Love and Mercy - News and Reviews - First clip is out.

[CenturyDeprived]

From Brian's Facebook site:

Hats off to whoever decided it would be a good idea to have Mark Linnett play Chuck Britz. Super awesome idea!

[Mitchell]

I don't know if people have jumped on this "Summer of Wilson" thing but there's something to it if they can pull it off. Let Mike have '67, 2015 is the #SummerOfWilson.

 

[sea of tunes]

From Brian's Facebook site:

I have been 'collecting' each of the dozen or so film stills they have posted there.  They are all very hi-res and awesome to have.  The treatment of the film by Roadside/Lionsgate has been 1st Class all the way.

[sea of tunes]

Ang Jones posted this to Brian's Community.  Apologies if it's here somewhere, but hadn't seen it in my checking:

http://www.musicovation.com/blog/2015/5/5/love-and-mercy-why-we-need-brian-wilson-more-than-ever#.VUpyJgda8KY.twitter=

That was a very nice blog. 

That brings us to the third reason. We need him. In a music industry where the songs are about simple emotions (I’m horny) and complex pleasures (threesomes, S&M, molly), Wilson on his new album (which also features Jardine and Marks, as well as early ‘70s member Blondie Chaplin) continues to write and sing about complex feelings (I’m still optimistic despite all I’ve been through) and simple pleasures (island escapes, a special love, Saturday nights). Wilson’s worldview is bereft of concerns about ISIS, police shootings, NFL players beating their wives, or immigration. It’s not that he’s not aware of these disturbing realities, it’s that his music is intended as an antidote to them. In Wilson’s world, it would be nice if we were older, then we wouldn’t have to wait so long. We’re picking up good vibrations. We wish they all could be California girls. And when it’s necessary, we simply go in our room where we can lock out all our worries and our fears.

I'm reminded of something Art Garfunkel said at the Kennedy Center Honors "He is rock and roll's gentlest revolutionary".

 

[GoodVibrations33]

New site design and more info:  http://loveandmercyfilm.com/

[sea of tunes]

New site design and more info:  http://loveandmercyfilm.com/

   I was just there like 2-3 hours ago, still had the old design.  That's badassery...beautiful design.

[18thofMay]

http://tix2.sff.org.au/session_sff.asp?sn=Love+%26+Mercy&g_cdr=1

Love and Mercy Sydney

[Paul J B]

New site design and more info:  http://loveandmercyfilm.com/

   I was just there like 2-3 hours ago, still had the old design.  That's badassery...beautiful design.

Mezmerizing! Everything looks and feels right about this movie. I'm starting to worry that I'm expecting too much and will be disappointed. Really hope it's as cool as it seems.

[18thofMay]

http://tix2.sff.org.au/session_sff.asp?sn=Love+%26+Mercy&g_cdr=1

Love and Mercy Sydney

Bought my tickets for the Sunday screening in the State Theatre.

[sea of tunes]

http://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/05/12/brian-wilson-dano-cusack-portray/27173869/

When it comes to the movies, the Beatles have the Beach Boys beat.

After all, there's no comparison between "A Hard Day's Night" and the 2000 ABC biopic "The Beach Boys: An American Family."

But now comes the new Brian Wilson biopic, "Love & Mercy," due in theaters June 5. So far, it's been a perfect wave of early positive reviews, from Variety calling it a "wonderfully innervating cure for the common musical biopic" to Cinema Blend saying it's a "great movie with a fascinating subject matter."

"Love & Mercy," directed by Bill Pohlad, just might pull the Beach Boys even with the Beatles in the film department after all these years. By the way, the film also received a thumbs up from perhaps its most important critic, Wilson himself.

"It's a great movie," said Wilson over the phone. "I saw it and it's really wonderful, it's very well cast. The guys who played me were very good, and the actress (Elizabeth Banks) who played Melinda (Ledbetter, Wilson's wife) was very pretty.

"It's a good movie."

