Richard Linklater's Boyhood - anybody seen it yet? Beatles Black Album

I oversimplified -- It's explained in the introduction to the piece.

 

"Maybe the lesson is: Love doesn’t last, but the music love creates just might.

Your mom and I couldn’t make love last, but you are the music, my man.

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love…”

I love you. Happy birthday.

Your Dad"

Jeez. Ethan Hawke is awesome.

 

I went back and read the introduction more closely - but the way it's presented is still confusing...

The intro claims Hawke wrote it and then modified the letter by changing some details - like the names of his children.

There's a reference in the letter to turning 40. Since Hawke was born in 1970, that would mean the letter was written (and the "album" compiled) around 2010.

At that time, his oldest daughter would have been 12 and her brother would have been 8.

It would make more sense that the letter was written to an adolescent, than an 8 year old - especially since the younger child was only 2 years old when the divorce happened. So it would seem that a letter would have been aimed at his daughter, not his son. Try swapping "Maya" for "Mason" and "Sam" for "Levon" in the letter and reverse the gender references and you would *seem* to have the original letter. But I still don't know what he would have said at the end when he said "my man" to his real life daughter... that part of the letter seems gender specific (to me).

But the part I get stuck on while reading the whole thing is the strange way some of the song titles are referenced - like "remaster" when referencing a song title... am I to believe Hawke is an anal-retentive Hoffman forum reader ? Or is it more likely that some intern went and built an Itunes playlist and kept the extra words and dates in some of the song titles... I swore one of the titles said "2014" remaster (which would have been impossible when Hawke was turning 40) but I can't verify that because for some reason the buzzfeed link is being detected as a source of malware by my work computer... I found a different webpage that has the song titles but I don't see a 2014 in the list... so maybe I didn't see "2014" when I looked at. The other web page has "remaster" dates no later than 2010 (which at least makes sense given the timeline of Hawke's life).

It also seemed awkward that the mythical "album" is a gargantuan three disc effort. The total track total is 50 - seems more like maybe it was a concerted effort to make the thing 50 songs total - forgetting about disc boundaries.
And in 2010, it would be more likely he gave his daughter the gift of a "playlist"... maybe all mp3 files on one data disc... versus a three disc CD-R...

Yeah... I think too much - LOL

I also got stuck on the Paul and John on the street story... never heard Paul tell that tale - but not doubting Hawke may have heard it somewhere - perhaps even from McCartney himself.

And I thought it was slightly incorrect when it talked about Paul buying the publishing out from under the other three. I think he was talking about when Paul did some kind of royalty deal with Capitol that angered the others (that happened, but it wasn't around the time of the breakup).

The comments on this link are similar to mine... and there is a pretty good discussion of the publishing thing (even though I think the Hawke "letter" blended two separate events).

http://www.heydullblog.com/solo/black-album-solo-beatles-according-ethan-hawke/

And yeah, I also wondered what SNL episode Hawke was referring to. Did Paul maybe play a Lennon heavy set list at an SNL rehearsal that Hawke might have been at ?


Anyone else notice that Hawke's character and Arquette's character do not have names in the movie? They are "mom" and "dad"

I thought that was a nice realistic touch... I don't think of my parents as Frank or Nancy...

I also found it interesting that Arquette wants to keep filming every year (as was recently discussed on Jon Stewart) but added the comment "but only if no one can watch it"

 

"The Black Album you see on screen originated IRL, as a real gift from Hawke to his oldest daughter Maya. Hawke wrote the original version of theseBlack Album liner notes for his IRL daughter, then slightly retooled them while he was working on Boyhood."

They were listed that way in the credits but their names were Mason (the son is Mason Jr.) and Olivia. Both names were heard in the dialogue.

 

I loved the scene in the movie when the father took his kids to an Astros game.

That was back when the Astros had a few good years and Minute Maid Ballpark was a fun place to be.

Watching that scene brought back some memories - and made me curious about when/how the scenes at the ballpark were filmed.

I read that Linklater got permission from the Astros - purchased 15 seats (maybe one row - or half of two rows) - talked to some of the people sitting near them (presumably got their permission to be in a film) and started filming.

I noticed three things in the film...

1.) The opposing team was the Milwuakee Brewers.
2.) There was footage of Roger Clemens pitching (and a discussion by the dad about Clemens)
3.) There was a continuity problem with some of the shots showing the roof opened and some
showing it closed (during what I think was supposed to be the same moment in the game).

