Rockin' Rocketman

Or at least that's how the trailer looks...wow!

Following a voice role in Sing and a turn as skier Eddie the Eagle, Taron Egerton's breakout role appears to be Elton John in Rocketman, out on May 31.

Sir Elton deserves a place on top of the musical mountain along with The Beatles and Sir Paul in terms of musical contributions to pop culture.

This scene in 2000's Almost Famous would not be the same without Tiny Dancer:





And as per Rocketman's marketing, the only way to tell Elton's story is to live his fantasy.

Which is Hollywood-speak for "I'm gonna tell you my story exactly how I want to tell it. And that's it".

With an autobiography coming out in October, all this should be very interesting!


Elton doing Rocket Man:






Taron doing Rocket Man:





They do Rocket Man together:







MTMG

The Brilliance Of Yesterday

Now I may be overselling this just a little bit based on a couple of viewings of this trailer for Yesterday.

But I think the literal concept of "the soundtrack of our lives" is brilliant.

Because let's face it, the song  Yesterday itself, written by Beatle Paul McCartney upon waking one fateful morning, (oops, that's Sir Paul McCartney to me, that's right), has been recorded over 500 times by seemingly every musician on the planet.

So it is conceivable that, for fantasy's sake, the spiritual essence generated by the song could drop into the heart and mind of a hapless and ordinary bloke, who wakes up one morning to find that the Beatles never existed, except for him.

Because I am sure that lots and lots of unordinary change, bills, and maybe even a bit of bitcoin was dropped into the bank accounts of  Sir Paul and Cool Ringo.

And the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, to be sure.

I'm sure Paul and Ringo are secretly thrilled that people still care about their music after 50-plus years.

And also that, at least in this trailer, no one appears to be singing Drive My Car while dancing energetically on a spit of land somewhere in the British Isles.
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I know I'm grateful for that.

And I am also grateful for any way to get these songs out to a world that appears to need them.

Yesterday, directed by Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle and written  by Love Actually's Richard Curtis, is released June 28.

Can't wait!

Now, as a public service to pop culture, for those who may not be familiar, I offer the three original songs referenced in the trailer, starting with McCartney's title song for the film:





Something, written by George Harrison:





And finally, Hey Jude, written by McCartney for Lennon's son Julian:





Peace and love!

MTMG

Old Is New: Part 1

Behold...the new Lion King trailer.

Jaw-dropping visuals aside, do we really need this?

It looks to be a shot-for-shot remake. Here's the trailer for the 1994 animated film:





I know I have reached a certain stage in the circle of life (sorry had to do it).

And I am very excited to see what the current generation comes up with as far as original contributions to pop culture.

I have two young nieces, so seeing pop culture through their eyes will be fun.

I just wonder if the next generation of writers, directors and ultimately consumers will be inspired enough to create and appreciate anything new.

Because pop culture at the moment seems to be symbolized by old fogeys in parks playing chess and going, "Back in our day..."

MTMG