The Beatles Films Podcast

Part 4 takes in three of the film's key solo spots: John Lennon's scene with Anna Quayle, George Harrison in the teen TV show office, and Paul McCartney fronting the Beatles' performance of And I Love Her.A Hard Day's Night is often on BBC iPlayer, although not at the moment, and available to rent on a few streaming services. https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-hard-days-night There's also a good quality copy on YouTube at the moment, which might of course be taken down soon. Do yourself a favour and buy the Blu-ray anyway.Get Samira Ahmed's excellent book about the film, from the BFI Modern Classics series: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hard-days-night-9781839029394/The picture of George Harrison scowling, and the context: https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/1lh31ss/i_heard_george_loved_this_photo_so_much_he_had_a/Joe Lycett talking about he and James Acaster being mistaken for one another: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wa91yrX2d8MHow to Be Cool by Philip Pullman: https://share.google/HyHlY8dpVwsurWT6oMarlon Brando in On the Waterfront came out a full decade earlier than we thought it might have: 1954. Still, our point stands, probably.Dexy's Midnight Runners performing Jackie Wilson said on Top of the Pops in 1982 with an image of darts player Jocky Wilson behind them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwcBkRUifmYMeet 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

From the hotel to the TV studio. We see the Beatles at a press event, which revisits one of the film's themes: that Beatlemania persists with or without the Beatles themselves. We get into more class dynamics between Ringo Starr and the sound engineer ("Aren't you being rather arbitrary?") and John Lennon's delivery of If I Fell gets us into discussing whether he could sing love songs straightforwardly without undercutting them with a joke, something which Paul McCartney didn't struggle with.A Hard Day's Night is often on BBC iPlayer, although not at the moment, and available to rent on a few streaming services. https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-hard-days-night There's also a good quality copy on YouTube at the moment, which might of course be taken down soon. Do yourself a favour and buy the Blu-ray anyway.Get Samira Ahmed's excellent book about the film, from the BFI Modern Classics series: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hard-days-night-9781839029394/The scene we mention from Richard Lester's Superman II, in which General Zod walks on water and an onlooker throws away his drink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aISDPLtY-28Meet 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

Part 2 covers roughly the next 12 minutes of Richard Lester's film. We look at the absurdist downplayed reaction to finding an intruder in your hotel room cupboard, and the generational disconnect in how comfortable the Beatles seem in the nightclub, vs how grandfather can only fit in at the casino by pretending to be someone else. Plus! The class dynamics in Ringo Starr's jump-dancing with a posh fellow clubgoer, and some more magic realism in John Lennon's bathtub scene.A Hard Day's Night is often on BBC iPlayer, although not at the moment, and available to rent on a few streaming services. https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-hard-days-night There's also a good quality copy on YouTube at the moment, which might of course be taken down soon. Do yourself a favour and buy the Blu-ray anyway.Get Samira Ahmed's excellent book about the film, from the BFI Modern Classics series: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hard-days-night-9781839029394/James Wood in Prospect magazine in 2000, coining the term "hysterical realism" with reference to, among other books, Zadie Smith's White Teeth: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/56397/hysterical-realismWatch the 2024 Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-complete-unknown 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

Come 'ead, then. We start by looking at roughly the first 16 minutes of the Beatles' 1964 film debut. Expect a detailed breakdown of their first dialogue scene in the train carriage ("Who's that little old man?"), and how it establishes straight away through absurdist techniques that these characters don't inhabit a strict reality, giving Richard Lester licence to do more or less what he wants from now on. We unpack the generational and class dynamics at play in the scene with the train commuter ("I bet you're sorry you won!") and discuss, in frankly more detail than anyone wants, whether or not the film is a musical.A Hard Day's Night is often on BBC iPlayer, although not at the moment, and available to rent on a few streaming services. https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/a-hard-days-night There's also a good quality copy on YouTube at the moment, which might of course be taken down soon. Do yourself a favour and buy the Blu-ray anyway.Get Samira Ahmed's excellent book about the film, from the BFI Modern Classics series: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hard-days-night-9781839029394/Guns N' Roses' November Rain video, which as explained would not exist without I Should've Known Better: https://youtu.be/8SbUC-UaAxEThe Proclaimers jukebox musical Sunshine on Leith, which is great: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/sunshine-on-leith A bit more on Theatre of the absurd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_absurdMeet 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

