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

[Wirestone]

Early box office numbers -- it's projected to come in at No. 11. Highly impressive!

"Roadside Attractions’ release of Bill Pohlad’s second directorial, the Brian Wilson Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, is looking to post $1.9M over FSS at 483 venues. Some limited releases can’t even gross that on 1,000 engagements. The film is just outside the top 10 in No. 11. The pic follows Wilson as he battles emerging psychosis during his 1960s heyday. But there’s also flash forward scenes during the ’80s where we see him at rock bottom being rescued by g.f. Melinda Ledbetter. Pohlad and the Wilsons are doing a Q&A after the 4:30PM show at the Landmark Theatre on Pico. The showtime is already sold out."

"NOTEWORTHY: 11.) Love & Mercy (RSA), 483 theaters / $638K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.9M to $2.1M / Per screen average: $4,000 to $4,600 / Wk 1"

http://deadline.com/2015/06/spy-no-1-weekend-box-office-insidious-entourage-1201438729/

[Wirestone]

Also, BB/BW stuff is doing well on the Amazon best-selling music list ...

Pet Sounds -- Number 23
Sounds of Summer -- Number 28
No Pier Pressure -- Number 48 (was in the 20s yesterday)

[Shady]

Love & Mercy is a hit, fantastic.

[drbeachboy]

Early box office numbers -- it's projected to come in at No. 11. Highly impressive!

"Roadside Attractions’ release of Bill Pohlad’s second directorial, the Brian Wilson Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, is looking to post $1.9M over FSS at 483 venues. Some limited releases can’t even gross that on 1,000 engagements. The film is just outside the top 10 in No. 11. The pic follows Wilson as he battles emerging psychosis during his 1960s heyday. But there’s also flash forward scenes during the ’80s where we see him at rock bottom being rescued by g.f. Melinda Ledbetter. Pohlad and the Wilsons are doing a Q&A after the 4:30PM show at the Landmark Theatre on Pico. The showtime is already sold out."

"NOTEWORTHY: 11.) Love & Mercy (RSA), 483 theaters / $638K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.9M to $2.1M / Per screen average: $4,000 to $4,600 / Wk 1"

http://deadline.com/2015/06/spy-no-1-weekend-box-office-insidious-entourage-1201438729/

Cool! Thanks for the info Wirestone.

[harrisonjon]

Has Mike made any objections to how he is portrayed? Has Landy junior regarding his dad?

[Pretty Funky]

I think Mike would do himself a disservice if he says he hasn't or won't. They are still in the UK aren't they so unlikely as yet.

[SMiLE-addict]

Also, BB/BW stuff is doing well on the Amazon best-selling music list ...

Pet Sounds -- Number 23
Sounds of Summer -- Number 28
No Pier Pressure -- Number 48 (was in the 20s yesterday)

Sounds of Summer is also at #181 on the Billboard 200. I think that's the first time I've ever seen it there:
http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200

[sea of tunes]

Early box office numbers -- it's projected to come in at No. 11. Highly impressive!

"Roadside Attractions’ release of Bill Pohlad’s second directorial, the Brian Wilson Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, is looking to post $1.9M over FSS at 483 venues. Some limited releases can’t even gross that on 1,000 engagements. The film is just outside the top 10 in No. 11. The pic follows Wilson as he battles emerging psychosis during his 1960s heyday. But there’s also flash forward scenes during the ’80s where we see him at rock bottom being rescued by g.f. Melinda Ledbetter. Pohlad and the Wilsons are doing a Q&A after the 4:30PM show at the Landmark Theatre on Pico. The showtime is already sold out."

"NOTEWORTHY: 11.) Love & Mercy (RSA), 483 theaters / $638K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.9M to $2.1M / Per screen average: $4,000 to $4,600 / Wk 1"

http://deadline.com/2015/06/spy-no-1-weekend-box-office-insidious-entourage-1201438729/

I was struck that LOVE & MERCY made $640,000 on Friday and POLTERGEIST made $850,000 but is in nearly 2,500 theaters.  Pretty impressive for LOVE & MERCY.

[guitarfool2002]

Keep in mind, the buzz on this film would/could also be growing because of its merits as a work of art in film, in my opinion a really innovative if not avant garde-leaning creation, a really unique take on the biopic genre that I don't know offhand has any peers on this level of releases. For film buffs, for people who like the cinema for their cinematic and technical reasons similar to audiophiles liking certain specific albums for their sound qualities, this film has that as a strength too. It's unlike most if not all other films that would fall into this category of biographies, and mainstream to put it above the level of art-house or festival circuit releases. It's that good.

