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    Spinal Tap

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    510811
    This Is Spinal Tap (1984) follows the British rock band Spinal Tap as they promote their 1982 album 'Smell The Glove' in America. The documentary-style film exposes the band's history and shows cracks beginning to form as their performances and tour management deteriorate. Notable incidents include their Stonehenge stage prop being built only 18 inches tall instead of 18 feet and the frequent deaths of their drummers. The film is praised for its realistic portrayal of rock bands and has influenced many real bands with its comedic situations and memorable songs.

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    Spinal Tap

    Uploaded by

    510811
    351 views2 pages
    This Is Spinal Tap (1984) follows the British rock band Spinal Tap as they promote their 1982 album 'Smell The Glove' in America. The documentary-style film exposes the band's history and shows cracks beginning to form as their performances and tour management deteriorate. Notable incidents include their Stonehenge stage prop being built only 18 inches tall instead of 18 feet and the frequent deaths of their drummers. The film is praised for its realistic portrayal of rock bands and has influenced many real bands with its comedic situations and memorable songs.

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    This Is Spinal Tap (1984) follows the British rock band Spinal Tap as they promote their 1982 album 'Smell The Glove' in America. The documentary-style film exposes the band's history and shows cracks beginning to form as their performances and tour management deteriorate. Notable incidents include their Stonehenge stage prop being built only 18 inches tall instead of 18 feet and the frequent deaths of their drummers. The film is praised for its realistic portrayal of rock bands and has influenced many real bands with its comedic situations and memorable songs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    351 views2 pages

    Spinal Tap

    Uploaded by

    510811
    This Is Spinal Tap (1984) follows the British rock band Spinal Tap as they promote their 1982 album 'Smell The Glove' in America. The documentary-style film exposes the band's history and shows cracks beginning to form as their performances and tour management deteriorate. Notable incidents include their Stonehenge stage prop being built only 18 inches tall instead of 18 feet and the frequent deaths of their drummers. The film is praised for its realistic portrayal of rock bands and has influenced many real bands with its comedic situations and memorable songs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

    Synopsis: This rockumentary directed by Marty DiBergi follows the on the road lifestyles, trying to promote their 1982 album Smell The Glove and uncovers the history of one of Britains most prominent rock bands Spinal Tap consisting of key members: David St. Hubbins Vocals, rhythm guitar, Nigel Tufnel Lead guitar, backing vocals, Derek Smalls Bass guitar, backing vocals, and their manager Ian Faith. The cracks in the band begin to show as their publicity, stage presence, stage hands and camaraderie as a band begin to deteriorate, as their gig drummers die, their manager quits, their Stonehenge performance is laughed off stage as their Stonehenge set is only built 18 tall, as opposed to what they required an 18 set, and Nigel walks out during a performance of Sex Bomb at a military base. A Critical Review: This Is Spinal Tap has always been one of my all time favourite films due to the fact that ever since being screened in cinemas in the early 80s, world renowned rock bands alike have stated that everything that occurs in this film for comedic effect, has at somestage happened to them, which goes to show how effective the performances and the writing are. Rock legends such as The Whos Pete Townshend, Black Sabbaths Ozzy Osbourne, Led Zeppelins Jimmy Page, have all stated that at one point or another they have also got lost on their way to the stage. The film is so realistic, it mirrors films such as The Beatles Let It Be, Led Zeppelins The Song Remains The Same and The Whos The Kids Are Alright. The writers, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner didnt only nail the characters and plot development spot on, they have also produced music that standalone as jaw dropping hits that would fit in beautifully on a playlist headed by bands such as Kiss, Van Halen, Poison and Danger Danger. They have released these songs commercially, thankfully, so we can all revel in such hits as Big Bottom, Lick My Love Pump, Tonight Im Gonna Rock You Tonight, and Hell Hole. Rooted in modern culture, this mockumentary of rockumentaries is sheer genius, and if I would have to give it a rating,

    I would give it a spinal tingling 11 out of 10, and if asked why, I will simply say these ratings go to 11, if you give a film a rating out of 10, where will it go from there? Nowhere, exactly.

    Postmodernism Themes: The writers have managed to create a perfect parody of a specific genre rockumentaries that have emerged in the 60s, 70s and 80s, and rock bands in general, and refer to other bands with their various hilarious incidents such as the phenomenon of rock drummers dying all the time, so they have killed off every drummer that have ever played with Spinal Tap in ways in which real drummers of existing rock bands have, for example John Bonham of Led Zeppelin dying of choking on vomit in 1980, and spontaneous combustion. The set up is also a parody of rockumentaries, with a combination of on the road footage, gig footage, interviews and footage of the bands early days such as The Kids Are Alright featuring a presentation of The Whos career from 1964-1978.

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