Film Fest: This One Rocks

If you love music from the ‘60s and ‘70s, The Wrecking Crew will entertain and educate you.

For many of us, groups such as The Beatles, Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Rolling Stones, Monkees, The Association, Eagles and Byrds, created the soundtracks of our lives. Each had a string of mega hits that will never leave us.

Let me separate the eight hit machines in the above list into two groups, and then ask you a question.
Group A – The Beach Boys, Monkees, The Association, and Byrds
Group B -The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eagles and CSNY

Find a reason for the grouping? The answer is wonderfully revealed in The Wrecking Crew, a fascinating documentary for every rock ‘n’ roller.

The subtle, yet seismic answer: the musicians that played on the hit recordings in Group A were all studio musicians. Oh sure, you probably saw some of them play instruments while they were on tour, but the music we grew up listening to came from session musicians. It was not until Group B that they brought a new dimension to the music; they played their own instruments on the recordings.

Even more interesting was that a very small group of studio musicians, between a dozen or two, were the same people who played on virtually every hit record that came out of California in the 1960s.

This tight band of players became known as the “Wrecking Crew.” They played on thousands of recordings, but were rarely listed on the album covers. They did not seem to care. They were making a fabulous living and working nonstop. This documentary is their story.

When a producer had a song in the ’60s, from Sinatra to Glen Campbell (a former “Wrecking Crew” member), Jan & Dean, Sonny and Cher, Mamas and Papas, the Phil Spector stable, Ricky Nelson, TV commercials, it was time to book the “Wrecking Crew.” Some of the names wafted to the fringe of public consciousness, drummer Hal Blaine, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, saxophonist Plas Johnson, bass player Carol Kaye; but for the most part, the crew played on and on and on in obscurity.

And they loved it. Hit after hit rolled off the instruments of the “Wrecking Crew.”

They traveled from one recording studio to another on a nonstop treadmill. The players were so busy they hardly had time to listen to or appreciate their work. Day after day, morning till night, song after song, group after group, and singer after singer, it was an endless blur of rock ‘n’ roll. The whirlwind lasted about 10 years, tapering off when groups began to play their own material in the studios.

If these are the songs of your life, you will love the music, the vintage film clips and the stories behind the music. If you are a younger rock ‘n’ roller, the two hours with members of the “Wrecking Crew” are a valuable history lesson. Don’t miss their class.

— Bob Carson

Saturday, March 28, 9:25 p.m.; Sunday, March 29, 4:25 p.m. USA, 98 minutes

Film Fest: Digging In

This film does what a good documentary should: Start an argument.

Shortly after the credits, those in my circle took positions and defended them with the tenacity of a barbed fishhook in soft flesh. I was in the minority and, much to my annoyance, failed to persuade the others of my side’s correctness. Therefore, free of interruption from my colleagues, I will shamelessly take this opportunity to present my position.

The Garden, by director Scott Hamilton Kennedy, follows a group of Latinos who transformed a section of urban ruin in south Los Angles into gardens. The 14 square acres was pleasant and unique in the urban landscape. The crops were pretty. The people seemed nice. The film claims to be about the dignity, determination and the farmers fight to preserve their garden when the legal owner decides to reclaim his property.

I felt Kennedy was trying show these poor people as exceptional gardeners who turned urban blight into a neighborhood Eden of flowers, trees and vegetables. The land was a symbol of hope for poor citizens in a sad environment. This is true. This is good.

But, and this is where my delusional and inflexible friends missed the point, it was not their land. They were trespassers. No matter the good they did, they should not have been there in the first place.

The bulk of the movie, an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, deals with the gardeners’ long, ugly fight to keep the property. (I will not tell you who comes out on top.) Attorneys and activists waged an epic battle in the courts and in the press. Celebrities stopped by. The farmers skirmished among themselves. Voices were raised. Cameras rolled. Politicians danced.

It’s a long sad saga that would later inspire my friends to mumble about justice, beauty and the human spirit. My point was entitlement. These nice people were not entitled to an inch of the ground where they planted their gardens; they just happened to be in the neighborhood and did a good thing.

Oh well, see the film, make your own decision. With wisdom, it will be mine.

