The second of our look at improvised mockumentaries about music moves forward almost 20 years, to 2003's "A Mighty Wind!" If Christopher Guest and crew had a brilliant idea in "This is Spinal Tap," they'd perfected it with this movie! Directed by Guest, and co-written by Guest and Eugene Levy, this film takes place just after a giant in the Folk industry has passed away, and his children decide to stage a reunion of some of the biggest groups he helped along as a tribute. The film co-stars Mary Gross, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, Jim Piddock, Don Lake, Ed Begley Jr., Larry Miller, and Jennifer Coolidge. The New Main Street Singers, the Folksmen, and Mitch and Mickey, along with some baggage and more than a few personal issues, join the tribute concert. Along the way, we learn a lot about the groups (and in a couple of cases, probably too much), and watch through the concert itself. Hilarious, full of original music that both pokes fun at, and serves as an homage to, folk music of the 50s and 60s, this is an absolutely fantastic film, full of subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor, great music, and an outstanding acting job by Eugene Levy! Plus, the the trio returns to one of their non-film-but-still-media loves for the next pairing!

It's improvised mockumentaries about music for this week's pairing, starting with the directorial debut of Rob Reiner, the film co-written by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, the ultimate send-up of rock mockumentaries, 1984's "This is Spinal Tap!" Starring Guest, McKean, and Shearer as the three members of "the loudest band in rock," this film follows the intrepid-yet-inept heavy metal trio through their comeback tour, touting the release of their new album "Smell the Glove." Featuring the additional talents of Bruno Kirby, Ed Gegley Jr., Fran Drescher, Patrick Macnee, Dana Carvy, Billy Crystal, Howard Hessman, Paul Shaffer, Fred Willard, and Angelica Huston, this film was the prototype for mockumentaries-to-come, establishing a genre that Guest and company have been successfully mining ever since!
Our second film in our pairing of live-action Disney musical fantasy films is the 1971 sleeper-hit Bedknobs and Broomsticks! The film shares several people, including director Robert Stevenson, star David Tomlinson, and musical scribes Richard and Robert Sherman! With the help of star Angela Lansbury, and co-stars Roddy McDowell, Sam Jaffe, John Ericson, and Reginald Owen, this film tells the story of Eglantine Price, an apprentice witch with a plan to help the war effort during World War II. When she gets three London orphans foisted off on her, things go from chaotic to truly magical! Nominated for five academy awards, and winner of the award for Best Special Effects, this movie answers the question "What happens when magically-animated armor goes up against a squad of Nazi soldiers! Plus, the trio discuss what documentary sub-genre they'll be tackling in the next pairing!
A magical nanny literally floats down from the sky to turn around the lives of a London banker, his suffragette wife, and their two precocious children. Directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Julie Andrews (who won an Oscar for the role), Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, and Ed Wynn, this became one of the jewels in the crown of Walt Disney's kingdom. With such memorable songs like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cheree, and Step in Time, written by Oscar award-winning brothers Richard and Robert Sherman, this is the film that has entertained children and adults for over 50 years!

