The Beatles Films Podcast

We're in agreement: this is the worst film we've covered. Yes, worse than Sextette. Ringo Starr's role in Frank Zappa's 1971 freakout film seems like it could've gone to anyone: is there a specific reason for using him as a Zappa avatar in this film? We also talk Zappa and free speech: do the arguably puerile lyrics undermine the virtuoso musicianship of Zappa and the Mothers of Invention? And did John Lennon and Yoko Ono rip off a Zappa song after they played together?

A WARNING: there is more effing and jeffing in this episode than usual, because of the necessity to quote some of the dialogue to discuss it.

Watch 200 Motels: https://m.ok.ru/video/1559126346278
The documentary The True Story of 200 Motels: https://youtu.be/hHupp3ZDKAk
Théâtre du Grand-Guignol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Guignol
Cirque de Clunes on Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge: https://youtu.be/hPQHHP7dfjU
Benson Boone: https://youtube.com/@bensonboone
The Darkness: https://youtube.com/@theactualdarkness
Jamrag/King Kong, as of 2025's Power to the People box set, now credits Zappa as a writer: https://youtu.be/4BDPdquOpnk
Ringo's quote about his waning commitment to filmmaking is from Alan Clayson's book Ringo Starr: https://share.google/mEjJ4ljorGZFTVQmi

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This film is of Mark Lewisohn's 2022 stage show bringing to life what the Beatles did in 1962, enhanced by on-location filming by director Chris Purcell. We talk about how it showcases a performance style and an enthusiasm that belies a reputation for dry historical detail. And quite a bit about Ringo Starr's drumming, as it turns out.

You can rent Evolver 62 on Prime Video and Apple TV at the moment: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/evolver-62
And buy it on blu-ray in some territories: https://www.wowhd.co.uk/evolver-62/824355814323
The Bill Hicks bit with the Ringo joke in it: https://youtu.be/-jIuP_Uk7Ak
The Red Dwarf episode with the Ringo joke is series 2, episode 6, "Parallel Universe": https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00b8qy6/red-dwarf-ii-6-parallel-universe. See also series 1, episode 2, "Future Echoes" in which we find out Lister's robot goldfish are called Lennon and McCartney.
The Ringo interview it turns out we were both thinking of was actually with Dave Stewart, not Elvis Costello: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9188EPdLI
Trailer for Bart Layton's The Imposter, which repopularised reconstructions in documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1kHod0xa_8
Actor Peter Boyle, at whose wedding John Lennon was best man: https://share.google/7TH4WLlIiuMSOvzW1
Ed's point towards the end about how the surfeit of biography online affects fandom is paraphrased from Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People? by Claire Dederer: https://share.google/pXQbXdAMaKS5qEJdf

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1972's Imagine was part-longform music video for John Lennon's Imagine and Yoko Ono's Fly albums, and part-bonkers conceptual art film. We try and get to the bottom of it: does it mean anything, and does a work of art's meaning have to be intentional in order to be, well, meaningful? Plus some key themes: mass isolation, intimacy in celebrity, male femininity through submission: sure, why not?

You can watch the 2018 remaster on Prime Video at the moment.
The trailer for the 2018 cinema release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThIhgBloqN0
The chess scene, set to Yoko's Don't Count the Waves: https://youtu.be/nVRhtWfJqXQ
The video for the song Imagine: https://youtu.be/YkgkThdzX-8
OK, so we weren't 100% correct about Situationism, but give us a break: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International
The chess scene in Bottom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f64qJorLrY
The Marina Abramović work similar to Yoko's Cut Piece is Rhythm 0, in which she stood for six hours and invited the audience to use 72 objects to do whatever they wanted to her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_0

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We love an iconic Beatle interview, and here's one: the first time two Beatles had been interviewed together on TV since the band split up. It's fascinating for a few reasons. We talk about Ringo's alcoholism (he went into rehab later that year), and how George gently prevents his drunk friend from going too far. Plus some discussion of the When We Was Fab video, which George was there to promote. Was Paul McCartney in the walrus costume? And did Michael Aspel found the Traveling Wilburys?

Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/-vrRfORrcYM
Thelma Barlow, the Coronation Street actor also interviewed in the episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Barlow
Terry Wogan interviewing English footballer Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne in 1990: "The dream could turn out to be a nightmare" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcGvSKRQ5KY
George's When We Was Fab video: https://youtu.be/AVu6nPTVbBQ
Oliver Reed drunk on Aspel and Company: https://youtu.be/EZMXIxIQmPw

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:
Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Lars Saabye Christensen's 1984 book, a huge success in Norway, it's another coming-of-age story! Why does teenage Beatles fandom dovetail so well with this genre? We look at the use of the music in the film, which secured the rights to use a few Beatles songs, as well as how successfully it marries up the four teenage boy characters with their respective Beatles.

You can rent the film cheaply on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlOJYlREuIE
The book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatles_(novel)
Watch The Bonfire of the Vanities: https://share.google/2KvlWLlYJaRyxTi1D
Mario Puzo's The Godfather novel: https://share.google/25bfmbahtQ6IksLbA
The Norwegian Wood film: https://share.google/olHb9tcPqN3cYKKtQ

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:
Instagram https://instagram.com/beatlesfilmspod
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/beatlesfilmspod.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BeatlesFilmsPodcast
Threads https://www.threads.net/@beatlesfilmspod
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/304654901827622

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.