"What a great way to celebrate the last in the 'SummerDocs' series with a film about a Long Island native Billy Joel and the New York Mets" said Hamptons International Film Festival Executive Director Karen Arikian who introduced the film. Director of Programming, David Nugent, added "We are thrilled to have music legend Billy Joel participate in our program and discuss his history with Shea Stadium."

The intersecting histories of the landmark stadium, a volatile baseball team, and a music legend are examined in the film that charts the ups and downs of the New York Mets and the life and career of Long Island native Joel. Directed by Paul Crowder, the film is set against the backdrop of New York City, early 1960s to present, and the soundtrack of Billy Joel's final Shea Stadium concerts in 2008. "The Last Play at Shea," weaves interviews with players and performers with exclusive concert footage - featuring special guests Sir Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, John Mayer, Roger Daltrey, and John Mellencamp, among others. Long time Billy Joel friend and former band mate, Jon Small, directed the concert footage, filmed at each of Billy Joel's sold-out Shea Stadium Shows. The concerts are from July 2008, and were the last performances ever to play the historic stadium. Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair produced the film in conjunction with Billy Joel's Maritime Pictures and Spitfire Films.

Shea Stadium was the brainchild of Robert Moses, erected in the hopes of actually drawing the wealthy out of Manhattan and into the suburbs, yet quickly became the home of hard working, middle class citizens who filled the seats "of the dump" (as the stadium was affectionately referred to because it was in fact built on a dump). These spectators came to cheer for a team that at one time held one of the worse records in baseball history. Superstition runs deep among athletes - and the black cat that ran across the field during one game as shown in the film - will long be remembered as an omen that signified the depths that this ball club had to rise from - and they did. Named after William Shea, the stadium was also the original home of the New York Jets.

Following the screening, Alec Baldwin and Billy Joel took to the stage where Baldwin and attendees posed questions to Joel.

There is nothing more intriguing than to be a fan observing another fan discourse over the talents of an individual who himself is a fan - all culminating in the acknowledgment of the talents of yet someone else - confusing? - not really - as both Billy Joel and Alec Baldwin alluded to the influence The Beatles had on them. McCartney's appearance with Joel at Shea Stadium, bringing along the same guitar and escorted to the field by the same groundskeeper from The Beatles historic appearance in the 1960s, sent chills down everyone's spine, and Joel repeatedly referred to his gratitude to the Liverpool icon for efforts to make the appearance a reality.

The film is a candid, informative look at the tumultuous and sometimes heartbreaking, yet always enriching, careers of not only the baseball team originally culled together by a lawyer no less, but the life and career of one of America's favorite songwriters and performers.

Guild Hall was filled to capacity with fans, including Lorraine Bracco a fellow alumni of Hicksville High School (Billy Joel's alma mater); Bruce Weber; Rosanna Scotto, and Christie Brinkley; as well as fans of the Mets; Baldwin - and of course, Joel.

The historical footage is beautifully interwoven with the tales and evolution of a structure, baseball team and a musician that resulted in the demise of only one, and thankfully it was the structure, reminding us that perhaps baseball has been very, very good to us.

The 18th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place over Columbus Day Weekend, October 7th, 2010 through October 11th, 2010.

"Revenge Is Sweet" is an anthem of sorts for the ninety-seven percent of high school students who look upon those years with contempt and desire getting back at all the people who wronged them. "Amplifier Fire," a two-part instrumental, closed the album's first side. "Part I: Godzilla," a fun jazz piece and the only representation Attila gets on Billy Joel's career-spanning boxed set, "My Lives," fades into "Part II: March of The Huns", an experimental rocker exploding with a fury and providing an instrumental soundtrack for Hunnic brutality.

"Rollin' Home" opens side two, again through a wall of fuzz, chugging along with a tale as old as time - a man with the need to get his rocks off in interesting ways. The noises Joel is able to coax out of the Hammond are astounding and Small's drum work is a pristine example of cack-handed, proto-metal drumming however the bassline definitely needed some development. Sounding like a Black Sabbath outtake (the type that would manage to make the cut in this age of 70-minute albums), "Tear This Castle Down" is full of great changes though I still can't figure out exactly what the song's supposed to be about.

"Holy Moses" is a song with infinite promise, heavy as all hell and full of mad organ riffing. Again, Joel's voice doesn't have the power to carry the song. "Brain Invasion," the second instrumental and the closing track, is bogged down in its arrangement. Had Joel and Small rearranged the piece, making the middle section more traditional jazz, with a standard organ part (not one fuzzed to Fuckville and back), an acoustic piano, acoustic bass and brushes on the drums, it almost certainly would have been a successful (if somewhat jarring) piece. Instead, the changes aren't as pronounced, the song not as strong as it could have been.

Organ/drums combos work in jazz and when Joel and Small are at their jazziest, the group concept does work. Proper rock and roll, however, needs a strong bottom end whether through bass, guitar, foot pedals or keyboard and a weak bottom end- when you can hear it, that is - hampers Attila almost entirely throughout. That's not to say that it doesn't rock... quite the contrary, it's a supremely heavy album. One thing's for certain, I'll never hear a Hammond the same way again. Still, it's clear that the lack of a few string instruments definitely hurt the album, ultimately turn Attila into a novelty.

In opposition to AllMusic.com, I won't say that "Attila" is the worst album ever made, I can't in good conscience because I know that I've heard much, much worse. There's a semblance of melody under the layers of distortion and there are clearly moments with promise. The songs definitely need re-arranging, mind you, but it was probably the cover that did more to keep any potential fans away than the music ever could. The album was an unmitigated failure and, combined with the fact Joel was carrying on an affair with Small's wife, spelled the end of the group.

Billy Joel had one more stop before he finally broke through to the masses. Signing with Artie Ripp's Family Productions (a Gulf & Western-distributed label), he recorded his first album with a who's who of session men backing him. But 1971's "Cold Spring Harbor," largely a dry-run for his career to come, was mastered at the wrong speed, causing Joel's voice to sound higher than natural. In my opinion, it's a more difficult listen than Attila because, even if Billy Joel's out of his element on Attila, he still sounds like himself. He had his famous stint singing in piano bars before he'd get his career going again, eventually signing with Clive Davis at Columbia, with Ripp's Family Productions logo prominent on the LP labels through 1986 as a remnant of their acrimonious break-up.

You can't listen to this in regards to Joel's career from 1973, you won't be able to take it. Try to keep an open mind, even with the album cover. I'd say ninety-five percent of my favorite album covers came out between 1968 and 1972. Who signed off on this, really? Crappy costumes and a meat locker... Still, try to take it with a few grains of salt (the type they put around the rims of margarita glasses) and see if it doesn't bring something to you.