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17 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Fame, fortune and it all goes horribly wrong, 29 October 2008 Author: marcelproust from London, England
Saw this last night at the LFF, and while it does betray its stagey origins from time to time, there is much to enjoy in this biopic of Joe Meek, legendary music producer and nutcase. The film doesn't shy away from the murkier aspects of this mercurial character's life - the drugs, the rent boys, the cottaging, the verbal and physical abuse meted out to all and sundry - but Meek does emerge as something of a sympathetic character. I guess that's why so many people put up with him - there must have been something charming about him.Good performances - including a pointless cameo from Kevin Spacey as Meek's financial backer, the appropriately named Major Banks. Standouts include the young actors playing Heinz and Patrick, the latter being a general factotum-cum-boyfriend who is one of the few people loyal to the last.Nick Moran should be commended for bringing this quirky, sometime shocking story to the screen - whether it will find an audience beyond 60s music fans or those with a morbid curiosity for stories of pop scandals will remain to be seen.Incidentally, I live in Islington and walked home past 304 Holloway Road, where almost the whole film takes place. It did send shivers down my spine.
19 out of 25 people found the following review useful: The Best British Film in Years, 25 November 2008 Author: RobertFarrelly from United Kingdom
To be honest I only popped into see this at the LFF screening because it had Kevin Spacey in it and that bloke from Gavin and Stacey. I had no idea who Joe Meek was and couldn't sing one of his songs if you paid me. My expectations were low but I thought what the hell and settled into my seat. The first thing that struck me was the style of the piece, Nick Moran has captured the era beautifully, it looks incredible. The performances, to a man, are wonderfully heightened and there is an incredible energy to the piece. I laughed a lot and totally bought into the madness of the Holloway Road studio and its inhabitants. The second half of the film punches you right in the gut. Meeks descent from manic,comedic,volatile, music genius, to heart broken, paranoid, physco is painfully moving. Con O'Neill is amazing, it's one of those performances that just haunts you. Staying with you long after the credits role. I sat in the cinema with the rest of the spellbound audience and watched gobsmaked as Morans film launched into its final heart wrenching act. This is a British film to be proud of. Unlike anything we have seen for many, many years. A truly remarkable debut from Moran. Great stuff.
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Good if flawed slice of early 60s Britpop, 23 June 2009 Author: cbak2005 from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I had been waiting for this film for over a year, as I have long been fascinated by Joe Meek, and largely I wasn't disappointed. This certainly showed how Meek made life hell for those around him, especially the hapless and loyal Geoff Goddard.The standout performances were by James Corden as Clem Cattini and Ralf Little as Chas Hodges. Tom Burke shows a painfully shy Geoff Goddard suppressing unrequited love for Meek, who was more infatuated with Heinz.There are some laugh out loud moments and in jokes. When Meek is told of a telephone call from Brian Epstein about the Beatles he responds "Yeah Yeah Yeah". Chas Hodges himself has a cameo as a neighbour complaining about the noise, and Jess Conrad joins Hodges as being in the film (as Larry Parnes) and portrayed (be ex-EastEnders actor Nigel Harman). A further subtle moment refer to a boy called Tom who had come all the way from Wales. Did everyone realise that this was Tom Jones? Justin Hawkins also has an amusing time as Screaming Lord Sutch, although it's just as well he isn't given much to say.The film also scores well at the end in showing photos of the real people alongside their film portrayals.Heinz Burt's family are upset over what the Press in Southampton are calling a "gay slur". This is sad. If his relationship with Meek is inaccurately portrayed it is hardly derogatory. The family should be more distressed that Heinz is portrayed as a buffoon by JJ Feild.The film has a few failings. It hints at Meek's earlier life, but starts with Goddard's arrival in Holloway Road. I wanted to know how Meek came to that place, his RAF background, and more about how he created that amazing sound (there have been rumours that the ending of Telstar was the sound of a toilet being flushed, played backwards). Con O'Neil's performance as Meek varies from riveting to at times quite hammy, as in his mostly oily treatment of Mrs Shenton (Pam Ferris). Kevin Spacey's casting as a pompous army officer type business partner was unnecessary, but aimed at the US market (I don't think the US will be interested at all). The film also plays fast and loose with the ending. Patrick Pink has said that he was downstairs during the fateful moments on 3 February.