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The Beatles Films Podcast

I saw a film today, oh boy


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  • Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles cinematic event: Beatle wives and other casting discussion

    01:15:00|
    Time for some wild speculation, now we've got a lot of the Beatle wives and fifth Beatle candidates' casting confirmed. We look in particular at Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, and discuss the film Foe, in which she and Paul Mescal played a couple living in an isolated setting. A bit like Paul McCartney and Linda's Scottish farmhouse exile? We've been watching lots of films featuring the cast too, and we look at what their performances suggest they'll bring to these roles. Does the casting of high-profile actors to play wives and Beatle family members suggest big roles for them, and does this in turn suggest these films will have a focus on the band's home lives, and how fame affected them?We'll do our best to cite all the films we've mentioned. For Mescal and Ronan, watch Foe on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FOE-Saoirse-Ronan/dp/B0C9G86K94To make sure we've got it right: Ronan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 2008, and for Best Actress in a Leading Role three times: 2016, 2018 and 2020The other Mescal films: Hamnet and The History of Sound, both out in UK cinemas in January 2026Mescal talking about stepping back from public view while the Beatles films are in production: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/02/i-dont-want-to-resent-the-thing-i-love-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-romance-rationing-and-retirementYou can and should buy and rent Harris Dickinson's Urchin in lots of places: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/urchinOther Dickinsongs: Where the Crawdads Sing, Blitz, BabygirlJoseph Quinn in Hoard: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/hoardStranger Things, featuring Quinn from season four: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281The trailer for Andrea Arnold's wonderful Bird, with Barry Keoghan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y0iJkT97JcMore Keoghanicals: Dunkirk, Bring Them Down, The BatmanMia McKenna-Bruce stars in Seven Dials on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81314952 And in How to Have Sex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmF8KpxxmAThe films' entry on the FDA website, that currently suggests they'll all be released on 7 April 2028, but as we say is likely to change: https://filmdistributorsassociation.com/release-schedule/past-present-and-future-releases/?filmSearch=beatlesMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

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  • War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko

    47:08|
    Happy Christmas! Let's have a look at Dave Mullins' film, co-written with Sean Ono Lennon, which won Best Animated Short Film at the 2024 Oscars. We discuss the animation techniques, including use of the Unreal Engine, and talk about how John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Christmas song Happy Xmas (War Is Over) came about in 1971, and how it came to be used in the film.Watch the film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68-XaFepOgWe made a donation to the War Child charity for this episode, which you can too if you'd like: https://www.warchild.org.uk/donate-war-is-over-film The "making of" short documentary piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADIePh3JR40 Yoko Ono's 1966 piece, Play It By Trust: https://www.imaginepeace.com/archives/24764 Dave Mullins' Pixar short, Lou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIL0vSNx8Xg The Toy Story 3 scene in which the characters accept and wait for their death: https://youtu.be/Hg2DBQNvLBQ An article about the auction of the 1969 postcard John and Yoko sent UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-61174089 Meet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

  • 9. The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episode 9

    58:16||Season 7, Ep. 9
    What did we expect from the new episode? Well: the big decision here is not to include any new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr from the 2020s. We discuss the effect that decision has on this episode, and on how it rounds off the series as a whole. Does the episode work as a general making-of-Anthology, or as a patchwork of unused clips from the other eight episodes? And is there any more Threetles footage to come, or is that your lot?The 2025 Beatles Anthology is available to watch on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-cab32c53-c3f8-4879-86f5-c8e4a1657338You can find our five-part deep dive into the original Beatles Anthology earlier in this feedTom Doyle's book Ringo: A Fab Life: https://share.google/JTtimJRkRdc9nEJajThe episode of the Beatles Books Podcast featuring Tom Doyle: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-sjt4u-19a1a32Meet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

  • 9. The Beatles Anthology (2025 remaster): episodes 1 to 8

    01:05:58||Season 7, Ep. 9
    They couldn't let it lie, could they? Well, fair enough: The Beatles Anthology felt like a sleeping giant for Apple: gathering dust on a lot of fortysomethings' DVD shelves when it could be out there, brand spanking new and showing a whole new generation how great these guys were.And of course these episodes have been altered: we talk about what's new, and what's been removed and why. Plus there's the subject of the AI upscaling of some of the early performance footage: what effect does it have and what are the implications?The 2025 Beatles Anthology is available to watch on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-cab32c53-c3f8-4879-86f5-c8e4a1657338You can find our five-part deep dive into the original Beatles Anthology earlier in this feedThe 1929 short film The Singing Brakeman, starring Jimmie Rodgers: https://youtu.be/JvA9fWnEXw0The episode of the Producing The Beatles podcast about Now and Then: https://www.producingthebeatles.com/new-episodes/2023/11/14/016-now-and-then-56hktMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