[the professor]

yes it is.  very few films have had this effect on me.  I hear BB and BW music so differently and more intensely after watching it.  I lack the scholarly chops to describe how good this movie is, but some of the better, more learned reviews, and guitarfool's comment here are getting at its uniqueness.  I do not have a single thing I would have done differently.

Of course I was hoping that one of the final placards at the end of the movie would say "and in 2012 BW reunited with the BB for 67 critically acclaimed concerts and a top 3 album."  Instead it stopped at 2004, giving the impression that that year and Smile was the ultimate triumph.  The reunion was heroic, but I suppose they did not want to end in the concept of "reunion" but rather individual liberation and vindication. fair enough.

It all also made me wish that Mike and Brian would plan a new album and tour for next year. . . . . .
And yes, that moment of B coming to Mike and needing him for GV lyrics was so powerful--a way of B saying, "I hear you Mike; I have my calling but I recognize what we can do as a team as well" All silent but all powerfully expressed.

I am, as some of you have said also, in a state of being after this movie that I cannot explain; it's noting like the feeling of seeing a BB show or hearing a BB or BW album. True art transforms the observer in unexplained ways.  I won't start quoting Walter Pater here, but I need help explaining how I feel.

Serious art. Think of what crap movies like Ray and Walk the Line are .

help me somebody. . . I don't have the words....

btw: Landy was undergrad at my school; luckily no one ever talks about him as a famous alumnus.

Keep in mind, the buzz on this film would/could also be growing because of its merits as a work of art in film, in my opinion a really innovative if not avant garde-leaning creation, a really unique take on the biopic genre that I don't know offhand has any peers on this level of releases. For film buffs, for people who like the cinema for their cinematic and technical reasons similar to audiophiles liking certain specific albums for their sound qualities, this film has that as a strength too. It's unlike most if not all other films that would fall into this category of biographies, and mainstream to put it above the level of art-house or festival circuit releases. It's that good.

[guitarfool2002]

yes it is.  very few films have had this effect on me.  I hear BB and BW music so differently and more intensely after watching it.  I lack the scholarly chops to describe how good this movie is, but some of the better, more learned reviews, and guitarfool's comment here are getting at its uniqueness.  I do not have a single thing I would have done differently.

Of course I was hoping that one of the final placards at the end of the movie would say "and in 2012 BW reunited with the BB for 67 critically acclaimed concerts and a top 3 album."  Instead it stopped at 2004, giving the impression that that year and Smile was the ultimate triumph.  The reunion was heroic, but I suppose they did not want to end in the concept of "reunion" but rather individual liberation and vindication. fair enough.

It all also made me wish that Mike and Brian would plan a new album and tour for next year. . . . . .
And yes, that moment of B coming to Mike and needing him for GV lyrics was so powerful--a way of B saying, "I hear you Mike; I have my calling but I recognize what we can do as a team as well" All silent but all powerfully expressed.

I am, as some of you have said also, in a state of being after this movie that I cannot explain; it's noting like the feeling of seeing a BB show or hearing a BB or BW album. True art transforms the observer in unexplained ways.  I won't start quoting Walter Pater here, but I need help explaining how I feel.

Serious art. Think of what crap movies like Ray and Walk the Line are .

help me somebody. . . I don't have the words....

btw: Landy was undergrad at my school; luckily no one ever talks about him as a famous alumnus.

Keep in mind, the buzz on this film would/could also be growing because of its merits as a work of art in film, in my opinion a really innovative if not avant garde-leaning creation, a really unique take on the biopic genre that I don't know offhand has any peers on this level of releases. For film buffs, for people who like the cinema for their cinematic and technical reasons similar to audiophiles liking certain specific albums for their sound qualities, this film has that as a strength too. It's unlike most if not all other films that would fall into this category of biographies, and mainstream to put it above the level of art-house or festival circuit releases. It's that good.

Professor, I'm connecting with what you're saying and want to expand on it regarding one scene. I have to give some perspective too, from where I'm coming from, in order to convey some of these emotions that are still hitting me, keeping in mind it's just been hours since I saw it, and this scene *still* gets the emotions welling up. I'm being honest and unashamed to say it reduced me to tears in the theater, and I can't shake it. It was the highest of art and technique and creativity in film that ranks as high as any others on my list. As you said, true art that grabs you and doesn't let go, you can't shake it.

I won't spoil it as I already said in the other discussion, but everyone has to see and experience it in their own way.

To me it was the climax of the film, that point where all your questions about how they'll wrap it up get answered, only in this case the way it wrapped up was beyond anything I expected.

It's the scene that starts with dead silence as John Cusack's Brian is laying in bed and builds to a fever pitch by the time it's over, visually and sonically (and emotionally). Technically, creatively...brilliant.