*******SPOILER*******The film is kind to Meek in showing him accidentally shooting Mrs Shenton (unlikely given Patrick's account), but has Patrick Pink witnessing Meek's suicide, which is not consistent with his own account.Worthwhile, though, as a snapshot of the pre-Beatles pop scene.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: A Good Enough Film, 10 October 2009 Author: grahambuckerfield from United Kingdom
I do know something about the mad genius that was Joe Meek. Enough to know that putting his turbulent life into one film is not easy, others have questioned why other formative elements of his life was missed out, if a film is good enough though, surely it will engage those who have seen and enjoyed it to look into it further, using the medium we are now, the internet?Con O'Neill is excellent as the troubled Meek, he has to dominate the film and this he does. While it's true that others in the story were sometimes rather younger than the actors playing them, remember back in this period, the 'teenager' as we now understand it, was only starting to emerge, young people then still often looked, acted, dressed older.They usually left school at 14-15, at around 18 (like Meek) many had to do military service, hand me down clothes from parents were common. All this was changing, as part of the social changes sign posted by the music, which Meek played a part in but, as shown by his dismissal of The Beatles he was doomed not to recognise fully and play a further part in.Meek was the British Phil Spector. But he, as the film well shows, did not enjoy the financial rewards of hits, but both were innovative, reclusive, obsessive and dangerous around firearms. (Given just how many times Spector drew guns on some of the most famous music stars, as well as lovers, business associates, was anyone really surprised at the tragic events at Spector's home in 2003, I certainly thought 'he's finally done it'.)Most music or music based biopics fail as films, while 'Telstar' is not up there with the stunning exception that is Ian Curtis biopic 'Control', it's way better than 'Great Balls Of Fire'.I was certainly kept engaged by this film.
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Not so meek and mild., 20 June 2009 Author: chrismartonuk-1 from United Kingdom
At last! Nick Moran's labour of love finally reaches the big screen and it's well worth the wait. It's basically the stage play transferred to the screen but, considering how claustrophobic Joe's life at 304 Holloway Road was, it's no bad thing. When he ventures outside into a pre-summer of love 60's London, the culture clash between his dated be-suited appearance and the bright colours of the kids speaks volumes as to what an anachronism he's become. All the regular support cast in the Joe Meek story are present and correct. Kevin Spacey is the tragically unheeded voice of reason as business partner Major Wilfred Banks. Far from being an insensitive hard-headed businessman, he gave Joe the finances to indulge his talent but found, as Dennis Preston had done before, that Joe was an ungrateful employee. Banks role has been expanded to incorporate Spacey and give him more screen time and - apart from the odd lapse - his British tones are maintained throughout.Con O'Neill must surely be up for a BAFTA. He truly inhabits the part and one can only hope it doesn't have an adverse mental effect in the long run a la Heath Ledger. One telling scene has Meek at his lowest ebb as the Beatles - whom he could have signed - receive their MBE's on a TV in the background. J J Field is the unworthy object of his affections as Golden Boy Heinz. His part is also expanded from the play as we see him grappling with Jess Conrad backstage and witness his unbelievable arrogance to his backing band. Actually, Heinz got on well with his support band in spite of their low opinion of his musical abilities. Of the rest of the cast, Pam Ferris provides sympathy for the luckless Mrs Shenton who cheerfully fails to grasp the increasingly dangerous madhouse she has given shelter to. Still, I can't imagine her family members sitting through her violent end - which is depicted as more of an accident than on stage. The actor playing Ritchie Blackmore could have provided a Brummie accent as the stage version did. But these are minor quibbles. Nick Moran and Simon Jordan deserve credit for getting this on screen. In wake of Phil Spector's recent conviction, it is more timely than ever.
