Mods 'n' Rockers

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I dropped by the American Cinematheque last night for the kickoff of Martin Lewis's "Mods and Rockers" festival, which runs between now and August 1st. The outdoor courtyard (where I took some snaps) was a lively scene, and the auditorium was packed. I saw some friendly familiar faces milling around -- Sidney Kimmel exec Bingham Ray, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, In Her Shoes) and Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass.

"Mods and Rockers" festival director Martin Lewis in the Egyptian-styled courtyard of the American Cinematheque -- Friday, 7.13.07, 7:15 pm; Sunset Blvd. adjacent to Cinerama Dome -- Friday, 7.13.07, 9:25 pm.

The festival opener was Alfred and David Maysles' What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., an underwhelming 81-minute assemblage that follows the British group during their first tour in February 1964. A version of the doc has been issued on DVD in an Apple-produced compilation called "The Beatles First U.S. Visit"; there's another DVD that intercuts portions of the doc with clips from the group's three Ed Sullivan Show appearances.

The Maysles doc minus the Sullivan material (i.e., the version shown last night) is too often flat, muddy-looking and borderline boring. The shooting and editing choices were putting me to sleep. Why didn' t the Maysles shoot the famous first press conference at JFK? Did they run out of film? The doc has some interesting material -- fooling around on a southward-bound train, dancing in a Manhattan club -- but I wanted to leave after a half hour or so.

Lewis is writing daily blog entries about the festival on The Huffington Post. Other guests and friends are filing also.

Jett and I will attend tonight's 6 pm showing of Rob Scheinfeld's sad-sack Harry Nilsson doc -- a great portrait of a gifted and brilliant singer-songwriter who couldn't contain an asshole-ian self-destructive streak. There's a "Mods and Rockers" drinking room in the rear of the Pig 'n' Whistle that's right next to the theatre; carefully selected '60s and '70s music will be playing before and after shows.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 14, 2007 at 1:34 PM

comment #1

George Prager says ...

I love that Beatles movie, although it is better with the Ed Sullivan stuff. And I can't wait to see the Nilsson doc. The Peter Whitehead stuff is often good. Led Zeppelin seem like a real bunch of dorks in that one film, especially Jimmy Page.
Too bad they're not showing SCOTT WALKER 30 CENTURY MAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBMJ79ly3B4

Posted by George Prager at July 14, 2007 2:56 PM

comment #2

corey3rd says ...

The DVD has a second documentary of outtake material from their time.

I spoke with Albert a few years ago. he said that they were hired to shoot the Beatles the day the arrived. I'm not sure if they were able to hook up with the band for the press conference. Didn't the guys who are putting together the film festival attempt to get an interview with Albert about the making of the film as part of the program? Albert does want to recut the whole thing to include all of the Ed Sullivan material to make it a definitive view of their arrival.

Posted by corey3rd at July 14, 2007 9:52 PM

comment #3

tholl-yung says ...

Everybody's Talkin', was packed and phenomenal. The director thanked Wells dearly and pointed to him and Jett in the audience; he searched for descriptive words and settled on something like "he glommed on to it out of Santa Barbara." I had tried to get Bob Margouleff to go, (he would have loved it), but he was obsessed working on his hobby, a Tall Ships doc, because his editor was available; Bob's company does amazing DVD movie mixing in real life. I didn't run into Jeff and Jett. The director said it'll be out this year; I'd love to get my hands on it and eliminate a little bit of the tiny bit of double/triple backing to make it a little shorter, but I had no problem with the sad sack aspect. I guess he could have been like Eric Clapton and powered through living, but it's not like he died of an overdose; he was incredibly productive until the end. Anyway, it's a great doc about a legendary genius.

Posted by tholl-yung at July 14, 2007 10:31 PM

comment #4

Drew says ...

Even with T.Holly's baffling lack of command of English, I'm getting the clear idea lately that she's hot for you, Jeff, and tonight, the only thing that saved you from some good ol' fashioned stalking was the presence of Jett.

You go, girl.

Posted by Drew at July 15, 2007 1:22 AM

comment #5

Larry says ...

I love the Beatles' doc. Being able to see stuff from the inside just as they're starting to be international stars is great.

Posted by Larry at July 15, 2007 1:54 AM

comment #6

jeffmcm says ...

I went to Skidoo tonight and it was bizarrely entertaining and I recommend that anyone with a tolerance for late-60s studio-produced counterculture comedy sees it when it plays at the Aero in two weeks.

Posted by jeffmcm at July 15, 2007 3:12 AM

comment #7