Unique, too, for there are two actors, Paul Dano and John Cusack, portraying Wilson. Dano, for the creative "Pet Sounds" period of Wilson's career and Cusack for when he succumbed to the dark places that have consumed so many rock 'n' rollers.

"They portrayed me very, very well," said Wilson, 72.

Wilson is the musical prodigy who was the creative force behind Beach Boys classics such as "Surfer Girl," "In My Room," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "California Girls," "Good Vibrations" and the "Pet Sounds" album. It's a canon of work that ranks equally with those of Gershwin, Berlin and Lennon and McCartney. See his story on screen and see him in person this summer. Wilson has a new album out, "No Pier Pressure," and two shows in Jersey: Saturday at the State Theatre Benefit Gala in New Brunswick and July 1 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.

In concert, he's playing the Beach Boys hits and a few tracks for "Pressure," which features collaborations with Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, as well as Kacey Musgraves, Fun's Nate Ruess, She & Him's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, Peter Hollens, and the Capital Cities' Sebu Simonian.

"No Pier Pressure" certainly has echoes of Beach Boys past, but there also are playful currents in there too, such as the '80s synths of "Runaway Dancer," a lounge-y vibe on "On the Island" and the slick hick twangs, complete with banjo and slide guitar, of "Guess You Had To Be There," with Musgraves on vocals.

"We wanted to mix it up, from a happy song to a sad song to a rock 'n' roll song to a ballad," Wilson said. "We try to change it around."

And do it again, with Jardine singing lead on three tracks. Jardine has the lead on several Beach Boys songs, including the classic, "Help Me, Rhonda."

"He likes to feature himself on records," Wilson said. "His main trip is recording his voice on records."

The State Theatre's benefit gala, which precedes the Wilson show, take's place at the nearby Heldrich Hotel prior to the performance.

It's big Saturday night, appropriate as there's a track titled "Saturday Night" on the new album. If he's not rocking and rolling, what does Wilson like to do on a Saturday night?

"I like to watch my TV," Wilson said. "'Wheel of Fortune,' the news, the world news, 'Jeopardy.' "

Wilson does pretty good when the category is the Beach Boys on "Jeopardy."

[KDS]

Nice find. 

I'm not sure about that first sentence though.  While A Hard Day's Night is a well done movie, I've seen some pretty bad made-for-TV Beatles biopics.  I'd even say the first half of American Family was better than those. 

[Cyncie]

Good piece, but were they really trying to compare "A Hard Day's Night"… a theatrical film about the fictional Beatles, starring the real Beatles at the height of Beatlemania… with "American Family"… a made for TV biopic, starring no Beach Boys, made years past their prime?

Yeah, I can see how the Beach Boys come up short...

[sea of tunes]

http://www.backstage.com/interview/why-paul-dano-almost-quit-acting/

Why Paul Dano Almost Quit Acting

As a harpsichord and orchestral keyboard flood in, Brian Wilson sings, “I try hard to be strong/But sometimes I fail myself…”

A track on 1966’s legendary album “Pet Sounds,” “You Still Believe in Me” is what Paul Dano was listening to when he first connected to Wilson during his preparation to play him in the upcoming Beach Boys biopic “Love & Mercy.”

“Without question, learning to play a few of the songs and singing them was the thing that brought me closest to Brian,” Dano says, admitting it wasn’t easy to initially connect to the role.

A biopic about the Beach Boys co-founder and surf rock pioneer sounds like a sun-kissed beach blanket romp, but Wilson’s life was a far cry from “Kokomo.” Directed by Bill Pohlad, “Love & Mercy” examines the music legend’s life and career, including his groundbreaking musical compositions, the decline of his mental health, meeting his second wife (Elizabeth Banks), and the mistreatment and misdiagnosis he suffered under the care of Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). John Cusack tackles Wilson’s dark later years; Dano sets the scene as the younger Wilson.

Sharing the role is something Dano says felt “quite ambitious.” Instead of taking the audience consecutively from Point A to Point B, Pohlad shifts between ’60s Wilson, slowly losing his stability—hearing voices and losing his temper at a dinner party over the clinking and clanking of glassware—and Cusack’s ’80s Wilson, an overmedicated man trying to gain control of his life, who’s told when he’s hungry, who he can date, and how he feels by Landy.

