Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: This Is Spinal Tap

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-28-2004, 03:23 PM:

This is a very revealing film in two odd and irrelevant ways.

1. "Spinal Tap" offers yet another glimpse into my brother's unique sense of humor. I often forget that it is usually more fun to hear him tell of his favorite films than to actually see them. Despite the fact that his rave review was almost a year ago the movie is something of a letdown, falling a little flat in and of itself. I can only imagine how much more disappointed I might have been if I had followed his advice and rushed out to buy the DVD!

This isn't to say that "Spinal Tap" was a "bad" movie. I enjoyed it overall, but it is not laugh-out-loud funny. At least, not as a rule.

2. With the benefit of hindsight, we can look to "Spinal Tap" for signs of things to come. "Waiting for Guffman," and "Best in Show" fall squarely within the 'mockumentary' sub-genre, but they offer bigger laughs and more of them. To my taste, those are more successful outings. In light of those later films, "This Is Spinal Tap" becomes interesting in the same way that reading the first draft screenplay -- or seeing the director's cut -- of a favorite movie might be interesting: Let's see this thing in an earlier form.

All of that is irrelevant, though. The film is what it is and shouldn't be reviewed based on expectations formed while listening to somebody else's take. Nor is it fair to judge a film by comparing it to other films that were made many years later.

Taken on its own merits, "Spinal Tap" is quirky and offbeat. Most of the time, it succeeds at being interesting. But it is not terribly funny.

[ 03-29-2004, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Manny Knowles ]

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 04-07-2004, 08:23 PM:

Obviously, you forgot to turn it up to 11.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 04-07-2004, 11:56 PM:

My occasional partner in crime Dave Huskinson tells a story about another projectionist that ran Spinal Tap and said it was the worst film he had ever seen. Dave mentioned to him, "You know it's a comedy, right?"

To his credit, the man thought about it for a second and said, "In that case, it's one of the funnier films I've seen." [Smile]

Smell the glove baby!

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 04-08-2004, 01:47 AM:

Many of the jokes are very inside, & very funny. A great example is Paul Shaeffer as the smarmy label rep.

The bit with the sold out arena concert & the band getting lost trying to find its way to the stage had me howling while people around stared at me. It's sometimes easy to do, some artists get lost between the restroom door & the lavatory basin, some venues are incredible mazes. Often backstage there'll be painted or taped on the floor arrows or lines to direct them from the dressing rooms to the stage.

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 04-08-2004, 10:18 AM:

I suppose that movie just struck me as especially funny. A good example of a very "in" joke is the argument during the recording session. "You can't f**king play because of your f**king wife!" Years later, I found a recording of an ill-fated Troggs session, in which a fed-up engineer let the tape continue to roll, and capture some very funny arguments. When I heard the Troggs bitch at each other, I realized it HAD to be the inspiration for that scene in "Tap."

I could go on, but it's also the small touches that make me laugh, such as the matching cold sores on David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, and ESPECIALLY, the marquee at the theme park:

PUPPET SHOW
and
SPINAL TAP

"I distincly told them 'Spinal Tap FIRST and puppet show SECOND!"

Talk about humiliating! LOL!

BTW, if anybody has the old "Lenny and the Squigtones" album (based on Michael McKean's and David Landers' characters from "Laverne & Shirley"), the band photo includes Christopher Guest as, you guessed it, Nigel Tufnel.

[ 04-09-2004, 07:44 AM: Message edited by: Hillary Charles ]