4 STARS! "An audacious marriage of cutting-edge
visual techniques, heart-warming performances,
1960s history and the Beatles songbook"
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
visual techniques, heart-warming performances,
1960s history and the Beatles songbook"
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Best Film of 2007!
- Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Golden Globe Award Nominee
Best Motion Picture -
Musical or Comedy
Shady Del Knight raves, "Gets under your skin
and into your heart. If you only see one
movie this year, make it this one -
Across the Universe!"
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
(COLD OPEN)
"It Won't Be Long" - Beatles cover by Evan Rachel Wood
(scene from Oct. 2007 film Across The Universe)
You say "goodbye" and I say "hello, hello, hello!"
I'm Lucy (in the sky) Carrigan welcoming you to
a preview of my new series starting next year at
Shady's Place. It's called Across the Universe...
a salute to the songs of the The Beatles and the
groundbreaking jukebox musical fantasy movie
of the same name directed by Julie Taymor.
Across the Universe is a love story about a
romance between an upper-class American
girl played by Evan Rachel Wood, and a
poor shipyard worker from Liverpool
played by Jim Sturgess.
"They lived without rules.
They loved without fear.
But as the world changed
...so did they."
START VIDEO NOW!
At times, Across the Universe will make
you smile. At other times you will be
moved to tears by the sheer beauty
of the Beatles' songs, the mind-
boggling special effects and,
for you boomers, your own
reflections on the turbulent
boggling special effects and,
for you boomers, your own
reflections on the turbulent
period that is the film's
setting - the Sixties.
setting - the Sixties.
"Because" - Beatles cover by Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess,
Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, T.V. Carpio and Martin Luther
(scene from Oct. 2007 film Across The Universe)
CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!
THE VIDEO NOW!
The movie's title, Across the Universe,
was inspired by the song written by
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
and released in the spring of
was inspired by the song written by
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
and released in the spring of
1970 on the Beatles 12th and
final studio album Let It Be.
"Across The Universe" - The Beatles
(from May 1970 album Let It Be)
The soundtrack of Across the Universe
contains 34 Beatles compositions in all.
Jim Sturgess, an English singer and
songwriter who bears a resemblance
to both Lennon and McCartney, was
a newcomer to acting when he was
cast as the leading man in the movie.
In this scene, Jim sings "I've Just
Seen A Face," a song from the
U.S. version of the Beatles'
Rubber Soul album.
Jim Sturgess, an English singer and
songwriter who bears a resemblance
to both Lennon and McCartney, was
a newcomer to acting when he was
cast as the leading man in the movie.
In this scene, Jim sings "I've Just
Seen A Face," a song from the
U.S. version of the Beatles'
Rubber Soul album.
"I've Just Seen A Face" - Beatles cover by Jim Sturgess
(scene from Oct. 2007 film Across The Universe)
In my series, I will bring you the original
recordings of The Beatles plus great covers
by up-and-coming artists found on YouTube.
One of the most beautiful Beatles songs
from Across the Universe is "If I Fell,"
and here with a wonderful cover is a
talented young woman who first
entertained you on Shady's blog
Shady Dell Music & Memories.
recordings of The Beatles plus great covers
by up-and-coming artists found on YouTube.
One of the most beautiful Beatles songs
from Across the Universe is "If I Fell,"
and here with a wonderful cover is a
talented young woman who first
entertained you on Shady's blog
Shady Dell Music & Memories.
Watch and listen as English singer
and guitarist Amy Slattery along
with her singing musician dad,
do their version of "If I Fell."
and guitarist Amy Slattery along
with her singing musician dad,
do their version of "If I Fell."
"If I Fell" - Beatles acoustic cover by
Amy Slattery and her dad (Oct. 2018)
Amy Slattery and her dad (Oct. 2018)
Bluesy, gritty-voiced British rocker Joe Cocker
hit the top of the UK chart in 1968 with a cover
of The Beatles song "With a Little Help From
My Friends." Cocker's cover became famous
in the U.S. as the opening theme song of the
hit TV series The Wonder Years. Joe passed
away in 2014, but is immortalized on film
in this scene from Across the Universe.
Behold the excitement of this flashy
production number as Joe Cocker
and San Francisco based rock
musician Martin Luther cover
John Lennon's "Come Together."
"Come Together" - Beatles cover by Joe Cocker and Martin Luther
(scene from Oct. 2007 film Across The Universe)
I hope you liked this sneak preview of
my new series. If you haven't already
seen it, I urge you to catch our movie
Across the Universe, first released in
theaters in 2007 and now available
on Ultra HD Blu-ray. Join me in
2022 when, with a little help from
my friends, I'll take you back to the
60s and Across the Universe with
my new series. If you haven't already
seen it, I urge you to catch our movie
Across the Universe, first released in
theaters in 2007 and now available
on Ultra HD Blu-ray. Join me in
2022 when, with a little help from
my friends, I'll take you back to the
60s and Across the Universe with
the fabulous songs of The Beatles.
CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!
THE VIDEO NOW!
To play us off, MonaLisa Twins, an actual
set of twins from Austria, Mona and Lisa
Wagner. In this video, the siblings cover
The Beatles in style singing "When I'm
Sixty-Four." Now this is Lucy Carrigan
saying so long and see you next year!
"When I'm Sixty-Four" - Beatles cover
by MonaLisa Twins (Jan. 2014)
Hey there friend Shady! How timely this is. Hubby and I are watching the "Get Back" series on Apple+. We've seen the first two episodes and it has been really interesting to see the behind the scenes making of the last Beatle album. I must say I have never seen "Across the Universe" but thanks to your previews here, I think I have to. I will be looking forward to your presentation next year. In case we don't connect again before then, I hope you and Mrs. Shady and your families have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Hi, Janet!
DeleteI am delighted to see you, dear friend! You're the day one Early Bird, and I appreciate your visit and wonderful comment. I'm very late replying because I just got back home after 9 hours on the road in another city. We needed to help a family member get a medical procedure done and it turned into a long day. The traffic was horrible.
I am thrilled that this sneak preview of Across the Universe coincides with you and your hubby watching The Beatles: Get Back series that's being heavily promoted. I'd love to see that. I know that you guys enjoy going to concerts staged by that Beatles tribute band. That being the case, I highly recommend that you and your hubby watch Across the Universe, I guarantee it will be one of the most awesome, mind blowing movies you've ever experienced. Mrs. Shady and I have already watched it three times and will probably watch it once a year from now on as a tradition. In addition to Across the Universe, she and I also loved and highly recommend Yesterday, another movie featuring wall-to-wall Beatles songs. We were able to watch both of these epic movies free on our streaming services over the last few years. I just looked them up and discovered that Across the Universe is available for rent on Amazon Prime Video. Yesterday, which co-stars Lily James (Lady Rose MacClare on Downton Abbey), can also be rented on Prime Video or watched on FXNOW.
I am very glad you are looking forward to Lucy Carrigan's new radio show making its debut next year. You will see and hear the best of The Beatles, plus performances by great Beatles cover artists like Amy Slattery and MonaLisa Twins.
Janet, what a great friend you are! Thank you again for the early visit, the excellent comment and the lovely holiday wishes. I wish you, your hubby, your children and my buddy Benny a happy Christmas and all the best in the coming year!
We did see "Yesterday" and it was terrific. Thanks for the info on where to watch ATU. Hope your family member is doing well. That's a long trip.
DeleteThanks, Janet!
DeleteI'm happy to know you have already seen Yesterday and agree it is a terrific film. Across the Universe is utterly magical. Scroll down and read my other replies below and see how I described it to others. You'll see for yourself what I mean if you and your hubby rent and watch it.
Thanks for your concern about our family member. It's Mrs. Shady's son who had an eye surgery and needs another procedure done at some point in the near future. An eye center in a city an hour away is the closest one that takes his insurance. It was my turn today. I just returned from an eye exam with dilation and can hardly see the screen to type this message to you. That exam used up another three hours of my time. It's always something. :)
Thanks again for your friendship and support throughout 2021, dear Janet. I hope 2022 is a "kinder and gentler" year for us all.
Hi Shady! I missed your previous post but I'm so glad I didn't miss this one! I love the Beatles as you know. I've been watching Get Back on Disney and it's so cool to see them behind the scenes but also to see them young again. I think this movie looks so good. I can't believe I never heard of it but you can be sure I'll be watching it soon. All the covers were really good and the one with the twins was great as it reminded me of when I actually turned 64 and I think I titled a blog post about it! When it came out I never thought about being 64 as being young you think you'll never get that old! Ha! Anyway, I loved this post and have to say a bit thank you for making me smile tonight! Have a good week Shady!
ReplyDeleteHi, Yaya!
DeleteWelcome back, dear friend! I'm happy to have you here for this sneak peek at Across the Universe, an exciting new Beatles-themed radio show starting next year at Shady's Place. I remember the excitement when a local radio station down here in Tampa Bay adopted an "all Beatles all the time" format back in the 80s. Listeners loved it. With so many excellent original Beatles recordings and vintage performance clips being remastered and uploaded to YouTube in recent years, plus all the great Beatles covers being performed by artists all over the world, this was a SPMM series that simply had to happen, especially since I can proudly tie it in with one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, possibly my all time favorite film - Across the Universe. I urge you and Jack to watch it. You'll be mesmerized. Evan Rachel Wood is a gifted actress and a wonderful singer. She and her supporting cast of fresh young musically inclined actors will dazzle you as they perform more than 30 different musical vignettes covering Beatles classics, all of the enchanting scenes tied together by a compelling story line ripped from the pages of history.
