuse of a story to link the different homages to Beatles songs. So then it becomes choosing and ranking the different music videos. For example I liked Hey Jude and Let it Be. On the other hand it was just painful to watch Helter Skelter, I am the Walrus and I Want to Hold Your Hand (I love the arrangment and voice, but the scene is horridly cheesy). For every "All My Loving" or "I get by with a little help from my friends" you have a lousy number like I Want You.

Just a disappointment that promised Molun Rouge but was just a series of music videos.

 

[K.B.]

I like Beatles just fine but thats still no excuse to try and like this movie lol

 

[tzarinna]

I was going to go today but I got up too late for the first show.

 

[Shuley]

I was going to go today but I got up too late for the first show.

whoa! and to think only me and old people go to the first show in the morning.

 

[Carcharodon]

Saw it.

It was a bit too artsy for me...besides that, it felt as though they decided to throw as many cliches as they could into a single movie, then decided to make it a retrospective to make it somehow poignant and relevant to the music itself.

It was awfully scattered, and I can't help but wonder whether that was because they were so desperately trying to make the movie fit the music, or whether they were deliberately doing it because the music itself (almost by the very nature of the Beatles' music) was so scattered.

 

[K.B.]

Well to me it came off like someone posted before where almost 99% of the music didnt fit the scenes they were in. Instead of making the scenes fit the song they try to make the songs fit the scenes...

 

[Venomfan]

i really really liked the movie. but i cant help but say that Max almost carried the film. when he was gone in vietnam, the movie dragged, and picked back up when he reappeared

 

[K.B.]

Yeah I think Max was the only likeable character though I wouldnt say it picks up when he comes back because they don't use him or explore his story anymore.