Rockumentary fans of David St. Hubbins...

[therealfuster]

unite!

 

David St. Hubbins will be standing in for Michael McKean this coming week as a TCM Guest Programmer on Tuesday, May 24 at 8pm when he showcases Preston Sturges's "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", Stanley Kubrick "Paths of Glory" and other esoteric films.

 

As a fan of rockumentaries and documentaries, I find "This is Spinal Tap" with its nods to Dylan's "Don't Look Back", and films like "The Last Waltz" to be the sine qua non of such films, but true rock documentaries like "Monterey Pop" or even "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" are always at the top of my list too.

 

In honor of David St. Hubbins first appearance on TCM, what are your favorite rock documentaries or sendups of the genre?

 

I look forward to TCM having Nigel Tufnel as Guest Programmer when they show a night of habadashery films.

 

 

 

[tomagain77]

but this one goes to 11 ???

 

Spinal Tap for me babe!

 

TAP INTO AMERICA!

[therealfuster]

between stupid and clever, Tom but your rejoinder was much closer to the latter.

 

Yay...another fan of the song "Stonehenge" I bet?

 

I have David St. Hubbins' autograph.

 

I hope you die of envy!

[KeithFromKC]

"The album cover is SEXIST!"

 

"......what's wrong with being sexy??"

 

 

I LOVE 'This is Spinal Tap.' Easily one of the funniest films of recent times (at least for me). As far as rockumentaries go, I am definitely a fan of the genre. There are so many great ones. You mention DON'T LOOK BACK, and THE LAST WALTZ, which are fantastic. In addition to those, I also love GIMME SHELTER (Rolling Stones), WOODSTOCK, X: THE UNHEARD MUSIC, THE CLASH: WESTWAY TO THE WORLD, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (The Who), to name a few.

 

The genre is not dead, though. In recent years, I've enjoyed rockumentaries such as I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART (Wilco), END OF THE CENTURY: THE RAMONES, FESTIVAL EXPRESS, THE FILTH AND THE FURY: A SEX PISTOLS FILM, and what may be my personal all-time favorite rockumentary, 2004's DIG! While the press were raving about last year's overwrought Metallica rockumentary, SOME KIND OF MONSTER, Ondi Timoner's look at Seven years in the life of the friendship and eventual rivalry between two lesser known bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, completely blew me away.

 

DIG! is a warts and all look at the love/hate relationship between Dandy's leader Courtney Taylor and The Jonestown's emotionally unstable leader/musical genius, Anton Newcombe. It is a wild trip that follows both bands around the world and includes some wild live performances, as well as the ups and many downs of trying to keep a band together. It seemed that more people preferred to see the Metallica film, which was 2-plus hours of Lars Ulrich's ego, going up against James Hetfield's immaturity. Who wants to see a Metal band in group therapy? It sounds like fun, but it was kind of pathetic. At least I thought so.

 

DIG!, however, won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury prize last year and completely turned me on to The music of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I already liked some of The Dandy Warhol's music, but Anton Newcombe, drug-addled megalomaniac that he is, emerges as the star of this incredible film. Having said that, you don't really have to be a fan of either band, or even rock music, to enjoy DIG! When you aren't wincing at the band's notorious behavior, the film is also funny and even touching in parts. I can't rave enough about it (as you can tell). It's as 'real' as a documentary gets. It was released on dvd last month and if you love rockumentaries, it's worth a look.

[tomagain77]

<

I hope you die of envy!>>

 

I dont know Fust....I've outdone you but I can't go into details now.

 

 

"It's like they become one with the music"......

"Heavy Metal's deep, you get stuff out of it".......

 

 

[therealfuster]

you have mentioned some films that I need to look for, as they sound like fun.

 

I forgot the TAMI Show which is an exciting concert film, and most enjoyable. I do think "Gimme Shelter" should be in the Top 5 of Rockumentaries, as it is just unbelievable and almost beats the Zapruder film for sheer shock value.

