(no subject)
I had a bit of a movie marathon last night. I still have some more movies to go, but here's what I saw last night...
The Rutles: All You Need is Cash - This was an affectionate parody of The Beatles conceived by Eric Idle. It was made to be like a documentary of the days of Rutlemania, following just about everything that happened during Beatlemania, but with a few comedic twists. George Harrison had a role in it! He played a journalist who interviews someone from Rutle Corps (played by Michael Palin), then after Stig (parody of George) had been attacked, he spoke to the bikie gang members responsible (turns out Stig was thumped by Big Valerie, a petite looking tough girl). Outfits, sarcastic responses to interviews...they were there too! (You really expect otherwise?) Eric had a couple of roles; the man making the documentary, Dirk (parody of Paul) and a couple others.
Ringo (TV Special) - Most likely used to help promote the album Ringo. The special starts with George at a press conference being asked questions about Ringo ("is it true he can't play drums anymore?", etc.) which led to him telling the story of two men who were born at the exact same time to different mothers, but even looked the same. One being Ringo, the other being a man by the name of Ognir Rrats (yes, yes). Ringo played both roles. It wound up being pretty much "Prince and the Pauper" with Ringo tired of how busy fame keeps him and Ognir wishing for a better life (he's called a nerd, his job is selling maps to celebrity's homes, his father is a jerk). Things go great for Ringo at first, but he's mistaken for Ognir and believed to have stolen a car (he didn't, he paid the owner; one of Ognir's bullies). Meanwhile, Ognir has a "fail" appearance on a talk show. George is narrating the whole thing up to the concert, but some of the press don't believe him. "What do you expect from me? I'm a musician, not Mark Twain!" (Perfect response!) Ringo shows up after Ognir is dragged backstage after trying to sell maps, and the concert goes on! (They not only used some of Ringo's songs from the album, but even him singing to George Martin's orchestrated Yellow Submarine, Act Naturally from the Help! album and With a Little Help from My Friends from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album).
How I Won the War - This movie starred Michael Crawford and John Lennon, as well as others including Roy Kinnear (Algernon in the Beatles film Help!). John's character could be a bit of a smartass. It was a little hard to follow the movie at times; see, it was directed by Richard Lester (same director of A Hard Day's Night, Help! and The Goonies), and it tends to go into surrealism at times. Basically, whenever it was time for them to take part in a fight, it would suddenly become black and white, as if taking footage from news reels about the war or older war movies. But then we see the cast and realise it's still them. It flashes from the past to the present in which Michael's character is talking with a German soldier who'd caught him earlier about the whole thing. Sadly, the whole troop is killed in battle, but they're replaced by "Toy Soldiers"; the actors are painted different colours and wear those coloured suits, and have their faces obscured by netting.
The Magic Christian - This one starred Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. Peter's character (Guy) is a very well-off man, who while walking through the park meets Ringo's character (Youngman), who isn't as well-off. After talking with Youngman, Guy decides to adopt him. Everyone's pretty accepting of that. Guy has a tendency to play practical jokes and throw money around, which Youngman is quickly picking up the example. Unfortunately, the film could be pretty homophobic at times, as well as a bit racist. Ringo's character wasn't; but there was quite a lot of disgust expressed by a crowd of people at the sight of two men kissing during a boxing match (Youngman's comment was "I just thought they were very good friends" in a neutral tone), and a man aboard The Magic Christian appeared extremely displeased when he saw a black man. Aside from that negativity, it was an amusing movie. (John Cleese and Michael Chapman had roles in it too!)
That's what I watched last night. I next plan on watching Caveman, Give My Regards to Broad Street, Blindman and Son of Dracula.
I guess you picked it up by now what all of these have in common. Yep! You got it! The members of The Beatles were in all of these movies; either as a starring role or featuring.
The Rutles: All You Need is Cash - This was an affectionate parody of The Beatles conceived by Eric Idle. It was made to be like a documentary of the days of Rutlemania, following just about everything that happened during Beatlemania, but with a few comedic twists. George Harrison had a role in it! He played a journalist who interviews someone from Rutle Corps (played by Michael Palin), then after Stig (parody of George) had been attacked, he spoke to the bikie gang members responsible (turns out Stig was thumped by Big Valerie, a petite looking tough girl). Outfits, sarcastic responses to interviews...they were there too! (You really expect otherwise?) Eric had a couple of roles; the man making the documentary, Dirk (parody of Paul) and a couple others.
Ringo (TV Special) - Most likely used to help promote the album Ringo. The special starts with George at a press conference being asked questions about Ringo ("is it true he can't play drums anymore?", etc.) which led to him telling the story of two men who were born at the exact same time to different mothers, but even looked the same. One being Ringo, the other being a man by the name of Ognir Rrats (yes, yes). Ringo played both roles. It wound up being pretty much "Prince and the Pauper" with Ringo tired of how busy fame keeps him and Ognir wishing for a better life (he's called a nerd, his job is selling maps to celebrity's homes, his father is a jerk). Things go great for Ringo at first, but he's mistaken for Ognir and believed to have stolen a car (he didn't, he paid the owner; one of Ognir's bullies). Meanwhile, Ognir has a "fail" appearance on a talk show. George is narrating the whole thing up to the concert, but some of the press don't believe him. "What do you expect from me? I'm a musician, not Mark Twain!" (Perfect response!) Ringo shows up after Ognir is dragged backstage after trying to sell maps, and the concert goes on! (They not only used some of Ringo's songs from the album, but even him singing to George Martin's orchestrated Yellow Submarine, Act Naturally from the Help! album and With a Little Help from My Friends from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album).
How I Won the War - This movie starred Michael Crawford and John Lennon, as well as others including Roy Kinnear (Algernon in the Beatles film Help!). John's character could be a bit of a smartass. It was a little hard to follow the movie at times; see, it was directed by Richard Lester (same director of A Hard Day's Night, Help! and The Goonies), and it tends to go into surrealism at times. Basically, whenever it was time for them to take part in a fight, it would suddenly become black and white, as if taking footage from news reels about the war or older war movies. But then we see the cast and realise it's still them. It flashes from the past to the present in which Michael's character is talking with a German soldier who'd caught him earlier about the whole thing. Sadly, the whole troop is killed in battle, but they're replaced by "Toy Soldiers"; the actors are painted different colours and wear those coloured suits, and have their faces obscured by netting.
The Magic Christian - This one starred Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. Peter's character (Guy) is a very well-off man, who while walking through the park meets Ringo's character (Youngman), who isn't as well-off. After talking with Youngman, Guy decides to adopt him. Everyone's pretty accepting of that. Guy has a tendency to play practical jokes and throw money around, which Youngman is quickly picking up the example. Unfortunately, the film could be pretty homophobic at times, as well as a bit racist. Ringo's character wasn't; but there was quite a lot of disgust expressed by a crowd of people at the sight of two men kissing during a boxing match (Youngman's comment was "I just thought they were very good friends" in a neutral tone), and a man aboard The Magic Christian appeared extremely displeased when he saw a black man. Aside from that negativity, it was an amusing movie. (John Cleese and Michael Chapman had roles in it too!)
That's what I watched last night. I next plan on watching Caveman, Give My Regards to Broad Street, Blindman and Son of Dracula.
I guess you picked it up by now what all of these have in common. Yep! You got it! The members of The Beatles were in all of these movies; either as a starring role or featuring.