Johnny Showtime: ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO

 by JB

I found this new documentary to be equal parts cathartic and electrifying.

Johnny Deadline: BEATLES '64

 by JB

I was so excited for this that I stayed up on Thanksgiving night to see it the minute it dropped on Disney+. A few hours of my life that I will never... get back.

Johnny Deadline: LET IT BE

 by JB

“So may I introduce to you...
The act you’ve known for all these years?”

Movies is Good: THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY

 by JB

This is a column about the Beatles, but it is also a column about obsession, control, and counting.

Thrills, Chills, & Spills: YELLOW SUBMARINE

by JB

I talked to a few people at last weekend’s Fest for Beatles Fans, and concerning this film’s fiftieth anniversary, we could all agree on one thing…

Glutton for Punishment: SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

by JB

“Bang Bang” is not the sound of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. It’s the sound of audience members shooting themselves.

The Overlook: Let it Be

by JB

Gee, think there would be any interest in a revealing documentary about the most popular band of all time?

Drunk on Foolish Pleasures: Five Things I Noticed While Watching A Hard Day's Night for the 186th or 187th Time

by JB

Of course, you should all go out and purchase the new Criterion Collection Blu-ray disc of A Hard Day’s Night, BUT…

Drunk on Foolish Pleasures: Magical Realism in the Films of The Beatles

I have a strange and magnificent theory to share with you all today. When you are finished reading it, be sure to weigh in (I know... I know... it's not the weekend) and tell me if you think I am imagining things… or if you think I AM A GENIUS.

Drunk on Foolish Pleasures: Beatlemania!

Recently, I designed a display case at school to force my students to think about the Beatles during February. Then, to prove I was serious about the whole Beatles thing, I flew to New York City for the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles landing in America and performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I don't fuck around.

Drunk on Foolish Pleasures: Good Ol' Freda

Welcome to my new column. Although I happen to be drunk right now, I will not be talking about liquor or drinking here. Rather, I will be talking about movies (and aspects of movies) that make me indescribably happy, perhaps unreasonably so. The “foolish pleasures” I describe over the next 52 weeks are intensely personal, and often indefensible, but I hope they spark in you, Gentle Reader, similar feelings about what you love, what makes you happy, and what you hold dear. I promise you an interesting year.

Unsung!: Help!

The Beatles’ second film makes its Blu-ray debut today, and that brings with it some good news and some bad news…

Doug's A Hard Day's Night Picture Tour

The opening sequence to A Hard Day's Night is one of the most iconic in film history. From the moment George strums that Fadd9 (huh?) chord, you know you're in for something special. But does the movie live up to the promise of those frenetic introductory scenes, or does it suffer from a bout of Apocalypse Now Syndrome? That's a question better addressed in Patrick and JB's recent podcast. I'm just here to humblebrag about my recent vacation.

F This Movie! - A Hard Day's Night

Patrick and JB have had the night of a very hard day and have been working as a dog.

Sh!#ting on the Classics: Horrible Beatles Movies

The Beatles are inarguably the most famous, most influential, and most beloved pop group in history. Radio stations still program “Breakfast with the Beatles” on weekend mornings. A recent trailer designed to get theater patrons to silence their cell phones features “All Together Now.” What other band could chart an album forty years after it broke up? (Sure, maybe the Mills Brothers. Why won’t they call me?)

For the short time they were a recording unit, the Beatles gave us everything they had—more than 250 infectious, beautiful songs that speak to every generation. One would think that they had done enough.  Let them be.

The curse of a capitalist society is that art must be commoditized to yield further profit; no stone is left unturned in the name of money and artistic license. The Beatles have been the victims of some of the worst artistic shit storms of the twentieth century. Put on your Hazmat suit; this sewer is deep and fragrant.