I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best shows and movies including the Netflix docuseries “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” the music doc “:Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” and the zombie flick “This is Not a Test.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:23)
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the music doc “Paul McCartneyt: Man on the Run,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light” and the zombie flick “This is Not a Test.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:21)
I join “CP24 Breakfast” host Nick Dixon to talk about the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the music doc “Paul McCartneyt: Man on the Run” and the Paramount+ docuseries “Wild Boys: Strangers in Town.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the return of Sidney Prescott in “Scream 7,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light,” the zombie flick “This is Not a Test” and the music doc “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to scream seven times. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of Sidney Prescott in “Scream 7,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light” and the music doc “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about movie tourism and the “Heated Rivalry” AirBnB, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I review “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” and tell you about Paul’s favorite cocktail!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run,” a feature length documentary now streaming on Prime Video, covers the years 1970 to 1981 as the former Beatle reinvented himself for a new era.
CAST: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr (archival footage), John Lennon (archival footage), George Harrison (archival footage), Linda McCartney (archival footage), Wings (archival footage). Directed by Morgan Neville.
REVIEW: For music fans of a certain vintage, 2026 is already a gold star year. “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” strips the kitsch away from the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Vegas years in exhilarating fashion and now comes “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” an up-close-and-personal look at a rarely documented and often misunderstood chapter in the career of the former Beatle.
By the time 1970 rolled around Paul McCartney had spent most of his life playing with John, George and Ringo. With the eyes of the world on him, the twenty-seven-year-old, one of the most famous people on the planet, had to shoulder the perception that he broke up the band, and find a way to move forward personally and professionally.
Millions of gallons of ink have been spilled documenting the legendary band, there have been movies and even a West End play, but relatively little time has been afforded the beginnings of McCartney’s transition from The Beatles to Wings and beyond.
As the title suggests, “Man on the Run” paints a portrait of McCartney, a restless musician in motion, searching for a new creative outlet. It’s here that director Morgan Neville digs deep, capturing the pressure that threatened to crush McCartney’s creativity as animosity regarding the Beates’ demise swirled around him, exacerbated by an ongoing business dispute with ruthless manager Allen Klein, whose dealings further estranged McCartney from Lennon.
As Lennon marshalled the counterculture in New York, McCartney, wife Linda and kids, decamped to a farm in remote Scotland, where he hid from the world, releasing albums like “Ram” that failed to satisfy fans and critics. (Although it should be said, those records have been critically reassessed in the years since then.)
Worried he wouldn’t be able to top his Beatles era work and trading musical jabs with Lennon, McCartney put together Wings, longing for the excitement of being in a band.
The altruistic blending friends and family fed McCartney’s need to feel part of a group, but, as the doc makes clear, several members complained of feeling like underpaid hired hands. McCartney, who is an executive producer on the film and is quoted throughout, responds by saying he wasn’t in charge of the accounts and didn’t realize his bandmates didn’t share his enthusiasm.
It’s a rare disingenuous moment. McCartney may well have been oblivious to the power dynamic within Wings, but his response comes across as a cop out. It’s one of the few moments that feels like a missed opportunity to shed a bright light on the band’s inner workings.
Also strange is the absence of “Give Ireland Back to the Irish” and “Hi Hi Hi,” two controversial singles banned for their political and sexual lyrics.
Still, the doc is a treasure trove of never-before-seen footage (with some cool added animation effects), musical performances and insight from McCartney and those close to him that paints a picture of a vulnerable risk taker, an artist who spent the 70s outrunning his previous work. In the film’s final moments, the musician sums up his Wings journey succinctly. “We made what seemed like an impossible dream come true.”
Liam Gallagher calls it “a national treasure.” “Music seeps from the walls,” said Elton John. Film, composer John Williams called it the “mother of the music that was birthed there.”
The place is London’s Abbey Road Studios, one of the most famous recording studios in the world, and the subject of “If These Walls Could Sing,” a new documentary/hagiography now streaming on Disney+, directed by Mary McCartney, eldest child of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman.
From playing home to everyone from cellist Pablo Casals and Cliff Richard to Pink Floyd and Kate Bush to Fela Kuti and all the above-mentioned stars to, of course, the Beatles and so many other 20th and 21st century luminaries, the studio has made an indelible impact on recording arts and popular culture.
Broken into sections defined by era, McCartney presents an engaging nuts and bolts history of the studio, from its grand opening in 1931 to early rock and roll, to the heady days of Beatlemania and onwards to the young artists who create new music there, while soaking up the vibes of everyone who came before. The mix of archival footage, music and talking heads from the musicians who recorded there, paints an affectionate and informative portrait of the people and the place.
The stories are fun. Did you know Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin played acoustic guitar on Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” in Abbey Road’s Studio Two? That Linda Eastman brought a pony named Jet, who would later inspire the famous Wings’ song, to the studio? That Elton John, then still called Reginald Dwight, played piano on The Hollies’ “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”?
There are more tales from the recording studio, by-and-large, told by those who made the music, including Kanye West in a segment obviously shot some time ago, but the movie lacks real depth. When Paul McCartney is asked what makes Abbey Road so special, he says, “It’s a great studio. All the microphones work. It sounds silly but you go to some studios…” It’s not the most illuminating answer, but if you want details, John Williams goes deeper later in the film, describing the studio’s “nice face” and “nice sound.”
“It’s a gift to music,” he says. “I have to tell you.”
“If These Walls Could Sing” is nostalgia dolled up in a pretty package, with all the rough edges shorn off. Rock docs probably shouldn’t be this respectful, still, as music movies go, this one mines rich, entertaining territory.