I'm a junior-league film buff. I know just enough about it to carry a conversation but it wouldn't get me admitted to film school...

When I first started to really connect with film in general, and develop likes and dislikes and even loves of certain works in my late teens, there were scenes that just hit me harder than the rest. From the first time I saw them, then when I got my own copies for repeat viewings, they would either stun me or cause a rush of emotions to the point of welling up as I watched, the same effect the best music has on me.

In those cases it was reacting to the technical side of things, the way these scenes were "art" and skillfully or uniquely done even beyond the actual subject matter related to the film sometimes. Camera work, editing, whatever the case.

They were usually montage scenes set to music, among my stand-outs were the "As We Go Along" scene with the quick-cut editing in "Head", the Warhol party scene as well as the New York City cinema verite scenes as the theme song playing in "Midnight Cowboy" with all the billboards flashing by cut to the beats of the music (a technique in the 'Head' montage as well), the scene in "Easy Rider" where they're riding in the desert set to "The Weight" where Laszlo Kovacs' cinematography let the setting sunlight bleed directly into the camera lens with the desert in the background, the "South American Getaway" montage in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" where Bacharach's brilliant wordless vocal score is blasting out as the trio robs banks and in one scene Redford says something to make Katherine Ross break up on camera and blow the scene, yet they left it in...

Fast forward to "Breaking Bad" with the montage set and cut to "Crystal Blue Persuasion", one of the best scenes I've ever seen on TV from an early season of Mad Men where Don returns home in his imagination to pick up the family for Thanksgiving, then it turns out it was all in his mind and he's sitting in an empty house as Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" plays on the soundtrack...

Things like that, I'd watch and get all choked up and emotional because it was the *art* of it, I'll say the high art of it all, that would blow my mind. It was film and TV at it's finest, set to music and edited with a level of skill that surpasses 99% of everything else out there.

The sheer art of that climax scene in "Love & Mercy" took it to another level. All aspects and elements of it, from the music to the visuals to the edits to the mixing and coloring and set design and above all the superb acting by all concerned...it was the highest form of creative art in filmmaking as I have seen, and combined with the emotions of the scenes themselves and how the characters were interacting...I was literally moved to tears on all of those levels.

That is cinematic art of the highest order, right there, in that scene. I'm not exaggerating, it's not hyperbole or hype or anything else, it's just my honest opinion, that scene destroyed me and I still can't get it out of my mind hours later. It was that good.

That's where I'm coming from, but keep in mind this is one scene out of so many that could be singled out as well. A scene like that, I'll say it - I have not seen another film use something like that as a climax, at least in my memory, and if they did it wasn't done the same way with the combination of some pretty jarring and almost radical techniques to put it across to the audience.

Floored me.

[metal flake paint]

John Cusack, Brian Wilson & Dir. Bill Pohlad Huffpost Live

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/john-cusak-brian-wilson-bill-pohlad-love-and-mercy/5554e36b2b8c2acc8600007a

[GoodVibrations33]

John Cusack, Brian Wilson & Dir. Bill Pohlad Huffpost Live

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/john-cusak-brian-wilson-bill-pohlad-love-and-mercy/5554e36b2b8c2acc8600007a

That was great, thanks for posting!

[PS]

What was most thrilling for me, besides the extraordinary 5.1 sound design/sound montages, was the crazily detailed accuracy of it all - as someone mentioned, it was like finally seeing and hearing all these people, places and moments you know about finally coming to life right before your eyes and ears (I had something of this experience when I read Shiner's Glimpses). The view from the Laurel Way house, the cement slabs around the pool (like my photo), the tent and sandbox and how they might have been situated relative to the architecture of that house - only someone who truly loved the stories and had imagined the images and sounds (especially the one's in Brian's head) could have made this film. And with Darian and Mark on board as "advisors", we were in great hands. And Bill Pohlad, who produced Malick's visionary Tree of Life, was somehow just the right man in the right place at the right time.

Bottom line: It's aim is true.

And you can feel it, from the very opening scene to the easter egg at the end of the credits. This was a labor of love by all involved.

But it really wasn't until the final scene and the closing title song that the cumulative emotional weight of the film - and the whoie of my 50 year plus romance with the man and his music - came full circle, and the floodgates opened, and I wept like a baby, uncontrollably...a great release, a great way to feel the love for the music and be grateful for the mercy that the man survived it...

[Larry Franz]

very few films have had this effect on me. 

I've seen way more than my share of movies in the past 60 years (when I should have been doing something else) and I've never been affected like this by a film. I feel different. It's as if something important happened yesterday. Like I met someone or lost someone. Or it's like what the insurance companies call a "life event" happened.

