Is the Beatles 1962-66 (the 'red' alb) the only record of theirs that you need?

If they can fake, like, Hank Williams singing Fuck Tha Police or whatever, why couldn’t they process Paul’s vocal to make him sound like his 28-yr-old self? Hearing 80-yr-old Paul singing alongside much younger John is super jarring.

Song is ok. I can think of 30 ways it could have been better, but they sure could have fucked it up a lot more. Fits fine on an imaginary “disappointing long-awaited Beatles reunion album” comp. I especially don’t like how heavy they made the chorus feel, like it didn’t need to be produced as an epic; it’s not an epic song.

the musical style transfer ai tech is not really that great, as all the goofy ai covers on youtube demonstrate. i don't think it's really at the level where they'd be ready to use it for something like this

C/D: Microsoft Songsmith

i think de-aging paul's vocal would have been a bad idea. in fact I'm sure they had vocals from 95 they could have used and decided to go with new ones for a specific reason: that it better fits with the now and then theme.

that video: doesn't start promising at all (ghost john on a beach??? no) but I like the hello goodbye footage mingled in with the newer stuff. Pete Best footage was exactly what was expected which is disappointing since that's not 'never before seen footage' but jackson did stablize it

Certainly the Beatle Cloning technology has reached new heights going by the 2 Pauls and the 2 Ringos. A frankly excessive number of Beatles, we can only hope this tech won't be used for evil.

the age discrepancy in the vocals is the only part of this that isn't kitsch

I found I liked the song better despite the pure cheese of the video - reminded me that the Fabs were funny guys after all, and that goes a long way to redeeming the "late period plodder" vibe of the track. And as pathetic as it is, I still feel some weird connection to them as people, like they were great friends from college, or family I've not seen in forever.

kinda shocked at how ugly and clunky the video is, doesnt look any better than when they did that stuff in Forrest Gump

thought the video was kinda sweet... then @1:47 oh ffs

lol yeah same, so thankful to peter jackson for giving us that unforgettable image of beloved human rock band "the beatles"

Couldn't they have gotten Ringo and Paul in the same room to shoot their scenes in this...

yeah that's one of the worst parts of it. I'm sure there was budget for that, yeesh.

The Ringo and Paul pretending to sing in the same room bit is supremely ugly. Are they trying to play up the compositeness of the song? Or make it seem more huff-and-puff than it sounds?

i have no idea what jackson was thinking with that; well I think he was trying to match the kind of goofy hello goodbye stuff (which I do like...why does mingling that footage in with the current stuff look more realistic than composing these two guys together when they shot in the same month? I just read Paul's bit was filmed on an ipad. c'mon).

good god that video is godawful. Jackson did such great work on the documentary stuff so far, this is shockingly bad.

hobbit syndrome

Unfortunately the video reminds me of well done YTPs

Feel like they could have put these Hello Goodbye outtakes to better use. Jackson in maudlin mode is the worst.

Holy shit that video is the stuff of nightmares. A.i really still mostly sucks.

What surprises me is that the video got through like this when I think it probably needed to be signed off by Paul, Ringo, Sean/Yoko, Olivia/Dhani and probably various execs.

I guess the time fuckery is of a piece with the mix of current/70s/90s/60s recordings in the song but they pulled it off slightly more gracefully in the audio

I just realised they didn't use the original bridge and I can't decide if that was the right move - ultimately the song is more melancholy and nostalgic than desperate and yearning as a result

Holy shit that video is the stuff of nightmares. A.i really still mostly sucks.

I don't think this has anything at all to do with AI? It's just really cheaply and shoddily done

I mean Forest Gump looked better and it came out thirty years ago

that fucking lennon scene though

Certainly the Beatle Cloning technology has reached new heights going by the 2 Pauls and the 2 Ringos. A frankly excessive number of Beatles, we can only hope this tech won't be used for evil.

An excessive number of Beatles IS evil.

