The hows, whys, history, and importance of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show are explored in Linus O’Brien’s heartfelt documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror.
Tag Archives: Musical
The Best Friend (aka O Melhor Amigo) (2024) [FilmOut San Diego 2025]
A man runs from a proposal and heads to a beach when he rekindles an old friendship that relights an old flame.
Guys and Dolls (1955)
“Guys and Dolls” is a film at odds with itself. Most of the footage is a pleasant distraction when it should be an invigorating entertainment, and the peak moments are strangely few and far between. At two-and-a-half hours, it constantly runs the risk of wearing out its welcome. And by the closing credits, it leaves the viewer serenely amused rather than knocked out by the greatness it should have achieved.
Continue reading
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) [Fantasia 2025]
When Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town, discovers the existence of Christmas he embraces it as a breath of fresh air and attempts to make it his own. This spells uncertainty for the monstrous citizens who idolize Jack, and for Santa Claus… Who’s holiday is about to look very different than usual.
The Bootleg Files: The Lambeth Walk
BOOTLEG FILES 913: “The Lambeth Walk” (1939 British feature starring Lupino Lane).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the proverbial cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Comedies that thrust earthy working-class characters into snooty high society settings might be among the most predictable pieces of entertainment, but they often produce the best results. Chaplin plumbed this concept as a disguised convict mixing with the wealthy in his 1917 classic “The Adventurer,” George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” and its musical successor “My Fair Lady” uneasily turned a Cockney flower seller into a lady, Abbott and Costello were crass plumbers mistaken for well-heeled guests at a Long Island estate with “In Society,” and the Three Stooges often ran amok through the mansions of the hoity-toity, leaving the residue of pie fights along the way.
Continue reading
South Pacific (1958)
Every time I try to watch “South Pacific,” I attempt to coax myself into believing that I will fall in love with the film before the closing credits. And after every viewing, I wind up sighing in disappointment.
Continue reading
The Bootleg Files: Disney’s Yellow Submarine
BOOTLEG FILES 906: “Disney’s Yellow Submarine” (cancelled animated feature from the early 2010s).
LAST SEEN: Bits and pieces of the pre-production planning are on YouTube and Internet Archive.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Disney never made any of the material available for commercial sale.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely, unless a documentary on the subject is made.
Last month, this column shined its spotlight on “Strawberry Fields,” an aborted animated feature using covers of Beatles songs that was being produced in the late 1980s by Al Brodax, the producer of the 1968 classic “Yellow Submarine.” This week, we take a look at another piece of Beatles-related ephemera – a much-ballyhooed but quickly cancelled remake of “Yellow Submarine” that was planned for production and release by The Walt Disney Co.
Continue reading