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#1 (permalink) |
I'm a family man - I run a family business.
Location: Wilson, NC
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This Is Spinal Tap Thread
Ok, I watched it yesterday. After Roger Ebert called it one of the funniest movies of all time, and hearing people I know say how awfully funny it was, it was time.
This movie is NOT that funny. If anything, it's amusing. But one of the funniest movies of all time? Not by a long shot. Sure, it has its moments, but it's nothing compared to REAL "funny" movies (and I'm not talking about Jim Carrey). Perhaps it was over-rated or something? I just kept hearing it was so fucking funny, you laugh through the entire thing. But I kept waiting for the monster laughs and hysterical scenes, and they never happened. If anything, the movie was down-right GRUNGY. Grungier than Married With Children. The parts I thought were funny: Explaining how the drummers kept dying. The "11" notch on the amp. The 18" Stonehenge. See? Three parts! Three parts....that were funny. The rest was just amusing at the most. What happened? I consider myself very leniant for movies, but it just wasn't that damn funny. The acting was superb (they kept a straight face and the like) and made it seem real, but they did not make it laugh-out-loud, funniest-movie-of-all-time worthy. I was thinking, maybe everyone likes it so much because it's such a GOOD movie. But the movie honestly wasn't THAT good, either. Just a run of the mill amusing mockumentary ![]() Anyone agree? Disagree?
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#2 (permalink) |
So Hip it Hurts
Location: Up here in my tree
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Haven't seen it for a couple years, but it definitly is one hilarious movie. Maybe it's just not your cup of tea, afterall 'It's such a fine line between clever and stupid'
What are some of the movies that you consider "REAL" funny movies?
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"It'd be better for me if you don't understand" |
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#3 (permalink) |
All hail the Mountain King
Location: Black Mesa
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I rented it a few weeks ago for a plane ride, and I must have laughed out loud a dozen times as people kept staring at me.
It may not be the funniest movie ever, but it's a damn sight funnier than that Monty Pyton stuff, now that I just don't get. Spinal Tap's sublelty is what really gets me.
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The Truth: Johnny Cash could have kicked Bruce Lee's ass if he wanted to. #3 in a series |
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#5 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: About 70 pixals above this...
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If you want more of that uncomfortable fun, check out Chris Guest's other Mocumentaries such as "Best of Show" "Waiting For Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind". All are wonderful and these also star Eugene levi (sp), who helped write BoS and AMW.
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#6 (permalink) |
Bokonist
Location: Location, Location, Location...
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Funniest. Movie. Evar.
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"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." -Kurt Vonnegut |
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#7 (permalink) |
Sky Piercer
Location: Ireland
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No Redjake, I don't think you're missing anything. Different people just have different senses of humour. Personally I found Spinal Tap to be absolutely hilarious, but there are plenty of things which I find merely 'amusing' which others find sidesplitting.
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#8 (permalink) |
Devoted
Donor
Location: New England
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I thought it was OK. My problem was that I'd heard ALL of the jokes by the time I saw it, except for the Elvis and the pod scenes. So, those were the only parts I laughed out loud.
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#9 (permalink) |
Talk nerdy to me
Location: Flint, MI
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The reason Christopher Guest movies are funny is they poke fun at people who take themselves waayyyyy to serious. Musicians, dog owners, etc.
Most, as has been mentioned, are ad-libbed and done in mocumentary form. It's not so much as the film is funny, it's the whole premise. My favorite part of Spinal Tap is when they show him writing a love song. He's playing this pretty piece on the piano when Reiner askes him what it's called, he says "I call it Lick My Love Pump." Everyone knows people like the ones in the films. That's what makes it funny. At least for me.
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I reject your reality, and substitute my own -- Adam Savage |
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#10 (permalink) |
Who You Crappin?
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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Plus, if you have a deep familiarity with the hard rock/metal scene in the 80's, it's all the funnier. I can watch each scene and pick out who is getting "mocked": Kiss, Ronnie James Dio, Iron Maiden, etc.
