Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

sergelamarche The tidbits about the Beatles are always interesting. Not just because the Beatles were so popular and ground breaking but also because it's unusual lives. Here, Scorsese assembled quite the cast to retell stories about George to fill two films. And still there are some blanks. Fun and enlightening.

Jeremy_Urquhart So yeah, this thing's really, really long. Definitely longer than it needs to be, but at the same time, it makes the film stand out, at least. Differentiates itself from the pack for me, I guess, given I've never personally watched a music documentary this long. George Harrison was always the most mysterious, spiritual of all The Beatles, so if a nearly 3 and a half hour documentary had to be made about one of them, that's a fairly good reason to, I suppose. About half of the film here will be very familiar to most Beatles fans, as the first half largely focuses on one of the biggest music phenomenons of all time. Thankfully, the extra focus on George Harrison during the film's first half means this familiar story does not feel entirely stale or redundant. The second half is less straight forward and more interesting too, I think, focusing on George Harrison's solo career and post-Beatles endeavors. However, it's also somewhat inconsistent. I found certain sections moving and engrossing, whilst feeling that some other sections dragged on longer than needed. One final minor complaint would be what I thought was some dodgy editing in parts. Often when they played a Beatles or George Harrison song, the music would cut off abruptly when it transitioned to an interview or someone talking about said song. I found it jarring every time this happened, and kept wondering whether it was some strange stylistic choice that I just wasn't getting. Anyway, if I'm sounding overly negative, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be, because this was still pretty good, and I've certainly experienced many other movies of a similar length that did feel longer than this. I guess it might be a little disappointing, considering this is one of the best directors of all time (Scorsese) making a documentary on a member of one of the greatest bands of all time. Still, it's good, all things considered. Certainly recommended, just maybe lower your expectations a tad, and definitely don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing in one go either.

dbdumonteil The title is no misnomer.As George sang in the track from the eponymous album,"by the Lord Sri Krishna's grace (....) my salvation from the material world" .At the time many people laughed at Harrison whom they dismissed as unhip and holier-than-thou.Scorcese's movie is exactly what George would have wanted:a long and winding line of thought of an icon who,little by little ,ditched the material world :an adulated entertainer in the glorious years of the Beatles (to whom he contributed a good handful of classics) ,a peak of musical and spiritual inspiration with his mind-boggling " all things must pass" (which remains,along with "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" ,my favorite solo album).In the seventies ,it seems that George was not that interested in carrying on with a career which anyway was on the wane after "material world" ,his last number one .The concert for Bangla Desh was a grand gesture (and Bob Geldof's laurels actually belonged to the ex-Beatle),but the rest of it ,the 1974 tour,the infatuation with racing cars ,the homemade productions ,the Japanese tour,even the marvelous Traveling Wilburys, were minor events .George had warned us on the overlooked B side "the inner light" in the words he set to music on a college professor's request:"without looking out of my Windows ,I could know the ways of Heaven" .His final years were probably the happiest of his life ,with a marvelous wife ,Olivia ,who shared his way of life ,and a son to carry on.Two hundred years after Voltaire,like Zadig,he cultivated his garden while continuing his spiritual quest.His ultimate album,"brainwashed" ,lived up to its name:although terminally ill,the musician produced a cheerful album,full of serenity .More than thirty years after the song,he had learned the "art of dying" ;"I've never seen such a confident patient " a physician said .Like Scorcese's take on Dylan ("no way home" ) ,"living in the material world " is never off the point .Nothing sensational,nothing scandalous,but an absorbing portrayal of a man,who,after conquering the whole world,realized he could "arrive without traveling " and "see all without looking".

italo505 may seems like a sad song to you, a song about a man that laments everything. But into looking through George Harrison's soulful deep dark stare, I realize the man was lamenting what he had become and the man he could potentially be, while everyone around him told him he should be one way or another. He was a very different Beatle. He was not as big as John Lennon or Paul Mc Cartney but he was a little hidden talent who worked behind the scenes more than anything, he was the man behind the curtains who liked to look from aside, or look at the Beatles as an outsider, very self conscious of where his life was headed but having a strong sense of self, a strong sense of what he wanted his music to carry: this sweet, spiritual side of him that could not be contained inside this phenomenon that was the Beatles.In the opening scenes of Living in the Material World, the new HBO documentary directed by Martin Scorsese we take an unusual look at the most enigmatic Beatle, the one that was not always in front of the newscasts, the reporters, he was no newspaper headlines material as John and Paul were which helped him create his own sound and his own songs that graced some of the Beatles albums such as Revolver's Taxman, White Album's While My Guitar Gently Weeps or Abbey Road's Something and Here Comes The Sun which became some of The Beatles' most recognizable and beloved songs of their careers. We also meet a man who became more spiritual and embraced Indian culture and Hinduism with his friend and sitar player Ravi Shankar, who appears in the documentary numerous times and was such an influence in both his music and his own life gave a complete twist. He saw something deeper than any of the Beatles had, something that he was searching for, something so unique and exquisite that he spent many hours listening to Ravi play his sitar and teaching him the techniques to perfect the art. George Harrison was like a sponge absorbing every little essence he could from Ravi and the Indian culture that he even introduced some of this music into The Beatles with songs like The Inner Light, Revolver's Love You To and Tomorrow Never Knows and the incredibly ahead of its time Sgt. Pepper's Within You Without You which, in my opinion, brought The Beatles to a status that had never achieved before. At least first time I heard Within You Without You I thought to myself: what does it mean? How does it come into play into my life? It didn't need translation, it transcended everything and the answer was always there: look inside yourself and there you will find peace, you didn't need no temple, no clergy, no middle man: just you and God.George Harrison was idolized by the hippie movement of the 60's which in this documentary he admittedly despised, one weekend he spent with them was all he needed to realize it was not what he was looking for, this world of drugs, peace and love was not what he was searching for and he knew he had to meditate more as to where he wanted to go spiritually and artistically.It's funny that he said that in this documentary himself since I thought for the longest time that he was a hippie himself, a man who took to drugs and experimented with a sitar and period, that was it. In Living In The Material World I have re-discovered why I've always loved The Beatles so much: they're not just four lads from Liverpool that created the best singles of the 60's and were musically talented but now also I see a side of them I hadn't really come to think about before. There was something very interesting that was said during this doc, he basically says for a man that has everything, they handed him anything he wished for, anything he ever wanted, anything within his reach he could have but if you have emptiness in your heart and soul then you're still not a rich person and you cannot take it with you. In life everything we own that is material is worth nothing when we leave our bodies and what George Harrison did constantly was to prepare himself mentally and spiritually for that moment in which he had to leave his body for his next adventure. I'm sure that wherever he is, he's playing his sitar contemplating how much he'd accomplished, how much he's left behind: his legacy, his family, his garden. Boy, was he ever so proud of that garden.