LennonNYC (2010)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
If you want to learn about the life and career of John Lennon then you've got countless ways of doing so. There are countless books, interviews, documentaries and just about everything else out there and easily available. This most recent documentary takes a look at him from the time he moved to New York City until his death, which this documentary was marking the 30th anniversary of. The first portion of the film deals with Lennon's politics as he was treated with deportation and from here we see his break-up with Yoko Ono, which eventually led to an alcohol rage in Los Angeles. Then, the final portion of the film looks at his life with his new son Sean and eventually the Double Fantasy album. Once again, there are countless documentaries out there but this one here at least gives us a lot of outtake footage from his albums as well as plenty of nice and touching interviews. I think fans of Lennon are going to enjoy this because there's so much behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Double Fantasy to some audio clips of various things he did from benefit concerts to his cameo with Elton John at Madison Square Garden. The documentary does a very good job at showing how much Lennon did in this ten-year period, although I do think the stuff with the politics wasn't nearly as interesting as everything else. We get to hear about Lennon's depression from some of his solo albums doing poorly with critics and fans plus his unhappiness over the controversy surround "Woman in the Ni**er of the World." The stuff with Lennon pretty much going into the dumps while in Los Angeles was highly entertaining as was the final bits with him making what was suppose to be comeback album. The death of Lennon has probably been documented more than any other event in rock and roll history but it is told in a rather unique way here. I think documentaries like IMAGINE and THE U.S. VS JOHN LENNON were more entertaining overall but this one here is still a must see for all the outtakes that are featured plus we get nice interviews with Ono, Elton John and countless people who played on Lennon's final few records.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
If you want to learn about the life and career of John Lennon then you've got countless ways of doing so. There are countless books, interviews, documentaries and just about everything else out there and easily available. This most recent documentary takes a look at him from the time he moved to New York City until his death, which this documentary was marking the 30th anniversary of. The first portion of the film deals with Lennon's politics as he was treated with deportation and from here we see his break-up with Yoko Ono, which eventually led to an alcohol rage in Los Angeles. Then, the final portion of the film looks at his life with his new son Sean and eventually the Double Fantasy album. Once again, there are countless documentaries out there but this one here at least gives us a lot of outtake footage from his albums as well as plenty of nice and touching interviews. I think fans of Lennon are going to enjoy this because there's so much behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Double Fantasy to some audio clips of various things he did from benefit concerts to his cameo with Elton John at Madison Square Garden. The documentary does a very good job at showing how much Lennon did in this ten-year period, although I do think the stuff with the politics wasn't nearly as interesting as everything else. We get to hear about Lennon's depression from some of his solo albums doing poorly with critics and fans plus his unhappiness over the controversy surround "Woman in the Ni**er of the World." The stuff with Lennon pretty much going into the dumps while in Los Angeles was highly entertaining as was the final bits with him making what was suppose to be comeback album. The death of Lennon has probably been documented more than any other event in rock and roll history but it is told in a rather unique way here. I think documentaries like IMAGINE and THE U.S. VS JOHN LENNON were more entertaining overall but this one here is still a must see for all the outtakes that are featured plus we get nice interviews with Ono, Elton John and countless people who played on Lennon's final few records.