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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Week 6/Day Task 1: It's such a fine line between stupid...and clever.

Discussion in 'Archive: Big Brother Strikes Back' started by Katya Jade, Jun 10, 2003.

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  1. Katya Jade

    Katya Jade Administrator Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2002
    This was a tough task. I love movies and I watch way more television than a normal person should, so to pick out one movie that is my "favorite" is nearly impossible. So, for the sake of not boring you with all of the films I think have touched me in that "special place", I'll stick with one movie.

    Many of you may have heard of This is Spinal Tap. Released in 1984 and directed by Rob Reiner, Tap was the first movie of it's kind. Christopher Guest would later bring us Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, but Tap was the founder of it all.

    [image=http://www.cinema-scoping.com/web_graphics/spinalband.jpg]

    I remember seeing Spinal Tap when I rented it sometime in 1985. I had heard of the movie, but thought it was a real documentary so I passed it up. Once I rented it, I was hooked.

    The thing about Spinal Tap - much like other "off kilter" movies (take John's Cabin Boy for example) is that you either get it or you don't. If you don't find the humor in Christopher Guest (Nigel) and Michael McKean (David) having this interchange:

    David St. Hubbins: We say, "Love your brother." We don't say it really, but -

    Nigel Tufnel: We don't literally say it.

    David St. Hubbins: No, we don't say it.

    Nigel Tufnel: We don't really, actually mean it.

    David St. Hubbins: No, we don't believe it either, but -

    Nigel Tufnel: But we're not racists.

    David St. Hubbins: But that message should be clear

    To watch Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer prance around as these dimwitted British rock stars (don't send me angry PM's about Brits not being dimwitted - I know that most of them are very smart...except for Paul ;) ) is a study in brilliant acting. They transform themselves into egotistic, painfully stupid people whose lives peaked 20 years prior and won't peak again. What's even more amazing to me is that Reiner and crew did such a great job that people actually believed Spinal Tap was a real band. The actors are actually writing the songs and playing their instruments!

    The impact of this movie can't be overstated. I love Monty Python, yes, but the great thing about Tap (and other movies mocking self-important "celebrities") is that it's so true to life. Rock stars can be that stupid - "You can't really dust for vomit." - and it feels good to laugh at them.

    I'll leave you with this classic interchange:

    Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and -

    Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?

    Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

    Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

    Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

    Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

    Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

    Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

    Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

    Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?

    Nigel Tufnel: [Pause] These go to eleven.


    Rock Cleveland!
    [image=http://www.krem.com/sharedcontent/features/musicpoprock/L_IMAGE.ef1d54ca91.93.88.fa.80.c9dff93e.jpg]
     
  2. B'omarr

    B'omarr Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
    Big bottom
    Big bottom
    Talk about bum cakes,
    My gal's got 'em.
    Big bottom,
    Drive me out of my mind.
    How can I leave this behind?
     
  3. Katya Jade

    Katya Jade Administrator Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2002
    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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