It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, and on paper it sounds alright: starring Al Pacino (who I just can't take seriously any longer) as Spector, and Helen Mirren as his defense lawyer, and written by David Mamet. But watching this trailer it sure made me laugh. If you've been waiting for Pacino to revisit his roll in Scarface, this may be for you. The film premieres March 24 on HBO. At least you know the soundtrack will be good.
Godlis checks in with a write up about the Tuesday night appearance of LaLa Brooks a the screening of the Phil Spector movie. I had mentioned this event last week. "When the documentary, "The Agony And The Ecstasy of Phil Spector" now playing at the Film Forum, ended and the lights in the theater came up, in she walked - the other Great Voice fronting the Spector Wall of Sound - Delores LaLa Brooks. She was just 15 when she sang lead vocals with The Crystals on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me". Answering questions at the Film Forum last night she looked positively radiant."Continued here.
In conjunction with the Film Forum's showing of The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, the Crystals' very own LaLa Brooks will be making an appearance at the theater next Wednesday. Here's the scoop:
The Crystals' LaLa Brooks - IN PERSON! Wednesday, July 7, 8:00 show
ABOUT LaLa BROOKS: LaLa Brooks was the youngest member of The Crystals, just 15 when she sang lead vocal on the “Wall of Sound” classics Da Doo Ron Ron and Then He Kissed Me at Gold Star studios in Los Angeles for producer Phil Spector. She also sang He's a Rebel at their live shows. “A cloudburst of handclaps, Don Randi's driving piano triplets and honking saxes, Hal Blaine’s drum fills rattling like gunfire, ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ is probably the most irrepressibly exhilarating song that Spector ever recorded. LaLa Brooks’s vocal a gust of sheer, heart-lifting lovestruck joy.” - Mick Brown, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector
ABOUT THE FILM: Legendary pop music genius, record producer Phil Spector created the “wall of sound” behind some of the greatest hits of the ’60s: Be My Baby, He’s a Rebel, Da Doo Ron Ron, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, to name just a few. Today he is imprisoned serving 19 years to life for the murder of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson. During his first trial (a hung jury), Spector gives a rare freewheeling interview to Vikram Jayanti, filmed at his castle, seated before the white piano which he bought with John Lennon, for Imagine. He lucidly holds forth on his life and work: his father’s suicide when he was a child; the process through which he achieved his distinctive sound; his friendship with Lennon; and his case that (despite Paul McCartney’s position), he salvaged the Beatles’ album, Let It Be. Then there is Spector’s curious enmity toward Tony Bennett and Buddy Holly (“he got a postage stamp even though he was only in rock ’n’ roll three years”), and a grandiosity that has him likening himself to Bach, da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo. And, yes, there is an endless parade of hairstyles and flamboyant outfits.
Read the review by Perfect Sound Forever's Jason Gross here.
