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Anyone Seen "Yesterday"?


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It's in the range of okay to good depending on your expectations. I totally understand the mixed reviews. Personally, I found it to be a crowd-pleaser and a fun/light summer afternoon movie. One warning - the basic premise is a bit of sci-fi music fan fiction (think Bruce Almighty). Don't expect Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman, this is a different type of movie.
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Well, I saw it - thoroughly enjoyed it. I think musicians will enjoy it a lot more than non-musicians, because of the many "musician's life" inside jokes. I also liked the brief homage to Spinal Tap, and thought that overall, the comedy elements worked - I laughed a lot.

 

I can't help but wonder how this ever got green-lighted. How the heck would you pitch a movie like this?!? I think it was pretty out of the box by today's standards.

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I liked it as well. I think this was a pure fluke of licensing that this got made. It was relatively low budget with a high potential for positive return. But, as Craig mentions, it must have been a hell of an elevator pitch.

"For instance" is not proof.

 

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But, as Craig mentions, it must have been a hell of an elevator pitch.

 

I want whoever did it to do all my marketing going forward :)

 

I think it's cool the Beatles / Apple Corps let this happen. I mean obviously, it's good for the Beatles legacy, but still companies like that can ask for outrageous licensing fees that kill a project.

 

One byproduct of the movie: hearing a lot of the songs done only with acoustic guitar or piano reminded me how good the songwriting was. I think sometimes McCartney was overkill, and while the arrangements were often brilliant, they sometimes obscured the elegant simplicity of the songs.

 

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Been thinking about this some more. One of the ways I judge a movie is whether it leaves an impression on me - do I think about afterward, or does it just disappear out of my brain. I have to say a lot of scenes in that movie keep coming back to me. I'm starting to think that while the delivery system is a comedy, that carrier wave was being modulated by some other things. So I guess I'm upgrading my review to "worth seeing, especially if you're a musician." There were some interesting messages in there that were just below the surface.
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BI'm starting to think that while the delivery system is a comedy, that carrier wave was being modulated by some other things.

 

So instead of stars, we need to start rating movies in terms of synthesis method, in this case, FM. :)

 

"For instance" is not proof.

 

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Do the Beatles own the rights and have control? I was thinking that Michael Jackson had bought the Beatles catalog years ago.

 

Good point. I don't know how the rights were handled on this.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Do the Beatles own the rights and have control? I was thinking that Michael Jackson had bought the Beatles catalog years ago.

 

Good point. I don't know how the rights were handled on this.

 

The producer paid 10 million to Apple Music/Sony.

 

Also I realized just now that the trailer for this movie has what I call a "Twister" moment. The trailer for "Twister" had a heart-stopping scene where a tractor tire is flung from a cyclone straight at the viewer...and it wasn't in the movie. In the "Yesterday" trailer, the protagonist is singing "Something" to the very lovely Ana de Armas. Except it got cut from the movie because it changed the focus of the plot.

"For instance" is not proof.

 

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Also I realized just now that the trailer for this movie has what I call a "Twister" moment. The trailer for "Twister" had a heart-stopping scene where a tractor tire is flung from a cyclone straight at the viewer...and it wasn't in the movie. In the "Yesterday" trailer, the protagonist is singing "Something" to the very lovely Ana de Armas. Except it got cut from the movie because it changed the focus of the plot.

It happens a lot. I wonder if it's a reason the trailers don't come on the home release anymore. They used to fill the thing up with every trailer they ran, now they don't have any, even though they have deleted scene, but sometimes the deleted scenes aren't the ones from the trailer.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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  • 1 month later...

Craig, this film disappeared from my brain, if that helps, but it was fine at the time, if a bit weak in spots (especially the awkward John Lennon segment). Good acting, which helped, and Ed Sheeran's presence was magical. I didn't know much about him before, but now I aim to get more familiar with his works. The lead actor was also quite enjoyable to watch, as well as musically satisfying.

 

I saw this film mid-afternoon during a torrential downpour while in Aberdeen Scotland, the day it came out, right before heading on a long train journey to Liverpool (my first time), so it was the perfect film to see under the circumstances. :-)

 

In a way, I think it's worth seeing for the music and the good feelings, but I don't think it will leave a lasting impression on most people, which isn't always a bad thing.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

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Mixed feelings here as well. I remember leaving the theater feeling like every character except the protagonist was a cardboard cut-out present only to advance the plot. His long-suffering manager-slash-love interest, his parents, the Kate McKinnon character, the perpetually stoned sidekick, etc. A wacky alternative fan theory (that I just made up) makes more sense of all this: He was actually killed in the accident and everything we see is his "final season of Lost" near-death experience. Hence all the characters are his idealizations of who those people are in his life. Hence John Lennon living in a small house by the sea as an ordinary guy. (That whole treatment left a bad taste in my mouth.) But, a lot of smiley moments, great music of course. All in all a pleasant but unmemorable confection full of empty calories.

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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the Kate McKinnon character...

 

I thought she stole the show, actually - I saw it as an update of the Bobby Fleckman character in Spinal Tap. Of course it's a caricature...but isn't LA filled with caricatures? :)

 

As to your "wacky alternative fan theory," I think a plot line that would have required a bit less suspension of disbelief than a world-wide power outage that selectively nukes memory would have been his entering into a parallel universe.

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  • 3 weeks later...
the Kate McKinnon character...

 

 

As to your "wacky alternative fan theory," I think a plot line that would have required a bit less suspension of disbelief than a world-wide power outage that selectively nukes memory would have been his entering into a parallel universe.

 

If in the end of the movie , it had shown that he was in an comatose state dreaming this all up, that would've been very cool and would have made the plot very alluring.

 

The movie "The Sixth Sense" with Bruce Willis comes to mind , not exactly , but it made the whole plot seam so real.

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I enjoyed it, for the most part.

 

By and large, I'm not a big fan of films that repurpose existing music - I didn't care for Across The Universe so much - but the way that this film used the Beatles music was kind of cool. I felt that the actual Rom-Com itself was only average, though.

 

I also think Kate McKinnon stole the film. She's ridiculously talented.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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