Books & DVDs
FUEL formerly “Fields of Fuel” (DVD)
Director Josh Tickell, winner of the 2008 Sundance Audience Award unveils a curtain of deception covering America’s dependence on foreign oil as it explores one possible solution to the looming energy crisis. Made from vegetable oil, biodiesel fuel is an economically sustainable, environmentally sound alternative energy already widely used in Europe. It has the potential to reduce dangerous green house gases, boost America’s sagging economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. So why doesn’t everyone know about biodiesel? Fields of Fuel discovers that the political barriers and companies with a financial stake in our national energy policies are preventing the widespread adoption of this homegrown alternative. We follow energy expert Josh Tickell as he engages people on both sides of the energy spectrum providing viewers with never before seen picture of what may be the most important and most hidden battle on the planet.
Hollywood’s Magical Isle (DVD)
THROUGH THE REMARKABLE EYE of first time film director, Greg Reitman, we get a first hand glimpse of The Magic Isle. While exploring historical, social, and environmental changes, the film captures the mystical splendors, natural beauty and romance of Santa Catalina Island. Using a mix of rare 16mm, archival film and old black and white stills, inter-cut with interviews of islanders, historians and celebrities; the viewer is taken on a journey during America’s golden era. It begins with the acquisition of the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1919 led by William Wrigley, Jr. He set a course for Catalina’s future in the world of art, sports, music and entertainment that was unmatched in US history even through present day.
The film documents architectural achievements many are first of a kind buildings and innovations that transformed Catalina from a simple island into a modern day state-of-the-art playground. The film highlights many of the individuals including stars of the Big Band Era, Marilyn Monroe, and the island’s role as Hollywood’s secret playground for the stars. The island even played a role in helping to elect a President, Ronald Reagan. We witness the island’s tragedy and heartache – deftly captured in the film with heartfelt interviews and a score that tugs at the emotions. Utilizing interviews with Jean-Michel Cousteau, heirs of the Wrigley family, residents and visitors of the island; we learn of William Wrigley, Jr’s dream of preserving the island’s natural beauty as well as providing a magical place for all to enjoy. The film concludes with Art Good Jazz Trax, Fender’s Catalina Island Blues Festival, and a visual kaleidoscope of modern day Catalina Island as an ecological paradise highlighting the revival of the island as a place of leisure and entertainment.
Hollywood’s Magical Isle (Book)
Like Bogey and Bacall, Santa Catalina Island and Hollywood are inseparable. From the earliest silent pictures to modern day productions like Aviator, the extraordinary histories of the “Isle of Romance” and the movie capital of the world are inexorably linked. Designed to supplement his film, this “mini coffee table book” is as colorful and alluring as the Island itself. Like the original documentary, the thoughtfully-chosen images tell the remarkable tale of Hollywood’s loyal and affectionate bond with the “Isle of Romance” and their shared history and geography. “The story which I began to tell with motion pictures,” he says, “is now being continued in book form with a formidable collection of stills.” Before the delectable main course of sepia and full-color photographs, Greg Reitman and Island Historian Chuck Liddell treat the reader to a concise and engaging history of the Island beginning with its acquisition in 1919 by wealthy philanthropist and businessman William Wrigley, Jr.
With the completion of Mr. Wrigley’s opulent Avalon Casino traipsed a veritable Who’s Who of the Hollywood elite to the Island-from movie moguls who used the island as a filming location to the stars and starlets who used the island to “get away from it all”-from the triumphant early years of Marilyn Monroe and Ronald Reagan to the tragic ending of Natalie Wood. But the parade of luminaries was not limited to members of the film industry. In good times and bad, the biggest names in the burgeoning world of swing and Big Band music literally danced their way to the Island and serenaded the nation from the Avalon Ballroom. From the world of sports came Wrigley’s own Chicago Cubs who trained on the Island each spring for 30 years. Their youthful faces, too, gleam at us from the pages of this book. While Catalina Island has been the focus of a number of books and films over the years, the release of this book coming on the heals of his 2003 documentary has further defined the role of the Island in the history and culture of the United States. This entire phenomenal story is presented to the reader in 45 pages of high-gloss photography.
Hollywood’s Magical Isle (CD)
It’s doubtful that anyone in the history of Avalon’s legendary Casino Ballroom is more revered than the late Big Band legend Les Brown, whose foot-tapping swing dance music played to sold-out audiences for more than 60 years. In addition to Brown and his Band of Renown, recording artists heard on the reel-to-reel, sea-and-sand soundtrack include The Four Preps, with their 1958 hit single “26 Miles (Santa Catalina),” Jimmy Buffett, Nina Simone, blues legend Taj Mahal, and smooth jazz artist Dave Koz. Flamenco guitarist Omar Torrez, dubbed “the Latin Hendrix” by one critic and composer Christopher Lennertz give an additional boost to the film’s soundtrack with original upbeat compositions.
TRACK LIST
- Sing, Sing, Sing (3.45) Performed by Les Brown and the Band of Renown
- Lovin’ In My Baby Eyes (2.44) Performed by Taj Mahal and The Phantom Blues Band
- I Want a Little Sugar in my Bowl (2.38) Performed by Nina Simone
- Together Again (4:17) Performed by Dave Koz
- Pica Pica (4.57) Performed by Omar Torrez and Orpheus Music
- Let in the Sun (3.11) Performed by Billy Fox
- 26 Miles to Santa Catalina Island (1.19) Performed by The Four Preps
- Love, Love, Love (2.22) Performed by Doris Day
- Spanish Romance (2.41) Performed by Omar Torrez and Orpheus Music
- The Rooster (5.26) Performed by Roger Connelly and the Blues Merchants
- Everlasting Dream (3.29) Performed by Adrianne Leon
SCORE
- Dreaming (0.56) Performed by Christopher Lennertz
- Glass (1.05) Performed by Christopher Lennertz
- Beach (1.25) Performed by Christopher Lennertz
- Underwater (1.49) Performed by Christopher Lennertz
- Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1.54) Performed by Karen Hammack
- Cousteau (2.23) Performed by Christopher Lennertz
- Alegrias Performed by Omar Torrez