On the contrary, I found Waiting For Guffman EXTREMELY disappointing. This is because I do theatre professionally, and I was waiting to really get made fun of. But i thought it took it too easy...
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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel |
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#11 (permalink) |
I'm a family man - I run a family business.
Location: Wilson, NC
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Yeah.....I understand it a little more now. So basically, the movie isn't really trying to be gag-funny, it's more of "now that I think about it, that scenario/event WAS funny!" type of funny....
Yeah, the more I think about the movie, the funnier it gets. Maybe it takes more than one viewing? I think this movie was the EPITOME of "situational comedy." Just imagine yourself rocking the house, your band members erupting from alien pods on the stage, and yours not opening ![]() .....and that's why it's funny I guess ![]() I might have to borrow it and watch it again
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Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush. |
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#12 (permalink) | |
So Hip it Hurts
Location: Up here in my tree
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Quote:
Great stuff.
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"It'd be better for me if you don't understand" |
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#13 (permalink) |
Essen meine kurze Hosen
Location: NY Burbs
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Aww, c'mon. The script is brilliant. Almost every scene is a comedy gem.
<b>The Guitars...</b> Nigel: The sustain...listen to it... Marty: I'm not hearing anything. Nigel: You would, though, if it were playing, because it really... it's famous for its sustain... I mean, you could, just hold it.... Marty: Well I mean so you don't.... Nigel: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... You could go and have a bite an'... aaaaaaaaa... you'd still be hearin' that one. Nigel: Don't touch it! Don't touch it! No one...no one...no! Don't touch it. Marty: Well uh I wasn't...uh I wasn't gonna touch it...I was just pointing at it... I.... Nigel: Well don't point, even. Marty: Don't even point? Nigel: No. It can't be played...never...I mean I.... Marty: Can I look at it? Nigel: No. Marty: Don't look at it. Nigel: No, you've seen enough of that one. <b>The Albums (and the reviews)...</b> Intravenus de Milo - (They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry) The Gospel According to Spinal Tap - (This pretentious ponderous collection of religious rock psalms is enough to prompt the question: "What day did the Lord create Spinal Tap and couldn't he have rested on that day too?") Shark Sandwich - (Shit sandwich) Smell the Glove - (Well you should have seen the cover they wanted to do. It wasn't a glove believe me.) <b>The Songs...</b> Marty: It's pretty. Nigel: Yeah, I like it, just been fooling about with it for a few months now, very delicate... Marty: It's a, it's a bit of a departure from the kind of thing you normally play. Nigel: Yeah, it's part of a...trilogy really, a musical trilogy I'm doing... in... D minor, which I always find is really the saddest of all keys really. I don't know why, but it makes people weep instantly, you play a..baaaaa...baaaaaa it's a horn part. Marty: It's very pretty. Nigel: ...baaaa, baaaaa, yeah, just simple lines intertwining, you know very much like, I'm really influenced by Mozart and Bach, it's sort of in between those, really, it's like a Mach piece really, it's... Marty: What do you call this? Nigel: Well, this piece is called "Lick My Love Pump". Derek: You know, we've grown musically... I mean, listen to some of the rubbish we did early on, it was stupid... Marty: Yeah. Derek: ...you know. Now, I mean a song like "Sex Farm", we're taking a sophisticated view of the idea of sex, you know, and music... Marty: ...and put it on a farm? Derek: Yeah. <b>The Struggle...</b> - Going through airport security - Getting lost under the stage - Derek getting stuck in the cocoon - The Air Force base gig Definitely one of the best comedies ever.
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#14 (permalink) |
Bokonist
Location: Location, Location, Location...
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lol...thanks for those, platypus....made me laugh at the office...
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"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." -Kurt Vonnegut |
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#16 (permalink) |
Banned from being Banned
Location: Donkey
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It could very well take more than one viewing to enjoy it like others do.