8 out of 14 people found the following review useful: If this is the best British film of the decade we're in trouble., 18 June 2009 Author: matmoss-1 from United Kingdom
I am not a terribly critical cinema-goer. I am, however, quite possessive of my free time and TELSTAR has robbed me of 2 precious hours.My interest in Joe Meek began last autumn when I was taken to a documentary on the same character at the Raindance Film Festival. I believe it was called A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK (an intriguing title). At the time, I had no previous knowledge of or even interest in Joe Meek or his music. In fact, I was actually dreading going! This was compounded by an interminable delay once we arrived on the queue. We waited nearly an hour for the film to begin! I mention this only as background, adding that once it was over, I regretted that I couldn't see it immediately again. It was informative (especially to someone relatively ignorant about the people, era and milieu under examination), hilarious, cogent, briskly paced, deeply emotional, inspirational and utterly engrossing. All this from what was introduced by the two young American filmmakers as a work in progress. I reiterate: a film that was complete, though not finished to their satisfaction as of the date of the screening. I am not one with a natural interest in documentaries in general (this was my first such experience in a theatre), but the filmmakers grasp of their cast and subject and sheer storytelling skill made me forget my conscious surroundings for the afternoon; and, as I mentioned, we had been standing on line for an hour previous. I was more than impressed, I had been CONVERTED. I now have an active interest in Joe Meek and his work and was eagerly awaiting the narrative telling of his story, which is the film in direct question: Nick Moran's TELSTAR.Let me begin: Telstar is apparently based on a West End produced play from a few years ago by Mr. Moran, an actor by trade (I knew him from the enjoyable LOCK,STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS from a decade back). I can't speak for the quality of writing, directing or acting in that production. I didn't know about it when it ran. The film version, however, I did see. And words cannot express the disappointment and disgust that I felt all throughout the viewing. The first few minutes were promising as the style tried to emulate mod films of the sixties like TO SIR WITH LOVE or UP THE JUNCTION. However, I couldn't help noticing a strong (coincidental? perhaps not...) stylistic similarity with the documentary (similar title lettering and inter-titles), but perhaps the immediately abrasive and alienating performance of Con O'Neil as Joe and the dramatically revisionist or outright inaccurate recreation of historic events and characters had me pining for the doc again. To worsen the effect even further was the mean spirited depiction of Joe by Moran. It often seemed that Joe's career was considered a joke or his superior recording ability (he was, after all, the most in demand and influential studio engineer in the 1950's here in the UK, a time littered with many formidable talents in the field) was noting but a haphazard fluke (illustrated with too many moments of Joe idiotically twisting knobs in the control booth, hoping for some of his "magic" to appear). This is insultingly condescending, again, especially in comparison to the vast testimony on display in the documentary, even from those who apparently were not that fond of the man on a personal level. My head was shaking "no" so frequently during the viewing, I could have well been mistaken for having a neuromuscular disorder! Another crucial flaw in the presentation was the supporting cast. Rather than cast boys between the ages of 15 and 17 (which was the correct age of most of the young musicians recording for Joe during his time as an independent record producer), everyone seems to be pushing 30! Imagine what Moran would do to OLIVER! Would he cast John Statham as the Artful Dodger? David Beckham as Oliver? Such toying with the ages of these lads dramatically shifts the audiences perception of WHY his musicians looked at him with such ridicule. But, according to much testimony in the documentary (it rears it's pretty head again and again), many of these young men actually seemed to like working with him due to the creative opportunities he gave them not available at more rigid studios. It was also frequently stated that Joe was not that abrasive (as depicted in TELSTAR) but that he had short, motivated period of hysterics and outburst. Another rather bizarre depiction is that he only had one band recording for him, here shown as the house band The Tornadoes. In actuality, he had many bands with many dramatically different sounds and styles; some that he created and some that recorded for him after the auditioning process. My question will always be: How did 2 young American filmmakers achieve so much accuracy, humanity and inspiration in 2 hours and Moran, a British native fail so grandly on all accounts in the exact same amount of time? In all, I found TELSTAR (the title is NOT intriguing, despite its, here, underdeveloped significance) to be a depressing, mean spirited, disrespectful, near-condemnation of someone who should rightfully be held up as one of England's few true human national treasures, despite his all too human flaws.Badly paced. Poorly written. Incoherently structured. Frustratingly inaccurate. Depressingly judgemental.If you are looking for a completely dispiriting evening at the cinema you've come to the right place.
