I want to see "Across the Universe."
Possibly on mute. Almost definitely with liquor.
I've been under Julie Taymor's thumb since I saw "The Lion King" on Broadway and by the time I saw "Frida" I was hooked. While in college, I finally got around to seeing "Titus" and all in all, her work combined with Baz Lurhmann is what I occasionally want movies to be, what I think they are all about: the spectacle. And they realize that for our modern appetites they have to up the ante. And they do so without bringing out the gore, or freaking us out, or hell, I don't know. But they dazzle us. And I can't come up with a better word to describe my reactions to them than that one.
I remember hearing about the movie and feeling more than a little miffed. The first shot of Jim Sturgess imploring "Is there anybody going to listen to my story, all about the girl who came to stay?" kind of reminded me a bit much of John Leguizamo telling me "There was a boy..." and in fact merited the same response from two of my friends.
I liked the first one, when they called it "Moulin Rouge."
I agreed and decided to do all I could to hate this movie.
Then it got to that wonderful buildup so many of us have engrained in our heads that makes us scream "Day in the Life!" And I caught a glimpse of Eddie Izzard, and the Salma Hayek (sorry "Bang Bang Shoot Shoot") nurses, and by the time Sturgess affirmed that Nothing was going to change his world, I had mumbled that I should probably go back to film school. I have since mumbled this about anytime I see anything involving this movie.
And, after clicking on imdb, I see someone in the "comments" has also spouted my theory: "Let's say Hair and Moulin Rouge had a baby". (Sadly, by the time I was editing this to link, the comment was deleted.)
I haven't read any more of it, but you can feel free to look. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if such a union would lead to disaster. Being a huge fan of both (provided we are discussing the musical and not the abomination of an adaptation claimed by Milos Forman), and being a child (like, I'm sure, anyone else of my generation) raised on the Beatles; singing along before I knew what I was singing about, of course I want this to be good.
But given all of these influences and understandings, please stop calling the movie "Original." Only a handful of lines are not Beatles lyrics. The Popsical genre has been in use since "Mama Mia," and fitting existing songs to a film is much older than that (see: "Singin in the Rain"). And finally, loathe as I am to admit it, the story feels tired. The story (as far as I can understand from what little people have said and can be gleaned from the trailer) it's extremely similar to "Hair," or, so many other films/made for teevee movies regarding this time period.
All these bad vibes I carry around about this film? They dissolve about everytime I see a new clip, and I've been watching every single one I can find. I admit: the "I Want You" sequence, well, I don't know how I feel about it. The crashing waves with "Helter Skelter"? Maybe it'll hit me another way on the big screen. And "I am the Walrus" underwhelms.
But my God. Listening to what they do slowing down "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," or even the singularity of "If I Fell" (God! I hope they put in that harmony, and even without it still hits), and the strange angry laid-backness of "Revolution," it's enough to make me wish I could grab the soundtrack a little earlier.*
For everything I hope and fear about this movie. I want to see something new. I want the spectacle. I want to be dazzled again by Ms. Taymor's work. And based on what I've seen, I feel confident in that respect, I'll get just what I asked for.
NOTE: I am not linking to the videos as they seem so abundant, but I recommend consulting youtube or the website.
*I also cannot express my relief, or thrill at the scratchyness of Joe Anderson's voice in "Hey Jude."
And finally, when I post again, it will more than likely be to review this film. I have, since my last post, seen "Superbad," but it seems so late now and that every rave review of it has said what I would, I'm going to lay low for a bit. I'll catch you after I am either rocked to my core, or devastated beyond repair.
