August 31, 2005

Gratuitous Llama Netflix Virgin Movie Review #1

spinaltap.jpg

This Is Spinal Tap.

I'd never seen it before and I suppose I should have waited until I was feeling a little better before watching it. I certainly thought it was amusing and extremely well done (on many different levels), but the only time I actually burst out laughing was when Nigel started riffing Boccherini in the middle of his guitar solo. (Oh, also when he was talking about his "Mach" piece.)(Well, okay, also during the Stonehenge concert.)(Well again, okay, when the bassist couldn't get out of the coccoon thing.)

I can well understand why people watch this movie over and over again - there are countless little throw-away lines and expressions in the dialogue worth remembering and cherishing. I think one would have to watch it many times just to pick up on all of them. As I say, though, I was still a bit under the weather last evening and a lot of this simply washed past me.

Other random observations:

- I couldn't quite get over Meathead as Marty DiBergi. But that's just a personal twitch.

- Michael McKean looked like the Adam West of Heavy Metal.

- Fran Drescher? Whatever happened to her? Actually, I don't really care, so long as I don't have to hear that trademark laugh of hers.

- Paul Shaffer looked like Gollum in those days.

- Okay, the whole business with the Mimes was about 20 seconds of sheer comic delight. Add that to the list of things that made me laugh.

- If they could get John Steed into the film, it's too bad they couldn't also swing Emma Peel. But I suppose that's asking too much.

VERDICT: Definitely worth it. And I'll certainly see it again.

UPDATE: The whole time I was watching Spinal Tap, I kept thinking of The Rutles. I've never seen their tee vee special, but I've had their album for a long time and have always loved it, in no small part because it so often danced along the line between extremely good parody of the Beatles and extremely good knock-off of the Beatles.

Posted by Robert at August 31, 2005 10:18 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Haven't seen the TV special in 25 years, but it was great.

Posted by: The Colossus at August 31, 2005 10:41 AM

I have always thought, in the back of my mind, cheese and onions!

Posted by: Chai-rista at August 31, 2005 10:41 AM

Do I have to spell it out?

Posted by: Robbo the LB at August 31, 2005 10:44 AM

This is a joke, right? This is a sham. It's a mockery. It's a sham of a mockery.

Posted by: Brian B at August 31, 2005 12:32 PM

I'm actually fairly shocked. Maybe one has to be a fan of heavy metal to truly get the joke ...

Posted by: Bill from INDC at August 31, 2005 12:45 PM

True: the volume knob on my stereo goes up to 30.

And I think Fran Drescher has a show on WB or UPN or the Purgatory channel. This is so that the endangered species of annoyingly accented actresses has a habitat, but poses no danger to humanity.

Posted by: rbj at August 31, 2005 12:46 PM

Oh, I got the joke. I just really wasn't in the mood.

Posted by: Robbo the LB at August 31, 2005 01:07 PM

Funny thing, I was just thinking about The Rutles where Eric Idle has a line that kinda resonates today: "So we went to New Orleans to learn how expensive it is to make these documentaries."

Never heard of Spinal Tap, though.

Posted by: lemuel at August 31, 2005 02:20 PM

Get The Rutles in your Netflix queue ASAP.
Not as brilliantly funny as Tap, but very good in it's own way, and with an amazing list of cameos - basically most of Monty Python and The Not Ready for Prime Time Players show up at one point or another. (Along with George Harrison - now that's a willingness to laugh at yourself!)

Posted by: Eric at August 31, 2005 10:20 PM
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