— Bob Carson

Friday, March 27, 6:45 p.m.; Saturday, March 289, 11:10 a.m. USA, 107 minutes

Film Fest: Crooning Moment

I loved this charmer.

I laughed out loud a few times, felt sad a few times and was not sure what was going on much of the time. Still, it worked.

A French singer, who was a one-hit wonder 30 years ago, is hired from his dead-end job as a hotel clerk to sing his one song at a birthday party in Lebanon. One of his few remaining fans, the wife a wealthy coffee baron, loves the song and has fond memories of Bruno Caprice’s visit during the war-torn years of the ‘70s.
Bruno has no such memories. He just wants a check and a change from his dreary life.

Patrick Chesnaisis a real presence as Bruno, a washed up, yet oddly dignified sad sack. Like many French leading men, he is several kilometers from handsome, but somehow he is a babe magnet. Eventually, the aging singer hooks up with a Julia Roberts look-alike. This phenomena is inspirational to American males; it’s like beautiful French women always forget to wear their glasses.

Like many French movies, a tight plot is a superficial accessory. The film is more like a series of skits loosely strung together as different characters dance in the spotlight. A scene of Jerry Lewis-like slapstick can be followed by surprising melancholy. Hints at dark Lebanese history and kidnapping are followed by Guys and Dolls caricatures. Serious songs share the stage with jingles and bad poetry.

The setting in Lebanon was a revelation. Those of us used to seeing this place on CNN after war, terrorism or mayhem would probably not consider a visit to the mid-eastern nation as part of our bucket list. Sure, it’s a movie, but I found myself on the Internet checking flights. City or country, Lebanon looked great to me.

Melodrama Habibi may be a stretch for some: It has subtitles. It is quirky. But it was fun, and it had heart. Evidently others have found the crazy stew appetizing, the film recently bagged the audience award at the Brussels European Film Fest.

Get a ticket to hear Bruno Caprice croon.

— Bob Carson

Wednesday, March 25, 6:50 p.m.; Thursday March 26, 2:40 p.m.; Friday, March 27, 9:20 a.m. France, Lebanon, 98 minutes Subtitles

Wine Squared

Pour me a glass of Barbera or uncork a bottle of Tocai Friulano and I’m one happy woman. Bring me bruschetta or a plate of antipasto to nibble with these Italian wines and my state elevates to blissful. That’s why Grotto , the recently opened wine bar on Shaker Square, is my kind of place. The list, dominated by Italian reds and whites, offers a handpicked selection of appellations, styles, and labels from the old world and the new. The kitchen turns out a really appealing line-up of small Mediterranean accented plates that lend themselves to snacking while sipping. Better yet, you get all this in casual, comfortable setting without any fine dining formality or the need to eat a lot and spend big.

Right now, there are 26 wines by the glass. I hope they expand that number to encourage more experimentation and exploration of their “cellar”- a glass walled room behind the bar. On the food side there are sliders, salads, soups, four out-of-the-ordinary pizzas, medium-sized portions of pasta, and few hearty meat-centric house plates.

Some food and wine pairings I tried and enjoyed: Polpette, unusually light and tasty meatballs with a bright, supple 2005 Barbaresco from Cantina Del Pino; grilled prawns and radicchio slaw and a chalky Lion’s Peak Marsanne; gnocchi with lobster and rigatoni with rapini partnered by Leonetti’s Rose Bardolino, bone dry and full-bodied. And for an after-dinner or end of the night option, I recommend the housemade tiramsu with sparkling Braccheto d’Aqui.

The floor to ceiling makeover of the space, once a woman’s clothing boutique, is astonishing. Liberal use of stenciled stucco, stone, and brickwork create a charming Euro-past look, reinforced with columns and arches that suggest Roman aqueducts. The wine collection is stored in a glass “cellar” behind the bar makes for a dramatic centerpiece. The main space is open and sociable but there are also smaller, cozier more intimate spots to sit. The patio is literally right out on the Square and I’m really looking forward to nabbing a table there as soon as the weather gets warm.

Film Fest: A Troll Through Italian Politics

Wow, what an amazing work of cinematography.

After an action packed montage of murder and assassination in the first minute, the director, Paolo Sorrenttino, settles in and paints a hundred masterpieces - beautiful, evocative settings of palaces, Italian streets, scenes, etc. Then, in the center of every masterpiece, he has placed an odd, unattractive, phlegmatic gnome wearing a business suit.

