December 03, 2009.

John Lennon is a legend.

Rating: 4
I saw this movie and i must say i have mixed emotions.I thought seeing the interviews he made were interesting.There is something about this man that just made you listen.He felt very strongly about issues,and he wanted to voice an opinion.To see him speaking his mind all these years later,just makes you realize what a big loss to the world he has been.One thing i hate about seeing documentaries on him,is why do we always have to be reminded of his tragic death?I mean one minute he appears in an interview happy to get his citizenship,next thing you know you hear gunshots,and we get reminded of that awful day.It is something that sickens me ever so badly,and i always try to remember him for what he did in life.Another part i hate seeing is when those very stupid people were burning Beatle albums.Is there still anyone that believes Jesus would have done that?So he said a few things he shouldn't of said,in hindsight what difference does it make now?
But upon saying that there is some realy good footage,and most of it is enjoyable.

December 28, 2008.

Beatles US against John Lennon.

Rating: 5
My wife loves it. She is a long time Beatles fan and thought it was excellent

December 12, 2008.

US vs John Lennon.

Rating: 5
Product was shipped in timely manner and is as described. No problems with this transaction.

December 04, 2008.

Great Doc..

Rating: 5
So the thing that I enjoyed about this documentary is that it does not really rehash all of the stuff we already knew very well.

The movie pretty much starts at the break-up of the Beatles. It covers Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, and most of the seventies, and concludes with the assassination of John.

There is a brilliant interview with Gore Vidal who rips into past presidents very well.

I love it. This is a must have for John Lennon fans.

December 30, 2008.

In Defense of John Lennon Here.

Rating: 4
In a recent DVD review of A Tribute to John Lennon, a film that chronicled a concert held in New York City in early October, 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, I started the review with the following paragraph:

"I am here to rain on this tribute to the work of John Lennon in New York City in early October 2001 on two counts- musically and politically. As to the music. I make no bones about the fact that, as a product of the Generation of '68, I grew to adulthood with this music, however, in any choice between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, in my book the Stones win hands down. The same applies to comparisons to Lennon as an individual artist. John Lennon could write lyrics with the best of them, no question, but here is the real question- which song, for example, better expresses the sense of working class alienation and, more importantly, what to do about it- Lennon's Working Class Hero or The Stones' Street Fighting Man?'

I then went on to detail my militant leftist politics differences with Lennon's essentially pacific, almost childishly naïve politics. I stand by those remarks here. Nevertheless, as my headline indicates, in this documentary we are dealing with a different issue that traces the American government's (with who knows what other government's complicity) nefarious persecution of Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for their brand of radical political activities. In their efforts to avoid deportation all our sympathies are with the Lennons (as they would be for anyone in that situation, cultural icon or not). We do not have to agree on Lennon's "music is the revolution" ideas or anything else to know this simple fact- Against one Richard M. Nixon and his cohorts (as represented here by J. Edgar Hoover, various INS officials and, seemingly, G. Gordon Liddy) we are comrades in arms.

This somewhat choppily-segmented documentary that is moreover top heavy with `talking heads' nevertheless does a good job of presenting the progress of John Lennon from the moppet Beatle to somewhat angry working class youth to the Gandhi-like prophet to something like America's Public Enemy Number something as opposition to the Vietnam war escalated. And the American government reacted to Lennon, as it did to others, in its pathological fear of anything left of Billy Graham in the spiritual field (or any field for that matter). This film traces the illegal harassment of the Lennons and their co-workers, his forthright long drawn out legal fight with immigration authorities to avoid deportation and his vindication after several years with the award of permanent resident status.

Along the way we get a glimpse back at the various be-in activities conducted by the Lennons, their various attempts at making political connections with other well-known political radicals and their essential political retreat in the face of the American governmental onslaught over their visa status. Add in an all-star cast of those, mainly repentant, radicals on both sides of the Atlantic like Tariq Ali and John Sinclair and you indeed have a trip down memory lane. But here is the kicker- yes, remember John Lennon's visa fight- yes, remember when you take on the American state be ready for any madness, and I mean any madness and, no- do not for a minute believe `music is the revolution" or other notions presented here. That is the lesson we ultimately learn from this film.