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Peter Jackson

The Beatles: Get Back – Pulling Back the Celebrity Curtain

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There are few bands as adored as the Beatles.

With a mere 12 studio albums under their belts, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr produced music so remarkable that it defined a generation of music lovers. Even now, after over 50 years and the passing of two original members, the fire for Liverpool’s mop-tops burns just as brightly as before.

Now, with the release of the new docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, audiences have the opportunity to travel back in time to the band’s 1969 recording sessions. With the goal of performing live for the first time in two years firmly in view, John, Paul, George and Ringo attempt to create an entirely new album in a mere 21 days. With such a daunting task putting incredible pressure on the Fab Four, tensions begin to mount, causing division and arguments between them. However, as a result of their commitment to both the creative process and one another, the ‘Get Back Sessions’ result in one of the music’s most iconic concerts: the live performance on the rooftop of Apple Studios.

Directed by Peter Jackson, The Beatles: Get Back is an extensive and expansive behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest bands in music history. Although the series draws inspiration from Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary of the project, Jackson manages to create something new by sitting more deeply within the moment. Having to choose from over 60 hours of footage and over 150 hours of unheard audio, Get Back massive length offers an intimate portrait of the creative process of the band like we’ve never seen before. 

While we’re familiar with their songs, there’s something special about watching them become the anthems that we know and love. Songs like ‘Get Back’, ‘Let It Be’ and ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ didn’t simply drop out of the sky. (Well, there are some exceptions here, like Paul’s development of ‘Oh, Darling’ which seems to just… materialize.) Generally, there’s a push and pull that takes place within the creative process that Jackson highlights beautifully. By slowing down and allowing the footage to simmer, he reveals the comraderie that this group enjoyed when they were creating their best work. As the famed rooftop concert develops, the [rubber] soul of the group is exposed and we witness the magic they could make when working together.

Furthermore, even amidst the chaos of attempting to write 14 new songs in 3 weeks, there’s a playfulness that comes through in many of the practices. Yes, they had grown up and matured. Yes, they had changed. But still, Get Back provides glimpses of the boyish charm that defined them in their earliest years. Fully aware that their life as a band was beginning to come to an end, their desire seems to be to reclaim the fire that they once felt one more time. As a result, whether it’s non-sensical riffs and falsettos or simply relaxing by playing the hits of other musicians, there’s a joyfulness that shines through amidst the seriousness of the moment. 

Meanwhile, Jackson’s series also recognizes the tensions that were brewing behind the scenes. Moments such as Harrison’s brief attempt to leave the band, McCartney’s battle to have his own way and the struggle to accept the intensity of John and Yoko’s relationship during creative sessions offer a deeper picture of a band that has been studied for decades. (Incidentally, it’s worth noting that, while any edit of this type will skew the image in some ways, Get Back opens with text that insists that they’re doing their best to portray these icons in their truest forms.) 

In doing so, Jackson also exposes their shortcomings. Whereas pop culture has immortalized the names John, Paul, George and Ringo as examples of creative geniuses, so too were they simple boys from Liverpool who simply wanted to make music. Idolized by millions, they were also flawed and imperfect, squabbling amongst one another over who’s vision would become the final product. (This tension is particularly visible during the audio of a private conversation between McCartney and Lennon where they address Paul’s constant insistence on doing things his way.) As they work through their difficulties together, we begin to see past their celebrity status and focus increasingly on their desire to rediscover their passion for music (and each other). 

Now, having said this, it’s also worth noting that Get Back is likely not going to win over any new members to the Fab Four Fan Club. While the expanded footage is remarkable and revealing, so too does it move at its own pace. Repeated performances of half-finished songs and conversations about chord progressions may excite devotees but, without that prior passion for the group, it’s hard to imagine outsiders getting particularly excited about it. Throw in the fact that the series clocks in at an incredible 7 hours and 50 minutes and one could understand why the massive scope of this project with its slow tempo will make it a difficult ‘binge watch’ for the younger generation. (Yet, ironically, somehow the runtime seems appropriate considering Jackson’s repertoire for longer, more reflective pieces.)

Even so, there’s something truly special about Get Back. As a love letter to the Beatles, Jackson celebrates the originality and ingenuity of the team as they develop songs that will remain stalwarts for the next 50 years and more. However, at the same time, he also reveals their humanity, including the struggles and strains that can be felt as they work together under duress. By allowing their faults and failings to shine through, Jackson manages to pull back the curtain of celebrity and remind us that these were ultimately just boys who wanted to ‘get back to where they once belonged’.

The Beatles: Get Back is now playing on Disney+.

