I recall hearing murmurs of this film being in production before Covid, and when it came to mind earlier last year, I was saddened to find no news about it. I truly thought it might have been lost in the shuffle. However, to my delight, it wasn’t, and eventually, it received a one-day-only wide theater release I was able to attend. It’s always a pleasure to see a Beatle on the big screen. The biggest shock to me was how well the film was edited. It is filled with its own flavor and personality, seperating it from the various Beatle documentaries that have come before. Dream-like transitions, textures, images, and drawings make the entire thing feel like some sort of joyride. It’s captivating, spellbinding, and simply unique. However, since the film is mostly composed of archival footage, there are obvious manipulations made to the footage in order to colorize it and present the film at a higher quality. Some pieces look washed and unnatural. What’s not tampered with, though, such as various personal pictures and footage of John Lennon presenting on local news and radio stations, are beautiful shots that I had never seen. There were a lot more mentions of Paul McCartney than I expected, and one in particular left my jaw on the floor. The iconic bootleg record, A Toot and a Snore in ’74, which features the last “jam session” of Lennon and McCartney, is not only referenced, but is played, remastered, and even animated! However, what truly amazed me was Pang’s account of Paul pulling John aside and delivering a message from Yoko. Keep an eye out for that scene. The film does end up dragging in the middle, however. My biggest pet peeve with documentaries about Beatle-esque topics is the tendency to lean into that “Beatlemania” hysteria, losing their personality and repeating a story that we all already know if we’re watching their film. “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story” does this, but not nearly as embarrassingly as Disney’s “If These Walls Could Sing” earlier this year. This might be a spoiler, but in the last quarter of the film, we meet present-day May Pang. Her interview is entirely shot in black and white, against a muted background, and is very well done. We linger on her face as she recounts John leaving her to reunite with Yoko, the end of our story. This personal touch adds much more than any archival pictures or footage could have done. We also encounter some outright cringeworthy moments, like the film’s opening line being a question Pang answered on a talk show about ‘making money off of John’. It feels forced and comes across as inappropriate; as these ticket prices were much more than I paid for “Super Mario”. Another wonderful addition to the film is its soundtrack. Apart from the aforementioned tracks from Bowie and Elton, I was pleasantly surprised to hear solo Lennon music, despite knowing that Yoko Ono owns most of John’s publishing. Ono isn’t portrayed very well here, so I’m left wondering if she gave her blessing for songs such as Imagine, Happy X-Mas, and Surprise, Surprise to appear in the film. In conclusion, “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story” is a unique and captivating documentary that offers a fresh perspective on John Lennon’s life through the lens of May Pang’s own eyes. The film stands out with its unique editing, dream-like transitions, and captivating visuals. It’s a welcomed change to the music documentary. I won’t go too in-depth, as I recommend that you all see it for yourselves, but the hug shared, along with the walk off into the sunset at the end, left my heart feeling warm.
Trailblazing double bassist Orin O'Brien never wanted the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philarmonic, it was inevitable that she would become the focus of much interest and fascination. Now 87 years old and recently retired, Orin looks back on her remarkable life and career, insisting that a fuss should not be made, much preferring to play a supporting role to the family, students, friends, and colleagues that surround her.
A generational trauma through the lens of an Asian American teenager through food and poetry.
Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.
An intimate portrait, in his own words, of the Indian writer Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses (1988), thirty years after the fatwa uttered by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini: his youth in multicultural Bombay, his life in England, his many years of forced hiding, his thoughts on President Trump's United States of America.
With an original staging of text and music, Orlando follows the trail of one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance: Orlando di Lasso (also known as Roland de Lassus). His life and masterful oeuvre continue to move people to this day. Although he was a European star at the time, di Lasso had to endure the indignities of his social status as a servant. This documentary explores the relationship between art and power, musically accompanied by the ensemble La Tempête.
The views and thoughts of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood have never been more relevant than today. Readers turn to her work for answers as they confront the rise of authoritarian leaders, deal with increasingly intrusive technologies, and discuss climate change. Her books are useful as survival tools for hard times. But few know her private life. Who is the woman behind the stories? How does she always seem to know what is coming?
A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.
A documentary about a 15-day river-rafting trip on the Colorado River aimed at highlighting water conservation issues.
The life and work of New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat have been marked by a long quest for identity, by his Haitian and Puerto Rican family origins and by a founding trip to Africa. To portray this major painter of the 20th century, who died in 1988 at only 27 years old, is also to evoke the place of black American artists in the conservative and racist America of the Reagan years.
Some 220 miles above Earth lies the International Space Station, a one-of-a-kind outer space laboratory that 16 nations came together to build. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this extraordinary structure in this spectacular IMAX film. Viewers will blast off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Russia for this incredible journey - IMAX's first-ever space film. Tom Cruise narrates.