The Beatles: Eight Days a Week—The Touring Years
— Ron Howard’s baby boomer bit of nostalgia uses footage and interviews to document The Beatles' 250 concerts between 1963 and 1966. I found myself in a theater where before film chitchat was about remembering The Beatles’ first appearance on Ed Sullivan or seeing one of their concerts live. I liked the film and had fun, but it would have been hard to displease an audience that was itching to fondly remember a remarkable time in music. Luckily Ron Howard loves the fab four too (I learned a new word that could describe Howard as a result: “hagiographic”), and he did a good job not just of including plenty of music, but of giving us a feel for their hectic touring schedule. They really were paving new ground as the crowds exceeded anything seen before during pretty turbulent times in the U.S. Of course, this was done with everyone’s cooperation and encouragement, and Howard’s version is definitely a clean, lovable, boy band story. The “more popular than Jesus” incident and one mention of marijuana are about the only smudges on their characters; they’re depicted as sharp, talented, and pure. In theaters, after the film’s credits, the 30-minute Shea Stadium concert (8/15/1965) is shown—it’s a 4K restoration from the original 35mm film with sound remastering done at Abbey Road Studios. It is also worth noting that the film premiered theatrically in a somewhat unlikely group of theaters and was made available the next day for streaming on Hulu. Traditionally most theaters won’t show films that open simultaneously in theaters and on VOD, so releasing a film by a director of Ron Howard’s stature in this manner may be a harbinger. It's also showing in enough theaters so it can be eligible for awards!
