Yesterday is a British romantic comedy directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis, based on an original screenplay by Jack Barth and Mackenzie Crook. A struggling musician who, after an accident, finds himself as the only person in the world who remembers the Beatles. That leaves him with the unprecedented opportunity to become famous by taking credit for writing and performing Beetle songs. The film falls a little short on imagination but since it’s the Beetle’s songs, it “rocks”.
Yesterday opens with Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling singer-songwriter from Lowestoft. His manager and childhood friend Ellie Appleton (Lily James), begs a bewildered Jack, not to give up on his dreams. During a global blackout, Jack gets hit by a bus, when he awakens, aside from two missing front teeth, he discovers that no one else on Earth had ever heard of the Beatles. Once he confirms his suspicion, he begins performing Beetle songs, claiming he wrote them. Soon he is heard by a local music producer, Gavin (Alexander Arnold) and records a demo for him, which leads to a performance on local television, which leads to Jack being invited by pop star Ed Sheeran (Ed Sheeran) to play as his opening act in Moscow. Ellie declines to join him, saying she has to work her day job as a schoolteacher, so Jack’s roadie friend, Rocky (Joel Fry) travels with him instead. After the gig, Jack is signed by Sheeran’s agent, Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon), and rises to global fame. Hoping to trigger more memories of Beatles songs, Jack goes to their hometown of Liverpool, visiting landmarks such as Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, and the grave of Eleanor Rigby.
This being a good place to stop, I can only say that I enjoyed Yesterday, especially the music. I felt too much of the story went unanswered, leaving me to fill in the blanks myself. I also didn’t love Himesh’s singing voice and style. He seemed a bit “pitchy”, to coin a phrase. Yesterday gave us lots of school for thought but didn’t really satisfy our need for explanations. This is a totally British production and therefore, culturally different but still entertaining. Perhaps I’m suffering from culture shock but Yesterday could have been better. The acting was brilliant — too bad the story wasn’t. I recommend you wait for the DVD/Blu-ray. FYI: Getting the rights to include the Beatles’ music cost the filmmakers $10 million. Although none of the Beatles were involved in the production, Boyle received blessings of the project from them and their families. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the premise, performances, light tone, and musical sequences, but criticism at the familiarity and simplicity. Check It Out, after all, this is only my opinion!
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a musical romantic comedy written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is a follow-up to the 2008 film Mamma Mia!, which in turn is based on the musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the first film, and also features flashbacks to 1979, telling the story of Donna Sheridan’s arrival on the island of Kalokairi and her first meetings with her daughter Sophie’s three possible fathers. I really wasn’t interested in seeing this movie, however I’m glad I did. Mamma Mia! Here we go again was a pretty descent sequel with loads of good music. This is a feel good movie.
Darkest Hour is a British war drama directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten. It is an account of the early days of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, when Nazi Germany swept across Western Europe, threatening to defeat the United Kingdom during World War II. This threat lead to friction at the highest levels of government between those who would make a peace treaty with Hitler and Churchill who refused.
Finally, a summer movie with a very different theme. Baby Driver is not your run-of-the-mill gangster movie flick. Instead it is a unique story about a young adult who made a mistake and put himself into a bad situation. That was the good news, the bad news is he now has to pay it off. The problem with paying off debts to bad people is you’re never done, especially if you’re good at what you do. Baby Driver takes place in Atlanta, Georgia and tells the story of Baby, who mostly grew up as an orphan when his parents died while arguing during a car accident. Baby was strapped in the back seat and the only survivor.
How many times has this movie been remade? There just seems to be a fascination about this story, like none other. I think the more wicked the stepmother and the bigger the revenge at the end, the better the movie. Cate Blanchett makes one of the best evil, wicket, mean stepmothers I’ve seen to date. She just seems to wallow in her meanness. The two stepsisters, Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) were equally as mean. What hatred they displayed throughout the movie. In this version of Cinderella, mom knew her daughters were dumb and dumber. She also knew they were not eye candy, which made her all the more jealous of her step daughter, Cinderella. She also admitted to her anger over the fact that she had now loss two husbands and is left to fend, financially, for herself. As for Cinderella, she was the biggest push over of all but always happy and cheerful. Before the evil step family came into her life, Ella, as she was called then, (Lily James) lived with her parents (Ben Chaplin and Hayley Atwell), on their estate and were quite well off and happy. She had relationships with all the animals and a very special one with her beloved father. As we all know, nothing last forever. Ella’s mother fell ill and passed on leaving Ella and her father alone to deal with their grief. After many years, Ella’s dad decided it was time to start enjoying life once again by taking on a wife. Ella agreed and so her father’s new wife moved in with her two daughters, making Ella’s life a living nightmare. Not too long after, while on a business trip, Ella’s father took ill and died, leaving his daughter in the most horrific situation. Ella’s name was changed to Cinderella and she was relocated to the attic and to save money, the entire staff was dismissed. She was given leftover scraps from the table to eat and no new cloths to wear. All chores were carried out by Cinderella while the others did nothing. The only friends Cinderella had were the animals. I believe everyone knows the rest of this story so I won’t elaborate any further. I’ll just say, to my surprise, Cinderella became strong and revenge was sweet in the end.
CAROL's WORLDS 