The annual Milwaukee Film Festival showcases, quite literally, dozens of films -- long and short. So, if you haven't heard of some or most of them, how do you know what to see, assuming that you can't see them all?
Well, here is one that you should definitely see.
"Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him)?," is directed by Milwaukee native John Scheinfeld, who directed "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" and appeared in David Zucker's "BASEketball."
It seems like a logical next step for Scheinfeld, since the Brooklyn-born Nilsson and Lennon were such good friends, with the latter even producing Nilsson's 1974 "Pussy Cats" record.
Harry Nilsson was one of those performers that scored hits, though has, over time, become entirely a musician's musician.
His songwriting skills helped others top the charts, but his own hits (like Badfinger's "Without You" and Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" from the 1969 film "Midnight Cowboy") -- ironically -- were written by others.
Nilsson's voice still has everyone raving, more than 15 years after his death.
Scheinfeld interviewed tons of folks -- including former wives, children, producer Richard Perry (who produced his biggest record, 1971's "Nilsson Schmilsson"), friends and fellow singers and songwriters like Mickey Dolenz, the Smothers Brothers and Paul Williams -- to try to get to the heart of this complex man whose entire life seemed tied up in his abandonment by his father.
His songwriting garnered him his first success and he went on to write hits like "One" for Three Dog Night and "Cuddly Toy" for The Monkees. He also wrote and performed "Best Friend," the theme song to television's "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." Remember "Coconut" -- as in "you put the lime in the coconut"? Yup ... Nilsson.
Soon he recorded his first solo record and gained the ear of his beloved Beatles via their press man Derek Taylor. This led to a relationship with Lennon and a close, life-long friendship with Ringo Starr. Throughout the ‘70s Nilsson and the former Beatles collaborated frequently.
But Nilsson -- the son of an alcoholic, who warned her son that the disease runs in the family -- fell victim to success and to drink and drugs. While Perry hoped to build on the massive success of "Schmillson," Harry went off on a musical tangent, sinking the follow-up "Son of Schmilsson" record.
He next recorded a disc of standards with Gordon Jenkins and then did "Pussy Cats" with Lennon, rupturing a vocal cord in the process.
As Perry tells it, this musical wandering also helped torpedo Nilsson's ascent.
The film is engaging and perfectly titled. When you hear Nilsson sing and you hear the songs he wrote for others, and you see him hanging out with his famous friends and you hear Lennon say Nilsson is his favorite performer, you realize that if you didn't already know Harry, you were missing out.
Tracing the arc of his career, it's hard not to feel a pang of regret and sadness.
The 116-minute film is a documentary, but it sure feels like a drama. And like all good dramas, there is conflict and there are soaring emotional highs and lows.
It screens Tuesday, Sept. 28, 9:15 p.m., at the Oriental Theatre;
Friday, Oct. 1, 4:30 p.m., at Ridge Cinema; and Sunday, Oct. 3, 4 p.m., North Shore Cinema.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
