It looks exactly like This is Spinal Tap only with folk singers. Is it? 'Cause if it is I really want to see it. The song in the ad cracks me up.
I can’t wait myself. Christopher Guest rocks.
There’s another thread about it somewhere here in CS…
When does it come out, anyway? It’s soon, I know.
Sooner than you think. It came out Wednesday.
Well, then, dammit, why isn’t it playing anywhere near me??
Off to search…
Well, this is why. It’s only in selected cities, none of which are near me, naturally. Has anyone heard any word of a wider release?
Go see this movie ASAP. I just came back from it. I don’t really remember Spinal Tap, so I can’t compare it to that. It is a mockumentary; it’s very similar to Christopher Guest’s other films Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. I will warn that it’s a type of humor that not everyone enjoys, but I personally love it.
Seriously, it looks great, and I must go and see it, if not wait 'til it comes out on DVD.
Saw it today; funny as hell.
There’s a mighty wind a-blowin’, blowin’ you and me…
Yep it was great.
The good:
- Very well acted
- Pretty much everyone from Best in Show is back.
The bad:
- Not near enough Parker Posey!
It was great though. Very funny throughout the movie, with a few scenes that were especially hilarious, and a few that were kinda touching in a way. Go see it now.
I just got back from seeing it. It was great. I didn’t think it was as funny as Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show (for reference, I thought Best in Show was hilarious and like it even better than This is Spinal Tap), but strangely enough it kind of works as a concert film. I genuinely like the Mitch & Mickey songs; I never would’ve thought Eugene Levy could sing. And the New Main Street Singers songs were hilarious.
It seemed that there were too many characters; you never got that much back-story into the characters like you do with the other mockumentaries. Even with Mitch & Mickey, who got the most screen time by far, I left with the impression that I didn’t understand their relationship at all. (In fact – could somebody explain it to me?)
One thing that was bugging me: they showed album covers from the Original Main Street Singers, and one of them (the girl who was eventually replaced by Parker Posey’s character) looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her. I finally looked it up on the imdb and saw that it was Marie from “24”. So just in case that was bugging anyone else.
Another fun fact via research: I didn’t know that Michael McKean was married to Annette O’Toole. According to the credits, they wrote several of the songs from the film together.
I thought it was hysterically funny and touching as well in parts. I have to say that the end made me cringe a bit on behalf of the T in LBGT.
P.S. I just saw the official website for the movie has video clips, none of which appeared in the final movie. (Even though some of the gags were in the trailer.) And it reminded me of a couple of things:
My favorite character was Jennifer Coolidge as the P.R. person for the Zipken Group. For some reason, she just cracked me up every time she came on-screen. Basically the same character as in Best in Show, but with a completely untraceable accent. And her line about the model trains was one of the best gags in the movie.
And my other favorite moment was when Parker Posey’s character was going on about her history and they showed the B&W photo of her from the streets. It was a great way to take a fairly straightforward joke and make it almost uncomfortably dark.
I just saw gobear’s post; I’m assuming “LBGT” means “lesbian, bi, gay, transsexual?” I think it’s a real stretch to see any malice in that scene; the movies aren’t mean-spirited at all.
Eugene Levy’s acting performance was GREAT, probably because I know a guy who is so burned out that he acts just like that (just not so loud). And the whole “kiss” gimmick was a very sweet moment.
I liked it better than Best In Show (not funnier… the laughs are all at the beginning… but the rest of the movie is entertaining and absorbing), but Waiting for Guffman is still higher on my list. A good, solid movie, all around.
“This candle… also represents a penis.”
Saw it this weekend. I second the responses so far – well worth seeing.
I was also impressed with Eugene Levy’s performance. Where was he hiding through most of the '80s and '90s?
P.S. Are Harry Shearer’s teeth really that color?
Another Fred Willard masterpiece performance.
“Wha’ happened?”
Everyone was great, but I thought Catherine O’Hara stood out.
When they were searching for Mitch during the concert and she said “Are there any cock fight arenas around here?”, I snorted about 8 ounces of Sprite up my nose from laughing so hard.
I made my fiancee go see this with me (he’s never seen a Christopher Guest movie – crime!) and now he can’t stop saying that. I’d be more annoyed if I wasn’t laughing with him.
Great movie, and I was really impressed that the wrote all the songs because they sound just like real folk tunes to me. The fact that (or so I read somplace) the cast improvs a lot of their lines is absolutely amazing.
Definite recommend.
Oscar nomination for Eugene Levy! Brilliant!
Bob Balaban’s character was deliciously annoying.
I loved the bit with the New Main Street Singers when they were telling the new guy he wasn’t quite ready to wear civilian clothes yet.
I’ve got to agree with gobear, the very end bit kinda “clanked”.
One more thing, on the local NPR station (KCRW, best radio station in the world) they played a song from the soundtrack album that I didn’t hear in the movie or over the closing credits. The Folksmen did a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” in a folk music harmony style. Absolutely brilliant!
I saw the movie on opening day and absolutely loved it, as I have the other Chris Guest movies I’ve seen. (Mea culpa, I have yet to see Waiting for Guffman.)
The end bit with Harry Shearer in his new persona was a bit odd, but really no more so than the rest of the movie, IMHO. It wasn’t entirely clear whether he was being presented as a real transsexual or whether he was crossdressing (maybe pre-op?)
As for the cover of Start Me Up, I heard that on the World Cafe with David Dye, a music program syndicated to public radio stations around the country from Philadalphia’s best radio station, WXPN. Icarus, does KCRW carry the World Cafe?
I’ve enjoyed Guest’s work ever since his days at National Lampoon. He’s really gathered a great group of people to work with over the last years. It’s really amazing when you realize that they are all just ad-libbing the dialogue over a basic storyline.
I wonder if Eugene Levy watched a bunch of episodes of the Osbournes to research his part.
Some reviewers say that this movie doesn’t stand out compared to Spinal Tap/Guffman/Best in Show. But, as Richard Roeper said, the WORST Christopher Guest movie is still better than the BEST Adam Sandler flick. I’d have to agree.