Across the Universe

In our home there is a great dividing line. Ross believes that you can only be a Rolling Stones fan ("I can't help it that they take up, like, 20% of my ipod library") or a Beatles fan - you cannot be both. I wholeheartedly agree and I choose the latter, not the former. There is one Stones song that I like - Moonlight Mile - that's it. As a group of men well into their geriatric years, I can't say that they do anything for me except gross me out. Keith Richards looks like the walking dead and come on, the guy tried to snort his own father's ashes. Where's the glory in that?

Anyway, I'm a Beatles fan. Yes, I thought Paul was the cutest but I have to say that my favorite Beatles songs are some of the song's George wrote. Ross says that the Beatles are more popular than the Stones, at least in memory, because they aren't a band anymore and because two of them are dead - and the Stone Age is still touring. I disagree again. I think that the Beatles will forever be more popular because their music is more timely, they were a better band, and unlike Mickey and the boys still feeding their drug habits, women habits, and tight jean habits, the Beatles knew when to quit- even if it wasn't a pretty end.

With all that being said, Ross, Elliott and I watched Across the Universe this week. I really liked it. So much in fact that I went out and bought the soundtrack and I can't tell you the last time I did that. It's awesome. It's amazing for me to see such a creative and heart-felt interpretation of songs I've grown up singing along to. The story was a bit predictable but good, the songs fit in beautifully and above all, I found the interpretation of Beatles music for this film fascinating. It's brought whole new meaning to songs I've never paid that much attention to and, at the same time turned on my conspiratorial brain a bit.

Most of us know that the Beatles put hidden meanings, which most of the public at the time thought were about drugs, into a lot of their songs. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about LSD, Hey Jude about Heroin, the cover of Abby Road about the death of Paul McCartney. Now, I was totally into the Paul McCartney death story when I was a kid and remember listening to it on some tapes my dad had. It blew my mind....but I digress. After watching the movie (If only I'd watched it with my sister then we could really dissect it) it was almost like those songs were meant to have the meanings that the movie portrayed. "I want you" was maybe really about (or secretly about) an overpowering government/military establishment trying to stick it to the common man, and "Hey Jude" was maybe really a letter to a dear friend about not giving up and fighting for the girl, and "All my lovin'" was maybe really about - well, all my lovin'. Okay, not too much interpretation there.

Anywhoo - I really liked the movie and thought it was cool. Very Moulin Rouge in it's film effects, but very good none-the-less. It's kind of cool to see a band, who's songs really could be a soundtrack for a lot of our lives, brought to life in a movie.

And, the kid who plays Jude is very cute. Where'd they find him?