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Life & Times Transcript
8/9/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- It's British and has a catchy name, but why all the buzz about a new supermarket? Tim Mason>> "Our appeal is not around your social class. Our appeal is around fresh foods, less processed foods, affordable foods and easy to prepare and convenient." Val Zavala>> And then, no blockbusters, no sequels and no animated heroes. Is there anything our movie critics can recommend? It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> The supermarket business is a tough industry in southern California. It's survived a bitter strike, competition from Wal-Mart and now a new British firm is moving in, opening twelve new Fresh & Easy stores throughout Los Angeles County. They're also making promises to local communities. So will they succeed and will they keep their promises? Toni Guinyard has our story. Toni Guinyard>> Imagine being watched while you grocery shop, every purchase made, every place you go, scrutinized. It happened all in the name of research for Britain's latest import to the United States, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets. Simon Uwins>> The first thing to be said is that we've done a good deal of that research going into peoples' homes, into all different types of homes in all different types of neighborhoods. Toni Guinyard>> Simon Uwins is Chief Marketing Officer for the Fresh & Easy grocery store chain. They're taking shape across southern California's landscape from Los Angeles to San Diego. It's taken years to reach this point and the markets are making news in part because of the company's approach to doing business. Simon Uwins>> You talk to people and find out what it is they want as customers from grocery shopping and then what we do is try and design a store from there that meets that better than anybody else. Toni Guinyard>> Successful British retail giant, Tesco, is the company behind the Fresh & Easy brand. Robert Gottlieb>> Tesco is a big global player. It's the third largest in the world. It operates in twelve countries. It has a third of the market in Great Britain and, coming to the United States, it sees itself as becoming the biggest food retailer in the United States. Toni Guinyard>> Robert Gottlieb is Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. As the neighborhood markets go up, he'll be watching. Robert Gottlieb>> They've made strong promises about building stores in what they call food desert communities, low income communities that don't have a full-service supermarket close by. Tim Mason>> "Our search has been much broader than most businesses when looking to break into a market." Toni Guinyard>> Fresh & Easy CEO, Tim Mason. Tim Mason>> "And that has taken us back into some of the neighborhoods that have traditionally been under-served." Toni Guinyard>> At a press conference to announce the locations of twelve Los Angeles area markets, Mason explained the company's interest in going into so-called food desert communities. Tim Mason>> "Our appeal is not around affluence. It's not around your social class. Our appeal is around fresh foods, less processed foods, affordable foods and easy to prepare and convenient." Nelson>> That's a good day for us. It doesn't matter if they come from another country. It doesn't matter to me. If they're going to have lower prices and the same product or some even better, why can't we do that too? Toni Guinyard>> Fresh & Easy hopes to open a market at the intersection of Jefferson and Crenshaw, so we went there to talk to residents about grocery shopping and what's available to them now. Juanita Barnes>> The prices are high (laughter) and the variety is short, so all of that is kind of bad. Toni Guinyard>> Compared to what they want. Simon Uwins>> They wanted fresh, wholesome food that's affordable and they didn't feel that, at the moment, they could get it at a level of price that they could afford. Odessa Webb>> Oh, definitely, definitely, because I'm trying to eat better, you know, get more fruits and vegetables in my diet. So it's something definitely I would be interested in. Toni Guinyard>> With the exception of disclosing the locations for these markets, Tesco executives have been downright secretive. But they have learned a lot from us. They've set up a prototype store in an undisclosed location, of course, to find out how we shop and what we shop for. I'd like to show you, but I can't because Tesco executives have a lot of things they don't want us to see or know. Tim Mason>> "It's a little supermarket, if you like. It is different when you see it. It's not landed from Mars. You won't go in and go, "Oh, my, I've never seen one of these before." It's got carts and it's got carrots and tomatoes and, you know, it's got milk. I wouldn't want to over-claim, but there are things that are a little bit different." Toni Guinyard>> Why so secretive? Simon Uwins>> Well, we want our customers in the end to be the first people that find out about our stores rather than any competitors around the place. That seems to me absolutely right and proper. Toni Guinyard>> It's also a strategic marketing move. Limiting access to information about the markets now may draw customers out of curiosity when they open later this year. Simon Uwins>> Our success is based on whether the customers like our stores or not, so we do want our customers to be the ones who will actually judge us. Toni Guinyard>> But they're being judged on past business practices. Just one day after our interview with Mr. Uwins, the report "Shopping for A Market" evaluating Tesco's entry into Los Angeles and the United States was released by the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute. Amanda Shaffer>> Tesco's main goal, like any company, is to make money and we need to remember that that really is their underlying motivator. Toni Guinyard>> Lead researcher, Amanda Shaffer. Amanda Shaffer>> It's a good thing that Tesco is going into those neighborhoods and we want them to. We've wanted all of the chains to go into under-served neighborhoods for a long time. Robert Gottlieb>> In the food access issue, we've discovered that, for the first hundred stores that they plan to roll out in the next year, only ten of them are in high poverty, low income areas and, of those ten, only three are stores that don't have full-service supermarkets close by. Toni Guinyard>> Researchers say that the site at Central and Adams is the only site in negotiation in Los Angeles that qualifies as a food desert area, but their study was completed before other Los Angeles locations being considered were made public. Tim Mason>> "Central and Adams, as I mentioned, Broadway and Manchester Avenue, Pico Boulevard and San Vicente." Amanda Shaffer>> A lot of the press coverage has been on their desire to enter into these under-served areas and we don't want people to lose sight of the other issues that we've talked about in terms of labor and the environment and the supply chain. Robert Gottlieb>> We think hiring locally is really important and it's an important promise that Tesco has made. Amanda Shaffer>> It's also important to look at the big picture of what kind of jobs those stores are going to provide, and I think the people in those communities care about that just as much as they care about having access to healthy food. Toni Guinyard>> So you'll actively recruit those people in that surrounding area? Simon Uwins>> Absolutely, yes. That's exactly what we'll do. I mean, every store will actually be having job fairs before the stores open, at that store or, if we can't put that at the store, nearby to recruit people in that neighborhood. Toni Guinyard>> And they'll be offered jobs paying a minimum of ten dollars an hour while working a minimum of twenty hours a week. Simon Uwins>> No job being less than twenty hours a week and every job over twenty hours a week will be offered affordable and broad health care with us paying at least seventy-five percent of the cost and with only ninety days qualification period for the employee and for their family. Robert Gottlieb>> The problem with a part-time workforce is that you then can't make a living wage unless you're juggling other jobs. Toni Guinyard>> But they're saying starting at ten dollars an hour and that's higher than the minimum wage. Robert Gottlieb>> It's higher than the minimum wage, but if you translate that into twenty hours a week, that's two hundred dollars a week. That's not a living wage for someone. Toni Guinyard>> Expect the criticism to continue, but even the critics admit that they want the neighborhood markets to succeed for the sake of the community. But they also want to make sure Fresh & Easy lives up to its promises. Simon Uwins>> We do the right things for customers. And if we do the right things to employees, then we'll be fine. We'll be successful and we'll be having another great chat in a few month's time. Toni Guinyard>> In the meantime, we'll be watching and waiting for more details about Fresh & Easy to be made public and for the public to decide if the neighborhood markets can live up to the hype. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> We'd love to know your response to that story and you can post your opinions on our blog. Just go to kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> And now for this update of a Life and Times story. You may recall we told you about a California law that bans the sale of violent videogames to minors. State lawmakers passed the law two years ago, but now a federal judge has declared it unconstitutional. Supporters claim violent videogames can damage minors psychologically and may cause aggressive behavior. The judge says that he sympathizes with the cause, but found no evidence that the games are harmful. He ruled that the law restricted free speech. Governor Schwarzenegger says he plans to appeal the ruling. He believes the games are made for adults and that children should be able to buy them without a parent's permission. Val Zavala>> Can spirituality and upscale tourism coexist? Well, that's the question facing the residents of the Ojai Valley and now student journalist Shirley Shin of USC's Annenberg School of Journalism gives us the latest installment in our "Magical Mystery Tour of California". Shirley Shin>> It's only an hour's drive from Los Angeles, but Ojai seems worlds away. Mark Lee>> Sunrise, sunset, the way the moon comes up, physically it is quite dynamic and, this, people seem to sense. They seem to have an understanding that this valley has a presence. Shirley Shin>> Most valleys in the world run north-south, but Ojai Valley runs east-west, a phenomenon that many say brings special energy to the land. Michael Lindfield>> There's something deep and beautiful going on inside Ojai that is not seen with the naked eye. It's a place of deep stillness, but it's also a place of fiery purpose. People come here to get in touch with who they are at a deep level. Shirley Shin>> Ojai has been a spiritual destination for hundreds of years. The first inhabitants, the Chumash Indian Tribe, considered this valley a pathway to heaven. Mark Lee>> They felt that the valley was so special that they did not fight here. If they had a battle or if there was a conflict or a dispute, they would go out of the valley. Shirley Shin>> One spiritual group after another came and settled in Ojai from the mainstream, Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists to philosophical groups and a theosophical society. Judy Gabriel>> Because here is a place where we're saying that, no matter what your belief, we have a place for you to explore deeper and we have a way for you to explore your neighbors' spirituality also and find the common denominators instead of the differences. Shirley Shin>> One common denominator? Everyone here wants to preserve Ojai's small-town atmosphere and stay as industry-free as possible. Walk down Main Street in Ojai and you're struck by the absence of chain restaurants. That's because town officials have worked hard to keep them out along with major roadways and other intrusions of modern life. Joy Mills>> There's a great effort by many citizens in Ojai to maintain this kind of reverence for the land, for the flora and fauna, the animals that roam here, and to maintain that for future generations. Shirley Shin>> Of course, there is a thriving tourist industry. Ojai has become a playground for the wealthy with spa resorts and high-end boutiques. Joy Mills>> So in the morning, you see a lot of cars coming in and, in the evening, you see a lot of cars going out (laughter). I'm glad when they leave and then it's quiet. Shirley Shin>> Locals say that this commercialism doesn't define the valley. It's the spirit of Ojai that draws people in. Mark Lee>> Ojai makes no claims for itself. That is, other centers claim that they are a vortex of energy or that they have certain qualities in their water or that it's a pilgrimage place for whatever commercial or non-commercial reasons they can invent. Ojai doesn't say that. Ojai is just here and it has been here for thousands of years. Shirley Shin>> It may be a weekend getaway for the rich, but you don't need money to enjoy Ojai. Mark Lee>> It's the people who are looking for something deeper in life, who are hoping that, in retreat or where they can be away from the stimulation, the distraction of daily living, they can find out who they are, what's important in life. Shirley Shin>> And like the Chumash Indians before them, they leave their conflicts behind. Reporting for Life and Times, I'm Shirley Shin. Val Zavala>> That story, again, from student journalist, Shirley Shin, part of a program at USC's Annenberg School of Journalism. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week is the fantasy movie, "Stardust". It stars Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Peter O'Toole, Robert de Niro and Ricky Gervais. The film takes us into a whole world populated by characters made popular in the series of fantasy books. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Claudia Puig of USA Today and Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor. Peter, what did you think of "Stardust"? Peter Rainer>> I think it was a fairly good sort of fantastical movie. It's the first picture really of this scope that's been adapted from Neil Gaiman who's a kind of icon in this fantasy world. The direction of the movie by Matthew Vaughn is surprisingly good, I thought, in the magical areas, but not so good in the sort of more humdrum areas. Coming out of the British gangster film tradition that he's been working in as producer and director, this is a little surprising. But the best parts of this movie for me were the performances, especially Michelle Pfeiffer as the wicked witch, which she sort of played in "Hairspray" also if you think about it (laughter), not to mention going back to "The Witches of Eastwick". But she has a great time in this film, but it's not one of these scenery-chewing things that, you know, takes away from everybody else. They're good too. Larry Mantle>> Claudia? Claudia Puig>> Well, speaking of scenery-chewing, I think that Robert de Niro also had a really key part. He seemed to be having a great time along with Michelle Pfeiffer. I think that there was a little bit of scenery-chewing going on, but they seemed to be having so much fun. It's such a flamboyant turn. It's a role you haven't seen him in and you probably won't see again as Captain Shakespeare, this pirate. You know, you almost forgive them for the scenery-chewing and it really was fun. I think the performances were the key. There's an entertaining, enchanting aspect to it. I think, in general, it was a lot of fun. I kept thinking "Princess Bride" meets "The Chronicles of Narnia". I think it's adorable for children and I think adults will find it equally entertaining and fun. Generally, I think he did a pretty good job, especially deviating from the gangster tradition over to magic. Larry Mantle>> "2 Days in Paris" is directed by Julie Delpy who also costars in the film with Adam Goldberg. She makes her directorial debut and she also wrote the script. This film is a romantic comedy that shows a couple in the throes of all kinds of challenges. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> "2 Days in Paris", Claudia? Claudia Puig>> Well, it's a very ambitious effort by Julie Delpy. She wrote, directed, costarred, edited, produced and, I think, scored (laughter) -- Larry Mantle>> -- and built the theater (laughter). Claudia Puig>> Yeah, probably (laughter), and the film encompasses everything from love, romance, art, dirty laundry, public humiliation, the Da Vinci Code, and a guy who claims to be a fairy of the winged sort in a fast food joint (laughter). You can tell she has two influences, one being Richard Linklater in which she starred in "Before Sunset" and "Before Sunrise". You can tell she was influenced by him. Then she was also influenced, I think, by Woody Allen. There's a little bit of the Keaton-Woody Allen kind of romance between these two characters. She plays a French actress who is involved with a New Yorker and they go to Paris to see her family and her friends and hijinks ensue. I don't think the chemistry works as well as it could, but I think that there's some very deft writing and some funny scenes. Larry Mantle>> Peter, what did you think? Peter Rainer>> I think it's a pretty good movie, but it kept drawing on references to the Linklater pictures which I think are so far superior that there's a real yin and yang going on when you're watching this movie, if you're at all conversant with those films. The other interesting thing about this movie is that Delpy is playing a character who's highly unsympathetic in my view. You know, she's a woman who has so many ex-boyfriends and lovers all over the place that it's sort of a running gag that, wherever she goes when she's with her boyfriend, she keeps running into these other boyfriends which gets him steamed and gets her kind of flustered. You never quite know what her back story is. There's some charming scenes with her and her parents in Paris and some very nice kind of non-touristy views of the city itself. So as a directorial debut, I think it's promising. It's nice that she is so free and easy as a filmmaker because that bodes well for something more interesting since she is sort of an intuitive actress as well. But overall, I think it's a bit nattery and a little bit too much improv hurts the picture. Larry Mantle>> You remember that terrific documentary "Spellbound"? Jeffrey Blitz took us into the world of kids' spelling bees. Well, Blitz has now written and directed his first dramatic film. It's "Rocket Science" and a coming of age story. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Claudia, what did you think of "Rocket Science"? Claudia Puig>> It's a member of the school of sort of darkly clever tales about adolescent angst along the lines of "Rushmore" or "A Squid and the Whale", "Election" even. I think it was well-written. What I liked about it was that it didn't fall into the sort of "Napoleon Dynamite" idiosyncrasies and sort of reveling in its off-beat eccentricity. It seemed to really be trying to mine some emotional territory. The director who had done "Spellbound", the documentary, does a nice job in his first effort at a feature film. I think it all hinges on the main performance which is Reece Daniel Thompson as the actor who hasn't done much. He's good. He plays a shy and stuttering boy who's intelligent and who is drawn out by this kind of manipulative, very, very smart girl. It's the first time he's really been paid attention to, so he falls for her. Meanwhile, she's trying to get him on the debate team which is not probably the best place for someone who has a real problem with stuttering (laughter). Larry Mantle>> Peter, what did you think? Peter Rainer>> Quirky is the word. I think this movie kind of overdoses on quirkiness. After a while, I found that it was more of a cartoon in a way than a movie for me. It had all sorts of eccentric characters being eccentric in the eccentric framework and the concept that this kid would be part of a debate team is sort of funny-sad except that too is exploited, I think, way beyond the point where it really makes any kind of emotional sense for me. But the performers are kind of fun and it does capture the high school atmosphere well, which is surprisingly hard to do in the movies. When you think about all the films that have high school settings and how phony they always seem to us, you know, who've been through high school, I do think it's an achievement that he does capture pretty well here. Larry Mantle>> Thanks for joining us for another FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor and Claudia Puig of USA Today. Please join us next week at this same time for the next FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val Zavala>> KPCC public radio broadcasts a longer version of FilmWeek Fridays at eleven a.m. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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