 

Great post and much appreciation for your insights on the genre!

[therealfuster]

Spill the beans.

 

You're not the love child of David St. Hubbins and that airhead groupie are you?

 

Or are you really Ed Begley Junior?

 

 

[gypsybangles]

Every time someone poses the question "Whatever happened to...?", I tell them they died in a bizarre gardening accident. It's so wrong but I just can't help myself.

[therealfuster]

cracking me up!

 

The demise of multiple drummers scene, is a classic. I also liked the kilts worn by a certain member of the Tap.

 

My favorite scene is the black album cover one. Thanks for bringing back a favorite memory.

 

A friend of mine, who has no knowledge of rock musician of the past or of British Invasion periods, saw this film, did not find it at all amusing and thought they were a real group from Britain.

 

Which of course, they are....

[gypsybangles]

Hi therealfuster,

 

I am not a fan of "rockumentaries" but I LOVE this movie. I especially like the fact that no one was playing for laughs, they took it all so seriously, but that's what made it so completely hysterical. Rob Reiner was brilliant in his "interviews" and direction. The cast writing their own songs? Absolutely inspired! "Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em". Just too, too funny. Stuffing zucchini in their pants? I'm laughing so hard thinking about it, I may wet mine.

 

Blithely ignoring all the "wake up and smell the coffee" indications that things aren't quite right with their "tour", their portrayal of a rock group on their way back up, totally unaware they're riding a very steep, very slippery slope to musical oblivion is classic pathos. Shakespeare could have written this! I cringe for them when they meet the other rock star in the hotel lobby, but I found myself cringing at almost every scene that portrayed their sweet, goofy, ignorant optimism that they would be "rock stars" forever, and treated as such, (Nigel and his "little" bread is especially poignant).

 

There are so many scenes I like in this movie, but I must confess my favorite is Nigel explaining about the amplifier that goes to "11".

 

Now for a really strange twist of fate, I just found out that my favorite Aunt Barb was hospitalized yesterday as a result of, you guessed it "a bizarre gardening accident". I am not making this up! (Broken arm and leg, but she will be OK, T.G.) But isn't that just too weird?

[gypsybangles]

P.S. I also have shown this movie to friends, with the same result. They just don't get it. Go figure!

[brackenhe]

I have to admit the part when they're supposed to go on stage but get lost in the underground of the arena, all the while shouting "Rock N Roll" is HILARIOUS, as well as the scene at Graceland where they're trying to harmonize on Heartbreak Hotel. I do like this movie.

 

Michael McKean is a really smart and talented man. He and Christopher Guest have made what I call the Guest trilogy of Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Funny, funny stuff (as Johnny Carson would say.) And I loved the remarks McKean made about the movies he picked as Guest Programmer. Good Times.

[therealfuster]

The real reason that "TIST" works, is that one really comes to care for the participants and feel their pain, strange and outre though it is.

 

As wacky as the film is, and far out...when they hear their old hit in the hotel room, and the disk jockey says "File that in the where are they now category", one can see that things like this really do happen, and it is almost heartbreaking for the Tap to be forgotten by the world.

 

I swear...when I first saw the movie, I did not realize that Michael McKean was playing David St. Hubbins, and thought it was some British actor, he was that convincing with the accent and appearance. Who can not recognize Shearer and Guest though, so I did see through their amazing transformations, even when encased in the stage pods.

 

Rob Reiner, playing the very serious Marty di Bergi, makes me laugh now every time I see Scorcese in "The Last Waltz". I think my favorite bit, is when David's girlfriend books them into the airbase event, and they see the sign, and it says "Puppet Show" and

"Spinal Tap" and they are disgusted they've fallen this far. The supporting cast is amazing...with Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal, and so many takeoffs on groups like the Stones, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, the Beatles, or Bob Dylan et cetera.

 

Nigel Tufnel is quite touching too, when he screws up the measurements for the Stonehenge prop, not knowing the difference between inches and feet on the napkin.

