This movie was a dream come true in so many ways.  The detail in the reenactments of visual and audio material fans are familiar with (promos, session chat, concert footage) is pretty remarkable.  The soundtrack is very creative and the auditory episodes they came up with are very effective and disturbing.  No matter how many times you've thought about what Brian has to go through when he is coping with it, to actually experience it (or an interpretation of it) is a bit shocking, particularly if you are watching it in a loud theatre...which i was!  Paul Dano completely becomes Brian, and Cusack does less of an impersonation but still a great job performing the essence of Brian.  Elizabeth Banks is solid (and just about carries the movie), and Paul Giamatti is an appropriately chilling Landy.  Also, hats off for the "2001" sequence....powerful stuff.

I will say that the movie is not very charitable towards Mike.  While even he has acknowledged resistance (and confrontation?  He has referred to talking with Van Dyke  about Cabinessence lyrics, for one thing) regarding aspects of where Brian and his music was headed in '66-'67, I was surprised there wasn't a little more nuance in the depiction.  The one time Mike appears he is about to make amends, Brian quickly cuts him off and proceeds to introduce an olive branch via playing the Good Vibrations chorus riff and inviting him to come up with lyrics.  They wouldn't even let the Mike character have that!  ( And I say this as someone who is not exactly an ardent defender of Mike.)  And speaking of Van Dyke, there is another guy who is not going to be thrilled by the movie's portrayal.  (I know: it's a movie - not a documentary.)

But all in all, a triumph.  Enjoy!

Sorry to necro such an old thread, but can anybody give me more info about the version found on Dumb Angel? It's an interesting arrangement, and the booklet tells me nothing. Is it just an alternate take or is it from a different time period or what?

I think the box set would've been a good opportunity to put out this version (this would be the "Landlocked" one?).  The backing vocals being more present make it really come alive compared to the Love You one.

The pictures are cropped differently - look at the space from Al's elbow to the right border.  Also the pic looks stretched on the right, as Dennis and Al's bodies look wider.  I agree Al's hair looks doctored in the left pic.

Hadn't seen this one before...thanks.  Good interviews with the early singers.  Larry Levine seems shell-shocked reminiscing about Phil.

Grim stuff.....scary dude....great music.

WOW....pretty exciting news!!!


I don't want to get too far ahead of things, but:

new album + box set = 2013 reunion tour?  (And I thought last year was good...)

Interesting to look back at how clean (and full-on bratty) Liam's vocals sounded on Definitely Maybe, compared to the gruff raspy sandpaper delivery that soon followed.

I've never been able to shake the sense of fatigue I get when listening to BHN, so recently I made my own edit and cut out a bunch of songs (my big mouth, magic pie, don't go away, fade in/out) and added the b-side stay young. also cut some of it's gettin' better (didn't need the final refrain x 30, so settled for 15).

Blasphemy?  I guess so.  I can appreciate the album as the encapsulation of the band's height of popularity (and corresponding self-indulgence), but for 15 years(!) I've had a nagging urge to snip a bit...or a third...so i finally did.

Gonna go out on a limb and say that post #1279 contained an apology.....which was overlooked (understatement).

BOX SET!!!!!

Hell, I'm psyched for the packaging......after the amazing smile sessions box.

PLUS ONE

Kiss Me Baby - Goosebumps just about the whole way through.

Don't Talk, too.

Though, wouldn't it be nice (ha-ha) to see Blondie and Ricky come on, say, for end of the regular set and rip through "Sail On Sailor" and "Marcella?"  Then the old members could come back out and do the "big hits" encore without them.  Don't get me wrong, I'd rather them all come back out, but this would be a nice way to include Blondie and Ricky in some way.

[/quote]

While we're on the subject of Steve Hoffman, he was one of the first to predict that Capitol wouldn't release The Beach Boys "Smile" recordings, a prediction made before Capitol's box set announcement......a prediction that he still stands by today.
[/quote]


Has Mr. Hoffman made a comment about this recently?  I've been following the thread on his board fairly closely (as I'd bet several others here have), and I don't recall him commenting for awhile.

Also, "Obviously, unanticipated problems developed"?  What would we expect the timeline to be for a project like this?  March 2011 wasn't that long ago, was it?  

By the way, not trying to pick on anyone....i swear!  I'm not shocked that there is still some skepticism, given the overall history (and despite the recent news/promos/reports....which - I must say - are pretty darn compelling).

I've always heard something going wrong with the record at the "l" part of "I hear the sound of a gentle word" (at :14).  The tambourine seems to break up a bit.

[Life]

Keith is good friends with Blondie (at least that's what he says in Life).  I would guess they've talked about Holland at some point.

Brian has mentioned these places in an interview before:

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/24/entertainment/et-favewknd24


And yes, I googled the Beverly Glen for my last trip to L.A.  (Though I didn't end up going.)

In the Brian Wilson: Songwriter DVD, Hutton says that Mike was pissed when he found out that Redwood were recording Darlin' (and that he understood him being upset).  Danny suggests that the lyrics were written for him, as he was always calling people "Darlin'."  But didn't Mike write the lyrics?

I have to go back to my point from another thread - for those people reading the liner notes for BWPS and watching Beautiful Dreamer on Showtime, DVD, or wherever else it pops up, what will the new history being prepared for the Smile release this year bring to the table, especially if the same folks are writing it?

Something tells me the term "red herring" won't be in the new history.

For those of you who haven't seen it, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile is playing on Showtime in April.  Actually caught a little of it this morning....imagine my surprise when I turned on the t.v. to find Michael Vosse and David Anderle discussing Brian!

Totally agree.  I was impressed with what Taylor Hawkins did with the vocal, but that instrumental track is so moving.  It's brought me to tears a few times.

I vote that The Emerald be relegated to Intermediate Beach Boys history.

And the turkey sandwiches around 3pm can be Advanced Beach Boys history.

Taking an initial glance at the article and seeing reps/publicists making statements, it seems understandable to question them.  Of course, "sources told us that Wilson and Love asked Rondor to take action" isn't necessarily much to go on either.  This IS from a gossip column.

Thank you for the info. 

If I remember the story correctly, the SOT “underground” releases used material that was acquired by a Capitol employee(?) during the production of the “American Band” film project. Was the party responsible for the coping of the material ever prosecuted?  Does he/she still work in the business?  (Has it ever been verified who was responsible?)

No….I’m not an attorney.

Interesting moment early on in the DVD when just after seeing Van Dyke Parks chomping on a burger, Dennis pulls Mike aside and asks him what he thinks of Van Dyke.  Just the expression on his face (and the fairly long pause) says it all. 

I think it would've done very well commercially had it come out in 12/66 or 1/67, on the heels of the GV single.  I suppose they would've needed to be further along with the recordings, given the timeline.  But since we're speculating anyway....