The movie chronicles the career of seven-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Beginning in 1947, Andreotti and his Christian Democrat party ruled Italy for 44 years, until a series of scandals called “Bribesville” finally got them off stage. Andreotti has been constantly rumored to have been behind all sorts of illegal activities, including Mafia connections.

The story and the players in this long-playing Italian drama are common ground for Europeans, especially Italians. Unfortunately for most of Americans, we must have been taking a long nap. He is one weird dude, sort of like a sphinx. I am sad to report that despite spending several years teaching government and history in Ohio high schools, I never heard of Andreotti or the juicy scandal.

We loved our trials of the century: O.J. and President Clinton’s impeachment, but most Americans never heard of “Bribesville.” This really hurts on two levels; we realized we missed a great, scandalous, potboiler of a trial, and we do not know what in the hell is going on in this movie.

The craftsmanship is outstanding, a wonderful lesson for any film fanatic. However, if you are not up to date on Italian politics, the blizzard of names, political parties and past crimes will irritate you. My suggestion is to do some research on recent Italian politics before you see the film; an hour or so in the library or on the computer will help. This sequence works much better than what I did, watch ll Divo and then do to the research.

— Bob Carson

Friday, March 27, 11:35 a.m.; Saturday, March 28, 6:45 p.m. Italy, France, Subtitles, 117 minutes

Egger: PD will remain a daily

Plain Dealer publisher Terry Egger told employees today that the paper will continue to publish as a daily -- even as the PD's parent company, Advance Publications, slashes some of its Michigan newspapers to three and two days a week.

"As soon as you do that, game over," Egger said, according to this cleveland.com post.

I agree. Two weeks ago, while I was debunking the Web speculation that the PD would close, I wondered whether Egger would have to look at the model Detroit's dailies are turning to. They're cutting home delivery to three days a week and publishing newsstand-only mini-papers the rest of the week.

The PD's parent company looked at the Detroit model and went further with four of its Michigan papers. The Ann Arbor News is closing, to be replaced by a website that'll put out a twice-weekly print edition. The Saginaw News, Flint Journal and Bay City Times are going to three days a week.

But Egger's reaction to that idea is a forceful no. (He delivered it as he announced reductions in pay and work days for non-union staff.) I think his "game over" line means: the people who loyally read the paper daily over breakfast are your core audience, the last readers you want to give up on.

I agree. Egger's insistence that the PD will remain a daily (read: as long as he's in charge) should reassure anyone who cares about Cleveland journalism.

p.s.: Egger is speaking at Old Stone Church on Public Square at lunchtime Wednesday. I'm sure he'll get lots of questions about the PD's future.

FIlm Fest: Deep in the Crease

I love it when people go deep. It has become somewhat of a preoccupation for me to seek out stories about people that find a passion that becomes all-consuming.

Chess players, Star Trek fans, bridge players, harness-racing fans — any infatuation seems relatively simple on the surface. Scratch through and these preoccupations are infinitely complex. There will always be a group of the infatuated that follows the muse to the extreme. So it is with origami.

Between the Folds finds a dozen artists, hobbyists and scientists that have surrendered to the siren call of folding paper. Some of the people we spend time with in this documentary may be eccentric, but the majority are extremely intelligent. Many have left other professions to take single sheets of paper and turn them into astonishing works of art and science. Watch them at work here.

It seems hard to believe that you could become mesmerized by listening to people talk about folding paper, but believe it. Also, It is hard to categorize paper folding. Is this art, mathematics, science, hobby or theory? Whatever you call it, hard-core folders spend unbelievable amounts of effort, time, work, brain power and emotion.

It was interesting how fresh the world of origami felt. Computers and theorists have taken the sheet of paper to another plane. In their interviews, several of the participants gave the impression that in the world of the paper folder, we have just touched the surface.

Fold yourself into a seat for this one.

— Bob Carson

Thursday, March 26, 7:15 p.m.; Saturday, March 28, 2:15 p.m.(Proceeded by Sing Opera!, a 27 minute film showcasing how 64 children mount a world premiere of the family opera “Keeper of the Night”) USA - 55 minutes