arts & entertainment

Car Buffs from page 51

If the cars were salvageable, Schiffer
would help his stepfather fix them up to
be driven by the family or sold to a new
owner. By high school, Schiffer's family
had moved to Detroit, and he studied
mechanical drawing, auto shop and
welding.
In 1986, Schiffer purchased the
"skin-and-bones" 1968 green GTO
convertible. He installed a 428 engine
for extra power. He scoured newspa-
per classifieds and scrapyards and had
replacement parts flown in from as far
as California. He restored the chrome
bumper, got the hideaway headlights
working again and repaired the car's
mint-green interior to its original luster.
"Restoring this car has been my
therapy," Schiffer said.
With one peek into the home garage
of Berkley ophthalmologist Dr. Steven
Shanbom, lyrics from the B-52's "Love
Shack" ("I got me a car / it's as big as a
whale") come to mind.
There sits an enormous powder-blue
1965 Lincoln Continental convertible
with features including "suicide doors:'
which are hinged to open facing each
other, and a retractable roof. The car's
shark-fin fenders extend way beyond
the trunk.
Unlike Schiffer, Shanbom admits
he is more of a "car enthusiast than a
car builder." When he needs parts or
repairs, he turns to online forums and
relies on the expertise of specialized
mechanics.
"I guess you would call this 'my

midlife crisis car," said Shanbom, who
will host other members of the Lincoln
& Continental Owners Club to display
about 40 cars in the parking lot of
his ophthalmology practice at 28747
Woodward.
"Lots of men get a two-seater sports
car. For me, I wanted a larger car to
take my wife and kids and a bunch of
their friends out for ice cream on a
warm summer evening."
A relative newcomer to the Detroit
area, Rabbi Robert Morais, director of
Shalom Street at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield, has been
car-crazed since his teenage years. His
first car was a 1977 Chevy Malibu. Now,
he is the proud owner of a 1973 Dodge
Dart and a 1979 red Volkswagen Super
Beetle convertible.
"The Beetle has about 98,000 miles
on it, but it probably has more because
the odometer stopped working. But
that's part of its character;' Morais said.
Come time for the Dream Cruise,
he'll be cruising up and down
Woodward. Does he mind sitting in the
gridlocked parade of traffic or breath-
ing in all the exhaust? Not at all.
"There is a whole camaraderie up and
down Woodward among the car own-
ers:' said Morais.
"You share the struggles and tri-
umphs of things like finding that final
rare part that will bring your classic
car back to life. You share that sense
of pride that you own a piece of his-
tory." ❑

The Woodward Dream Cruise runs 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug.16, through
host communities including Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield
Township, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Pontiac and Royal
Oak. For more information, go to www.woodawarddreamcruise.com .
For festivities surrounding the event — a 5K run/walk, kids' inflatable
zones, parades, block parties, food courts, live music, sidewalk sales,
contests and a variety of car shows — also check out the websites of the
individual cities.

Eric Schiffer with his 1968 Pontiac Firebird, bestowed upon him by Jim Wangers, a
Pontiac marketing visionary

Steven Shanbom's 1965 Lincoln Continental features "suicide doors" and shark-fin
fenders.

Jews

•-

a.

Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

At The Movies

The following films open on Friday,
Aug.15:
7
:1
Life Itself is a documentary about
the life of Roger Ebert (1942-2013),
who became famous, with Gene
Siskel (1946-1999), as one half of
Siskel & Ebert. The Chicago news-
paper film critics dueled with each
other weekly from 1975-1999 on
their thumbs up/thumbs down movie-
review TV show.
Much of the film is dedicated to
their relationship, which was often

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August 14 • 2014

JN

as acerbic in real life as it was on
TV. However, the film does cover
Ebert's moving memorial TV tribute
to Siskel, who died of a brain tumor
at age 53.
The film's director, Steve James
(Hoop Dreams), said in a recent inter-
view that the critics' relationship
wasn't all vitriol and conflict; there
was a bond between them, too." By
way of evidence, he cites one outtake
reel in which the duo, knowing their
comments wouldn't make the air,
berate the WASPs/Protestants (in a
mostly comic way) for "running the
country" along with other faults — as
compared with "real folks" like Jews

(Siskel) and Catholics (Ebert). This
outtake is in the film and on YouTube
("Siskel & Ebert, '80s Outtakes").
The Giver is a dystopian action-
adventure film based on a multi-
award winning, young adult novel of
the same name.
In the future, mankind has appar-
ently solved all its problems — but
one young man, Jonas (Brenton
Thwaites), discovers that this har-
mony comes at a terrible price.
Playing the leading role of Fiona,
Jonas' friend and love interest, is
Odeya Rush, 17, who was born in
Haifa, Israel. She moved to America
when she was 9 (her father took a

job with an American
security company).
Rush has acting
ability, as well as
being beautiful. This
film is just the first
of several upcoming
big-budget movies in
Rush
which she has a co-
starring role.
The Giver has a great supporting
cast, including Jeff Bridges, Meryl
Streep, Taylor Swift and Alexander
Skarsgard. ❑

Contact Nate Bloom at

middleoftheroadl@aoLcom.