“It took me a little bit to get super jazzed about getting the part because I guess I felt like it was a scary enterprise,” Dano says.

“I started looking around online, and I knew how much Brian meant to people and how much his music meant to people,” he adds. “It wasn’t until I read the script while listening to the music that I started to light up inside and really feel connected. Something started clicking once I put the music around it and saw just how deep it all was.”

Growing up with an abusive father and lack of support system, Wilson suffered from drug addiction and depression for years. “He’s one of those people who didn’t build up that extra layer of skin a lot of us do to be able to sort of get through the struggles in life,” says Dano. “It’s a really sensitive part, and that’s always a little bit scary, because it means you need to be your most open and vulnerable self.

“But just the openness of his spirit was strong enough…that I knew if I could just get a percentage of that, then I’d be [able to do this part].”

A departure from his best-known roles—twins Eli and Paul Sunday (“There Will Be Blood”), mute teen Dwayne (“Little Miss Sunshine”), suspected kidnapper Alex Jones (“Prisoners”)—Wilson didn’t feel like a natural fit for Dano, but it was a no-brainer for Pohlad.

“In everything I’d seen him in I’d always been drawn to his performances and intrigued by the choices he makes,” Pohlad says. “Even though he’s played a lot of unusual or dark characters, you could always feel there was a real sensitivity there, and so I was excited to see him in something a little less dark and a little more sympathetic.”

“He’s deeply intuitive,” says screenwriter Oren Moverman. “What I noticed is that he’d go through this very interior process in order to bring out all the exterior physicalities and things that have to do with acting. And that’s Brian—he’d hear these voices through this deeply interior process and it’d come out as this exterior thing through the music, so there was something about Paul that definitely had all the elements of Brian in the ’60s.

“He examines things from every angle,” Moverman adds. “Paul doesn’t take a role that he doesn’t feel challenges him.”

That’s the only consistent thing about the roles Dano has taken over the years. The actor says he’s always tried to accept jobs based on whether he could learn something from the experience, and whether a project spoke to him at a given point in his life.

“I think there was something in me at a young age that was not worried about success, but was worried about becoming a better actor,” he explains.

After a role in 2004’s “The Girl Next Door” left him unstimulated, Dano almost quit performing for good.

“I consider myself a dork, and [in that film] I was playing somebody who was so dorky…. I was so scared because I knew I wasn’t going to be an actor at that point if I wasn’t going to get to play different types of roles,” he admits. “I’d just find something else to do.”

Then Dano was cast opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” something he calls a “turning point” in his career.

“Something about that helped me understand what I would want or what I get out of doing this and gave me a bit more confidence to pursue my feelings about [acting], rather than just doing it for whatever reason,” he says. “Something new started there for me.”

And if “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” marked one turning point for Dano, “Love & Mercy” marks another.

“[This film] brought a new sense of joy to my work for me,” Dano says. “One of my favorite things about Brian is that he often said things like, ‘I’ve wanted to make music that could help people heal or make them smile,’ and I felt like just doing it for him or for that sense of spirit helped to take me away from myself and try and do it for a bigger purpose.

“That’s something that I know I can take from this experience for the next part of my journey.”

Paul Dano sits silently for a moment after he’s asked what advice he has for aspiring actors.

“The amount of talented people I know who feel like they struggle, or who find work and then don’t find work—it’s really hard,” he says, stopping to take the final sip of his black coffee.

“It’s really hard,” he repeats again, this time putting emphasis on “really.” He goes on to repeat the phrase three more times before letting out a sigh.

“One of the hardest things about being an actor is that it doesn’t always feel like it’s in your hands. It’s somebody else’s words, it’s somebody else casting, it’s somebody else’s money involved in a film.”

Despite having been fortunate in his career, Dano has always admired those who go out and create for themselves—an opportunity he’s yet to have—noting he admires those around him who go to class or do the workshop of a play “even if nobody sees it.

