Telstar

I had long awaited this, a movie about my hero Joe Meek, but it's somewhat disappointing. You see, Meek, despite his eccentricity and tone-deafness, was a genius. The young musicians working with him were very talented. Telstar is so caught up in the trappings of the conventional unflattering biopic, it makes Meek out to be nothing but an arrogant asshole surrounded by buffoons with most of their daily routine spent throwing stuff at each other. What's more, Con O'Neill is a total miscast.

[partial] between different airings i've seen most of it. It's messy and cheap, also -corden.

Fascinating and all round great story.

Ugh, seriously who looks at Joe Meek's life story and thinks "ribald comedy" (before taking a tailspin into maudlin, almost campy tragic melodrama)? Or doesn't think it's important to even mention I Hear A New World, or really make any effort to show what made Meek an interesting or important producer at all? Or who ends the film with a fucking Duffy version of a Bacharach song Meek never had anything to do with? Ugh, just seriously what the hell is this?

Despite being silly and over the top with the effects, I was left shocked, almost horrified, but not in a totally bad way. I know the true story, and went into this film viewing it as the fiction most of it is and I think that that, more than anything lead me to appreciate this film.