SIFF Sighting: NOWHERE BOY (drama; United Kingdom)

The life of John Lennon has been explored many times in various films and books, but seldom has the focus been on his pre-Beatle years in Liverpool, when he was simply the difficult nephew of Mimi Smith. Nowhere Boy spotlights these formative years, zeroing in on the months when Lennon reconnected with his mother Julia, who lived nearby.

In Sam Taylor-Wood's feature debut, we witness the fragile relationships that existed within the family through Aaron Johnson's impressive portrayal of John, and a predictably solid performance from Kristin Scott Thomas as Aunt Mimi. What's disappointing is the one-dimensional take screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh offers of the family: John is troubled, Mimi is stern, Julia is flighty. While all of those characteristics may have been true, each person deserved to echo more complexity, and Paul McCartney deserved to be played by someone more believable than the youthful Thomas Sangster, who most will remember as the kid from Love Actually.

Nowhere Boy screened at the 36th annual Seattle International Film Festival.

Cinebanter #40 - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

The direct download of Cinebanter 40 is available here.

In this episode, Michael and Tassoula cringe at the directionless musical, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which was chosen by their listeners to review. In their Last Five®, they battle over the worth of Cronenberg's latest, and discuss some difficult-to-watch documentaries. The post-script has Tassoula resting her case about a recent debate and tells of what's coming next. The breakdown is as follows:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:32 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Discussion
• Break
• 26:24 To Sum It Up
• Break
• 27:12 The Last Five®
• Break
• 57:51 Post Script/Show Notes
• 1:00:00 Credits and Outtake

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Michael's Last Five in this episode were: MANHATTAN, DIE HARD 4.0, FREEDOM WRITERS, ALIVE DAY MEMORIES and EASTERN PROMISES. Tassoula's Last Five in this episode were: CHALK, MY FLESH AND BLOOD, EASTERN PROMISES, THE APARTMENT and FEAST OF LOVE.

Special thanks to Brad Daane and Mark Cummins for providing the original music in this episode.

Reviews and/or notes of every movie Michael sees can be found at his MichaelVox website.

Tassoula has reviews, musings and movie-related product links at Tassoula's Movie Review Blog.

Feedback is always welcome - you may leave comments here or e-mail the hosts at cinebanter@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy the show!