This Is Spinal Tap

[Pacino86845]

Ok everyone, I loaded the Special Edition disc in, and I'm already PAMPILASHing, SOMDILASHing, and every LASHing you can think of at hearing these guys talk at the menu screen. Here's a dedicated space to discuss all things Spinal Tap, and the different DVD versions that are available, and whatever else you can think of (including other Christopher Guest films). All right, I'm going to start the movie now... and if any moderators are so inclined, those posts from the Shantaram thread can be moved here. I'll be back, I suppose, with some comments.

[thomasgaffney]

IT'S ABOUT F'IN TIME!!!

No, seriously. The movie was a pisser. I hope you enjoy it.

[Brocktune]

i wanted the criterion version, but the dvd is o.o.p. so i lucked out and found a criterion laser of it. its way cooler, because its just like having the 12" lp. old school baby.

[WinslowLeach]

I LOVE Spinal Tap!! Great choice there Pacino! We should post our favorite Tap quotes. Ill start:

"Cmon mime is money!"

Nigel: "Whats wrong with being sexy?"

Ian: "Ist! Sex-IST!"

Ian: "Theres no sex drugs and rock and roll for old Ian, David! I find lost luggage! I prize the rent out of the local Hebrews!"

[St. Alphonzo]

"It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black. "

The commentary track has several gems as well.

[WinslowLeach]

"Are you reading Yes I Can? By Sammy Davis Jr?...it shouldve been called Yes I Can if Frank Sinatra says its ok!!..."

"And that was The Thamesman with Cups and Cakes... the band later changed their name to Spinal Tap and are currently residing in the 'Where Are They Now?' file"

Derek: "I have a question"

David: "What?"

Derek: "Are we going to be performing Stonehendge tomorrow night?"

David: "NO WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO FUCKING STONEHENDGE!!"

[vicious_bastard]

Probably the only movie I always laugh all the way through. Gets better with every viewing - the songs still get funnier every time. 'Sex Farm' is making me laugh just thinking about it - "Sex Farm Woman, I'm gonna rake and mow you down".

The proposed cover and subsequent compromise for 'Smell The Glove' is a great bit. "She should be made to smell it, but not over and over"

Funniest movie ever. Without a doubt. The gags are all so perfectly timed that they are still good after what must be 15 viewings for me. Fantastic extras on the DVD - same with Best In Show. Genius ad-libbing which must have been hard to leave out.

[Pacino86845]

Ok, I'm done.




IPAMPILASH^ISOMDILASH!

[DennisMM]

Julia loves "Sex Farm." There's a women's wear chain called Dress Barn and it has a large sizes subchain called Dress Barn Woman. It's hilarious if you sing it, trust me.

"Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em."

I first saw this movie in a small "art house" theater in Des Moines in 1984. Once the movie started I recognized some of the names on the screen, but going in I thought it was a real documentary. I'd seen no reviews, only a couple of commercials. It just sounded interesting.

On the DVD, check out the cheese spinning trailer. it's hilarious, and features a number of actors from the movie. Also, the fake commercials for the best-of album and the rockin' rolls kill me.

[Pacino86845]

"Lick My Love Pump," HahahHAHHahHAHA!

Derek Smalls: We're very lucky in the band in that we have two visionaries, David and Nigel, they're like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They're two distinct types of visionaries, it's like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water.

[Mimekiller]

We look so young

We looked young than to.

Good times.

[Nachokoolaid]

Great flick. Glad I blind bought this a while back. I'm sure you know, but also check out stuff like BEST IN SHOW or A MIGHTY WIND if you like this.

ANd I can never get "Listen... to what the flower people say" out of my head once it gets there.

[Seppuku]

Big Bottoms...talk about bum-cakes, my gal's got 'em. Definitely a top ten movie for me, and I'm not sure which edition I've got, but the extras are definitely worth a look too. Not only do you have an in-character commentary, but you also have the best trailer for a film ever. Needless to say it involves cheese, lots of cheese.

