Now Taking Reservations 248.399.6750 positively redolent of the classic Tap album Break Like the Wind — the passing of Irving Steinbloom, a beloved folk manager, inspires his son Jonathan (portrayed by Jewish actor/director Bob Balaban) to stage a memorial concert. As a youth, Jonathan founded the Young Jewish Polo League — they played on Shetland ponies to minimize any damage from falls — and at the insis- tence of his mother, wore a protective hel- met while playing chess. Naturally, his show is televised by public television. The Folksmen haven't played together since their glory days, when they made such classics as "Blood on the Coal" — perhaps the ultimate folksong, being about a train wreck in a coal mine. Mitch & Mickey (Levy and Catherine . O'Hara) are famous both for their romantic music and for Mitch Cohen's subsequent appearances in a straitjacket on solo albums such as A Cry for Help. The New Main Street Singers, mean- while, are a reconstituted good-time group that plays a lot of theme parks and includes only one original member. The only faction of '60s folk not represented are the protest singers. "The Folksmen come as close as any- body," says Shearer. 'And for them, it's more pretension than anything else. They sort of tiptoe around it by doing a song about the Spanish Civil War. But nothing about events within living memory." While the film has plenty of fun with the earnestness and well-meaning banality of traditional folk, Levy insists it's not meant as satire. "Satire is cutting and sharp," he says. "It holds something up in a way that is immediately laughable. This is not that. "I think this really is a character .coni- edy that is set against the world of folk music, like all our films are set against whatever their world is — whether it's small-town Blaine, Mo., in Gu f fman, or a dog show [in Best in Show]. "We're not lampooning the people involved. I think we have too much affection for the subject matter to be true satirists. That seems especially true of Levy, a self-described "Dylan fanatic" who was deeply immersed in folk during the '60s. In a twist that's nearly as weird as any- thing conjured up in A Mighty Winch Levy will be a principal actor in American Wedding, the third in the American Pie series of naughty teen comedies (all of which Levy has starred in). Weird — because the film's director is Jesse Dylan, son of Bob. "Such a sweet guy, Jesse," Levy says of the young filmmaker. "He asked, 'Did you get into folk music when you researched [A Mighty Winc4?' I said, 'No, I didn't get into it. I revisit- ed it. I was into folk music in the '60s.' "And he said, 'Yeah, we had a lot of that stuff growing up.' And, of course, I'm just [slack-jawed]. "Uh-huh. Really. No kidding. I guess you did.'" 0 Best of — Crain's Business Detroit 3 1/2*s — Oakland Press — Macomb Daily 3*s — Detroit News/Free Press 2555 W. 12 Mile Rd. sou corner of Coolidge www.omaras.net 4 4 4( OPEN MOTHER'S DAY GREAT 4 Mother's Day Brunch Served All Day 4 -X FABULOUS V Mother's Day Trays & Treats! Order Now! A Little Bit Of New York Right Here in Bloomfield Hills Plaza • 248-932-0800 6646 Tele. ra • h at Ma Ile • Bloomfield r ... * * * * * irivw- VvvvirVvvvvvvv* * • Full Service Dining • Gourmet Deli Sandwiches • Vegetarian Dishes • Homemade Soups A Mighty Winch rated PG-13, opens Friday, May 9, in area theaters. v vv -rs * v * It • Our house 5pecialties... "Coconut Shrimp & Orange Salsa" or "New York Strip Steak' • Dinner Entrees all include Soup or Salad, vegetable & choice of Potato one Lunch or Dinner Get of second .. . „. al.oriesgetl vaue . :• . NO:.90051,,014:00,410*.01444: •-,E*pirt4 441(31.03•:‘ - a.: I..' J.- it • ■■ -isi via .• mu: . countries with pop culture." Tony Gerber's Side Streets inter- twines five storylines snaking through the five New York City boroughs like the subway the characters use for transportation. In fact, it was the transit system that inspired Gerber to transform his short film dealing with the emotional reawakening of a Romanian butcher's assistant, A Small Taste of Heaven, into a full-length feature. "Just by getting on a subway train and going five or six stops out of Manhattan, you're in another world thousands of miles away, culturally, says Gerber, whose mother's family is of Romanian-Jewish descent. "The idea that someone from Trinidad and someone from Bucharest could ride in the same subway car and never know each other but ride in that same subway car on a daily basis, that's one of the beautiful things about New York." But Gerber found the heart of his original short, which played at Sundance, in his own family history. His wife's mother — who is African, American — and Gerber's father grew up in the predominantly Jewish Crown Heights area of Brooklyn. His mother-in-law even learned Hebrew as her second language in high school. "A generation later their kids are mar- ried and have a child together and are making a movie together but are from two very different worlds," Gerber says. "Thinking on that experience, on these very different worlds that con- stantly crisscross, was the inspiration for the film." 1-1 Madstone's Film Forward series runs through June 11. Side Streets plays through May 14. Bunny plays May 29-June 11. For more information and show times, call (734) 994-1000 or go to b100., fet re.,0 2+8-64-4-A-000 Maple, Downtown Birmingham /z)(7 7 D>pe 166 W. (FREE. Two hour Parking at parking structure in front of the Willits) - Hours: Monday - Saturday 8-9 • Sunday 8-4 695210 more than just bread. ATLANTA BREAD COMPANY' . SOUPS • SALADS • SANDWICHES • FRESH-BAKED BREADS • COOKIES BOWL OF SOUP or HALF SALAD wwvv.madstonetheaters.corn. ltr8tttrtt,f.t,. ;' X. ill ATLANTA BREAD - COMPANY. BAKERY CAFE with purchase of any full sandwich Offer valid only at Royal Oak location. Not valid with any other offer. One coupon per Pula, per visit. Cash value in0Oth of IC, Coupon Expires 8/31103. 516 South Main St. Royal Oak, MI 48067 Phone 248-543-3000 Fax 248-543-3017 C2003 Atlanta Omad Company 698930 5/ 9 2003 71