Well, they do have a schedule to follow for the film crew. So the day by day development was always going to be the story. Nice touch from this new documentary to put in the calendar.
The incredible geeky and tragically nerdy part of me wishes there was some mention of Paul's 1961 Hofner bass being stolen in part 1 of "Get Back"!
I wish I could find all the Beatles fans that think the lyrics to Across The Universe was “they slither while they pass” and show them this :
Each Beatle has an understudy - Ringo/Nicols, George/Clapton. I haven't gotten to the John/Paul stand-ins suggestions yet in the film. I guess each other, or Yoko and Linda.
For me, one of the more interesting aspects is finally actually getting to see how much Mal did for the Beatles. It's nice to see him getting his moment in the spotlight. The look on his face when he's asked to get an anvil is a combination of "WTF?" and "Here we go again." It may have been an editing creation by Peter Jackson, but it's a funny and kind of touching little tribute to what Mal often had to go through.
I'm halfway through part 1. Early thoughts: This was masterfully put together. You do need to know a lot about the band an their story to appreciate it fully. Biggest laughs so far: The guitar string cigarette holder, and the exchange about charity venues concluding with "charity begins at home" "we'll do it a George's house".
One hope I do have for the second part: that they keep Paul’s f-bomb during the “we’re bloody stars!” exchange with Glyn.
The best use of the "MAL" demixing in episode 1 for me was at the end of day 7 clearing up the dialogue with MLH, Neil and George M while John,Paul and Ringo are shaking off George's departure with a very loud version of "It's Only Make Believe". In the orignal nagra tape it sounds like its battling its sound levels from the cover to the conversation constantly making one part louder than the other.
I’m a big Beatles fan, but Part 1 is like watching paint dry for the most part. Lindsey Hogg is annoying as all get out. They didn’t escape the sound stage, they ran away from Lindsey Hogg! Among the highlights, I really enjoyed watching Paul create Get Back real time, and I Me Mine starting to take shape the famous disagreement scene between George and Paul wasn’t close to the whole story. It’s actually more about McCartney in crisis, trying to herd the cats! He’s bossy only because the others are so apathetic.
The wannabe engineer in me got a chuckle when John was asked to move the lyric sheet that he had taped directly onto the microphone so that Glyn could get a mic level.
I like his repeated suggestion to play that amphitheatre in Libya, plus his bond with Ringo is sweet.
I think Maxwell's would have been tolerable with the best version from here. Not sure if there was a stereo version from here. Then replace that slot on Abbey Road with All Things Must Pass or one of John's post Beatles songs.
I've just watched Part 1 and really enjoyed it. Peter Jackson used two ways to peovide visuals for audiio-only bits: 1. Footage intended to look like the real thing, or at least from the same moment. 2. Unrelated footage or stills (for example, the I'm So Tired sequence) IMHO, the latter approach works better... By the way, what do you think about the Rock And Roll Music segment?