The quality of L&M obviously has a lot to do with the effect it's had. But I think another factor is that it feels like Brian Wilson has been revealed to the whole world (putting aside delayed release dates, of course). I know he's already famous and many people know his story and have heard his music, but it still feels like I've had a secret for the past 50 years and now it's been revealed. The world feels different somehow.

[the professor]

I feel the same way; thought I was nuts and so was happy to see your post. Not a common nor an expected feeling.

very few films have had this effect on me. 

I've seen way more than my share of movies in the past 60 years (when I should have been doing something else) and I've never been affected like this by a film. I feel different. It's as if something important happened yesterday. Like I met someone or lost someone. Or it's like what the insurance companies call a "life event" happened.

The quality of L&M obviously has a lot to do with the effect it's had. But I think another factor is that it feels like Brian Wilson has been revealed to the whole world (putting aside delayed release dates, of course). I know he's already famous and many people know his story and have heard his music, but it still feels like I've had a secret for the past 50 years and now it's been revealed. The world feels different somehow.

[ontor pertawst]

(Beams happily, high on the fumes of this fabulous thread)

See!??! See?!?! Mindscrambling gorgeous montage magic and top class effort from every dept, actors and sound expertly weaved together. All respect to Malick and the like but what was Pohlad doing wasting time producing when he could direct like this? Make more, sir.

[Pretty Funky]

Has this story been mentioned yet? Several new clips including in the studio.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2015/06/05/43160/love-and-mercy-brings-beach-boys-mastermind-brian/?slide=13

[18thofMay]

I just saw the film in Sydney at the State Theatre. I am speechless. It had me in tears multiple times and everyone loved the film. Drew great applause.

[junkbondtrader]

Saw the film last night and I thought it was incredible. The soundtrack is amazing. I hope they release it.

Does anyone know or remember what song was playing during the scene where Brian and Melinda jump off the boat and go the Brian's house? It might be some kind of mashup, but I loved it.

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I hope to see it this week, and am not reading the 60 plus pages of this thread, but will just check in that the film has received great reviews in New York City -- particularly a true rave in the Village Voice, which is more inclined to give serious attention to films of high merit ("arthouse" if you will) than blockbusters.  In the scheme of Brian Wilson, it makes total sense his biopic would fall in this category.  I must admit I had no idea.

[Ed Roach]

Looking forward to seeing it again today, with Brian & Melinda doing a Q&A afterwards.

Almost too emotional & intense to talk about after first seeing it.  It's so magnificent on so many levels...

[Ed Roach]

Btw, check out my friends review & comments while I gather mine:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/09/danos-wilson-love-mercy-staggering/

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2015/06/dano-kick-around/

[Jon Stebbins]

I saw the movie yesterday and was thoroughly impressed by it. It had a lasting effect on me, I was a bit shell-shocked all day yesterday due to the emotional impact the film had on me. It's a heavy experience. I was so pleased that it was done in an artful, sensitive, and real way. The film made room for nuance, subtlety, and found a way to reveal and inform without having to be overly direct and predictable. IMO it is the best case scenario. It hit all the right points in a beautiful way. The performances and characterizations were fantastic. Paul Dano was perfect. It didn't matter that John Cusack didn't look like Brian, because he FELT like Brian. I was really impressed with his portrayal. Having been around BW many times, there is a specific vibe he gives off, and Cusack nailed it. This is not a happily ever after movie. It is dark, and leaves you feeling drained but hopeful. Knowing Brian had been dealing with his issues for so long, when it is revealed he's heard voices in his head since 1963, the audience around me gasped. The scenes where there is the Dano-Brian, the Cusack-Brian and the child Brian all interchanging into the bedroom scene, that said to me, you know what? He's always been troubled, he'll always be troubled, and he's still created so much beauty, given so much happiness to the world. The sensitivity that crushes him also makes him a genius. The two things are definitely connected, and the film does an amazing job of illustrating that connection. I am blown away that a film with such depth and rawness made it through the system and has been released in this form. It's a gift to those of us who love Brian, but more so, it will have an impact on his legacy in a responsible way. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in creating this amazing work. You have my respect. And thank you Brian, for all the joy and tears, we're so lucky for the beauty you shared with us.

[Misterlou]

Also, BB/BW stuff is doing well on the Amazon best-selling music list ...

Pet Sounds -- Number 23
Sounds of Summer -- Number 28
No Pier Pressure -- Number 48 (was in the 20s yesterday)

General Mills has also seen a 113% spike in sales of Cocoa Puffs cereal in the past two days.