18 out of 34 people found the following review useful: Hellstar, 14 May 2009 Author: Ali_Catterall from London, England
Telstar takes its name from the galaxy-conquering instrumental composed by maverick pop producer Joe Meek and performed by his in-house band The Tornadoes - the first British group to have a US Number 1. One listen to 'Telstar' should confirm the obvious. It is the product of a sick mind. It sounds like a sharpened Stylophone being dragged across the teeth. A death trap of a fairground ride, whirling murderously out of control. A rictus-grinning glassy-eyed zombie of a hit, which absolutely will not stop, ever. It's Margaret Thatcher's favourite tune.Appropriately, 'Telstar's' tone-deaf creator made Phil Spector or Factory's Martin Hannett look the very zenith of psychological fitness. This former RAF radar operator and electronics genius's revolutionary approach to studio engineering saw him transform his flat above a leather goods shop in North London's Holloway Road into an unlikely hit factory. A spaghetti junction of wiring and knobs and mysterious electronic devices, giving rise to striking sounding records, drenched with echo, reverb, 'compression' and God knows what else; a very English, kitchen sink approach to hit making.But Meek's tale is tragic. The hits dried up; the biggie, 'Telstar', Joe's tribute to the first communication satellite, had its royalties frozen in a drawn-out plagiarism case; he was arrested for cottaging, then implicated in the murder of a rent boy found dismembered in a suitcase. Already nuttier than a crate of cashews, he sunk further into speed-freaked, pill popping paranoia and alleged Satanism, before shooting his landlady, then himself, with a shotgun on February 3 1967, the eighth anniversary of his hero Buddy Holly's death.With raw ingredients like that, you'd have to try quite hard to serve up a dull Joe Meek biopic. Or be an actor-turned-director with a self-penned script and a cast that resembles what might tumble out if you shook an issue of 'Heat' magazine upside down."It's not supposed to be like this!" protests the doomed Meek (Con O'Neill) as the gears of his life grind to a halt, and you can't help but agree. There's really no polite way of putting this: Telstar is an embarrassing farrago, an amateurish, incoherent pantomime of a piece, stuffed with interchangeable characters, a sketchy, largely unsympathetic leading role, and - betraying its stage play origins - unspeakably stilted dialogue. Pity the lucked-out actor forced to spout utter toss like: "With his gadgets and witchcraft he's a proper facking Nostradamus!" Well, cor blimey Guvnah, 'ee's in a right two and eight and no mistake! James Corden (playing Tornadoes drummer Clem Cattini) is rapidly becoming the one-stop shop for charmless farts who swear a lot and are fat. While Ralf Little (playing a young Chas Hodges, of Chas & Dave fame) should have a bit of a think about getting a new agent round about yesterday. Tom Burke as Meek's weird songwriter-cum-spiritualist Geoff Goddard is probably the best thing here, save for Kevin Spacey as Meeks' financial backer, the fittingly-named Major Banks who shames the lot of them every time he appears in his ginger walnut whip of a hairpiece.There's the nagging suspicion that big, important lumps of this film have been left in the edit and, at times, it's tricky to work out what the heck is going on. We're never properly introduced to Meek so never develop any empathy for him. We're shown nothing of his strange childhood (his mum dressed him as a girl); how he first secretly stamped his sonic style on Frankie Laine's classic 'Green Door' - or even how he came to be at No. 304 Holloway Road in the first place.The composing and realization of mega-hit 'Telstar', harking back to the guitar instrumentals of the 1950s, while anticipating the garage pop of the 1960s and the trash aesthetic of the 1970s, should have been the movie's big beating heart - it's the film's title after all - but is also afforded scant dramatic weight. Instead, every other scene seems to feature Meek angrily kicking someone downstairs or flashes forward to his breakdown, diluting the tension by increments.The whole sorry saga is told much better in BBC2's excellent 1991 Arena documentary 'The Strange Story Of Joe Meek'. Fifty minutes shorter than Telstar, it also includes an audio recording of Joe in a graveyard in the dead of night talking to a cat that has a human voice. Well, we say human voice. It's much more like a miaowing kind of voice. It's just that every time it miaows, Joe has transcribed it as saying "Help me."Yet Telstar does boast one powerful scene near the end, as bailiffs gatecrash the flat and lever off the boards that the screaming-mad Meek has nailed to the windows. As light pours in for the first time in months, Joe writhes to the ground like the vampire he's become, a seedy bloodsucker whose self-destructive streak took more than a few down with him. All involved in Telstar might like to reflect on this next time they sign up for another vanity project.
