USA/UK/2008—directed by Vikram Jayanti (102 min.)

Legendary pop music genius Phil Spector created the “wall of sound” behind some of the great hits of the ’60s: Be My Baby, He’s a Rebel, Da Doo Ron Ron, to name a few; today he’s serving 19 years to life for the murder of Lana Clarkson. During his first (hung jury) trial, Spector gave a rare freewheeling interview, filmed at his castle, seated before the white piano which he bought with John Lennon for Imagine. He lucidly holds forth on his life and work: his father’s suicide; the process through which he achieved his trademark sound; his friendship with Lennon; and his case (despite Paul McCartney’s denial) that he saved the Beatles’ album Let It Be. Then there is Spector’s bizarre enmity toward Tony Bennett and Buddy Holly (“he got on a postage stamp even though he was only in rock ’n’ roll three years”), even as he likens himself to Bach, Michelangelo and Galileo.