Across the Universe
I don't have any special feeling for The Beatles. I don't hate them. But I never went through a phase where they were all I listened to. Not a big deal. So, a movie called Across the Universe doesn't mean as much to me as one called Paranoid Android might.*
But Julie Taymor, the director of this potential disaster/masterpiece, directed Titus a few years back and it is bizarre and enjoyable to the point that I would pay to sit through a 2 and a half hour movie that features Beatles COVERS and not the real thing. It even has Bono. and I would still sit through it because i love Titus so much. AND, I would love to see her NC-17 cut of that film, but, alas, I think I am alone. (AND YET, i probably wouldn't pay to see her stage version of the Lion King. because I hate the fucking Lion King.)
And now here's an article that argues this may be Taymor's last film since she's apparently a loony toon. sigh. are there any female directors out there that aren't quickly destroyed? (and Penny Marshall doesn't count b/c she's a man.)
*and, strangely, there was a play using just Radiohead lyrics back pre-Kid A that got shut down b/c of complaints by the record label. perhaps the complaints were that the play was dumb. But if they can take a bunch of beatles songs and make a trippy movie about the 60s & 70s, then they can take a bunch of Radiohead songs and make a trippy movie about the 90s and 00s. and i would be more than happy to write that ludicrous screenplay.
