Yesterday

[Mudd]

This film really annoyed me. The crux of a What if? story is that the new universe must be manifestly different.

Nope. This isn't that, and those aren't the "rules."

It's manifestly an old and common writer's fantasy: what if someone could go back in time, or something, and "become Hemingway? (please, Gentle Reader, feel free to substitute a writer or musician you prefer, rather than sharing your criticisms of Hemingway with me. Life's too short)."

John Gardner did this one at least once, back in the 70s. Strictly within the sf genre there's the short story "Doing Lennon," by Gregory Benford.

There are always untoward and sometimes catastrophic consequences, because of course the protagonist's success is built upon fraud. But the focus is not on some "alternate history" bombast, but on the motivations and morals and eventual comeuppance of the imposter.

 

[Starkers]

I think there is something of a difference between the trope of "Oh no I've travelled back in time and discovered Shakespeare didn't exist so I'll have to become Shakespeare" or the notion of impersonating an existing person (as in 'Doing Lennon') and a scenario where something major didn't happen and you're the only person who remembers the real timeline. In the first two scenarios history doesn't really change, in the third it does.

I am self aware enough to know I've let this film annoy me way more than is healthy and to be honest digging back to my review at the time I clearly didn't hate it. I wasn't expecting a forensic, hard sci-fi film but even some minor attempt to show the world as different because of the lack of the Beatles (and don't get me started on coke and cigarettes etc) would have allowed me to turn my brain off and enjoy the film a little more.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It’s a major philosophical dispute whether history is drastically changed by the pivotal actions of special individuals or whether there is a “Tide of history” that would get roughly the same place no matter what and the pivotal individuals are just our preferred narrative.

 

[marillion]

And don't get me started on the lead's rise to stardom. It isn't just about the music, it's about four handsome lads from Liverpool appearing at just the right time, to imagine a geeky looking guy in 2021 could get superstardom stretches credulity to breaking point.

Fair points, but how does that explain Ed Sheeran?

I'll show myself out.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It does kind of make you wonder whether the whole British Invasion would have happened, or if some other popular British act were to have ignited it, such as The Kinks. Another question that it brings up is whether another country's musical influence would have ignited a similar invasion to British soil or otherwise in the place of the Beatles.

 

[marillion]

On the subject of the Beatles... I just watched Peter Jackson's "Get Back" and boy, is that a deep dive. I liked how it was just the footage (beautifully restored/remastered/reworked). You really get the "fly on the wall" feeling, watching the band work through songs, argue, goof off, etc. I would not recommend this to casual fans or people with short attention spans. There are lots of just throw away shots of people dozing off, navel staring and smoking. LOTS of smoking.

I really came away from it with a different impression of Paul. He was all about the business of the industry. I've kinda always known that, but now I really got to see it.

All in all, I really enjoyed it.

 

[Skipper]

Just for the sake of completeness, for whatever reason in this alternate universe there were these differences too:

1. Oasis doesn't exist
2. Coca-Cola doesn't exist
3. Cigarettes doesn't exist (and here for me it's really difficult to believe that a wold without cigarettes would be so similar to ours)
   
4. Harry Potter doesn't exists
   

 

[Owain Taggart]

Cigarettes doesn't exist (and here for me it's really difficult to believe that a wold without cigarettes would be so similar to ours)

Yeah, that one I don't understand. It doesn't make sense given cigarettes predate the Beatles by at least a century, if not even earlier.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yeah, that one I don't understand. It doesn't make sense given cigarettes predate the Beatles by at least a century, if not even earlier.

I don’t think that universe was created by the absence of the Beatles. It seems to have an earlier divergence.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Yeah, that one I don't understand. It doesn't make sense given cigarettes predate the Beatles by at least a century, if not even earlier.

It was just a joke. It's a light romantic film with a fun/unique gimmick. Not intended to be scrutinized for the science.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh ok Have to say that kind of threw me.

 

[Skipper]

My personal theory about the film. Everything that happens after the accident to the protagonist is simply a hallucination of him while he is in a coma. This explains why the world, friends etc etc are practically the same as before (except for the Beatles and other differences). It's all a dream of him where his desires to become famous as his idols materialize. The other differences like the absence of Coke or cigarettes are just symptoms of his brain that is slowly dying.

 

[Aragorn]

There's an alternate ending where Ellie brings up Harry Potter and Jack has no idea who that is.

 

[Skipper]

Ana de Armas: Judge throws out legal action over Yesterday film trailer

A US judge has dismissed legal action brought by fans of Ana de Armas after the actress was edited out of a film despite appearing in the trailer.

The Knives Out star featured in the trailer for 2019's Yesterday, a film Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza said they paid $3.99 (£3.16) to rent.

But when they found de Armas did not feature, they accused Universal Pictures of false advertising.

A judge rejected their case, calling their actions "self-inflicted".

Danny Boyle's Beatles-themed film starred Himesh Patel, Lily James and Ed Sheeran, and took $155m (£122m) at the global box office.

A trailer put out months before the film's release featured scenes showing Patel's character appearing to flirt with de Armas's character on a talk show.

Screenwriter Richard Curtis explained that the actress was cut because test audiences did not like the idea of Patel's character straying from his primary love interest, played by James.

In 2019, he said it had been a "very traumatic cut" because de Armas was "brilliant" in the role.

But her absence led Mr Woulfe and Mr Rosza to claim they were "deceived" by Universal Pictures, saying they would not have rented the movie had they known de Armas would not appear.

(continue on the link)

 

[Snaploud]

The soundtrack is fantastic. The movie could gave been better, but it's worth it for the music scenes alone.

 

[Forbin]

Well hell, if Ana's out, so am I!

 

[Sci]

I really liked the movie, though I have to admit that I don't buy for one second that any straight man on this planet would be so oblivious to Lily James having feelings for him.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The movie should have been called "Scrambled Eggs". I believe Paul McCartney didn't know where the tune came from - he was worried that he'd accidentally plagiarised it.

 

[marillion]

I really liked the movie, though I have to admit that I don't buy for one second that any straight man on this planet would be so oblivious to Lily James having feelings for him.

I get your point about that, but I actually had a similar thing happen to me in high school. I had a very good friend. We did a lot of stuff together, strictly on a platonic level. She was my best friend and while I was attracted to her, I never had the confidence to make a "move." I felt she was out of my league on a romantic level.

She went away for college and while we stayed in touch it never went further. Then, one summer, my girlfriend broke up with me. My friend was back in town and we went out. I had a bit too much to drink and told her how I had felt. Turned out that she had felt the same way all along. But by then it was too late. She was in a serious relationship and had moved on. It's one of my big regrets.

Was for the best really.. I met my eventual wife and my friend ended up realizing she was a lesbian, so it all worked out. Add to that, we're still good friends and my wife has nothing to worry about.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I get your point about that, but I actually had a similar thing happen to me in high school. I had a very good friend. We did a lot of stuff together, strictly on a platonic level. She was my best friend and while I was attracted to her, I never had the confidence to make a "move." I felt she was out of my league on a romantic level.

Something similar happened to me in high-school too. We'd spent a great summer at summer school, ie camping, canoeing, and other activities such as horseback riding. I'd felt that there was... something. A few months later, maybe September, I was passed a note with a message, the name of a girl and a phone number.

Although, I never called. I'd had a lot of bullying in my school years, including obscene prank calls, so my confidence and self-esteem were rather low, and I was worried it might be another prank. Also, while the note included a name, I didn't make the connection until years later that it was the girl in question as I never ended up learning her name that summer. It's one of my regrets that I hadn't made a move, and had things been different back then, I would have definitely made contact.