[magicmonkey]

Hey, do you guys know a film called Small Soldiers, by Joe Dante?

[Ribbons]

Hey, do you guys know a film called Small Soldiers, by Joe Dante?

IPAMPILASH!

[magicmonkey]

Heh.

[Seppuku]

The Tommy Lee Jones for Sarge in DOOM campaign started with Toy Soldiers...and I guess it ended there because that wrestler-guy won the part. Sarge should be old and craggy, not young and hunky.
I have to admit though, The Rock's left eye-brow is very attractive. People have been known to stop me in the street and comment on the similarity between my eyebrow and The Rock's. Naturally I tell them, "Well the Rock, being a big Hollywood star and all, probably plucks them, and prunes them, and primps them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that his eye-brow pampering budget comes to thousands and thousands of dollars every year. Whereas my eye-brow budget is less than nine hundred bucks! Can you believe that?" Point being, yeah Toy Soldiers was a pretty good flick.

[magicmonkey]

The Tommy Lee Jones for Sarge in DOOM campaign started with Toy Soldiers...and I guess it ended there because that wrestler-guy won the part. Sarge should be old and craggy, not young and hunky.
I have to admit though, The Rock's left eye-brow is very attractive. People have been known to stop me in the street and comment on the similarity between my eyebrow and The Rock's. Naturally I tell them, "Well the Rock, being a big Hollywood star and all, probably plucks them, and prunes them, and primps them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that his eye-brow pampering budget comes to thousands and thousands of dollars every year. Whereas my eye-brow budget is less than nine hundred bucks! Can you believe that?" Point being, yeah Toy Soldiers was a pretty good flick.

You got there in the end! Small soldiers is a most excellent pic, get this, there are folks round these parts that need prodding about the genius of the Dante. They consign him off in the 80's! Heathens, I say.

[Seppuku]

there are folks round these parts that need prodding about the genius of the Dante

Hey, I'll tell you someone who really does need prodding...well that's the real star of Small Soldiers herself, Ms. Dunst. And a damn good prodding at that.

How anyone can miss the genius of a film that features both Sarah Michelle Gellar AND Christina Ricci being destroyed and ripped-apart viciously (in their doll forms of course) is completely beyond me.

[SncDthMnky]

This has got to be my first post.

Nothing in the history of cinema has ever made me go into a laughing spasm for as long as I did when I heard Nigel Tufnel say:

"This one's called... Lick my Love Pump."

I was 13 yrs old the first time I saw it and was in mid gulp on a glass of Dr Pepper and he said it. "Love Pump." I still have the couch with the stain on the underside of the cushion. ahh, memories.

[Pacino86845]

Haha, welcome aboard dude.

[WinslowLeach]

David: As you know I've always wanted to do a play based on the life of Jack The Ripper with the London Philharmonic...

Derek: Saucy Jack!

David: Yes! Saucy Jack!...You're a naughty one, SAUCY JACK! Youre a haughty one, SAUCY JACK!

[swadetheking]

I cackled all the way through that stone 'enge bit.
A movie im proud to own. 8) 8)

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

SPINAL TAP is easily one of the best comedies of all time.

i remember when i was a kid watching this with some dimwitted friends who were all convinced that Spinal Tap was real! i tried to explain to them the concept of parody and it just blew their minds; they had no idea what i was talking about. to this day i wonder if they ever figrued out the mystery of Spinal Tap...

another funny movie by these guys is A MIGHTY WIND. its a similar kind of mockumentary, but focusing on folk music. it's a hoot!

[MelaWolf]

This DVD almost tops my list of 'Gotta Buy Now'. It's one of the greatest comedies ever. And yes the commentary track is almost as good as an entirely new film.

[Pacino86845]

Really? I haven't even watched it with commentary yet! I mean, I can imagine the hilarity of it. Just hearing the guys talk over the menu screen without knowing much about the film was extremely funny.

