Reviews

I've just finished the first part of Peter Jackson's long awaited miniseries, GET BACK. This program debuted this evening on DisneyPlus. The majority of this footage was captured during the January 1969 sessions that spawned the LET IT BE movie and album. But with 56 hours of video footage and over 150 hours of unheard audio to work with, Peter set about creating a brand new expanded reinterpretation of these historic sessions. The original film stock has been perfectly restored in 4K resolution and distills these reels down to over 8 hours of viewing time.

This may sound overwhelming to the casual viewer, but it's an absolute godsend to anyone who truly loves the Beatles. I even watched this with my wife, who isn't always keen on watching expansive musical documentaries. Even she found this presentation to be riveting and worth the time investment (156 minutes) required for watching part 1 this evening.

Peter Jackson chose to begin the program with a brief retrospective reel to contextualize the footage and it's relevance on the Beatles timeline. Although some fans may already be well versed in the history of the LET IT BE sessions, there were certainly plenty of new things for them to learn in this chronological retelling of the story. The original plan was for the Beatles to write and rehearse brand new material for a planned live TV performance that same month.

What really makes this so much more revealing than the original LET IT BE movie from 1970 is the astonishing picture quality which serves to make the experience ever more intimate in it's sheer clarity. The extended footage from each day's session leading up to the legendary Rooftop Concert is very much in the spirit of 'cinéma vérité.

We're being given a privileged view into their songwriting process, as they birth such classics as "Get Back", "Let it Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" (just for starters). Some songs came more easily than others, yet each was gradually pruned, tweaked and caressed until they took the form that we've become familiar with today. Most musicians watching this will find this process to be a familiar one, but other viewers may learn that most classic songs aren't born in a day. In this case, The Beatles only had a few weeks to carve these raw ideas into fully realized compositions.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg's fly-on-wall camera work captured the band's interpersonal dynamics in more vivid living detail. By this point in time, Paul assumed more of a leadership role that often required some very careful diplomacy with his bandmates.

*** There are many spoilers below, so read further at your own peril. ***

Musically, the band shuffles through dozens of old originals, covers and even several songs that would later be used for their respective solo projects. All of these jams seemed geared towards keeping them motivated and inspired to come up with the 12 to 14 songs that they'd settled upon having for their planned show.

Gradually, the band relaxes and seems to forget about the cameras just long enough for a more truthful intimacy to emerge. Very quickly, we begin to recognize the personalities and dynamics between the each of the band members.

There are peaks and valleys throughout, just as one might expect there to be in real life. You can tell that the first few days were a bit of a grind for them, but the pacing of these sessions does begin to pick up. Some of these days are more inspired than others, yet many of the giddier moments look as if they probably benefited from some chemical inspiration. Occasionally, they find the need to find some release in just being silly to offset the drudgery of the task at hand or even the palpable tension between certain band members.

It's clear that Paul McCartney was the prime mover for this project, both motivationally and creatively. It was largely his sudden strokes of inspiration and melodic genius that really offered the band their strongest songs here. You could literally see Paul pulling these ideas from his grey matter on the fly, while doing his best to map out all that his muse was feeding him. It was the quality of these ideas that was truly stunning.

John Lennon shows only mild interest in the proceedings at first, while also having the added distraction of Yoko there to contend with. Yoko seems ever present on nearly every day of the session, often clinging to John like a koala bear. (To be fair, George Harrison also invited several of his friends from the Krishna movement to also bear witness to some of these sessions.)

While Yoko's presence does rather intrusive, but Paul likely realized that this issue was probably non-negotiable and wisely opts not to confront it head on. Instead, he seems to appeal to John more as an old friend by revisiting older songs they had written years ago. Paul's approach seems to inspired John to at least have some fun with the sessions, as he wields his quick wit and acerbic humor to elevate the mood - at least between John and Paul.

