Comments | joyful_molly: Tuesday M.O.T.E.M.: Andrew Buchan in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)

joyful_molly

Tuesday M.O.T.E.M.: Andrew Buchan in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)

Jul 19, 2011 20:00

I don't know much about the early life of John Lennon, so I can't tell if this movie is "authentic" or not. What it is, in any case, is a touching and at times painful tale of a young man who's torn between the aunt who raised him, and the mother who's been absent for most of his life. There's rebellion, hurt and anger on John's part, and two ( Read more... )

music, movies, andrew buchan, motems, caps, tv

Comments 8

tootsiemuppet July 19 2011, 20:00:41 UTC

Having been on a Beatles kick for a while now, I really liked Nowhere Boy. After Two of Us it's my favourite movie about the Beatles... It took a few liberties, but seemed to be pretty true to character, which is most important anyway. Aaron Johnson was a FANTASTIC young rebelious, hurt young!John. (There always seems to be such a gulf to me between young!bad!John and St. John of Peace and Love. I kind of like the angry young version better ( ... )

joyful_molly July 20 2011, 21:12:25 UTC

Thanks for your reply, I wondered how the movie was received by people who really know the Beatles and their pre-history. I can only look at it as somebody who has a few singles (yes, I'm a vinyl dinosaur...) and seen the movies, but doesn't have much knowledge beyond that. I enjoyed Nowhere Boy a lot, and I feel it didn't really get the attention it deserved.

And, well, I actually liked Thomas Sangster as Paul, too.

I googled Young Paul, and yes, he looked - you. Heh! I guess this has more to do with the actor; it's not his fault, I just don't like watching him.

It just completely matched with how I'd imagined it from reading about it so many times.

That's a great recommendation for the movie! As a former teddy-girl, I also enjoyed the whole prehistory of "our" scene, so the movie worked for me on different levels.

tootsiemuppet July 20 2011, 21:28:55 UTC

I know that there are people in Beatles fandom who aren't fond of it, but I reckon that probably has a lot to do with expecting "John and Paul Meet: The Movie", rather than "Mimi and Julia's Tragic History: The Movie". I quite like that it wasn't yet another rehashing of the same thing with different actors. It's neat that they shifted the focus.

Re: Thomas Sangster. I don't think I've seen him in anything else since Nanny McPhee, so I didn't have any hang-ups about him. I thought he was good. And he actually learned to play the guitar left-handed which earns him bonus points in my book. The usual horrible awkward miming burns my eyes.

More people should definitely watch it.

(The comment has been removed)

joyful_molly July 20 2011, 21:15:34 UTC

I so agree with you regarding the under-recognized bits! I can't understand why this didn't get more exposure! I'm usually pretty up-to-date when it comes to music-themed movies, but if it hadn't been for Andrew Buchan, I'd probably not heard about it, either. Funny how the crappiest movies get tons of promotions, and gems like Nowhere Boy just fly under the radar.

I'm not even really a Beatles fan *gasp*.

That makes two of us. I do enjoy their music, and some of their work was groundbreaking, but I think people are sometimes reading much more into their songs than what actually was there. (But that's what we fans do, after all!)

ext_367716 July 20 2011, 06:55:48 UTC

I've seen the movie and quite liked it, Kristin Scott Thomas is pitch-perfect(and, having read the book by John Lennons's sister, there was definitely more than a crush between Fishwick and Aunt Mimi--shocking!!)

joyful_molly July 20 2011, 21:17:23 UTC

I love Kristin Scott-Thomas. She's so versatile, and I absolutely adored her portrayal of Aunt Mimi. I didn't know the movie was based on a book, thanks for the information!

there was definitely more than a crush between Fishwick and Aunt Mimi

YAY! I admit ridiculous delight that I caught that bit. They'd made a lovely couple (at least on the screen).

demurely1 July 20 2011, 12:37:40 UTC

Thanks for these caps. I'm always surprised by AB's ability to appear first youthful and then mature in consecutive scenes. Nowhere Boy is definitely on my to-see list.

joyful_molly July 20 2011, 21:19:27 UTC

You're very welcome. :)

I'm always surprised by AB's ability to appear first youthful and then mature in consecutive scenes.

Doesn't he! That's what I thought as well - for a thirty year old bloke, he made a rather convincing student, and that's not easy wearing a suit! I hope you'll like it, I really enjoyed the movie a lot. And the Buchan-cameos were the cherries on the top.