Let the Good Times Roll

This rockumentary blends concert footage and archival clips into a thoroughly entertaining time capsule. The artists are fantastic, clad in wild costumes and performing against glittery, Vegas-style backdrops. I especially enjoyed the Shirelles (referred to as "the Coppertone Rockettes"), looking and sounding sensational. As they sing "Soldier Boy" on one half of the screen, the other half shows footage from The Day the Earth Stood Still and From Here to Eternity. This photography is sharp (especially the aforementioned split-screen technique), complete with backstage footage and shots of the joyfully stunned audience. Some conservative-themed archive footage (demonstration of a proper dress code, a starched suit smashing a record and declaring that "rock 'n' roll has got to go!") serves as a telling semi-parody of the repression and conformity of the '50s and early '60s and an example of how this jubilant new strain of music helped break it down. The opening title sequence, with Shirley and Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll" playing against flashes of hula hoops and Chevrolet Bel Airs, is worth seeing by itself. VH-1 used to show this movie occasionally.