Ian Hart's third outing as John Lennon was 2013's Snodgrass, adapted by David Quantick from Ian R MacLeod's short story. Aired as part of the Sky Arts Playhouse series, it deals with a Lennon who left The Beatles in 1962 following his refusal to record How Do You Do It. With John now 50, bitter but insisting he did the right thing, it asks: where does creativity go when it has no outlet? We discuss this and its alternative timeline of a Beatles who went on to be nearly as big as The Hollies. Then we're joined by David Quantick to talk about how the project came to be and his attempts to make a feature-length version, the process of trying to capture Lennonian wit in dialogue, and his views on the Sam Mendes biopics and Paul McCartney's latest output, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. You can watch Snodgrass, albeit not in great quality, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek89aSrwMN0What is probably a better quality version is on Vimeo, but you need an age-verified account because it's supposedly "mature content": https://vimeo.com/240214664David's website, including links to buy his books, is at https://davidquantick.comMartin Carr's solo work is released under his own name: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3b02YDnufwl9CPIblMomrD and under the name bravecaptain: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4IpVpd0lNWwyReKr5MkloYBeatles Forever by ELO (we apologise in advance): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4g3JgwYFio David's mention of a film called The Ballad of John and Yoko starring "a McGann" is a reference to John and Yoko: A Love Story, which is on our list.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

In Apple Films' 1971 documentary, Ravi Shankar is pondering whether he's diluted his beloved Indian classical music by promoting it to the West, through his association with George Harrison and The Beatles. We look at how the film explores this, and how it emphasises the spiritual connection necessary to perform the music, through techniques like focusing on the musicians' eye contact while playing. Plus! Was George actually rubbish at the sitar?Watch the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvwf53_ZPEM The final scene of Mad Men, in a very similar setting to the Esalen Institute, where Ravi and George practise sitar in Raga: https://youtu.be/LKPI56zW5AAMeet 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

This film is of Mark Lewisohn's 2022 stage show bringing to life what the Beatles did in 1962, enhanced by director Chris Purcell's on-location filming. We talk about how it showcases a performance style and an enthusiasm that belies a reputation for dry historical detail. And quite a bit about Ringo Starr's drumming, as it turns out.You can rent Evolver 62 on Prime Video and Apple TV at the moment: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/evolver-62And buy it on blu-ray in some territories: https://www.wowhd.co.uk/evolver-62/824355814323The Bill Hicks bit with the Ringo joke in it: https://youtu.be/-jIuP_Uk7AkThe Red Dwarf episode with the Ringo joke is series 2, episode 6, "Parallel Universe": https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00b8qy6/red-dwarf-ii-6-parallel-universe. See also series 1, episode 2, "Future Echoes" in which we find out Lister's robot goldfish are called Lennon and McCartney.The Ringo interview it turns out we were both thinking of was actually with Dave Stewart, not Elvis Costello: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9188EPdLITrailer for Bart Layton's The Imposter, which repopularised reconstructions in documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1kHod0xa_8Actor Peter Boyle, at whose wedding John Lennon was best man: https://share.google/7TH4WLlIiuMSOvzW1Ed's point towards the end about how the surfeit of biography online affects fandom is paraphrased from Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People? by Claire Dederer: https://share.google/pXQbXdAMaKS5qEJdfMeet 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

1972's Imagine was part-longform music video for John Lennon's Imagine and Yoko Ono's Fly albums, and part-bonkers conceptual art film. We try and get to the bottom of it: does it mean anything, and does a work of art's meaning have to be intentional in order to be, well, meaningful? Plus some key themes: mass isolation, intimacy in celebrity, male femininity through submission: sure, why not? You can watch the 2018 remaster on Prime Video.The trailer for the 2018 cinema release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThIhgBloqN0The chess scene, set to Yoko's Don't Count the Waves: https://youtu.be/nVRhtWfJqXQThe video for the song Imagine: https://youtu.be/YkgkThdzX-8OK, so we weren't 100% correct about Situationism, but give us a break: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International The chess scene in Bottom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f64qJorLrYThe Marina Abramović work similar to Yoko's Cut Piece is Rhythm 0, in which she stood for six hours and invited the audience to use 72 objects to do whatever they wanted to her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_0Meet 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