Tonight I drove to North Hollywood, to the Laemmle Theater on Lankershim, to see the restored version of "Yellow Submarine", with a 4K digital picture and 5.1 Surround Sound. Grimsley came with me, and it was his idea to go. I was initially reluctant because NoHo is a long drive (the theater is near the subway station that I use when I go to concerts downtown), and because I figured that - since the screening was a "one night only" deal - it would be sold out before we got there. But Grim called the box office and they said there were lots of seats left, so I relented. Yesterday was Grim's birthday, so seeing The Beatles, even in cartoon form, seemed a good way to celebrate. Showtime was 7:30. We got to the theater with ten minutes to spare.
"Even in cartoon form"......that's a lousy qualifier on my part because this is one of the greatest animated films you could ever see. It's not "just a cartoon".
I first saw "Yellow Submarine" the week of it's release in 1968, which as I just Googled was in November. I had started 4th grade in September of that year, at Prairie Street School, and by some stroke of administrative luck, our class (and maybe the whole school, I don't remember) was taken, en masse by bus, to see a matinee showing of the movie at the Fox Northridge theater. The Fox was a single screen movie house, the only kind of theater there was in the 1960s other than drive-ins, and the building it was housed in is just a ten minute walk from my apartment. The former theater is now a shoe store, but at any rate........
Being a big Beatles fan, I was excited to see "Yellow Submarine" with my classmates. I remember there was a line around the block to get in. But the other thing I remembered, all these years later, was that I didn't understand a lot of what was going on because of the English slang in the dialogue, and because, I think in hindsight, the visuals were a bit overwhelming to an eight year old. And, I had loved the live-action, real live Beatles in their classic movies "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help"!.
"Yellow Submarine" had only animated Beatles, and the animation was so psychedelic that I remember coming away from the movie feeling a bit overwhelmed. Years later, my main memory was of "The Blue Meanies", the evil music-hating characters who want to destroy Pepperland.
It is interesting to note that tonight's screening was my second 50 Year Anniversary "return view" of the year, and really the only two 50 Year Anniversaries I have ever done. The first was for "2001 : A Space Odyssey" in June at the Cinerama Dome. That movie also came out in 1968 (in April). Like "Yellow Submarine", I had seen it only once - in the theater in 1968 - and then never saw it again until this year, fifty years later.
That's an amazing amount of time in a human life, a half century, and with both of these films I was blown away by my first viewing of them as an eight year old.
And so my reaction, over time, was to discard them, and I think this was because - in both cases - I was in awe of the visuals and had difficulty grasping the story. Perhaps less so with "2001", but I think you will understand what I am trying to say. With "2001" there was almost no dialogue, and with "Yellow Submarine" the dialogue was largely slang spoken in often heavy dialect.
Lost to an eight year old was the traditional storytelling aspect, and so both movies faded in importance in my memory.
Their impact never faded though. I never forgot the effect "2001" had on me, nor that of "Yellow Submarine" when I saw it with my classmates. And so both times this year, when I saw each film for the second time, fifty years later, I was able to fully experience them as an adult, and I was truly amazed at the creative achievement in both cases.
I have already reviewed my "2001" experience back in June. For "Yellow Submarine", I will say that if you love The Beatles, and remember what the world was like in 1968 (or even if you don't remember, but just want to know), you will recall that they were the biggest cultural force on the planet, at a time when we were getting ready to go to the Moon.
Those were the two biggest things in the world in 1968 : The Beatles and The Moon.
No joke. That's the way it was. There was a ton of other crazy stuff going on because 1968 was a year of tremendous upheaval, but even in the midst of all the advancement and turmoil, The Beatles stood out.
They were the biggest music group that ever was, or ever will be. Just like The Moon is The Moon, and always will be.
So that is reason enough to go see "Yellow Submarine" if the restored version comes your way. It really is an incredible visual experience, filled with songs you know and love, reproduced in a way that you haven't heard them before, in 5.1 Surround.
If you were 8 in 1968, it will take you back there and you will understand it better.
If you were not yet born, it will give you a feel for the futuristic creativity that was developing at the time, and resulted in movies that still seem to be from the future, like "2001" and "Yellow Submarine".
See it if it comes your way. ////
Elizabeth, if you are reading I saw your pics by the river and I hope you had a great day there. I Googled the Wisconsin River because I wanted to see it's path. It looked like it runs almost straight down the state, and fairly close to Madison, till it joins the Mississippi.
I don't know if you saw the Alcest posting on FB, but if you did, I can guess what you will be doing on Halloween Night! I got my ticket for the L.A. show a few days later. We are lucky that we get to see them, because they are only gonna play a few big cities...
Well, continue enjoying your Summer. Glad you are using FB Stories to post pics. :)
We just had one of the hottest July's I can ever remember here.
Bring it on, August! :) (and don't forget the "July Apostrophe Thing").
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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