March (Movie) Madness

Even for a movie geek like me, last month was a little excessive. Lest you recommend medication, I won't reveal the actual number of films I saw but almost any human pursuit is preferable to spending time watching Seth Rogen.

Still, if my movie mojo had not been working overtime in March, I might have missed "The Wrecking Crew". That would have been a shame. Following closely on the heels of two other outstanding music documentaries - "Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation" & "Twenty Feet From Stardom" - the newest film raises the bar even higher. My only (minor) quibble with all three movies is the terrific songs in each get truncated.

"The Wrecking Crew" is lovingly directed by Denny Tedesco, son of guitarist Tommy Tedesco, one of the great studio musicians featured in the film. The director enlists the help of musical luminaries like Herb Alpert, Jim Webb & Brian Wilson to explain how their collaborations with these unknown musicians helped shape many of the memorable pop songs of the 60's & early 70's. Drummer Hal Blaine, saxophonist Plas Johnson, bassist Carol Kaye and Tedesco (four of the "wrecking crew") were the "band" playing on hit records by the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Monkees and countless others. See this movie and then tell me what you think.