Linklater apparently told the camera during one inning "just focus on the field and we'll get whatever happens".

During that inning, they were very happy that they managed to film a home run down the left field line - showing the ball as it left the bat and as it landed in the stands - slicing just past the foul pole. Linklater said that shot was just luck and they were very happy that the stadium "exploded" with joy as the ball went over the fence.

During the home run trot, you can see Jason Lane, who was the Astros rightfielder at the time. The dad also mentions Lane when he gets back to his apartment and is telling his room-mate about the game.

Wondering if I might have been at that specific game, I tried to figure out a date.

Problem is I can't come up with a date that matches all three of the above events (Brewers at Minute Maid, Clemens on the mound, and Lane hitting a home run).

I think I found a date for the home run... but Clemens didn't pitch that day.... which might explain why I noticed a continuity error for the roof status...

When the video comes out - I will most definetly stop the motion and read the scoreboard and come up with an accurate date when the home run was filmed... but the Clemens footage is more mysterious - in part because it looks like it was filmed from a view inside the dug-out - and I suspect it might have been filmed some other night - maybe not even versus the same team.

Either way... I really enjoyed that part of the film - because it matched a time and place I shared with my kids often.

 

Just saw this movie tonight - it is amazing. I can not stop thinking about it. Nothing happens and everything happens.

I think it's the best movie of the last 15 years, making it the best movie this century.

 

great movie. Pretty amazing how it was made. Be forewarned...do not see this if you are expecting a quick, action-packed storyline. I don't like those types of movies, preferring slow moving films that make you think about different things, so this was right up my alley.

If you're a music fan and know your chronology you will be able to gauge what year a segment is taking place by the music being used. eg: Flaming Lips "Do you realize?"

 

It's a great film, but one thing that stuck out a bit was the daughter. She looked absolutely nothing like her parents, but the son looked very much like them.

 

Finally saw it.
The acting and dialog are superb - in the sense that you forget anyone's acting.
It didn't deliver what I was hoping for.
I might get more out of it a second time - as I did with My Life As A Dog - which is now my go to movie for growing up.
In fact, after seeing My Life As A Dog for the third time in the theater, with a friend, I cried - not just because of the emotion, but because it was such a beautifully made (not beautiful in the sense of "pretty") film. Near perfect.
Another one that gets better with subsequent viewings is Léolo. If you can catch it in the art house theater, GO.

 

The online track list for the Black Album is different to the one seen in the film. For the record that list reads:

Beatles the Black Album


Part 1

1. John Lennon, “How?”

2. Paul McCartney, “Every Night”

3. George Harrison, “Blow Away”

4. Paul McCartney, “Maybe I’m Amazed”

5. John Lennon, “Woman”

6. Paul McCartney & Wings, “Jet”

7. John Lennon, “Stand by Me”

8. Ringo Starr, “No No Song”

9. Paul - Band On The Run

10. George - My Sweet Lord

11. John - Jealous Guy

12. Ringo - Photograph

13. Paul McCartney, “Junk”

14. John Lennon, “Love”

15. Paul McCartney - The Back Seat of My Car”

16. John Lennon, “Watching the Wheels”

17. Paul - Bluebird


Part 2

1. John - I Found Out

2. George Harrison, “What Is Life”

3. John Lennon, “God”

4. Wings, “Listen to What the Man Said”

5. John Lennon, “Crippled Inside”

6. Ringo Starr, “You’re Sixteen You’re Beautiful (And You’re Mine)”

7. Paul McCartney, “Another Day”

8. George Harrison, “If Not For You

9. John Lennon, “(Just Like) Starting Over”

10. Wings, “Let ‘Em In”

11. John Lennon, “Mother”

12. Paul McCartney - “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey”

13. John Lennon - “Instant Karma!”

14. Paul McCartney “Heart of the Country”

15. John Lennon, “Oh Yoko!”

16. My Love - Paul

17. Oh My Love - John

18. Give Me Love - George

19. Imagine - John

20. All Things Must Pass - George

 

Flipping channels and stuck with Boyhood on Showtime right when they are camping and conversing about how if there is to be a new Star Wars movie, there is no point in setting one in the time period after Return of the Jedi