I liked it the first time I watched it, but I noticed a lot more the 2nd/3rd times around. Best in Show was awesome as well. Waiting For Guffman and A Mighty Wind are ... eh. They have their moments (like Fred Willard's character in AMW going on about his show and "I CAN'T DO MY WUURRRRK"), but overall they aren't as funny as Spinal Tap or Best in Show.
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I love lamp. |
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#17 (permalink) |
Who You Crappin?
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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I have to say that I enjoyed A Mighty Wind simply because I got to hear more original music from the Tap guys. If anyone has seen the DVD, I think the best song was left on the cutting room floor. There is a deleted scene called "Corn Wine" which is a riot.
Fred Willard is God: "Wha' happen'?"
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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel |
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#18 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: My own private world
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When I flew to Ireland I watched this on the way there and Waiting for Guffman on the way back. Laughed so hard my ribs hurt. My company had paid for 1st class, I can definitely say the rest of the cabin was NOT amused. The looks I got...it was great.
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What the damn |
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#19 (permalink) |
Ella Bo Bella
Location: Australia
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I love this film. So many pants-wettingly funny scenes...
Marty DiBergi: "This tasteless cover is a good indication of the lack of musical invention within. The musical growth of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry." Nigel Tufnel: That's just nitpicking, isn't it? Nigel Tufnel: We've got Armadillos in our trousers. It's really quite frightening. Mick Shrimpton: As long as there's, you know, sex and drugs, I can do without the rock and roll. And the DVD extras are classics, too.
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"Afterwards, the universe will explode for your pleasure." |
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#21 (permalink) |
Minion of the scaléd ones
Location: Northeast Jesusland
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"He choked on vomit. They're not sure whose vomit. You can't really dust for vomit."
"There's a fine line between clever and stupid" Marty DiBergi: Do you feel that playing rock 'n' roll music keeps you a child? That is, keeps you in a state of arrested development? Derek Smalls: No. No. No. I feel it's like, it's more like going, going to a, a national park or something. And there's, you know, they preserve the moose. And that's, that's my childhood up there on stage. That moose, you know. Marty DiBergi: So when you're playing you feel like a preserved moose on stage? Derek Smalls: Yeah.
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#22 (permalink) | |
Omnipotent Ruler Of The Tiny Universe In My Mind
Location: Oreegawn
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Quote:
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Words of Wisdom: If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane. |
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#24 (permalink) |
Cracking the Whip
Location: Sexymama's arms...
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Subtly brilliant film.
But you are right in that you need to know a fair amount of rock history to get alot of the gags. For example the Nigal playing the guitar with the violin isn't funny unless you recall how Jimmy Page played the guitar with a violin bow. Also, the "choked on someone elses vomit" isn't that funny unless you know about how Sid Vicious died by choking on his own. Or how the WHO lost drummers, or how the ridiculous umlaut (sp?) over a consonent or....
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#25 (permalink) |
Still fighting it.
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Was thinking about this on the way into work. Two brilliantly subtle moments spring to mind.
One is when Duke Fame comes through the hotel and sees Tap there. "Sorry guys, love to stay and chat but we've got to go sit in the lobby and wait for the limo." Then David St Hubbins is like "Remember when he opened for us? The crowd was still booing him when we came on!" And the other? "Artie Fufkin, Polymer Records." I love that cat. "Kick this ass for a man!" |
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#26 (permalink) |
Submit to me, you know you want to
Location: Lilburn, Ga
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I've loved it for years, its in my top 5 funny movies. When the DVD came out and I watched it the new running commentary was just like watching a whole new movie, that was just as funny as the original!!
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#27 (permalink) |
Metal and Rock 4 Life
Location: Phoenix
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This was one of a few movies i didnt finish watching.. It literally bored me to the point of not finishing it.
wasted netflix queue it was... :/ It had its momments, but the hype KILLED it.
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You bore me.... next. |
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#28 (permalink) | |
Who You Crappin?
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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Quote:
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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel |
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#29 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: Michigan
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Quote:
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Go Pistons! |
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#30 (permalink) | |
Crazy
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Quote:
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Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -Berthold Auerbach |
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spinal, tap, thread |
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