Movie Reviews

In light of my band's then-upcoming first ever show, I figured that it would be appropriate to watch what is perhaps the greatest music-related film ever made: Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap. It also happens to be the first "mockumentary" made by the same group of people that would later bring us Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind.

There's not much of a story involved, but nothing much is really needed because the actors fit so perfectly and easily into their excessively goofy (and largely improvised) characters that simply watching them standing around doing nothing would probably be a riot. But the film offers up such classic scenes as the tiny Stonehenge, the amplifier that goes to 11, and the discussion about fatally-unlucky previous drummers (one of who spontaneously combusted, another who choked to death on vomit -- but not his own vomit).

This film should be required viewing for all up-and-coming rock-stars (or even just wannabe rock-stars, too).