  • 8. Concert for George (with Nothing Is Real's Steven Cockcroft): part 2

    53:01||Season 7, Ep. 8
    It's part 2 and we're getting into it: what were the standout performances? There's a lot to choose from: Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney all had a go, but what motivated their song choices? We also discuss Paul in particular: less secure than Ringo in his relationship with George Harrison, it's fascinating to watch Paul tread carefully through his contributions. What would a Paul McCartney tribute concert look like and who would appear at it?You can find ways to watch and listen to the Concert for George at https://concertforgeorge.comWe insist you listen to Steven's podcast with Jason Carty, Nothing Is Real: https://www.nothingisrealpod.comYou can also find their Radio Ulster series Back to the Irish, which examines the Irish connections of the Beatles and other artists, on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b079m78nPrince's performance on While My Guitar Gently Weeps at George's Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2004: https://youtu.be/dWRCooFKk3cThe Art of McCartney compilation album that Matt likes a lot more than Steven does: https://open.spotify.com/album/4iZ49yyqqCiB4B1NVV98lMThe Prince's Trust Rock Gala 1986, where Paul performed I Saw Her Standing There, Long Tall Sally and Get Back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hivErCQ7R6IMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

  • 8. Concert for George (with Nothing Is Real's Steven Cockcroft): part 1

    01:06:45||Season 7, Ep. 8
    As reluctant as he famously is to talk about it, Steven Cockcroft, one half of the Nothing Is Real podcast, attended the George Harrison tribute concert on 29 November 2002. So when it came to discussing the 2003 concert film we thought, Who better to invite on as a guest? Part 1 of our conversation touches on our memories of George's death in 2001, how Steven got a ticket, which artists were confirmed when, and which were rumoured, and the differences between the DVD's two versions: the full concert and the edited theatrical release.You can find ways to watch and listen to the Concert for George at https://concertforgeorge.comIf you haven't listened to Nothing Is Real you must. Steven Cockcroft and Jason Carty created the the gold standard of Beatles podcasts, and they are sorely missed: https://www.nothingisrealpod.comYou can also find their Radio Ulster series Back to the Irish, which examines the Irish connections of the Beatles and other artists, on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b079m78nBobFest in 1993 was officially known as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, a Bob Dylan tribute: https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-30th-anniversary-concert-celebrationTom Hanks's episode of Desert Island Discs, in which he chose an unlikely Beatles song and spoke movingly about how they helped him through childhood loneliness: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b079m78nThe Martin Scorsese concert film The Last Waltz: https://share.google/DQgykliRFBj1vxoMxMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

  • 7. Son of Dracula (1974)

    52:55||Season 7, Ep. 7
    Ringo Starr and Harry Nilsson playing Merlin (yes, the wizard) and the son of Dracula: what could possibly go wrong? Well, a fair bit as it turns out: some baffling choices are made and it can't quite make up its mind what it is, but at least Ringo enjoyed being a producer, didn't he? No, not really. Still, he had a bar in his Apple Films office, at least.Watch the film in this fairly ropy VHS transfer: https://youtu.be/cfkHN_QxNcwOr in this weird but fascinating HD upscale made using AI: https://youtu.be/1o9zHsyl-3UThe Irish actor who played Merlin in the BBC series is Colin Morgan: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2959880Woody Allen's 1966 film What's Up, Tiger Lily? where he redubbed a Japanese spy film to make it a comedy: https://share.google/4D2x2eAJnUsmysiq7The other Apple Films productions we mention are Raga: https://youtu.be/bvwf53_ZPEMLittle Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs: https://youtu.be/XOxABAk0scUDid Britain Murder Hanratty? https://youtu.be/HGl9tzMNtpEAn agreement between France and Great Britain to build what became the Channel Tunnel was signed in 1973, so perhaps it was in the news at the time? That's our best guess anyway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel#HistoryNilsson's Son of Schmilsson album: https://open.spotify.com/album/522ynXVXJEFsiozNTy6rbtMeet the Beatles Films PodcastThe Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspodBluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.socialYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcastThreads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622