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Post by sayne on Jun 15, 2015 13:45:25 GMT -5
Anyone see the movie yet? I saw it yesterday. I guess it was okay. Paul Dano's performance of the young Brian was really good. Although I think I get it, I'm not sure they needed to have John Cusack play the older Brian. Paul, I think, became Brian. I couldn't see Brian Wilson in John Cusack. I only saw John Cusack.
I don't think there was any new territory here. We know the Brian's dad was mean. I thought the movie was very fair to Mike Love. Usually when we see him depicted, he's shown as a REALLY big asshole, unsympathetic to Brian. In this movie, we do see Love's objection to the "weird" stuff Brian is writing and how he wants to go back to the "Beach Boy" sound, but I think the movie was understanding of where Mike Love was coming from. He wasn't "wrong," in his thinking. The "business" model would be to stick to what you do. Mike was a performer, not an artist.
I've known about Landy's control over Brian, but until I saw it portrayed, I couldn't really picture how bad and controlling he was.
I liked how they used real Beach Boy music and how they used montages of Beach Boy sounds to create the swirl that was frequently going on in Brian's head. And, of course, there were at least 3 Beatle references: Rubber Soul, keeping up and wanting to beating them, and Paul's view on God Only Knows.
I thought the movie was okay because, for me, it was only interesting because of who it was about. If there had been no Brian Wilson, and this movie was made about some fictional character, I'm not sure it would have been compelling enough to see. IMHO. But, I did like seeing how Brian worked in the studio.
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Post by mikev on Jun 16, 2015 8:41:42 GMT -5
Anyone see the movie yet? I saw it yesterday. I guess it was okay. Paul Dano's performance of the young Brian was really good. Although I think I get it, I'm not sure they needed to have John Cusack play the older Brian. Paul, I think, became Brian. I couldn't see Brian Wilson in John Cusack. I only saw John Cusack. I don't think there was any new territory here. We know the Brian's dad was mean. I thought the movie was very fair to Mike Love. Usually when we see him depicted, he's shown as a REALLY big asshole, unsympathetic to Brian. In this movie, we do see Love's objection to the "weird" stuff Brian is writing and how he wants to go back to the "Beach Boy" sound, but I think the movie was understanding of where Mike Love was coming from. He wasn't "wrong," in his thinking. The "business" model would be to stick to what you do. Mike was a performer, not an artist. I've known about Landy's control over Brian, but until I saw it portrayed, I couldn't really picture how bad and controlling he was. I liked how they used real Beach Boy music and how they used montages of Beach Boy sounds to create the swirl that was frequently going on in Brian's head. And, of course, there were at least 3 Beatle references: Rubber Soul, keeping up and wanting to beating them, and Paul's view on God Only Knows. I thought the movie was okay because, for me, it was only interesting because of who it was about. If there had been no Brian Wilson, and this movie was made about some fictional character, I'm not sure it would have been compelling enough to see. IMHO. But, I did like seeing how Brian worked in the studio. I'll probably wait until it is on Netflix, but you made an appropriate statement about Love. He is an entertainer- NOT an artist. But Brian was probably the only possible factor in possibly making/keeping the Beach Boys "hip" in the late 60s. It didn't happen. It was the greatest hits in the mid 70s that spurred their comeback, though I do like some of the music in the 70s.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jun 16, 2015 10:59:26 GMT -5
I had seen a quick written mention of this online on a news site and another friend of mine posted a review of this on Facebook. She had the same slight problem you did, sayne, with Cusak being the older Brian Wilson. Not a problem maybe, just thought it slightly odd. That kind of sounds like that semi-truth, semi-fiction movie on Bob Dylan where several different actors portrayed him, even female actors!
I will see this film but like Mike probably by DVD from Netflix(yes, I am the last of the dinosaurs who gets DVDs from Netflix, not streaming!).
Thanks though for bringing it to our attention. I do hate Mike Love not for insisting on staying with Surf music but the things he did to Brian. Landy was bad but Love did not seem like he had Brian's best interests at heart either, just his own!
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Post by scousette on Jun 17, 2015 22:50:32 GMT -5
Hi sayne: I see five star reviews of this movie and I don't agree. I give it four if I'm in a generous mood.
I agree with you that Paul Dano became Brian Wilson, and the scenes in the recording studio, working with The Wrecking Crew, were mesmerizing.
I was less moved by the scenes taking place in the 80s, where John Cusack portrayed Brian. Brian and Melinda Wilson cooperated in the production of the movie, and I think that resulted in these scenes being sanitized.
Paul Giamatti as the diabolical Eugene Landy was effective.
I also think the actor cast as Mike Love, Jake Abel, looked and sounded just like him. He raised some valid points with respect to the business of the Beach Boys.
Bill Camp nailed Murry Wilson.
