DVD
December 7, 2010

Amazon.com
John Lennon famously began his life in working-class Liverpool. Just as famously, he lost it in every-class New York. This edition of American Masters explores the nine years he spent in the United States, counting the recording of 1973's Mind Games in Los Angeles during his infamous lost weekend. Director Michael Epstein compiles his words with new interviews, photographs, home movies, and performances (including studio outtakes). In 1971, Lennon and Yoko Ono sought to escape the hostility of the London press and reinvent themselves, so they moved to the Big Apple, where they hobnobbed with Andy Warhol and Abbie Hoffman. Former senator Tom Hayden talks about their efforts on behalf of the antiwar movement and how that caught the attention of the Feds who tried to deport them, while musicians recall the making of albums like 1974's Walls and Bridges. Ono remembers Lennon's househusband days with fondness, even if she still seems hurt when describing the night he slept with another woman (Lennon nemesis Richard Nixon had just won the presidency). In the end, he found the happiness he sought, even if it didn't last. Other speakers include photographer Bob Gruen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas, and Elton John, Lennon's duet partner on the chart-topper "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." LennoNYC, which takes an even-handed look at an enormously talented human being, duplicates events that appear in other films, like Imagine, but there's enough vital material here to please fans old and new alike. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
LENNONYC is the story of one of the most famous and influential artists of the Twentieth Century, and how he found redemption not in the public adoration he craved as a youth, but in the quiet and simple pleasures of fatherhood. John Lennon came to New York City in 1971, seeking what every other immigrant who has washed up on its shores has sought: freedom--the freedom to be himself and not Beatle John, the freedom to love without the overwhelming scorn he and Yoko Ono had suffered in London, and, simply, the freedom to live a normal life.

LENNONYC tells this remarkable story with never-before-released in-studio recordings, concert film only recently transferred to high definition, and a trove of rarely-heard Lennon/Ono compositions. It also contains interviews with those closest to Lennon during this period in his life--friend and photographer Bob Gruen; musical collaborator and drummer, Jim Keltner; rock superstar, Elton John; and Jack Douglas, the producer of Double Fantasy. LENNONYC also contains one of the most powerful and emotionally direct interviews Yoko Ono has ever given. No film about John Lennon has ever covered this story with the same breadth and depth as LENNONYC.

As the public turns its attention to what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday and the 30th anniversary of his murder, LENNONYC uniquely commemorates the life of one of the most important and influential artists of the Twentieth Century--someone whose life and work is as powerful and relevant today as it has ever been.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YGC7VM/?tag=imwan-20

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Blu-ray
January 11, 2011

Amazon.com
John Lennon famously began his life in working-class Liverpool. Just as famously, he lost it in every-class New York. This edition of American Masters explores the nine years he spent in the United States, counting the recording of 1973's Mind Games in Los Angeles during his infamous lost weekend. Director Michael Epstein compiles his words with new interviews, photographs, home movies, and performances (including studio outtakes). In 1971, Lennon and Yoko Ono sought to escape the hostility of the London press and reinvent themselves, so they moved to the Big Apple, where they hobnobbed with Andy Warhol and Abbie Hoffman. Former senator Tom Hayden talks about their efforts on behalf of the antiwar movement and how that caught the attention of the Feds who tried to deport them, while musicians recall the making of albums like 1974's Walls and Bridges. Ono remembers Lennon's househusband days with fondness, even if she still seems hurt when describing the night he slept with another woman (Lennon nemesis Richard Nixon had just won the presidency). In the end, he found the happiness he sought, even if it didn't last. Other speakers include photographer Bob Gruen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas, and Elton John, Lennon's duet partner on the chart-topper "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." LennoNYC, which takes an even-handed look at an enormously talented human being, duplicates events that appear in other films, like Imagine, but there's enough vital material here to please fans old and new alike. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
LENNONYC is the story of one of the most famous and influential artists of the Twentieth Century, and how he found redemption not in the public adoration he craved as a youth, but in the quiet and simple pleasures of fatherhood. John Lennon came to New York City in 1971, seeking what every other immigrant who has washed up on its shores has sought: freedom--the freedom to be himself and not Beatle John, the freedom to love without the overwhelming scorn he and Yoko Ono had suffered in London, and, simply, the freedom to live a normal life.

LENNONYC tells this remarkable story with never-before-released in-studio recordings, concert film only recently transferred to high definition, and a trove of rarely-heard Lennon/Ono compositions. It also contains interviews with those closest to Lennon during this period in his life--friend and photographer Bob Gruen; musical collaborator and drummer, Jim Keltner; rock superstar, Elton John; and Jack Douglas, the producer of Double Fantasy. LENNONYC also contains one of the most powerful and emotionally direct interviews Yoko Ono has ever given.

This deluxe Blu-ray edition features a striking 1080p high-definition transfer of the film as well as over 20 minutes of additional interviews with Lennon's close friends and collaborators, giving us deeper insight into the artist whose life and work is as powerful and relevant today as it has ever been.

BONUS FEATURES: Over 20 minutes of additional interviews.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040LAHA8/?tag=imwan-20

New John Lennon documentary to feature previously unheard audio clips
'LENNONYC' looks at his time living in New York

September 30, 2010
http://www.nme.com/news/john-lennon/53231



A new John Lennon documentary is set to be shown, which features previously unheard audio of the former Beatle.

LENNONYC will document Lennon's life in New York from 1971 - when he moved to Greenwich Village - to 1980, when he was killed, reports Reuters.

"John's is an immigrant story," director Michael Epstein said at a screening of the documentary. "We don't share a common past. What we share is a common vision for the future, at our best. It's in that quiet, domestic place where he builds his own family that he finds his redemption."

The documentary premiered last weekend (September 25-26) at the New York Film Festival and will be shown on the American PBS networks on November 22. A free public screening will also take place in New York's Central Park on October 9, to mark what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday.

Bump: added Blu-ray pre-order details to the first post.