“Putting yourself out there is important,” he encourages. “’Cause you have to hustle as well; we’ve gotta slut it up a little bit.”

I still kind of have to pinch myself a bit as a fan of both Brian Wilson and of movies in general.  Paul Dano is probably my favorite actor under 40 working today.  John Cusack is probably my favorite actor over 40 working today.  And they both are playing Brian Wilson in a movie.  Still can't get over how unbelievably well this all worked out. 

Just a little over 2+ weeks until the film gets its North American release finally.  I'm checking daily with movie showtime sites and various theater chains (AMC, notably) and a couple of indie theaters in my city to see if there are any dates.  Nothing yet.  But I'm pretty confident the film will play here.

[Matt Bielewicz]

As a harpsichord and orchestral keyboard flood in...

[SNIP]

What does this even MEAN?!!!!!

[puni puni]

An orchestral keyboard... y'know... like a symphonic ukulele... or a classical guiro...

[Paul J B]

Has anyone seen the trailer on TV for this anywhere? And should we expect to?

[sea of tunes]

http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/siff-2015-16-highlights-of-week-one/

“Love & Mercy” ★★★★  
Director Bill Pohlad gets the tone just right for this disturbing but musically ecstatic biopic about Beach Boy Brian Wilson, played as a quirkily innocent young man by Paul Dano and a needy wreck of an adult by John Cusack. Paul Giamatti renders with skin-crawling brilliance the phony guru therapist who virtually enslaved Wilson for years; Elizabeth Banks is stunning as the intrigued but tentative lover who comes to the rescue. Composer Atticus Ross is scheduled to attend the first screening. (6:30 p.m. May 15, Egyptian; 12:30 p.m. May 16, Pacific Place.) — Paul de Barros

[barsone]

Saw the film last night at the first night showing at the Seattle Film Festival.  Obviously over 49 pages on this thread, a lot has been said about the film.  I found the entire film riveting, sad, and  disturbing all wrapped into nearly 2 hours of power packed emotion.  With the BW actors Dano and Cusack each doing their thing, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster as the movie continually bounced back between the two characters.  All in all, for myself, it lets the audience see and feel how tortured BW has been throughout his life.  My therapist wife was about ready to throw something at the screen as the Landy character (Giamotti) showed how truly ugly and despicable this man really was.  When I told her early on " don't worry, he was disbarred and is finally DEAD" did she calm down a bit.
Atticus Ross who did the score was there for some questions at the end.  Two neat bits of info I hadn't heard earlier in the thread came from his mouth.  First, he really wasn't "all-in" when the project started.  He found the script initially complicated and wondered how he was going to adapt his score to the picture.  It wasn't until he received the ENTIRE Brian Wilson portfolio of songs on a hard drive disc did he realize the full potential for his score on the film. He described going through 37 different versions of GV as one example, of all the  tidbits he brought out for the final score on the film.  He also spoke of meeting BW twice during the process.  His first meeting with brought BW's feelings that he thought his initial work was  kinda dark.  Whew....Having Brian tell you your score is DARK.  Second meeting was near the end, close to the final....Brian heard it in total was very happy. Ha wonder if he still has the hard drive

[sea of tunes]

Found this just looking around the web today, a review from Elle magazine (!) of all places.  It was actually posted up on the official site for the film.  Presented here for your reading pleasure.

[sea of tunes]