[MelaWolf]

Definitely once you see the film check out the commentary. Ha ha... God, I need to Netflix this now.

[sonnyboo]

Sadly, when DVD's first came out, CRITERION felt that their contracts to create "Digital Video Discs" of their titles translated to the DVD market. The studios did NOT.

One of the first titles release on DVD was on of Criterion's best collections of material - THIS IS SPINAL TAP, originally released as a multi-disc laserdisc set (which I still own, guitar pick & all).

This DVD featured 2 commentary tracks - one with the 3 actors as themselves discussing the making of the movie & the origins of the idea, plus a Rob Reiner and Karen Murphy (producer) track which comedically opens with Rob Reiner saying that he detests making commentary tracks. There is so much trivial and important information on these 2 commentaries to make a film school course from it.

This doesn't even include the 90 minutes of DELETED SCENES and the original 20 minute promo short version of the whole feature. Since the film was IMPROVISED, meaning NO SCRIPT, they tried to convince studios to give them money. They got someone topay, but only if they would write a screenplay. Instead they made a 20 minute 16mm version of the style of the whole movie with plot points (and even some final scenes) for the feature.

Since they pulled this disc from circulation, it was replaced by the MGM SPECIAL EDITION, that features a commentary track fromt he 2 actors, but they are in character as if they are watching themselves. The transfer is a true 16x9 transfer & looks amazing remastered. They even included deleted scenes - only half of which is the same as the CRITERION version.

I wish they could release the CRITERION version on DVD again. Copies of it sell for over $400 on Ebay. I was lucky enough to find a friend who had a copy of it and it had no macrovision, no protection, or encryption of any kind - spread out on 2 sides. Which, theoretically, can easily fit on 2 DVD-R's if someone was so inclined to illegally copy the discs.... not that I ever would, but that information is there for anyone wanting to make a legal "back up copy" of theirs...

[WinslowLeach]

"How much more black could this cover be? The answer is none, none more black"

I have the Criterion Edition. One of my fav DVDs in my collection (over 2000).

[Brocktune]

its probably cheaper to buy a laserdisc player, and the criterion Tap LD than it is to buy the criterion dvd. thats what i did. well, actually, i have owned the laserdisc player for years. but i was able to pick up the criterion disc for about 20 bucks, and in great shape. and lets face it, the laserdisc is cooler anyways, because it is a 12" disc, just like a vinyl release of the album. Tap would have wanted you to have it that way.

[WinslowLeach]

"And that was The Thamesmen with Cups and Cakes, they later went on and formed Spinal Tap and are currently residing in the WHERE ARE THEY NOW FILE"

(click)

[havocSchultz]

its probably cheaper to buy a laserdisc player, and the criterion Tap LD than it is to buy the criterion dvd. thats what i did. well, actually, i have owned the laserdisc player for years. but i was able to pick up the criterion disc for about 20 bucks, and in great shape. and lets face it, the laserdisc is cooler anyways, because it is a 12" disc, just like a vinyl release of the album. Tap would have wanted you to have it that way.

Does your Laser Disc player go to 11...?

[WinslowLeach]

HAHA!

"Its just lines intertwining...I'm very influenced by Mozart and Bach, its sort of a Mach piece really"

"Whats it called?"

"This ones called Lick My Love Pump"

"Oh."

[Brocktune]

its probably cheaper to buy a laserdisc player, and the criterion Tap LD than it is to buy the criterion dvd. thats what i did. well, actually, i have owned the laserdisc player for years. but i was able to pick up the criterion disc for about 20 bucks, and in great shape. and lets face it, the laserdisc is cooler anyways, because it is a 12" disc, just like a vinyl release of the album. Tap would have wanted you to have it that way.

Does your Laser Disc player go to 11...?

yes.
yes it does.

actually, to be quite honest, the sound from a laserdisc is way better than dvd. when i watch dvds, i have to crank my speakers way up. but when i watch my ld's, they are always totally loud and booming, even at nominal volume levels.
if it werent for their clumsy bulkiness, and the fact that you have to flip them over, and the whole no menus thing, i would consider laserdiscs the superior format.