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Telsar falls down..., 23 October 2009 Author: jc-osms from United Kingdom
I'm a little too young to appreciate Joe Meek's music and it seems to my ears that his music does seem nowadays as if it's from a museum, it sounds so fossilised....and yet, there's no denying the popularity of his rinky-dink pop music from the pre-Beatles era, even achieving the almost unique feat for a British "artist" (he'd have loved that soubriquet, no doubt) of having a number one in America with the irritatingly catchy "Telstar". I some time ago watched the BBC-TV "Arena" documentary on his life and times and my interest was piqued then at this most unusual man.Even if you didn't know Meek's life story, we pretty much get to know from the outset that Joe's final breakdown is going to end in tragedy, with the narrative frequently inserting scenes from his last day leading up to the tragic shooting of firstly his landlady (pretty much an accident, as it appears here), this giving him the final spur to almost immediately afterwards take his own life in equally violent fashion.The film unfolds from this downbeat start into a most entertaining first half as the story charts his rise to mini-Spector status, producing memorable number one hits for John Leyton, The Tornadoes and The Honeycombs. Into Joe's (no pun intended) orbit drift a motley selection of eccentric beat group personnel, with much bawdy humour to the fore. I especially enjoyed Kevin Spacey's spot-on upper-class English accent as Joe's eccentric business manager, military "crusty" Major Banks and there's also a fine turn by Tom Burke as Meek's nervous, sensitive indeed spiritualist in-house songwriter Geoff Goddard. I wasn't quite convinced that Con O'Neill really gave us Meek as he was, although there's no denying his conviction playing. As for the narrative structure, I felt that the the film failed to truly give Meek his due when he finally reached the top and believe his achievements deserved a bit more highlighting, before the round-the-corner Beatles-era of grittier bands with in-built songwriting teams with the flair and talent to display their own writing ingenuity and studio inventiveness, effectively consigned Meek to, quoting Chris Andrews' 1965 hit, a "yesterday man".The second half of the film I think, follows a little too much the fortunes of Meek's fellow-travellers, particularly the ridiculously one-dimensional "little-voice" that was Heinz Burt. Indeed Meek's character disappears from the screen it seems for some time before we're jolted back to the closing scenes and his final demise. His story is undoubtedly a tragic one (suppressed homosexual, thwarted talent, moody artist) but I didn't think the film quite got behind his character enough and thus failed to catch the full parabola of his eventful life.The recreation of the period is great though - from the swinging, jigsaw-style opening credits to the chaotic scenes in Meek's makeshift studio above his landlady's leather goods shop and good acting by almost all on board (helped by the main characters' physical similarity to their real life counterparts) and of course the reproduction of that so distinctive "Joe Meek sound" replete with plinky-plonk organ jungle-drums and loads of re-verb, often married to "death-disc" lyrics.An entertaining step-back-in-time then, if ultimately falling short in its attempt to do justice to the memory of a haunted but very talented and singularly individual pop maverick. To paraphrase Brian Wilson from a little later in the decade, I guess Joe just wasn't made for those times.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Stellar Performance from Con O'Neil, 1 December 2009 Author: technojazzbrother from United Kingdom