Saw the film last night at the first night showing at the Seattle Film Festival.  Obviously over 49 pages on this thread, a lot has been said about the film.  I found the entire film riveting, sad, and  disturbing all wrapped into nearly 2 hours of power packed emotion.  With the BW actors Dano and Cusack each doing their thing, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster as the movie continually bounced back between the two characters.  All in all, for myself, it lets the audience see and feel how tortured BW has been throughout his life.  My therapist wife was about ready to throw something at the screen as the Landy character (Giamotti) showed how truly ugly and despicable this man really was.  When I told her early on " don't worry, he was disbarred and is finally DEAD" did she calm down a bit.
Atticus Ross who did the score was there for some questions at the end.  Two neat bits of info I hadn't heard earlier in the thread came from his mouth.  First, he really wasn't "all-in" when the project started.  He found the script initially complicated and wondered how he was going to adapt his score to the picture.  It wasn't until he received the ENTIRE Brian Wilson portfolio of songs on a hard drive disc did he realize the full potential for his score on the film. He described going through 37 different versions of GV as one example, of all the  tidbits he brought out for the final score on the film.  He also spoke of meeting BW twice during the process.  His first meeting with brought BW's feelings that he thought his initial work was  kinda dark.  Whew....Having Brian tell you your score is DARK.  Second meeting was near the end, close to the final....Brian heard it in total was very happy. Ha wonder if he still has the hard drive

Thanks for sharing.  I'm so envious of you guys attending these various festivals and seeing the film before it is rolled out nationally.

I don't suppose Mr. Ross happened to mention a film score release being in the works...?

[Compost]

Thanks for posting the article - can't wait!

[Debbie Keil-Leavitt]

Found this just looking around the web today, a review from Elle magazine (!) of all places.  It was actually posted up on the official site for the film.  Presented here for your reading pleasure.

Who knew that there would be such a good review from Elle?  But I love that it covers the storyline for Elle's audience, because the bottom line is that it's a great story beyond our obsessive tendencies about Brian and his history.  Great find.  Thanks!

[barsone]

Saw the film last night at the first night showing at the Seattle Film Festival.  Obviously over 49 pages on this thread, a lot has been said about the film.  I found the entire film riveting, sad, and  disturbing all wrapped into nearly 2 hours of power packed emotion.  With the BW actors Dano and Cusack each doing their thing, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster as the movie continually bounced back between the two characters.  All in all, for myself, it lets the audience see and feel how tortured BW has been throughout his life.  My therapist wife was about ready to throw something at the screen as the Landy character (Giamotti) showed how truly ugly and despicable this man really was.  When I told her early on " don't worry, he was disbarred and is finally DEAD" did she calm down a bit.
Atticus Ross who did the score was there for some questions at the end.  Two neat bits of info I hadn't heard earlier in the thread came from his mouth.  First, he really wasn't "all-in" when the project started.  He found the script initially complicated and wondered how he was going to adapt his score to the picture.  It wasn't until he received the ENTIRE Brian Wilson portfolio of songs on a hard drive disc did he realize the full potential for his score on the film. He described going through 37 different versions of GV as one example, of all the  tidbits he brought out for the final score on the film.  He also spoke of meeting BW twice during the process.  His first meeting with brought BW's feelings that he thought his initial work was  kinda dark.  Whew....Having Brian tell you your score is DARK.  Second meeting was near the end, close to the final....Brian heard it in total was very happy. Ha wonder if he still has the hard drive

Thanks for sharing.  I'm so envious of you guys attending these various festivals and seeing the film before it is rolled out nationally.

I don't suppose Mr. Ross happened to mention a film score release being in the works...?

JCM.....sorry, he did not mention anything at all about the score being released.  Without saying too much, I'd guess the score is so entwined with watching the movie simultaneously that it would not be a money maker outside the Smiley Smilers getting there copies.  Ping me after June 5th with your thoughts on the score.  Anyone else who has seen the movie think the score could be a commercial success ?? 

[Howie Edelson]

Do film SCORES get released to be commercial successes?
There's a difference between a soundtrack (e.g. Footloose, Grease, etc.) and a score (e.g. The End Of The Affair)

I've been on many a scoring stage throughout the years.
NOBODY's thinking about "hits."

[barsone]

Do film SCORES get released to be commercial successes?
There's a difference between a soundtrack (e.g. Footloose, Grease, etc.) and a score (e.g. The End Of The Affair)

I've been on many a scoring stage throughout the years.
NOBODY's thinking about "hits."

Thanks Howie.....my bad.....I took JCM's question strictly thinking soundtrack.   Mr. Ross said nothing during the Q&A in Seattle about score or soundtrack releases.