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Photo courtesy Disney+

Photo courtesy Pablo Larrain

Photo courtesy Prime Video

Our City Tonight

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 1:04 PST, Fri December 6, 2024

Spotlight on great views from classic The 20th Century and a recent scandal

THE VIEW #1 – Beatles ’64

There are moments in history that will always be timeless – and if you were there to witness those moments, you’ll always remember where you were when it happened. Case in point, a certain night in February 1964 when four lads from Liverpool performed on The Ed Sullivan Show – music has never been the same since. Now comes Beatles ’64, a new documentary about those four lads from producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi, that examines The Beatles first arrival in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964 to unprecedented excitement (aka screaming teenagers). Their performance on Sullivan was viewed by 73 million TV viewers and from there, they never looked back. Hard to believe producers are still finding never-before-seen footage of The Beatles, but this film manages to accomplish that, capturing more behind the scenes moments away from the spotlight of the iconic musicians. Along with Scorsese, the documentary is also produced by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison (widow of George), and John’s son, Sean Lennon. Beatles ’64 is now available for home viewing on Disney+.

THE VIEW #2 – Maria

Maria Callas was one of the greatest musical talents of the last century, a giant in the operatic world, who dazzled fans on and off the stage. Now comes a long-overdue bio film called Maria, starring Oscar winner, Angelina Jolie, in the title role. The film focuses on the latter part of her life in Paris after she has retreated from a glamourous and tumultuous life in the public eye (which included a decade long affair with Aristotle Onassis before he married former First Lady, Jackie Kennedy). Director, Pablo Larrain, has created a beautiful film in Maria, the last of his trilogy on important 20th century women, which includes 2016’s Jackie, and 2021’s Spencer. As for Jolie, she shines as the Greek-American opera icon, trying to come to terms with her life when, as she says, “there is no life away from the stage.” If you missed Maria in theatres in late November, it is streaming on MUBI starting December 11.

THE VIEW #3 – Mr. Bates vs The Post Office

Simply put, it was one of the greatest miscarriages in British legal history. Hundreds of citizens, who managed Post Offices all over Britain, were falsely accused of theft and fraud. The British government (who own the Post Offices) based their accusations on a faulty computer program that monitored the financial matters for each branch. This disgraceful incident destroyed lives, marriages and reputations. But one man – Mr. Alan Bates – a branch manager, knowing he had done nothing wrong, decided to fight back. Over a long period of time he was able to gather other falsely accused citizens to stand up to the government. Despite bits and pieces of success (with the government never admitting a wrong-doing), it flew mostly under the radar with the public until these 4 episodes of Mr. Bates vs The Post Office debuted on British television earlier this year and caused a media firestorm and massive citizen outrage. Actor Toby Jones leads a superb cast that includes Monica Dolan and Julie Hesmondhalgh. It’s available for home viewing on Prime Video Channel.