The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years

First Hit:  An amazing and touching look at four young men from Liverpool England that changed music and the lives of many people forever.

For anyone one growing up as a baby boomer you will have some memory of The Beatles. Maybe it was listening to the 45 rpm single records or the 33 1/3 rpm LPs. Maybe it was the news programs showing thousands of people screaming their names as they went from place to place. Maybe it was watching them on The Ed Sullivan show.

Over the years, those memories have been enhanced and guided by various films, books and stories about The Beatles since their breakup. I’ve read all the books, seen all the documentaries, read all the articles, but none of them affected me as much as this film.

I teared up early in the film as joy, wonder, and respect overcame me about these four young men who followed their dream, to make music, together. I cannot say enough for Ron Howard and his ability to put together strings of old interviews, concert footage clips, while adding present time interviews with both Paul and Ringo and a small select group of others who were part of their concert past.

I was touched when Paul talked about the moment when Ringo joined the group and that they all knew the final piece was in place. He also spoke about how happy he felt when he and John realized that they both wrote music as their most favorite thing to do. Ringo spoke about how the group held each other together when they were being overwhelmed by admirers. Then they spoke about how in the back of a Loomis armored truck being shuttled off the field at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, they decided together that they were done with playing live musical concerts.

As with all their decisions, they did things together. They supported each other regardless of what came up. For instance, the whole issue that came up about John saying, that at the time, with young people they were more popular than Jesus and the controversy this statement started. Or even, more importantly, when they refused to play a concert because there would be segregation of black and white audience members. In fact, they were the first band to have written in their contracts that their audiences cannot be segregated.  

I enjoyed Whoopie Goldberg’s interviews especially when she realized that The Beatles taught her that she could be anyone she wanted to be and feel good about it. The surprise her mother gave her when she said they were going to Shea Stadium and see The Beatles was priceless.

Elvis Costello, Sigourney Weaver, Larry Kane, and all the other interviewees were perfectly placed into the archival footage. This film was amazingly edited to create a strong story about the life The Beatles were having during the touring years.

Ron Howard did an incredible job of piecing together this footage to present a strong story about The Beatles and their touring years.

Overall:  Fantastic and made even better because seeing the film in theaters gives attendees a bonus, The Beatles performing their Shea Stadium concert. Pure joy watching these young men play together.

Author: The JT LeRoy Story

First Hit:  Recalling the 2005 public outcry that JT LeRoy wasn’t real, this film thoughtfully, engagingly and summarily tells the story behind the story of Laura Albert’s creation.

I recall reading stories about how the media thought they had been duped by Laura Albert to the existence of JT LeRoy (JT standing for Jeremiah Terminator). From first glance and reading the media’s views, it was understandable. Yet something was hauntingly strange about their indignant hurt.

One day, in 2013, I learned that Laura was a client at our SF Marina Bar Method Studio. When we spoke and I was quickly reminded about the hoopla that transpired in the press in 2005.

Although I learned a different story that day and in during subsequent conversations, it wasn’t until this film did I “get” the depth, complex and interesting portrait of her story. Laura was rightfully put off by the perception that she pulled off a “hoax” by asking her son's aunt Savannah Knoop, to be the public face of JT LeRoy.

While watching this film, we take a deep dive into the events of Laura’s life and her path into writing, thus furnishing Albert with a way to express the life being lived inside. The film, through the use of an unfathomable library of saved voicemails and telephone conversation recordings on mini and standard tape cassettes, we learn how Laura’s life unfolded and how creating stories allowed her a way to express herself through a difficult upbringing.

Although I think the film might have been stronger through some judicious editing, thereby reducing its running time, I found myself engaged and wanting Laura to be seen as someone who cares about living her life and the life of the characters she creates because they are part of her.

Jeff Feuerzeig wrote and directed this film. He did an effective job of moving back and forth through time to tell Laura’s story and how JT was created.

Overall:  It was a fascinating look into an author’s life, author Laura Albert.

Sully

First Hit:  An amazing, crisp, and well-acted film about a remarkable event showing how this pilot made an extraordinary set of decisions under extreme pressure.

I was profoundly affected by how much Tom Hanks (as U.S. Airways pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger) embodied the deeply rooted sense of responsibility for the 155 people on the plane he had to land in the Hudson River.

Like Sully, I was fully engrossed in wondering about everyone on the plane. The concern is demonstrated in so many ways:  1) Sully going up and down the aisle ensuring everyone is out of the plane. His last look towards the back of the plane before he exited was telling.  2) When he asked one of the officers of the pilot’s union to help him find out if everyone got off the plane.  3) the release of the subtle out-breath while being given a physical when he’s told, the survivor's count was 155.

We get multiple views of the event. We get a glimpse of what the air traffic controller went through, his heart being in the job. We get to see how the airline's insurance company and investigators aimed to have the water landing be pilot error. We see the closeness and distance Sully has with his wife Lorraine (Laura Linney).

We get to embrace the pilot and co-pilot (Aaron Eckhart as Jeff Skiles) relationship and how this event brought them closer together. Lastly, we the audience, see a public hearing about the event. All of this in a crisp well executed 96 minutes.