[sonnyboo]

Laserdiscs have vastly superior compression and picture quality to Standard Definition DVD's. Especially the CAV (true frame by frame) formatted discs. Now, they never made a 16x9 anamorphic (no moniters for that shape at the time), but regardless the image was amazing and offered letterbox for years before VHS tried to make up for it.

Of course, now the HD versions look the best because they have gobs more info, but the compression still sucks sometimes. MPEG2 blows.

[Dashing Roger]

To bank back to the original point of the thread, I agree, the Criterion version is far superior. And you can get it on eBay for far fewer donuts than $400. I just picked one up in the last month for about $50.

[WinslowLeach]

"Cmon lets go! Mime is Money!"

[Maui]

This amp goes to 11....

Why don't you just make 10 louder?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akaD9v460yI

[DennisMM]

Of course, the genius of the commentary is that it's done in character.

"We found the stage almost every night. This one time he puts in the movie."

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I think it's those stupid little Imps running about on stage like something out of Stonehenge which is my favourite bit. The looks on the bands' faces. I need to watch this again. Remind myself that it's the subtleties that make the film.

[Maui]

Don't forget the Sex Farm song. Put my fork in your hay - lol!

Also that one scene where the entire band has cold sores. Too funny.

[Maui]

whatever else you can think of (including other Christopher Guest films).

I LOVE CHRISTOPHER GUEST!!!

Waiting for Guffman
Best in Show
This is Spinal Tap
A Mighty Wind

Own them all watch them frequently. One of my fav Guest clips:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2299115

[minstrel]

I love the bit with Nigel and the backstage food. Trying to fold the salami to fit on the meat ... unable to conceive of a way to eat this stuff in a way that makes sense to his tiny mind ...

Wonderfully laughable.

[Pacino86845]

It's about time I rewatch this film... We'll see just how high my Zone movie journal score goes... (up to 11?)

[tapehead]

I recommend the special edition 2 dvd version - there's over an hour of outtakes from the movie that you can watch, almost like an alternate version of the film, it's marvellous!

[Pacino86845]

That's the version I've got!! 11 DVDs!!!

[Ribbons]

We'll see just how high my Zone movie journal score goes... (up to 11?)

11PAMPILASH! Do eet...

[Cha-Ka Khan]

I think it's those stupid little Imps running about on stage like something out of Stonehenge which is my favourite bit. The looks on the bands' faces. I need to watch this again. Remind myself that it's the subtleties that make the film.

I was at my nephew's birthday party last night, where we played Guitar Hero on his Xbox. If you play in career mode, you start out in dives and clubs, and work your way up to better venues, eventually culminating in STONEHENGE.

I laughed my ass off driving home remembering that exact scene from Spinal Tap.

[TheBaxter]

i saw this at the AFI Silver theater last friday. definitely one of the all time classics. even though i've seen this a thousand times, i still pick up new things i never noticed before. like this time, in the opening when marty dibergi is giving his introduction, at one point he goes to cross his arms and then let's them hang back down by his side, and just the awkwardness of it was so funny. i'd never noticed that before.

so many great moments besides the ones already mentioned: derek's problem getting his "package" through airport security; the awful attempt at harmonizing to heartbreak hotel at elvis' grave; dana carvey and billy crystal as mimes; "big bottom, big bottom, talk about mudflaps, my girl's got 'em"; jazz odyssey; "lick my love pump"; and on and on and on.

spinal tap is the reason i use the phantom zone color scheme, because how much more black could the zone be? the answer is none. none more black.

[Maui]

I love the bit with Nigel and the backstage food. Trying to fold the salami to fit on the meat ... unable to conceive of a way to eat this stuff in a way that makes sense to his tiny mind ...

Wonderfully laughable.

That was classic. Don't forget the olives too! Some of them have pimentos other's didn't. Loved it!