Miranda Otto on Eowyn, Family, & the Horror of Annabelle: Creation

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Miranda Otto may be best known for her role as Eowyn in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings cinematic masterpiece. But this year, Otto has starred in FOX’s reboot, 24: Legacy, and the upcoming horror prequel, Annabelle: Creation. Under the direction of Lights Out creator David Sandberg, Otto is teaming with Anthony LaPaglia to tell the story of the doll maker and his wife, Samuel and Esther Mullins.

Otto has chosen to take roles that allow her maintain her home in Brisbane, Australia, recognizing that this means she’s compromised on roles she might have enjoyed. “A few years ago, as my daughter was getting ready to start school, there was a role I was considering,” she remembered. “But I was going to have to move across Australia for five months, and be five hours away. People were saying, ‘You’re crazy, you’re crazy to pass on that.’ But every time I looked at the script, I just got sick. Acting is a big part of my life, but it’s not the only part.”

Influenced by her own parents, both actors when she was born, Otto’s view is still informed by their perspectives. “My mother still has an actor’s perspective- and she’s happy to give her opinion,” Otto shared. “What was great was growing up with my dad as an actor, was that I had realistic ideas about what it was about. It wasn’t that glamorous world of Hollywood but I was drawn and seduced by the commitment of the actors in coming together, to focus and create something. It was grounding, a realistic view.”

As a mother, Otto finds stories where bad things happen to be difficult to read – or to share as an actress. While she’s played a few roles where her character has lost a child, she rarely turns to them voluntarily. But the story of the Mullins’ grief, and their subsequent adoption of six orphans who encounter the evil spirit Anabelle, drew her in as she interacted with Sandberg and heard his vision for the project.

“I think when I met David, I found him to be such a nice, unaffected person,” reflected Otto. “I thought working with him would be a good experience. I realized I’d be safe with someone like him, because he was very reassuring. When I looked at the original movie, I really enjoyed it, and took on the fun element. As frightening as horror films are, there’s something fun about being with the audience in that experience. So I tempered my personal feelings in light of that.”

Having seen the completed project out August 11 in theaters, Otto believes that there’s a very human aspect to the Mullins that will allow people to connect with, as they also feel for these young orphaned girls who must fight a great evil.

“The kids make up this story about Mrs. Mullins like we did as kids in my neighborhood,” she remembered.  “We’d make up funny names and imagine what those strangers were like. The thing is, you scratch the surface and everyone is human underneath. You can come up with all of these scary things but they have incredible stories behind them.”

Stories have been part of Otto’s experience since she was a child, since she was an actress at eighteen, since she was the brave female warrior who donned a man’s armor and fought at the Battle of Pelennor Fields and slayed the Witch King. Even as she tells new stories, these are ones she remembers fondly – and which her American audience still praises her.

“It was a really exhilarating experience being on those films. I sort of had to pinch myself everyday. While the rest of the world didn’t know it yet,  I knew the moment I arrived there and saw what was filmed already and what they were doing, that it was going to be an important bit of cinema. I feel so lucky to have been a part of that.  I loved that character, her dignity and her courage.”

Now audiences will have to see if her role as Mrs. Esther Mullins can capture their attention. She’s still fighting evil in the midst of her story, having traded Middle Earth for a 1950s haunted house.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens–Thoughts to Consider (SPOILERS)

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Kylo RenSince a large chunk of the population has donated a portion of their disposable income to a movie theater in order to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we’re getting to the point where spoiler-free reviews are going to be unnecessary. If you haven’t seen the film yet and want to be surprised when you get to the theater, I’d recommend taking a look at my earlier review first, since it contains no spoilers.   Otherwise, read on, as I go into some of my personal ponderings regarding the movie.

Scroll past the picture below to read on.  Otherwise, it’s okay to return later and read when you’ve had a chance to see the film for yourself.

Fighter battleAre we all here? Good.  Here are a few personal thoughts after seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens twice (Thursday PM and Friday PM):

I am not a Star Wars fanboy, but I have always had an interest in the series.  Perhaps it’s because George Lucas wanted to change some sequences in the preexisting films to make a plot point more noticeable (Greedo shooting first instead of Han Solo), more detailed (all the CGI with Jabba the Hutt in A New Hope) or look more unified (the horrific revised ending to Return of the Jedi that seems a bit ironic, seeing as it shows the folks on Corcuscant celebrating freedom, not knowing they’ll suffer the same fate as Alderann thirty years later). Maybe it’s because I wanted to leave a theater with a sense of awe and wonder—something I didn’t get when seeing The Phantom Menace back in 1999.  It could be due to the fact that I saw Peter Jackson succeed mightily in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Hobbit?  Not so much.). Regardless, I went in wanting something more, something dynamic, something post-worthy.

