Beatles "Revolution": Review for "Across the Universe" Soundtrack

Across the Universe is a complicated film to reccomend as is the soundtrack. The film's entire soundtrack is comprised of of Beatles covers by the cast, with cameos by U2 members, Bono and the Edge, Joe Cocker, Eddie Izzrd, and Selma Hayek.

The first song of the film is "Girl" which is very haunting. Jim Sturgess, though a relative newcomer to film, was in a rockband, and his Jude sounds originsl and new, yet at the same time somewhat old school Liverpool/Beatles style. His "Something", "Across the Universe", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "All My Loving" are much in the same way. But his version of "All You Need is Love" is the real showstopper for him. The new version retain the formula, but adds a new elementand at first, lacks the annoying "dum-na-num-na-num" after each "all you need is loev". But once the pattern is added, in an electric guitar, it sounds much cooler than the original.

Evan Rachel Wood's Lucy is as girly as one would be in the '60s, but her voice gets stronger as her hcharacter gets more radicall. Her version of "Hold Me Tight" is cute and almost bubblegum like, yet has a Beatles-esqe class to it. Her rendition of "If I Fell" is heartbreaking and very sad and beautiful. The new version of "It Won't Be Long"is very peppy. Overall, she's very good.

Joe Andersonplays Max, whose voice has a Beatles like tone. His covers of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and "I Want You" are very well done and his version of "Hey Jude" is fresh and new and has a sound that is somewhatlike an homageto the original but still sounds new.

Dana Fuchs plays Sadie and her voice is very reminiscent of Janice Joplin (which is kind of a coincedence, due to her starring in a stage biography of the rocker called Love, Janice). Her "Why Don't Do It the road?", "Oh! Darling", "Dear Prudence", and "Helter Skelter" are really good, my favorite being "Oh! Darling".

Martin Luther McCoy plays Jo Jo, and his rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is enough to make you weep. A smooth rock and roll sound with a mix of saucy R&B in it.

T.V.Carpio plays shy Prudence and she sings pretty well, if soft, version of "I Want to Hold Yor Hand", which, in my opinion, is better than the original. I always thought it was a corny song anyways, but Prudence's shyness in the song and the film make it a little melodramatic.

Guest singer Joe Cocker, famous for his rendition of a few Beatles songs, is back as he sings a raspy hard core version of "Come Together". A bold new sound to an already brave song that broke the boundries of cool.

Eddie Izzard (TV's The Riches) speaks the lyrics to "Being for the Benifit of Mr. Kite". Where they got the original lyrics...a circus poster. I never cared for the original and this version is even worse, it sounds as if he is add libbing the entire thing and sounds very odd and discombobulated.

Bono and the Edge leave their mark on "I Am the Walrus", which is perfect for them, a nice mixed version of a radical classic. His "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is okay, but it doesn't match the original. Almost none of these beat the originals. A few come close, but the Beatles made some of the greatest songs in history, and no one can beat someone who has already won the game... a long time ago.
Grade: A-

All You Need is Love: Review for "Across the Universe"

Note: My mom is a big fan of The Beatles, so she kind of helped me understand this film. This blog is to reccomend films to people, but this one is hard. It really depends. There are many things to consider. If you are a Beatles fan, you may love how creative this film was, or you may hate it for butchering the classic songs with new performances and new interpretation. You may also not enjoy iy for its portrayol of the Vietnam War, radicalism, and drugs. If you are a Liberal, you might enjoy it. If you are a Conservative, you may think otherwise of this film.

Across the Universe is a film by Julie Taymor, who previously directed the Broadway hit The Lion King. The film is a compilation of Beatles songs. The story is intertwined with songs. Jude (Jim Sturgess) is on his way from Liverpool to America to find his father. If that makes you cringe, just wait, every character in this has a name from a Beatles song. He meets Max, who then become best friends. He invites Jude to dinner and meets his sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Max drops out of college and go to NYC. They stay in an apartment, who's landlord is named Sadie (Dana Fuchs). She's a singer. The Vietnam War is raging and Max gets drafted, and he looks at Uncle Sam. He stars singing I want you... and grabs Max. Lucy starts working for a radical pamphlet. Jude and Lucy's relationship goes on the rocks, but then she discovers "All You Need is Love".

The film is overall well done. The new renditions are very good. Sexy Sadie's voice reminds me of Janis Joplin. Though some of the songs included in the film feel as if they have been just thrown in there to complete the Beatles' circle, with no real purpose to the storyline. Jim has a very good voice, and Evan has a really good voice. The most spine-tingling song is sadly the least needed in the film. The cast's rendition of "Because" is haunting. Bono makes a cameo singing "I Am the Walrus" (he plays Dr. Robert) and the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" at the end credits. Other cameos are from Eddie Izzard (The Riches) who performs "Being the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and Joe Cocker who performs "Come Together". The film is visually stunning and is great.

Grade: B+