Peter Jackson
Disney Tried to Remove Swearing from The Beatles’ Get Back Documentary
Only The Beatles could get the owners of Mickey Mouse to bend the rules. Get Back, Peter Jackson‘s new eight-hour documentary on the recording of Let It Be, has been lauded as a fresh, insightful look at the world’s most famous band, but it almost didn’t include one of the miniseries’ most iconic touches: Disney+ tried to remove all instances of the group swearing from the film, until the band themselves pushed back. “Disney wanted to remove all the swearing and Ringo [Starr], Paul [McCartney], and Olivia [Harrison] said: ‘That’s how we spoke. That’s how we talked. That’s how we want the world to see us,’” Jackson told NME. While it certainly shows the Fab Four’s good moments, the docuseries — culled from over 55 hours of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s footage of the 1969 Let It Be sessions — also...
Yoko Ono Shares Article Claiming Peter Jackson’s Get Back Proves She Didn’t Break Up The Beatles
Yoko Ono has shared an Uproxx article that suggests Peter Jackson’s titanic new documentary Get Back proves she didn’t break up The Beatles. Ever since the Fab Four disbanded in 1970, some fans have laid the blame on John Lennon’s wife Ono. This theory never held up under scrutiny, and it’s been further disproved with the release of Get Back, which shows Paul McCartney micromanaging, George Harrison growing frustrated, and Lennon mentally checking out, all while Ringo Starr smiles gamely in an attempt to keep the recording process for Let It Be from totally falling apart. Uproxx collected viewer reactions on Twitter, with many fans noting that Ono’s in-studio presence was incredibly mild. During the eight-hour documentar...
Get Back: 5 Surprising Reveals From Peter Jackson’s In-Depth Beatles Docuseries
Even when it comes to a band as frequently discussed and examined as the Beatles, there are still surprises to be found in their rich history. That’s just one of the reasons why The Beatles: Get Back, the three-part documentary series now streaming on Disney+, is such engrossing viewing. Working with over 55 hours of footage originally shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, director Peter Jackson has created an intimate look at John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, captured both in the act of creation as well as conflict. With a runtime of 468 minutes, it’s an understatement to say that Get Back reveals a lot about what happened in the course of making the album Let It Be. But below are a few of the more unexpected revelations to come from Jackson’s approach to the source m...
The Beatles: Get Back Is a Comprehensive Time Capsule of the Fab Four’s Last Hurrah: Review
The Pitch: In January of 1969, the Beatles, wearing by internal tensions and alienated through years of not touring together, attempted to do the impossible: get back together to craft not only a new album but to record it live in concert, without any overdubs or studio tricks. Not only that, they wanted to film a TV special to coincide with the album’s release, which necessitated the hiring of director Michael Lindsay-Hogg and the building of Twickenham Film Studios into an erstwhile rehearsal space. On top of all that, they had just four weeks to pull this all off. The results were bittersweet: The album was released to muted fanfare (though it’s since been reappraised), and the ambitious TV special was whittled down to a now-iconic live concert atop the roof of Apple headquarters. ...
Dominic Monaghan Says Peter Jackson Was Pressured to Kill a Hobbit in The Lord of the Rings
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd have launched a new podcast and they’re spilling all sorts of secrets from the set of The Lord of the Rings. According to the actors, the movie trilogy could have been down one hobbit by its end. In a new interview with IGN promoting their latest Hobbit-inspired project, The Friendship Onion, they revealed that director Peter Jackson was once pressured by studio execs to kill off one of the hobbits at the end of The Return of the King despite the fact that Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin all survive in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original source material. However, Jackson refused, keeping the foursome alive to the end of their journey. “It’s a good job that didn’t happen, because it would have been me,” Monaghan said with a laugh. “It definitely would have. There’s no wa...
Peter Jackson Releases Initial Footage From Upcoming The Beatles: Get Back Documentary
The Lord Of The Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has revealed footage of his much-anticipated documentary The Beatles: Get Back, which is slated for an Aug. 27, 2021 release. Jackson says he’s “halfway through editing” in New Zealand, going through “56 hours of never-before-seen Beatles footage.” He emphasizes that this is “not a trailer, it’s not a secret, it’s like a montage of moments that we’ve pulled to give you a sense of the spirit.” And that spirit, from the 1969 Let It Be sessions, is jolly and loose. Scenes show several false starts in the studio while recording “Get Back,” with Yoko Ono sitting in front of John Lennon. All the members, Paul McCartney — in his full beard era — George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are shown goofing around. Linda McCartney is also in control room sce...
Peter Jackson Reveals Sneak Peek of Beatles Doc ‘Get Back’: Watch
Peter Jackson has released a sneak peek of his upcoming documentary The Beatles: Get Back, teasing some of the 56 hours of unseen footage the director has had access to of the Fab Four. Posted early on Monday on Paul McCartney’s official Twitter account, the 5-minutes of footage begins with an intro by the Oscar-winning Kiwi director. Jackon begins by admitting the pandemic has postponed the post-production and release plans for the film. “Now this film was due to be finished around about now, but like the rest of the world, it’s been affected by the covid pandemic. The only good thing really, is that we are editing the movie in New Zealand, now that our country has largely stamped out the virus we are able to come back into the cutting room and carry on with the editing ...
Peter Jackson Remastered The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in 4K
Peter Jackson has remastered both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy in 4K. According to the director, all six movies were lacking visual consistency, so he revisited both the theatrical and extended versions to give them the 4K Ultra HD visuals and surround-sound Dolby audio they deserve in 2020. Do these movies really need some touching up barely two decades later? It’s hard to believe so considering they repeatedly swept the Academy Awards for cinematography, visual effects, makeup, and more. And yet, considering his Lord of the Rings adaptations have maintained their lore over the years and technology makes visual adjustments like these rather easy, Jackson’s decision to do so also makes complete sense. In a behind-the-feature included on the box sets, Jackson re...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
Lord of the Rings Cast to Reunite for YouTube Livestream
Everybody is keeping in touch with old friends these days. As it turns out, so are some fellas from Middle Earth. This Sunday, the cast of The Lord of the Rings will reunite for a special livestream — because apparently Gollum’s nonstop reading of The Hobbit was only the beginning. The epic reunion is the latest installment in Josh Gad’s ongoing series “Reunited Apart”, which has already brought together the cast of The Goonies and Back to the Future during this period of self-isolation. In a teaser clip, Gad geeks out to Astin in an attempt to bring The Lord of the Rings family back together. “I was wondering what you might think about tracking down a certain group of buddies, comrades, pals,” says Gad. “Oh, what’s another word for it? Fellowship?” Astin protests, but event...
