The Last Time I Did This...

…my post was referenced in a review of the blog, not very complimentary. The reviewing blog is something with the phrase “we’re rude get over it” in the title, which I can’t find using Google. (Interesting, as if you type ratherthanworking or rather than working into Google, I’m the first result. No iteration of we’re rude… got me anywhere. If I could find it, I’d give you the link.) I’m not sure why it reviewed me, though it did. I got a less than positive review. Some of the criticism: no color other than the shirt in the photo; they wanted to know if “Recommended” in the sidebar came with a guarantee; they didn’t like that I wrote about politics. It went on. They especially didn’t like my titles, one of which was “I Just Watched a Movie.”

Well, I watched a movie last night. It might not appeal to all of you, or most of you. It will be panned by Rick, were he to ever watch it. But, it is really well done. It chronicles the Sixties, starting with the “age of innocence,” moving to the “age of Aquarius,” Then it moves to the age of outrage against the war, that other, former, war. All amplified and illuminated by the songs of the Beatles.

It’s called Across The Universe. It doesn’t “star” anyone. The actors are all, to me, unknowns, twenty somethings who are great singers. Of all things, it’s a musical. The fourth one I’ve liked in my lifetime. One was Oliver. Another was Hairspray. Then there was Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It has levels and levels of references to the era. Homage to everything and everyone. There’s a Jimi Hendrix/Billy Preston character. There’s a Janice Joplin. There’s a young Yoko (Prudence in the movie). It ends with the rooftop scene of the Beatles’ last concert. (Hey) Jude and Lucy (In the Sky With Diamonds) get back together. Some is contrived, some is inspired. There's a cameo by Joe Cocker singing Coming Together.

For those that didn’t live the Sixties, or lived it as a prepubescent, the references won’t mean much, though I’d still recommend it as a piece of emotional history. It captures what kids and young adults were thinking and feeling back then. All the stratas of society, bound together by a decade of change.

Or, if you just like the Beatles, listen to the music, remixed and rearranged, and well done. Four out of five stars for me. Here’s what imdb.com has to say: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/

Here's what the New York Times has to say: http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/movies/14univ.html