However, it's George Harrison that winds up feeling like a bit of a third wheel while watches Paul & John bond over these jams. Paul seems a bit lukewarm about George's offering of the unfinished "I Me Mine", but does agree to give it a go. While Paul is desperately trying to keep the band on schedule, George begins to take some of his suggestions more as criticisms. All the while, Ringo sits behind his drum kit with a hunched posture and poker face throughout.

While Paul is zealously trying to conduct and arrange the guitar parts for "Get Back", George visibly begins to bristle at this unwelcome coaching and suddenly decides he's had enough. Not only did he walk out of the session, he also announces his intention to quit the band! I believe it's Mal Evans who asks whether the cameras are still rolling before they respectfully go black, while George seems to underline just how serious he is.

Recording resumes the very next day with only the three remaining Beatles - and Yoko. Their decision to continue the sessions may have seemed a little cold of them at first, but they also may not have been certain how seriously to take George's sudden temper tantrum. Their solution was to get to get a little inebriated and raucous in the studio to cope with these anxieties. While this sessions was probably their least productive one, it's also bit of a hot mess listening to Yoko wail over the instrumental chaos. They do attempt to arrange a few songs as a three piece (with John playing more of George's bits), but even this seems half hearted.

So... the cliff hanger ending for part 1 leaves us with a failed weekend negotiation with George at his home and a grim outlook for the project - and may even the future of The Beatles? Of course, most of us already know how this turns out, but GET BACK allows his to watch the beginning of the end as it happened.

It was also interesting to witness The Beatles reacting to many of the same political issues we're still wrestling with today. After reading the daily newspaper, Paul felt inspired to inject some of his own feelings about the anti-immigrant sentiment in the U. K. at the time with some off-the-cuff alternate lyrics for "Get Back" and the hilarious outtake "Commonwealth".

Peter Jackson's very clever editing style footnotes selected footage in a very helpful and unobtrusive way. One of the moments that I loved was when Linda Eastman is shown taking photographs of Paul while he's composing "The Long and Winding Road". He actually managed to track down the actual photos she took to visually incorporate into the timeline and movie itself. It's these very clever and informative visual touches that enrich the viewing experience, while either highlighting the back story or foreshadowing the future.

So much of this movie is achingly bittersweet in recognizing all those onscreen who are no longer with us. Seeing the late Linda Eastman McCartney so young and lovingly in thrall of her husband while he crafts musical history is very moving to watch. But of course, seeing John Lennon (at age 28) and George Harrison (age 26 at the time) in the prime of their lives is even more a reminder of what a gift this series truly is. Thus far, I've been having the time of my life watching this series and am much looking forward to tomorrow's episode.

Deciding whether or not me and my wife both wanted to watched a Motley Crue related video was something of a Déjà vu moment. It transported us back to 1995 when that leaked sex tape of Tommy and Pam (who isn't mentioned once in this pseudo-documentary) was released. Should we watch this or not? Both times, we decided it should be at least good a laugh or two, given that their IQ's combined were that of an average sand flea. But we also experienced that same feeling that's akin to post meal indigestion where one questions why they ate at the Varsity (if you live in Atlanta), Checkers or McDonald's in the first place. You knew what you were going to get, so don't complain too loudly afterwards, right?

It wasn't all bad and there was just enough nostalgia value to keep me from turning it off. One funny moment has Vince Neil briefly acknowledging what a piece of trash THEATRE OF PAIN was. Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be giving all of the best parts away here, since there aren't all that many moments that will impress their hardcore fans (or detractors).

Still, there were also few actual surprises for those who'd already the book or already knew the Motley Crue story. For me, it was more an exercise in seeing how awkwardly they navigated each key piece of their mythology. The simple fact that Jeff Tremaine (JACKASS) directed this tells you pretty much what you're going to get. All of the juicy, sordid bits get tossed together to make them look like Hair Metal superheroes. They got light on the accuracy and supporting details, just so no one with severe ADHD (their target audience) might get bored. I've seen worse, but I'd recommend spending your Friday night doing something else. Save this for when you truly are bored. 6 out of 10 (at best).