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If you're a mom who loves The Beatles, you're no doubt cheering about the new Beatles Rock Band game (if you haven't looked at the price tag, that is). Seems like the perfect way to get your game-loving kids into the greatest band ever, right?
But let's say your kids are too young for videogames, or you can't drop the $250 (seriously!) for the whole game-and-instruments bundle. How about having a family Beatles movie night?
You've got a few good options. A Hard Day's Night is the first and most acclaimed Beatles film, a fake documentary interspersed with actual concert footage. It's funny and sweet, with wildly catchy songs from the Beatles' early years – and also, it's in black-and-white. So if that's a problem for your kids, proceed to…
Help!, a wonderfully ridiculous Technicolor adventure, featuring The Beatles (once again playing themselves), a bizarre jewel-theft plot, and fantastic songs from the Help! album, including "Ticket to Ride" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." It's practically a live-action cartoon, but if your kids prefer actual cartoons, you can't go wrong with…
Yellow Submarine, an animated adventure starring cartoon Beatles (not, sadly, voiced by the actual Beatles) and a parade of memorable psychedelic characters like The Blue Meanies and Nowhere Man. Songs span several albums, including Revolver, Rubber Soul, and Sergeant Pepper, plus the new kid-friendly anthem "All Together Now."
A word to the wise: skip Magical Mystery Tour(weird and disjointed, with a bizarre strip tease in the middle) and Let It Be (the pre-break-up Beatles at their most miserable).