I got that—and much more.

The film’s first portion centers on the planet of Jakku, as BB-8 takes the map portion with him a few seconds before Kylo Ren’s Bat Cruiser (not trademarked, but it should be) shows up and annihilation occurs.  Rey, a scavenger in those parts, wants little to do with the droid when she encounters him and eventually has to make a decision about whether to sell him.  BB-8’s loyalty reminds me, in a non-speaking way, of the loyalty of Ruth to Naomi in the Old Testament (see Ruth 1:16-18).  Rey decides not to, and it’s a good choice on her part, as the droid introduces her to Finn, a Stormtrooper gone AWOL. The two make quite a formidable pair, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of this pair in future films.

As for Kylo Ren, it’s revealed that he’s the son of Han Solo and Leia.  He’s definitely a force (pun intended) to be reckoned with (notice the Force stop of Poe Dameron’s blaster shot in the opening sequence). In fact, the only folks who can fight him off are Snoke, General Hux, and (later on) Rey. But he’s got some serious issues. He has no control over his temper, slashing massive streaks into a computer wall when he finds out Rey was not captured. In another sequence, the Stormtroopers on duty just turn around and walk away. This probably explains why his lightsaber fizzles, pops, and looks so different than the ones we’ve come to know in the past. He wants to be good, but can’t seem to fight his way out of the Dark Side. We see this in play on numerous occasions, notably when taking to Han Solo on the bridge at the end of the film.  He knows what he needs to do, but can’t do it—does that sound eerily like the struggle Paul talks about in Romans 7:15-25?  As a result, he is a wretched man.  It looks like we’ll get to see more of this struggle in future episodes.

The last scene location of SW: TFAIn the end, Starkiller Base is destroyed, Han Solo is taken out by his son, Finn is on life support after a nasty lightsaber slash up the back from Kylo Ren, and Rey travels with Chewbacca to a planet full of islands.  Atop one of the islands, she meets up, for the first time, with Luke Skywalker.  Luke on the island reminded me of John on the island of Patmos in the book of Revelation. He had vanished (remember the opening screen crawl?) after seeing one of his Jedi trainees go rogue (in this case, Kylo Ren).  Perhaps he was waiting for a revelation of his own.  In John’s case, he came across Jesus himself, who told him to write some letters to a group of churches that needed a wake-up call badly (except for Philadelphia) and provided an amazing look at what will eventually come to pass. We’re not sure about Luke yet, but Rey holds his lightsaber out to him as the camera pans around them and the film ends (one of the best shots I’ve seen in a film in quite a while, I might add).  Perhaps it’s the wake-up call Luke needs to hear.  Sadly, we’ll have to wait a few more years until director Rian Johnson shares Episode VIII with us.

The Hobbit Battle Of The Five Armies Extended Version – Peter Jackson’s Big Finale

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battle

Finally, finally, Peter Jackson’s epic six-film project based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth novels has wrapped, and extended edition versions have been released. Here, Bard the Bowman defeats Smaug the Dragon; Thorin the dwarf loses his mind; orcs, elves, men, goblins, and dwarves battle. And we’re all set to find ourselves back watching The Fellowship of the Ring with Elijah Wood again.

While there are more dynamics going on here than seem humanly (pun intended) possible, the root of the problem is money or stuff. When Thorin refuses to honor his promises about wealth that Smaug had horded, it’s pretty classic – power corrupts, money corrupts, winning corrupts. While we know that there’s good in Thorin, this is one more time where Tolkien shows us how there’s evil to be avoided and good to be done when we are properly friended within Christian community.

But if you love Tolkien, you already know all of that. You want to know instead, what’s in this special collection (which is sure not to be the last time The Hobbit is repackaged!)

In Disc 2, Appendices Part 11, we see “The Gathering Storm” as the cast and crew share their experiences from making the film and putting together the action, effects, and backdrops that set the stage for this battle. In Disc 3, Appendices Part 12, we see “Here At Journey’s End,” what it was like for the filmmakers to wrap their extensive time spent in Middle Earth in one explosive battle to determine the future of several ‘clans’.

Some day, I’ll spend a week rewatching these films in order – chronological not production – and marvel that Peter Jackson could stay so focused, for so long. It’s an epic story about sin and grace, power and weakness, friendship and loneliness, responsibility and cowardice. Few other stories cover quite the gamut of the human experience, making this one of the most powerful narratives of faith and life ever made into film.