Yesterday – 7
Some day there will be a pantheon of lost opportunities, and
this movie will have an exhibit all its own.
As a huge Beatles fan, I will admit that month after month of seeing the
previews (more on this in a minute) had me pretty excited. What an interesting premise! There’s a world-wide blackout, a modest
singer named Jack Malick (Hamesh Patel) is hit by a bus, and when he comes to,
the Beatles never existed. But Jack remembers
them, and all he has to do is recall the lyrics of all the songs and soon
he’ll be a Superstar. Right? Well, not so fast.
Never mind all the other cultural changes the Beatles propelled.
There is no doubt in my mind that they were the most influential factors of the
twentieth century, right up there with cars, wars, and air conditioning, not to mention finally easing me out of my mandatory crew cut. But, the focus here is wisely on their music.
Unfortunately, the execution is lacking. There are some good music scenes, but there’s
a love story that is rather tepid. First
you must accept the fact that the fluorescent talent Lily James would have an
interest in this dull, semi-talented singer, and second you have to accept that
he doesn’t seem to notice her, and that’s even more ridiculous. I'd like to do a complete rewrite. Having seen her light up the screen in Mama
Mia: Here We Go Again, I would love to have seen Lily James as the lead singer
here. OK, she couldn't have sung Nowhere Man, or I Saw Her Standing There, and a few others. As written here, she is wasted in a thankless role.
The second half of the movie, despite the best efforts of
Kate McKinnon as a money-grubber, is one dead scene after another. I basically wanted to take over directing the
movie.
Now I will talk about the trailer. I have a few pet peeves, most of them traffic
related
5) drivers who don’t
know how to accelerate to enter an interstate
4) drivers who dilly
dally in the left lane
3) truckers who throw
their blinker on while you are passing them
2) drivers who won’t
accelerate going up a hill to maintain their speed, but
1) Trailers that show
a preview of something NOT IN THE MOVIE!
The trailer for “Yesterday” features a charming scene of
Patel singing “Something” to a co-guest on the James Corden show. I know this because a) I’ve seen the trailer
several times, and b) it’s my wife’s favorite Beatles' Song as evidenced by her
swooning when Paul McCartney recently sang it to her. Yes, he does a George Harrison song in
concert, and yes, maybe he should have approved this script.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some charming musical moments. How could there not be? But maybe when it comes to the Beatles
legacy, it’s just time to Leave it Be.
Late Night – 8
Mindy Kaling wrote and stars in this entertaining and
amusing look at the late night television talk show world. She plays Molly Patel, the first female
writer on Katherine Newberry’s show.
Newberry is played by Emma Thompson.
The Larry Sanders Show, which starred Gary Shandling, was
the legendary takedown of evening talk shows, but a re-visit is worthwhile in
the internet era, and social media plays a large part in the plot.
Newberry is past her prime and the new network President,
played by the terrific Amy Ryan, has decided it’s time to move on to a younger comic. Newberry is getting little help from her writers.
She must look to Mindy as Molly to save the day and bring her into this century.
You know where this is going, but the ride is fun. The fact that my two favorite talk show hosts
Bill Maher and Seth Myers have cameos won some points with me. What is a little surprising is that the usually
wonderful Emma Thompson is rather bland in her role, but maybe that’s the
point.
I’ve always liked the late night talk shows. I find you sometimes have to wade through a
lot to get to a little. What I’ve never
been able to figure out is why American television ends up with so many British
hosts like Katherine Newberry. James
Corden, Piers Morgan, Craig Ferguson to name a few. Just an interesting phenomenon.
Anyway, who’d of thought that Mindy Kaling could carry a
movie. Looking forward to her next project.
Rather than scanning the satellite this month, as I am in mid-binge on so many shows, I thought it would be fun to answer the CNN twitter question, and perhaps get your input.
They asked, "If you could only watch 5 movies for the rest of your life, what would they be?"
With honorable mention to The Sound of Music, A Few Good Men, Tombstone, and LA Confidential, I would go with:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Annie Hall
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Chinatown
Gone Baby Gone
What are your 5?
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