 

The scene where David's girlfriend, makes up the drawings for the zodiac masks is hilarious, as is her mispronunciation of the word, Dolby as doubly.

 

Shakespeare could have written it, as he would detail the Tap's fall and rise, back to the heights in Japan, as a morality tale.

 

Great talking to a fellow fan, and best wishes and good luck to your Aunt Barb, who I hope will be feeling great real soon!

 

 

[therealfuster]

and was a great choice last nite as guest programmer at TCM.

 

He can do so much, and in TIST, the songs which were tongue in cheek, were really believable as being hits of the time, and parodied so well classics from the era.

 

I have all the Tap's albums, even the black one, without the honey and leather gloves of course, which is like the butcher block Beatles cover.

 

I hope McKean comes back again on TCM, and maybe he'll bring Nigel too!

[gypsybangles]

Hi Brakenhe,

You mentioned the "Guest Trilogy", and I have seen, and by the way laughed till it hurt, at the first two of these, but have not seen 'The Mighty Wind'. Could you brief me regarding the story?

 

It occurs to me (as I'm sure it has to others) that there is a single theme running through all these films starting with 'Spinal Tap', and also Rob Reiner's 'Stand By Me". One could perhaps call it "celebrating mediocrity", or "ignorance is bliss", or "total belief in oneself in the face of all adversity". I applaud McKean/Guest/Reiner for giving a sweet, compassionate voice to "the also rans" of our society, embracing them without quite mocking them, (well maybe just a little, but certainly not in a malicious way). I sense the influence of Frank Capra, whose films, sentimental as they might have been sometimes, always spoke to the best instincts in ourselves. Let's hope they do many more.

[gypsybangles]

P.S. Brakenhe,

 

You signed off with the phrase "Good times", to which I want to respond "...noodle salad", but that would take us to Jack Nicholson films, and completely off the topic.

[gypsybangles]

Hi Therealfuster,

 

Quoting you, ("I swear...when I first saw the movie, I did not realize that Michael McKean was playing David St. Hubbins, and thought it was some British actor, he was that convincing with the accent and appearance") and it's so funny you should mention it, but the first time I saw the film, I'd been watching for awhile before I said "OMG, it's Lenny, no it's Squiggy!" (I never could keep those guys straight), and had the same reaction as you. The accent was totally convincing, and it was just a laugh riot to see him with all that hair!

 

In my previous posting to Brakenhe I was trying rather ineptly I'm afraid to describe a common theme in the films of Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Rob Reiner, finding them somewhat Capraesque, but left out the most obvious; "rooting for the underdog". I'm aware it's rather a cliche', but we've always loved "underdogs" in this country. They were our forefathers.

 

P.S. Thanks for your kind thoughts for my Aunt Barb.

[therealfuster]

in seeing the true humanity [though often it be the eviscerated dregs of it] being celebrated in these films with such pathos, is incredibly insightful.

 

I'd never really thought about it, but even in "The Mighty Wind" [which you've really got to see] the portrait of the former partner of Catherine O'Hara, who seems to be in still substained drug stupor, as played by Eugene Levy, is not ridiculed but portrayed sympathetically in his meanderings and wandering off, both tangibly and in his mind.

 

Probably only Levy could bring this Jerry Garcia looking musician, with a touch of Keith Richard's sometimes comatose states, to life with such kindness. Of course, anyone who could do a dead on takeoff of Floyd the Barber, as Levy did on SCTV, should find this easy.

 

Get the movie, and I swear I'm not a paid shill to promote all Tap material to potential customers here, though I see that such behaviour is not frowned on.

[brackenhe]

I've been having trouble posting but I concur with therealfuster that, even though I don't like it as much as the others, A Mighty Wind is well worth a rental. And everyone from Best in Show is in this one as well. I wish Guest would get the gang together for another one but I don't know if I read this somewhere but I don't think he has anything planned for the near future.