I'm delighted that you favored the talented Austrian sister act MonaLisa Twins. They'll be back in this series along with Amy Slattery and her dad Gerry, so stay tuned.
It makes me very happy to know that I made you smile tonight. I'm so glad you liked what Lucy (in the sky) Carrigan had to offer. Thanks again for dropping in and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend YaYa!
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the first edition of Lucy's new series on SPMM. Evan has a nice singing voice. I know the actress most recently from the HBOMax series "West World". The film, "Across the Universe" I hadn't heard of before now but it looks like it's a fun one and if nothing else certainly has some wonderful music. The Beatles have so many hit classics that no doubt will long stand for generations to come. The father/daughter duet was lovely. Have you used the MonaLisa Twins before? They seem familiar and definitely are a joy to hear again. What talented young ladies! I need to scoot over to YouTube to sample more of their cuts. Thanks for putting a smile in my heart and on my face with these tunes, my friend. Have a terrific Thursday.
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteThanks for swinging over to take third place in the race, dear friend!
That's right, I remember that you recently discussed on your site the series West World starring Evan Rachel Wood. I first watched the fine actress in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the main cast role of Jessie Sammler, the daughter on the TV family drama Once and Again. In 2007, the year Miss Wood's film Across the Universe was released, I found myself scratching my head in bewilderment when it was reported that she had gotten romantically involved with dark and dangerous goth rocker Marilyn Manson, a relationship that lasted more than three years.
Yessum, Across the Universe is an outstanding movie, unlike anything I have ever experienced before or since. I can't think of any other movie that compares. The talented cast members perform covers of Beatles songs throughout the film in colorful, artistic, surreal visual sequences that will blow your mind. I hope you get a chance to see Across the Universe along with the other Beatles movie I've been plugging - Yesterday (2019) - which features English actress Lily James (Lady Rose on Downton Abbey).
Yessum, Family Guy's mixed-up teenager Chris Griffin introduced English singer/musician Amy Slattery a few years ago on my old blog. I've posted Amy's songs a couple of times since then, including duets with her dad Gerry. Amy will be back in future volumes of Lucy Carrigan's series, and so will the MonaLisa Twins and other talented Beatles cover artists around the world. Yessum, a few months ago, I posted the collaboration of MonaLisa Twins and John Sebastian singing his Lovin' Spoonful hit of the 60s - "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind."
Putting a smile in your heart and on your face and in the hearts and faces of other friends by sharing the gifts of good mewsic, good humor and goodwill - this is the reason why I get out of bed in the morning. Thank you again for your kind visit and wonderful comment, dear friend Cathy. Have a great day and I'll see you tamale at CAAC!
Evan Rachel Wood is a good singer. I like her rendition of the song. I haven't seen the movie though.
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't heard any of these covers but that's probably because I didn't watch the movie.
Hi, Mary!
DeleteWelcome to the sneak preview of Lucy Carrigan's Across the Universe, dear friend!
I'm pleased that you recognize Evan Rachel Wood as an accomplished singer, a credential to complement her impressive actress filmography. To think that the young woman who portrayed the sweet, wholesome Lucy (in the sky) Carrigan in Across the Universe was, that very same year, shacking up with Marilyn Manson, seems surreal. Yessum, you need to see the movie to appreciate all 30 + Beatles covers bursting with color in HD and massaging your ears and brain in HQ stereo surround sound. It's an awesome experience.
Thanks for dropping by for a visit, dear friend Mary. I hope you, your daughter and my buddy Falcor are having a peaceful week out there in Vegas. See you soon!
I'm afraid I never heard of this movie, but the clips you provide makes me want to see it. You gave us no plot, but I assume this takes place through the whole of the 1960s since some of these scenes looks very Happy Days/American Graffiti/The Lords of Flatbush and others look like something out of Hair. Which reminds me. Are you familiar with a late 1970s movie titled I Wanna Hold Your Hand? Directed by Robert Zemeckis, his first film as a matter of fact, and co-written by Bob Gale--the two later collaborated on the Back to the Future movies--it tells the story of some New Jersey kids who travel to New York to watch the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. The movie starts out as an American Graffiti clone, but then goes on its own wacky course.
ReplyDeleteAs for the scenes from Acroos the Universe that you show here, I have to say the Joe Cocker clip is musically and visually my favorite, though when it comes to Beatles covers, I still prefer "With a Little Help from My Friends", and I liked that song BEFORE there ever was a TV show called The Wonder Years.
