Author Archives: Phil Hall

post

The Bootleg Files: Waiting for Godot

Posted on by

BOOTLEG FILES 924: “Waiting for Godot” (2024 version of the Beckett classic).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Not cleared for home entertainment release.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

At the moment, one of the hottest tickets on Broadway is the revival of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. But if you can’t make it to Broadway or don’t have the money to afford tickets, fear not because an inventive, enchanting, and under-the-radar version of the Beckett classic can be seen for free on YouTube.
Continue reading →

post

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Baton Bunny (1959)

Posted on by

Baton Bunny (1959)
Directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Ben Washam
Music by Milt Franklyn

Okay, raise your hand if your first introduction to classical music came while watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. Fine, you can put your hand down now. That kind of impact is something special when you consider that only six of the Bugs Bunny cartoons incorporated symphonic compositions or operas into their stories: “A Corny Concerto” (1943), “Rhapsody Rabbit” (1946), “Long-Haired Hare” (1949), “Rabbit of Seville” (1950), “What’s Opera, Doc?” (1957), and today’s offering “Baton Bunny” (1959).
Continue reading →

post

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958)

Posted on by

Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Warren Batchelder, Tom Ray, George Grandpré
Music by John Seely

It’s rabbit season and Bugs Bunny tries to evade rifle-toting Elmer Fudd. Bugs balls into an underground cave with prehistoric wall paintings and a giant powder horn that serves as a time capsule from 10,000 BC, with instructions for an opening in 1960 AD. Bugs opens the powder horn and finds a reel of film. Bugs returns to his hole-in-the-ground residence and loads the film into a projector. The film opens with title credits announcing “A Micronesian Film Documentary in Breathtaking Cro-Magnonscope. Color by Neanderthal Color.” To Bugs’ surprise, the film focuses on his prehistoric ancestor, a saber-toothed rabbit, who is being pursued by the caveman Elmer Fuddstone.
Continue reading →

post

The Bootleg Files: Hedda

Posted on by

BOOTLEG FILES 923: “Hedda” (1975 film version of Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” starring Glenda Jackson and Patrick Stewart).

LAST SEEN: On the Russian OK.ru site.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS video.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: There seems to be a rights clearance issue.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Damn, I hope so.

When the Academy Award nominations for 1975 were announced, Glenda Jackson was among the Best Actress nominees for her performance in “Hedda,” an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company under the direction of Trevor Nunn. The likelihood of Jackson winning the Oscar was nil, only because she already won two Best Actress Oscars within the previous five years – for “Women in Love” (1970) and “A Touch of Class” (1973) – and the Academy was not going to give her a third award in such a short period of time. Jackson was aware of that situation, which may explain why she was the only woman in that category who did not attend the Oscar ceremony.
Continue reading →

post

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Knighty Knight Bugs

Posted on by

Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Milt Franklyn

When you consider how many cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny are now celebrated as animation classics, it is bizarre to realize that only three cartoons featuring the top star of the Warner Bros. animation studio were nominated for the Academy Award. Even more peculiar was the fact the three cartoons that were nominated – “A Wild Hare” (1940), “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt” (1941), and “Knight Knight Bugs” (1958) – were far from the best of the Bugs Bunny series.

Continue reading →