It had me until John starts excessively hamming it up in front of the orchestra players… c’mon

Is this the bit we're talking about?

https://i.imgur.com/tpIQO72.png

If so, I found it enjoyably goofy. Apart from when 1968 George kept nearly hitting 2003 Ringo in the chest with his guitar.

woulda been a better video if he had impaled Ringo, tbh. c'mon Peter, bring back some of that early career zany gore energy.

Anyway, should have given it to Swedemason instead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4EcRPlaXoQ

I didn't mind the four of them being together like that; but it breaks the spell if you have to extend your disbelief to random cello players going home and saying, "Hey, ghost John Lennon and young Paul McCartney were goofing around as we recorded today..."

Can't wait for the 2031 remaster/re-release of this tune & video

There’s no art direction on that video at all. I would have gone black and white and sprinkle animation referencing different eras with footage like what they did on the Lennon and Cheap Trick version of I’m Losing You which feels infinitely cooler and better looking wouldn’t be as uncanny valley. This feels like it was conceived and wrapped in a couple of weeks.

I have few complaints about the concept, I don't mind the idea of young John and George interacting with the others, it's just the execution is absolutely awful.

I just watched the video but only had time to get through about 1:45min of it.

From what I saw it was fine, not sure why everyone was telling me how goofy it is. Actually really tasteful and touching. I was like - "OK I've seen enough, I've got the gist"

Nothing cartoony and wacky and hilarious and embarrassing and "cringe" and jarring and baffling about it at all.

Lol, 1:45 is right before it gets goofy...

(i think that was the joke)

look I don't have the time to go any further, I'm very busy

haha, well played

Paul deep in thought at 2:49, remembering the way he used to mug to camera

Like the string players blankly staring at the goofy Lennon conducting

They can do what they want, it was goofy but fine. But it stands in stark contrast to the absolutely beautiful and moving “Here Comes the Sun” video they released a few years ago.

Ah forgot about that one! Yeah that was the sort of video I was expecting. This one is trying too hard and doing very little.

Video and song are both enjoyable.

Fuck it, I'm gonna go listen to Revolver.

The Microsoft PowerPoint transitions near the end of the video were glorious.

Was hoping for some Lucas diagonal screen wipes or Spielbergian lens flare, but alas.

i liked this more the second time I watched it. it's lighthearted and dumb, who cares.

thought the video was kinda sweet... then @1:47 oh ffs

LOL, yes. Before that, I was wondering - "did he composite Ringo into that shot of Paul?" (The lighting looks off.) Then when we get to that, it's like JFC....

I'm not watching that again. Once was more than enough. Easily the worst thing about this whole endeavor, and it sums up everything I don't like about Peter Jackson - a guy who's great at coming up with new VFX tools but is completely bereft of either the aesthetic taste or sound judgment needed to use them.

The problem I had with the video is that the short film shown in advance of the song being released was quite sensitively done. In contrast, the song video through in footage for far and wide without discrimination in a blatant nostalgia fest. I think there was an opportunity to so something reflecting the "now and then" - maybe just contrasting the 1995 and 2023 sessions - with maybe a subtle reference to John in 1979.

And I don't know why they kept repeating the same clip of George smiling from the 1995 sessions. Was he scowling throughout the rest of the reported 14 hours filmed and there was no other footage?

Was he scowling throughout the rest of the reported 14 hours filmed and there was no other footage?

But it stands in stark contrast to the absolutely beautiful and moving “Here Comes the Sun” video they released a few years ago.

― Sam Weller, Friday, November 3, 2023 3:23 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is such a good & funny comparison. the "Sun" video is a perfect example of how less is more with an institution like the beatles, where the audience is inevitably going to be bringing a gigantic amount of memories, emotions and deep connections to the song, the band, the history, etc, and all thats needed is to create a space for the viewer to access that stuff and it can be a profound experience. whereas the "now & then" video does the exact opposite and seems to be in a frantic panic to be constantly reminding us that the Beatles were four fab lads who started in the cavern club then the world caught beatlemania and they wore sgt pepper suits and did let it be and oh yeah one of them died no wait two of them died and also yellow submarine was good and they had beards at one point etc etc. and its just like, dude, i'm choosing to watch the video, please trust me that i remember who the beatles are and why this is important ffs