John Lennon Movies

Love him or hate him, Phil Spector owned a legacy claimed by few if any rock music producers, and directly influenced the course of rock orchestrations and arrangements to a considerable degree. Spector's trademark "wall of sound" -- a technique developed with audio engineers including Larry Levine and others -- emerged in the early '60s; it involved layering various sounds in the recording studio (and doing the actual recording in an echo chamber) to heighten the density and reverberation of the resultant tracks. The effect not only shaped the sound of major acts including the Beatles, the Supremes, the Beach Boys and the Righteous Brothers, but set a unique precedent for many successive performers who later sought to create works of art within a studio setting. In the process, Spector grew incredibly wealthy and well-connected, but also remained notoriously reclusive and eccentric, engendering a tremendous amount of media speculation about his private life. In 2003, a scandal emerged when Lana Clarkson, a 41-year-old character actress-cum-fashion model, turned up dead at Spector's home -- resulting in one of the most publicized criminal cases of the early 21st century.

As directed for the BBC by Vikram Jayanti, the unique biographical documentary The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector probes both the professional triumphs and the criminal fallout of Spector's life. Jayanti uses as the body of the film a number of candid interviews with Spector, shot between his first and second murder trials, wherein he reflects on his collaborations with giants including Brian Wilson and John Lennon; later in the film, the director layers Spector tunes over silent footage of the trial (including grisly crime-scene images) to deliberately jarring effect. This film was originally produced for the BBC and aired in 2008, but updated with additional material in 2009 after the California court system handed out Spector's prison sentence. He received a guilty verdict and got 19 years to life behind bars. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Set against the anti-war protests, rock & roll revolution, and mind-expanding psychedelia of the 1960s, Julie Taymor's hallucinogenic musical follows the arduous journey of star-crossed lovers Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) as they and a small group of musicians are swept up in the raging waters of the volatile counterculture movement. Guided through their journey by a pair known only as Dr. Robert (Bono) and Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard), Jude and Lucy are eventually forced to find their way back to one another after being split apart by powerful forces beyond their control. The music in the film consists exclusively of songs made popular by the Beatles during the time period depicted in the movie. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmakers David Leaf and John Scheinfeld offer a compelling look at the efforts of the United States government to silence one of rock & roll's most outspoken war critics in this documentary detailing the Vietnam-era struggle between the Richard Nixon administration and iconic peace activist John Lennon. The Vietnam War was raging and the nightly news was filled with stories of failed offensives and massacred U.S. troops. As anti-war protests back home gained momentum, it was the hopeful voice of former Beatle Lennon that served to perfectly encapsulate the frustrations felt by many citizens that the U.S. had gotten caught up in an quagmire from which there was seemingly no end in sight. There's a high price to be paid for standing strong in your beliefs and openly criticizing the ruling elite, though, and now, through interviews with those who knew him best and revealing glimpses into an era where all hope seemed lost, filmmakers finally uncover the truth behind the Nixon administration's highly classified efforts to isolate and eventually deport the man whose powerful words threatened to actually make sense in a world slowly suffocated by the grip of insanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

First-time director Samuel Benmchetrit's 2003 debut Janis et John (Janis and John) follows the comedic exploits of a down-on-his luck insurance salesman as he attempts to make up for some very poor financial decisions. Pablo Sterni (Sergi Lopez), the aforementioned insurance salesman, has, until recently, been an honest business man. As of late, though, Pablo had been siphoning money from one of his more successful client's accounts -- one that covers a very expensive sports car. When that client, Mr. Cannon (Jean-Louis Trintignant), turns in a loss claim for that car for a half-million francs, Pablo finds himself in a tight spot. Inspiration strikes when Pablo learns that his hippy-dippy cousin Leon (Christopher Lambert, billed as Christophe Lambert) has just inherited a million francs from his recently deceased father. Leon, a perpetually stoned record store owner, lives solely for the day his 1973 vision of John Lennon and Janis Joplin's Christ-like return to Earth is fulfilled. After visiting with his cousin, Pablo decides to assist Leon in reliving his dream -- as well as parting him with much of his inheritance -- by convincing his wallflower wife, Brigitte (Marie Trintignant, murdered mere weeks before the film's debut, thus marking her final film appearance) and an out-of-work actor (François Cluzet) to impersonate Janis and John. Janis et John was selected for inclusion in the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

John Lennon: The Messenger is a multi-media event that attempts to give the viewer insight into the life of the rock legend John Lennon. The DVD is a straightforward biography of the man that focuses on the later portion of Lennon's life. Included in the DVD is a CD consisting of interviews with Lennon. Finally, a 32-page booklet with pictures and timelines round out this package. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A combination of studio and live performances, The John Lennon Video Collection features 19 music videos from Lennon himself, including anti-war favorites "Imagine" and "Give Peace A Chance", as well as "Jealous Guy", "I'm Steppin' Out", "Grow Old With Me", "Borrowed Time", and "Stand By Me", among many others. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Richard Lester, who directed A Hard Day's Night and Help!, was the man behind the cameras for this documentary look at Paul McCartney's 1989-1990 world tour. McCartney and his band perform 20 songs spanning Macca's solo career as well as his years with the Beatles, including "Band on the Run," "Live and Let Die," "Coming Up," "Get Back," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Can't Buy Me Love," "The Long and Winding Road," and "Fool on the Hill." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A dissatisfied woman encounters a mysterious stranger who may be her long-lost son in this peculiar, darkly comic drama. Theresa Russell plays the deeply disappointed Linda Henry, who feels stifled by a strained marriage to Dr. Henry Henry (Christopher Lloyd), who pays more attention to his model railroads than to his wife. Desperate for diversion, she is captivated when Martin (Gary Oldman) arrives, claiming to be the child she gave up for adoption after a teenage pregnancy. She immediately bonds with this stranger, but numerous signs indicate that he may not be what he seems. Strange behavior follows from everyone involved, with some of the film's most bizarre sequences concerning Dr. Henry's toy train fetish. The complex, often ambiguous script is by noted British writer Dennis Potter, who also wrote Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, and Nicolas Roeg provided his predictably stylized, enigmatic direction. Despite several interesting moments, Track 29 is far from either Potter's or Roeg's best work, and most critics found it a bizarre, ineffective muddle. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Set in 1964, a group of four Toronto teens enter a battle of the bands to win an opening spot at a Beatles show. Led by an Italian teenager (Joseph Dimambro), the band just might be successful. ~ John Bush, Rovi

This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Hughes crafts an exemplary '80s Brat Pack romance out of the standard Cinderella story in Pretty in Pink. Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) is a teenager who lives in the dingy part of town with her terminally underemployed dad (Harry Dean Stanton). She works at a record store with eccentric Ionia (Annie Potts) and is considered a misfit at her uppity high school, but somehow she rises above them all. Her oddball best friend, Duckie (Jon Cryer), is hopelessly in love with her, so he causes trouble for her romantic pursuits. When local rich kid Blaine (Andrew McCarthy) develops a fascination with her, they go out on a date together. Visiting the home bases of each social clique, they are basically ridiculed for their audacity to date one another. When Blaine eventually asks the delighted Andie to the prom, he is threatened by his rich friend Steff (James Spader). The romance versus high school social politics finally culminates at the big night of the prom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi