John, the Wolfking of L.A. (2006)

Here was John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas in 1969: partying with Sharon Tate, popping Seconals, and writing a musical about the moon landing. Thankfully, he also enlisted a crackerjack band to document his whirlwind year on the reflective John, the Wolfking of L.A.. Phillips is a true cad: ''Let It Bleed Genevieve'' (in which his pregnant girlfriend waits at home while he cruises L.A.) suggests one of Randy Newman's deluded characters. But such boorishness makes his heartbreaking moments of contrition all the more epiphanic.