Across The Universe sucked. Romance And Cigarettes: MASTERPIECE!
A.T.U. reeked of desperation. A bunch of wannabes trying to cash in on Beatles nostaglia; couldn't even finish watching it. Just wanted to slap the main characters & the totally pointless-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-'plot'-musical-numbers were like watching a film school graduate try to justify spending their parents' money. It was well shot but felt like a contrived history lesson.
Romance & Cigarettes is my kind of musical. Dirty, weird, & totally under-rated. This has cult hit written all over it. I love the perfectly cast ensemble & the choice to make it a sing along musical was awesome. A working class musical original. A.T.U. was a weak attempt at covering classic Beatles tunes which just made me wanna hear the real deal instead of seeing/listening to a lame 're-imagining' of classic Beatles songs. Made by wannabes; for wannabes. I can't stand how people love A.T.U. without even being able to explain why: 'I love the Beatles, so I thought the movie was cool'. WRONG! You love the Beatles so the movie felt free to violate everyting you hold dear about them & make a totally hollow attempt at regurgitaing the past.
Turturro is the man! Keep up the good work dude; no one f*-ks with the Jesus! The Coen bros. exe. produced & it shows. Gleefully politically incorrect & totally whacked out; I loved it!
Worth seeing just for Kate Winslet's turn as an unabashedly dirty girl (complete with glorious bouncing cleavage & bordeline porn star dialouge) & Christopher Walken singing into a bloody knife while dancing/trying to shank a bunch of cops is f*-king priceless!
Not suitable for mass consumption; but the masses need to be gassed anyways. Leave this awesome oddity for the real fans of risk taking cinema & watch it become a classic. If you don't like it, you're hopeless; go watch Chicago & play it safe with cookie cutter like boredom.