British films made by people like Richard Curtis (The Boat that Rocked et al) tend to look at the swinging 60's of London with heavily rose tinted spectacles. All pimms, waistcoats, flower power and crazy shenanigans. All very well but not much to do with reality - I thought Austin Powers would have killed that off in the 90's....which is why Nick Moran's directorial debut is such a breath of fresh air.For those that don't know the Joe Meek at the centre of this film - control freak, gay in the wrong decade, tone deaf drug addicted musical pioneer - get ready for a roller-coaster of a ride. Without wishing to spoil the arc of the story, this is a classic tale of a man with a vision breaking new ground...with disastrous consequences.Con O'Neil dominates this film with a superb manic performance which captures the claustrophobic and chaotic feel of the centre of Joe's universe, his recording studio above a handbag shop in central London in the early 60's. Ably supported by a host of good actors - in particular Kevin Spacey, Pam Ferris, and (even) James Cordon are all spot on. What looks like a cod-60's Curtis-esquire disaster for the first 20 minutes heads somewhere altogether darker once the action cranks up as Joe starts to get some no.1 hits in the charts.A must watch cautionary tale about fame, love, jealously, paranoia and music, this is a fine carachter piece with some excellent nuanced comedy amidst the darker elements, it's a really well executed debut from Mr Moran...enjoy.
5 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Who is Joe Meek?, 28 October 2008 Author: romatisse from United Kingdom
Am I the only one who had no idea why I was supposed to be watching this movie? Apparently not, since there was a bit of a commiserate grumble session with others in my row at last Saturday's BFI London Film Festival presentation of this very promisingly publicised film.Story is very disjointed and no apparent point of view in sight. Characters appear as if to drop some famous, or rather once famous, names only to disappear without a clue as to what their long standing importance to the story is. Extremely frustrating.American rocker Gene Vincent appears as a character for a few minutes. Why? Kevin Spacey appears as record producer Joe Meek's financial backer for a few minutes. Why? The song TELSTAR, which the film isnamed after, should represent an emotional peak for it's creator, no?Mr. Meek is shown here forcing his house band to record it with the exact same interest that he is shown recording every other song. So why is it so important that we need to witness a very dodgy CGI satellite soaring into the Heavens? Where is the emotional peak that this song(Margaret Thatcher's fave)should have for the main character of themovie? THE MOVIE IS NAMED TELSTAR FER CHRISSAKES! WHY? Joe is shown winning awards one minute, then completely discombobulates by the end where he is shown sitting in a Satanic circle (nude???)screaming Satanic names. WHY??? WHY WHY WHY??? Some dramatic elements were interesting. But I will leave it at that, because the film I witnessed didn't bother to place any incident in a context next to anything else. Perhaps it was a much, much longer film that was cut down? Production looked lavish one minute and cheap the next. The press brags about a £7,000,000 production budget. Spent on what, Kevin Spacey? Performanceswere fine, although Con O'Neill as Meek was as unsympathetic as you could get and really abrasive. The performance hurt many moments designed for the audience to care about the character's plight.Didn't really mind the idea of a shift in tone from the Howard Hawks-like first half to the darker, more downbeat conclusion. But with so much story disorganisation in-between, by the time Meek shoots his landlady and, graphically, blows his own head off, not only wasn't I prepared to understand how a man could arrive at such a moment, I didn't really care all that much.There were a few people in the theatre who contested us mightily about our opinion. They were self-confessed Joe Meek "fans". We didn't know who he was beyond the press we'd read. They seemed pleased, although one admitted to befuddlement due to some "glaring inaccuracies" and "some poetic license" pulled by the director/co-writer Nick Moran.Maybe it I had known more about Joe Meek's story ahead of time...but then, what is the purpose of seeing THIS MOVIE? Even the aforementioned Spacey wasn't there on the red carpet to lend support. I wish I had as good an excuse as he had for not showing up.Oh well. Maybe I'll find out more about Joe Meek when it's remade 20 years from now. Or better yet, I'll just read the Wikipedia entry.
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