Tag Archives: Musical

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The Bootleg Files: Once Upon a Tour

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BOOTLEG FILES 824: “Once Upon a Tour” (1972 TV special designed to boost the career of Dora Hall).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: A brief VHS video release.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A music rights clearance issue coupled with an overwhelming degree of obscurity.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Utterly unlikely.

During the 1970s, a series of variety specials turned up on independent TV stations around the U.S. that revolved around a singing-dancing-joking septuagenarian named Dora Hall. If you born after the 1970s passed into the history books, there’s an excellent chance you never heard of Dora Hall. And if you were around during the Decade That Good Taste Forgot, there’s an equally excellent chance that Dora Hall’s name does not ring that proverbial bell.
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Elvis (2022)

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This is one of the reasons why I normally detest music bio pics, is that they always present a skewed version of the actual story behind so many of these musicians. “Elvis” is by no means one of the worst biopics I’ve seen, but it once again presents Elvis as someone who spent his life being exploited. “Elvis” depicts the titular rock musician as someone who was hopelessly a victim to his manager Colonel Parker who managed to find ways to control the musician and his life. At every turn the movie frames Colonel Parker as this slimy mastermind who turned Elvis in to his own circus sideshow for his entire life.

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Pinocchio (2022)

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Disney continues their latest studio motto of remaking and sequelizing everything that they’ve ever produced. The last being the horrendous “Lion King” CGI remake. Of course the Devil’s Advocate will explain that “Pinocchio” is more of another adaptation (one of three in 2022!) of the 1883 tale, but it’s a remake of the 1940 animated movie. Every character look like their animated counterparts, right down to Tom Hanks as Geppetto. God love Tom Hanks, he certainly tries his best here, and even does his best with the musical number he’s given. But it’s all an uphill battle for a lot of what is established here.

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Dancing Pirate (1935) [Blu-ray/DVD]

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The 1935 production “Dancing Pirate” has gained footnote status in movie history for several accomplishments: it was among the few productions nominated in the short-lived Academy Award category for Best Dance Direction, it was the first musical feature shot in the three-strip Technicolor process, it was the last film produced by the independent Pioneer Pictures studio, and it included uncredited blink-and-you-miss-them appearances by a young Rita Hayworth and future First Lady Pat Nixon as members of the dancing ensemble.
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Five Best “Wayne’s World” Musical Breaks

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1992’s “Wayne’s World” is considered a classic and is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite comedies. It’s also one of the very (very) few SNL based movies that took a great skit and turned it in to a great movie. It didn’t just become a movie, but built its own universe around it. One of the more underrated aspects of “Wayne’s World” is how it uses music to tell its story. It implements classic rock and heavy metal to really explore the characters of Wayne and Garth, and how they associate their world with their favorite music.

These are five of my favorite musical breaks in “Wayne’s World.” Do you have any of your own?

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