The dream sequences were powerful and were reminders of how a commercial airline plane can create enormous damage to a city. The film editing of the differing views of this event, was perfect. The conclusion, even though it is already public knowledge, is wonderfully suspenseful and gratifying.

Hanks is superb. He embodies the weight of the role of pilot and all the decisions Sully has made over the years. I would want all my pilots to be this man. Linney is good as Sully’s wife. While we never see them together, and her relationship with Sully during this film is solely by phone, it works, she’s able to bridge the gap. Eckhart is wonderful and strong as co-pilot Skiles. He was perfect. Todd Komarnicki wrote an very strong engaging script. Clint Eastwood’s direction was sublime. He captured so many aspects of the event and did this in a clear concise manner.

Overall:  This is a wonderfully executed film depicting a set of life saving decisions made clearly and with concise conviction.

Hands of Stone

First Hit:  Having watched a few of Roberto Duran’s bouts, it was interesting to know more about the man who had “Hands of Stone”.

If you don’t like boxing, you probably won’t like this film as there are a fair number of boxing sequences in this film and it is not easy to watch people getting punched.

Duran (Edgar Ramirez) is first shown as a boy attempting to keep himself and his family fed. He runs the streets and steals from the Americans by taking guava's from the trees in the canal zone. Like most other Panamanians, he is resentful of U.S. presence in the canal zone.

Although the Panamanian and U.S. governments’ agreed to U.S. ownership of the canal zone, there is widespread resentment. This is important because when he fights in the U.S. he’s battling both the U.S. government's oppressive nature to Panamanians and his opponent.

In the case of the flamboyant USA Gold Medalist Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) he created a massive dislike and even insulted his wife Juanita (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) as a part of his strategy to get under Leonard’s skin. Teaching him how to be a great boxer and to fully use his given talents is Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro). Because of previous entanglements with the mob who had a lot of control over boxing, he trained Duran for free.

This film explores Duran’s relationship with Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas) who ended up marrying him. The film also explores his hunger to fight and what happens when he wins more than he ever thought he would. This film tells a story.

Ramirez was very good as Duran and made his journey believable. De Niro was fantastic as Roberto’s father figure as well as trainer. Raymond was strong as Ray Leonard. His movement around the ring and engaging personality were mirrors of the very public character he was playing.   Armas was wonderful as Duran’s tested wife. How she continued to show up to him was great. Smollett-Bell was good as Leonard's wife. John Turturro was good in a small role as the mob heavy putting pressure on Arcel. Ellen Barkin was very good as Stephanie Arcel, Ray’s wife. Pedro Perez did a wonderful job as Duran’s lifelong trainer. Ruben Blades is perfectly pushy as the money man behind Duran. Jonathan Jakubowicz wrote and directed this film. I thought that the script was very good and brought out an interesting story. The direction of the scenes was especially strong in the ring.

Overall:  If you like or interested in boxing in the late 1970s and early 1980s this is definitely worth seeing.

Complete Unknown

First Hit:  Although I liked the film, story and the acting, this film is not for everyone.

The opening sequence is a little confusing because it slips focus on the character’s face as it shows a montage of Alice Manning/Jennifer/? (Rachel Weisz) as a hippie botanist, a focused and in charge nurse in a trauma situation, and then as magician’s assistant in China where she drops through a trapdoor.

We get reintroduced to her as Alice Manning a woman who has just come back to the US from doing research deep in the jungles of Tasmania. She makes friends with Clyde (Michael Chernus) at a cafeteria as a way to connect with Clyde’s workmate, Tom (Michael Shannon). As it turns out, Clyde invites her to Tom’s birthday party at Tom’s house.

Alice enthralls the party’s guests with her travels and stories of her past jobs and life. When Tom walks in, there is this sense that he is questioning Alice’s stories and motive. When he goes outside, she follows, and we learn of their previous connection.

The rest of the film, for the most part, is dialogue between these two about her disappearing act. One of the most interesting statements is by Tom, when he says, he’s been working for 10 years to make a difference by writing emails in his job. He’s forever hoping that he’ll make a difference; and that is what his life is all about, hoping. He's afraid of what he'll feel and what he'll do if he actually makes a difference. During their walk they help an elderly woman who’s fallen. Helping Nina (Kathy Bates) home they meet her husband Roger (Danny Glover) and Tom discovers how easy it is to impersonate someone else.

Will Tom join Alice in making up new jobs and lives, or will he stay with the live he has, or is there another path? Regardless of the choices they make, the film suffers from scenes like them walking out to visit the frogs. It seemed extraneous. That, and other scenes, seemed to take away from the intent of the film.

I did like the thought and premise of this film where someone, in this case Alice/Jennifer, could find a way to successfully be a different person over and over again. I was reminded by the Bob Dylan song lines: "like a complete unknown, like a rollin' stone".

Weisz was strong as Alice/Jennifer and I bought her ability to change characters. Shannon was good as the intense man whose life is built on hopes. Bates and Glover were fun in their minor roles. Joshua Marston and Julian Sheppard wrote an interesting script, however it would and will only have a limited audience. Marston directed this and outside a few scenes that seemed unneeded, I liked the premise of the story.

Overall:  This film will have a limited audience but, for some, it will be worth seeing.