New Beatles Related Films

I have recently watched two new films related to The Beatles, one a drama and one a documentary. The Midas Man is a biopic I saw on Amazon Prime about the life of Brian Epstein, who managed The Beatles. Production has had some troubles since the start of production in 2021 but finally got there in 2023. The film tracks how Brian Epstein rose to prominence by managing a series of popular artists including The Beatles, Cilla Black and Gerry and the Pacemakers before his sudden death in 1967 at the age of 32. It has to deal with some murky material and does that without sensationalising. In many ways Epstein led a very sad life and this is no adcert for the homosexual lifestyle as far as I can see. The actors who play The Beatles do very well and shine. It is interesting to get some of the background. Epstein's great gift was to sopot this music and bring ti to the world's attention.

The Scorsese produced documentary, directed by David Tedesch is on Disney+ and is a cut above the biopic. It documents the cultural impact of the Beatles on the USA in the aftermath of their first three-week visit to the country in February, 1964, which included their historic first performances on The Ed Sullivan Show. It includes archival footage from the Beatlemania era. Scorses and Tedeschi did a orevious documentary on George Harrison, which I have not seen. The film features footage shot by Albert and David Maysles originally for the 1964 documentary What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., digitally restored. New interviews with McCartney and Starr were also filmed. Footage of the Beatles' February 1964 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show and at the Washington Coliseum has also been restored, with audio from these performances remixed by Giles Martin using de-mixing technology developed by Peter Jackson's WingNut Films and previously used for Beatles releases on the 2022 reissue of Revolver and the 2023 reissue of 1962–1966. A soundtrack album from the film has been released digitally and on streaming platforms. The album contains studio recordings by the Beatles of songs featured in the film, as well as the original versions of tracks covered by the Beatles (eg the Chuck Berry recording of "Roll Over Beethoven," the Little Richard recording of "Long Tall Sally"). The compilation also includes a striking cover of "Yesterday" performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968.

I loved some of the talking head material. For example

David Lynch

Music is one of the most fantastic things. Almost like fire, and water, and air. It's like a thing. And it does so much. It does a thing for the intellect, it does a thing for the emotions. And a certain kind of music can swell the heart to almost burst. Tears of happiness flow out of your eyes. You can't believe the beauty that comes. And it comes from these notes.

 Sananda Meitraya

There was where the foundation of my faith laid, in the power of music to transform lives. And I feel that as a son of the Beatles, I owe them a significant portion of why I'm here. I should also curse those b*tches because it's also so much suffering that we artists go through because of Pied Pipers like the Beatles, who say, "Come on, come on, come on. You can do it." The elixir that they put together is so profound, it wasn't just about the songs. It was the energy that the songs were carrying forward.