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Yellow Submarine, 1968
In this animated musical film, Pepperland is overtaken by the music-hating Blue Meanies. As the land is drained of life and color, Fred (Lance Percival) is sent for help, and soon finds the Beatles. Fred, the Beatles, and an eccentric scientist named Jeremy Hillary Boob (Dick Emery) journey together in the yellow submarine on their way to save Pepperland.
Visually engaging and full of enjoyable songs and gentle humor, this is a total treat.
There’s a huge slew of movies that exist in a sort of pop-culture periphery. I know their titles. I maybe know the basic premise. I’ve seen a handful of iconic images. This film definitely fell into that category, and while I’d never been given a reason to avoid it, neither had anyone ever really nudged me toward it. But honestly, this might be a new favorite.
I have a small list of entertainment--a ragtag mix of movies, television, and even YouTube videos-- that just makes me feel better. I watched this movie on kind of a rough day, and had a lot of trouble focusing. I finished the film, then I watched it again. Then I watched it again. Then I watched it one more time before I had to return it to the library. This movie just has a brand of good vibes that I really respond to, and it feels like a great discovery to have made.
There’s an ease to this film that’s incredibly appealing. When movies go too casual in their approach, it can sometimes feel like everyone is just phoning it in. But there’s a level of visual engagement here, along with a steady dose of dad jokes, that gives the film a strong sense of personality despite its easy pace and relatively low stakes.
The integration of the music is also done in a way that is enjoyable because it doesn’t try too hard to make the transitions into the songs super seamless. Someone mentions the title of a song, they sing the song. This might sound like a backhanded compliment, but for the distractible state of mind that I was in, I loved that this was a movie that I could sort of fade in and out of without feeling like I had to rewind it to catch what I’d missed.
The only critique for me was that some of the visuals were at times a bit too much and too intense for me. The kaleidoscopic animation was lovely, but also challenging to look at for extended periods.
One of the first films in a long while that I’ve felt compelled to own.
Yellow Submarine, 1968
In this animated musical film, Pepperland is overtaken by the music-hating Blue Meanies. As the land is drained of life and color, Fred (Lance Percival) is sent for help, and soon finds the Beatles. Fred, the Beatles, and an eccentric scientist named Jeremy Hillary Boob (Dick Emery) journey together in the yellow submarine on their way to save Pepperland.
Visually engaging and full of enjoyable songs and gentle humor, this is a total treat.
There’s a huge slew of movies that exist in a sort of pop-culture periphery. I know their titles. I maybe know the basic premise. I’ve seen a handful of iconic images. This film definitely fell into that category, and while I’d never been given a reason to avoid it, neither had anyone ever really nudged me toward it. But honestly, this might be a new favorite.
I have a small list of entertainment--a ragtag mix of movies, television, and even YouTube videos-- that just makes me feel better. I watched this movie on kind of a rough day, and had a lot of trouble focusing. I finished the film, then I watched it again. Then I watched it again. Then I watched it one more time before I had to return it to the library. This movie just has a brand of good vibes that I really respond to, and it feels like a great discovery to have made.
There’s an ease to this film that’s incredibly appealing. When movies go too casual in their approach, it can sometimes feel like everyone is just phoning it in. But there’s a level of visual engagement here, along with a steady dose of dad jokes, that gives the film a strong sense of personality despite its easy pace and relatively low stakes.
The integration of the music is also done in a way that is enjoyable because it doesn’t try too hard to make the transitions into the songs super seamless. Someone mentions the title of a song, they sing the song. This might sound like a backhanded compliment, but for the distractible state of mind that I was in, I loved that this was a movie that I could sort of fade in and out of without feeling like I had to rewind it to catch what I’d missed.
The only critique for me was that some of the visuals were at times a bit too much and too intense for me. The kaleidoscopic animation was lovely, but also challenging to look at for extended periods.
One of the first films in a long while that I’ve felt compelled to own.