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Post by scousette on Jun 17, 2015 23:04:38 GMT -5
Hi sayne: I see five star reviews of this movie and I don't agree. I give it four if I'm in a generous mood. I agree with you that Paul Dano became Brian Wilson, and the scenes in the recording studio, working with The Wrecking Crew, were mesmerizing. I was less moved by the scenes taking place in the 80s, where John Cusack portrayed Brian. Brian and Melinda Wilson cooperated in the production of the movie, and I think that resulted in these scenes being sanitized. Paul Giamatti as the diabolical Eugene Landy was effective. I also think the actor cast as Mike Love, Jake Abel, looked and sounded just like him. He raised some valid points with respect to the business of the Beach Boys. Bill Camp nailed Murry Wilson. Oren Moverman wrote the screenplay for "I'm Not There," that movie that had Cate Blanchett, among others, playing Bob Dylan.
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Post by sayne on Jun 18, 2015 8:39:34 GMT -5
Oren Moverman wrote the screenplay for "I'm Not There," that movie that had Cate Blanchett, among others, playing Bob Dylan. I liked that device. It worked here, I think, because the actors were not trying to play or be Dylan. They were manifestations of him. It wasn't about portrayal. More about essence. I think that's why movies about the Beatles seldom work. Their personalities, their images, their essences are so large that it's very difficult to not let what we know or think we know of them get in the way of a portrayal of them. It takes a device. It's almost like a movie about the Beatles works better with them not really in it, like I Want to Hold Your Hand. The Beatles were all over that movie, but not in it. Or Big Night. Louis Prima didn't have to be in it to have him "in it."
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lowbasso
A Hard Day's Knight
Posts: 2,776
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Post by lowbasso on Jun 22, 2015 0:42:50 GMT -5
Saw the movie today and thought it was fantastic. Paul Dano was superb as a young Brian Wilson. John Cusack was also good as the older Brian. The scenes with Brian working with The Wrecking Crew on the Pet Sounds project were fascinating. The screenplay was superb as was the directing. Paul Giamatti was wonderful as the diabolical "Shrink" that almost put Brian in an early grave. Why Carl Wilson never saw what was happening to his brother under that quack, until his second wife Melinda brought it to his attention, is beyond me. I knew how miserable and jealous Murray Wilson was with Brian's talents and ability. And it was sickening when his father sold the Beach Boys song catalogue out from under his sons control. Brian Wilson is a genius musician/composer, and his mental conditions imposed severe complications upon him as he tried to pursue his talents. Getting his story out to the public through this movie will generate a lot of sympathy for the tortured man and I now look at Brian in a much more sympathetic fashion. And I admire his talents even more after seeing this movie and hearing how the real Wrecking Crew musicians spoke about him in their recently released documentary film.
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Post by debjorgo on Jun 27, 2015 13:05:08 GMT -5
Where were the Wrecking Crew here? Off stage? Sounds pretty good to me.
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lowbasso
A Hard Day's Knight
Posts: 2,776
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Post by lowbasso on Jun 28, 2015 14:25:40 GMT -5
Where were the Wrecking Crew here? Off stage? Sounds pretty good to me. I believe The Wrecking Crew was only used in the recording studio, not for live performances.
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Post by debjorgo on Jun 28, 2015 14:50:05 GMT -5
Where were the Wrecking Crew here? Off stage? Sounds pretty good to me. I believe The Wrecking Crew was only used in the recording studio, not for live performances. Right. Ergo the "Sounds pretty good to me" comment. If they sound this good playing live, why do they need session musicians to record for them?
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Post by mikev on Jun 29, 2015 9:05:45 GMT -5
Where were the Wrecking Crew here? Off stage? Sounds pretty good to me. I believe The Wrecking Crew was only used in the recording studio, not for live performances. Brian, Al and Carl were all capable musicians. Dennis was a decent drummer. But Brian was influenced by Spector style production and understood it was a standard industry practice for studio musicians to make studio albums.
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Post by debjorgo on Jun 29, 2015 17:09:45 GMT -5
I believe The Wrecking Crew was only used in the recording studio, not for live performances. Brian, Al and Carl were all capable musicians. Dennis was a decent drummer. But Brian was influenced by Spector style production and understood it was a standard industry practice for studio musicians to make studio albums. Did anybody explain that to Mike Nesmith?
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jun 30, 2015 6:00:47 GMT -5
I thought LOVE AND MERCY was a good movie, though I'm not familiar with the history of The Beach Boys. The performances were all good, and I was pretty shocked to learn of the abuse Brian suffered at the hands of Landy. The actor playing Mike Love was well chosen. I liked the way the movie went back an forth between the 60s and the 80s.
Only thing was, I couldn't get the impression that this extremely troubled person as portrayed in this movie could have had the capability of making so much great music. That is to say, I don't think the movie managed to really capture the artistry and talents of Brian, and pretty much gave those accomplishments lip service. I think much more could have been added to make us see and believe that this bizarre individual was still completely capable. As it came off, he seemed barely functional.
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Post by mikev on Jun 30, 2015 12:11:59 GMT -5
Brian, Al and Carl were all capable musicians. Dennis was a decent drummer. But Brian was influenced by Spector style production and understood it was a standard industry practice for studio musicians to make studio albums. Did anybody explain that to Mike Nesmith? The best formula for the Monkees was a little bit of both (Monkees/Wrecking Crew) as per their best album in my opinion, Piscies, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones. Headquarters was a solid "garage band" album. PACJ had more of the original two album production shine, with better tunes hand picked and or written by the Pre-fab Four.
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