I also quite liked Amy Slattery and her father's version of "If I Fell", maybe more than the original, possibly because I can't quite RECALL the original. If you're gonna cover a Beatles song, it doesn't hurt to cover the lesser-known tracks. As for the Mona Lisa Twins, what with those smiles? --No, no, that was just a joke, but those two young women got a long way to go before they hit 64, and when they do, I doubt I'll be around to see it.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteThanks for joining the fun, good buddy! I'm happy to have you here as Lucy (in the sky) Carrigan offers us a sneak peek at her new radio show Across the Universe - coming soon to Shady's Place and SPMM Retro Radio.
Yes, please find and watch Across the Universe, Kirk. I totally agree with Shady Del Knight's quote at the top of the post: "Gets under your skin and into your heart." I had the exact same experience. Every character in the movie has a name that references a Beatles song, beginning with "your hostess with the mostest" - Lucy Carrigan - played by the enchanting, endearing and very talented actress and singer Evan Rachel Wood (who nearly became Mrs. Marilyn Manson!) Lucy is named after the song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." Her boyfriend from Liverpool is named Jude referencing "Hey Jude." Lucy's brother is named Max referencing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." There's a Sadie in the film who not only references the song "Sexy Sadie" but is also meant to represent Janis Joplin. She is paired with JoJo (from the song "Get Back") and JoJo is meant to represent Jimi Hendrix. You see Sadie, the Janis character, and JoJo, the Jimi Hendrix character, in the clip you liked, the music video with Joe Cocker and chorus singing "Come Together." There's also a friend named Prudence named after the song "Dear Prudence" and several others named after characters in Beatles songs.
Everything I've read states that Across the Universe is set in 1960s England and America. World and national events referenced as the film progresses suggest to me that it is more precisely the span from the Wonder Years period - the mid to late 60s - rather than the earlier Happy Days years.
Yes, I am aware of the film I Wanna Hold Your Hand, but I never saw it. Thanks for reminding me. Across the Universe is unlike anything you will ever behold, Kirk. Trust me. I have watched it three times now and each time I was moved to tears by its greatness.
I'm thrilled that you give thumbs up to English singer and musician Amy Slattery and her dad Gerry. They are turning out many fine covers of Beatles, Everly Brothers and other artists, and I will be bringing you their best collaborations along with great solo performances by Amy. Same with MonaLisa Twins. They've recorded some excellent Beatles covers that will show up in this series.
Next...
That's Across the Universe. Just one "o".
ReplyDelete"Acroos the Universe" is the name of the little known sequel. It flopped. :)
DeleteThanks again for coming by to learn about this awesome film, Across the Universe. Lucy will be back in 2022 with the official launch of her ATU radio series, so stay tuned.
Enjoy your weekend, good buddy Kirk!
I've not seen the film Across the Universe (or its sequel, Acroos the Universe), but we did watch Yesterday when it came out. I remember enjoying it. You may remember I'm not much of a fan of covers, especially from what I think of as "regular" folks (as opposed to a known performer covering another performer's song).
ReplyDeletePlease don't take it personally if I miss seeing or commenting on an entry! It's never an intentional slight. Believe it or not, sometimes I just don't know what to say. ;)
Hi, Kelly!
DeleteThanks for keeping your word and checking out my Beatles-themed post, dear friend!
I'm happy to know you have seen the Beatles movie Yesterday. Mrs. Shady and I are still both raving about it. We also highly recommend Across the Universe. It is in a class by itself, a truly magical movie experience. The production is lavish, the sets surreal and the cover performances nicely executed by the talented young cast members.
I see you visited my current post as well. I'll see you over there, dear friend Kelly, and thanks again for stopping by!
I own this movie which is really quite good, even Bono! Evan is excellent in her role and the singing of these Beatles classics are superb. That guy does look like the love child of McCartney and Lennon. I love the dad and daughter duo who sang this so well since the key that this song is in is unique. Ok, I missed this one but I think I am back on track now. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteThanks for doing double duty, dear friend! I'm glad you didn't miss this sneak preview of Lucy's series Across the Universe. I'm thrilled to know that you own this movie. It has to be one of my favorites of all time, and is actually in a league of its own, indescribable. I agree that E.R. Wood is a delightful surprise, and all the cast members give heartwarming and, at times, heartrending performances of Beatles classics. The cinematography is stunning.
UK singer and musician Amy Slattery follows my blog, and she will be very happy to know that you enjoyed this duet she performed with her father Gerry.
Yessum, thank you very much for catching up on my posts, dear friend BB. It means a lot, knowing how much you've been through in recent weeks and how many holiday preparations were delayed because of your hardships. May you and yours have a blessed Christmas. I hope to see you back here next week for my annual yearender special "New Year's Rockin' Eve in the Shady!"