Paul and Ringo have both issued statements on the death of the Maharishi. (Published 2/7/08)
Ringo's was issued Wednesday. It said,
"One of the wise men I met in my life was the Maharishi. I always was impressed by his joy and I truly believe he knows where he is going.
Peace & Love, Ringo."
Paul's was issued on Thursday. It read,
"I was asked for my thoughts on the passing yesterday of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and I can only say that whilst I am deeply saddened by his passing, my memories of him will only be joyful ones. He was a great man who worked tirelessly for the people of the world and the cause of unity. I will never forget the dedication that he wrote inside a book he once gave me, which read; 'radiate, bliss, consciousness' and that to me says it all. I will miss him but will always think of him with a smile."
"The Lennon Report" opens Oct. 7, two days before what would have been the former Beatle's 76th birthday.
said producer Gabriel Francisco. “The film follows the surgical effort to save John’s life,” Profe adds. “You never see the shooting, but you see the aftermath as the police arrive. And it goes from there, to the hospital to the confusion of not knowing who this victim is, which I think is such an important part. He didn’t arrive as John Lennon. He arrived as John Doe. And these surgeons and nurses scrambled to save his life the same as they would anyone else. And then there is this phenomenal stranger-than-fiction story of Alan Weiss, this journalist, having been in a motorcycle accident that evening and he just happened to be there to break the story, the biggest story of the year.” Beatles fans, who may fear that the film gives Lennon’s killer more celebrity attention may be relieved to know his name gets no mention in the film. “We really, really did not want to be a party to lending any more celebrity or credibility to a shooter,” Profe said. “We shouldn’t be helping people to market themselves through violence. So we were not going to be part of that.” The filmmakers say they also had to be careful to how to film the scenes in the operating room. “We didn’t want a gore film,” said producer Rafael Francisco. “We had to find a very delicate balance between visually letting people understand what’s involved in a shooting and trying to make sure it didn’t become the John Lennon gore film and hitting that balance in the surgery,” said Profe. But the script initially written for the film underwent a massive rewrite as the film’s team learned that much of what was thought to be the story of what happened in the hospital was not what really took place at all after talking to some of the personnel present. Profe said they wanted the script to be accurate. “We didn’t make a film about what didn’t happen in the room. It’s about what did happen in the room. The reason we came forward with the story was because in order for the truth to have any weight or credibility, people really needed to understand what happened.” One of the biggest revelations of the film is that Dr. David Halleran (played by Evan Jonigkeit), not Dr. Stephan Lynn (Richard Kind), performed the surgery on Lennon that night. Stephan Spinella plays Dr. Marks, who worked alongside Halleran. One of the nurses who was in the the operating room that night, Barbara Kammerer, told Billboard, “They showed us the script basically that had no relevance to anything that occurred that night. And as we were speaking with them and bringing up certain things, they were looking at us as if we truly did not know what we were talking about. And they didn’t. And their version and our version was so grossly different it was almost a rewrite. I think Jeremy got more gray hair when more and more and more of the truth started coming out.” “And then we gave up Dr. David Halleran as the doctor that actually performed the surgery,” Deatra Sarto, another of the nurses, said. Stef Dawson and Ashley Atkinson play Kammerer and Sarto in the film.
Sarto explained the nurses originally had no idea it was Lennon when he was brought into the operating room. “He made no sounds,” Kammerer said. “He was basically D.O.A.,” said Sarto. “And we worked on him like we work on everybody. Young gentleman, multiple gunshot wounds. You don’t look at anybody’s face when they’re like that. You address the wound.” Lennon’s identity was finally confirmed after searching his pockets. Sarto says among the items found was Lennon’s green card and other pieces of I.D. “Dr. Halleran has (also) reported there was a roll of undeveloped film, a picture of Yoko, Sean and John in front of a white Rolls-Royce and his American Express card,” Kammerer said. The nurses said Yoko Ono (played In the film by Karen Tsen Lee) came in with the police and was escorted to a room so she would have some privacy. Another story refuted in the movie is that Yoko Ono banged her head against a concrete floor that night. The two nurses say that didn’t happen.
“The floor, to begin with, wasn’t cement,” said Sarto. “And Stephan (Lynn) was not in the room long enough to observe anything at all. We walked into together and she said, ‘Please tell me he’s OK.’ And Stephan said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that.’ And he turned around and walked out. The doctor, who’s taking credit for everything never even spent 60 seconds with her. He just announced he was dead and he left the room.” Ono, in response to an interview done by Fox News’ Howard Kurtz about the new revelations contained in the film, said her priority was to get home to her son Sean. Profe said he is very much aware that Beatles fans are concerned about how the film portrays Lennon and the incidents of that tragic night. “This is the best effort we could possibly make to tackle this subject respectfully to the family, to the fans, respectfully to the people involved,” he said. “And I think we’ve hit that chord.”
"The Beach Boys and the Satan" (Region 1 DVD). (Published 11/4/2008) Also available through Amazon.co.uk, but only in Region 1 format: This oddball German documentary is as disjointed as its name implies. Roughly the first 45 minutes is a fairly straight Beach Boys documentary with a fairly comprehensive retelling of the Beach Boys story from the German Pop Annual TV series. It's augmented by lots of old film clips, some rare, some coming from "The Beach Boys: An American Band" and "I Guess I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" documentaries. Paul McCartney does appear in the disc in clips from "American Band" (the party scene with him and Linda), plus Brian Wilson discusses how "Rubber Soul" influenced "Pet Sounds." Offering thoughts on the Beach Boys career are Don Was, Kim Fowley, Greg Shaw (of the great Bomp! magazine) and Brian Wilson himself. When the documentary starts discussing Charles Manson, though, the film turns away from the Beach Boys almost entirely. Adding to the strangeness is the use all the way through of German subtitles you can't turn off. The disc also has no scene breaks or extra features. Given the fact, though, that most of the Beach Boys documentaries were done by the band themselves with their spin, it's nice to see the band get a fresh look. And the disc includes enough vintage Beach Boys clips to please any fan. Still, though, this is one strange trip.
