Chandra and Jordan reacting to This Is Spinal Tap - First Time Watching! Leave a comment to let us know what you think! Subscribe and Like to support us! PATREON: / maplenutsreact #thisisspinaltap #firsttimewatching #moviereaction
When Jaime Lee Curtis saw this movie she called her agent to arrange a meeting with Christopher Guest. They began dating and got married. They are still together.
Actually I heard that story a little differently. I heard that she saw a picture of the three stars in Rolling Stone Magazine promoting the movie and that’s when she asked to meet Christoper Guest.
They didn't just write and play the songs for the movie, they've actually gone on tour and released albums. As well as an "unwigged" tour where they played acoustic versions of Spinal Tap songs. They also created a different band (playing folk music) for the movie A Mighty Wind, and did a tour where the Folksmen opened for Spinal Tap. These are some of the most all-around talented performers alive (Michael McKean, who does brilliant dramatic acting in Better Call Saul, is particularly versatile).
Not only did real bands actually have to go through a lot of that kind of stuff, they actually had rock stars coming up to them asking "who told you that story?"
It was a structured improvisation - the director & actors came up with a whole, in-depth backstory to the band. Once they all new it, questions were asked and responses were genuine based on their memory of the backstory - thus getting a realistic 'documentary' feel to the film. :)
Not all the lines are improvised, there is absolutely a scene structure, but precisely how to play the scenes was left up to the actors and thier improv skills. This is a Who's Who of comedy greats, working together flawlessly.
The DVD commentary they did was completely in character. They spent a large percentage of it bitching about the hatchet job Marty di Bergi did on them. They improvised all kinds of backstory for the events of the movie. It's like watching a whole new film!
You should keep going down this rabbit hole with the other three films guys; Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind. All hilarious watches!
I've got both the black album and "Break Like the Wind". It was released in Australia with the guys with ripped bodies rather than bike clothes and the whole album's is just fantastic!
All the actors who played the band were American, but they all pulled off a flawless English accent. Harry Shearer is well known for being a voice actor on The Simpsons.
Mostly. Christopher Guest has dual citizenship and is actually (minor) British Royalty and was in the House of Lords up until the late '90s when they reduced the size of that chamber. IIRC he's Baron Hayden-Guest. His father was a diplomat and he grew up mostly in the NYC area. His natural accent is more Transatlantic than British though. Ironically I think Michael McKean pulls off the accent better than Guest.
One of the dvd sets has them doing commentary "in character". They keep saying that everyone else that appears on screen in the movie is "probably dead by now".
When I saw this movie in the theater in '84 I heard a woman telling her boyfriend that she was surprised that she had never heard of this band before. She thought it was all real!
On Canada Day in 92, they did a one day cross-country tour. They played a show on the east coast in the morning, flew to Ontario for an afternoon gig, then flew to BC for a gig that evening.
A lot of people have commented that Michael McKean was Lenny on Laverne & Shirley. In 1979, "Lenny & the Squigtones" put out an album. The guitarist on the album was Nigel Tufnel (Christoper Guest). He is pictured on the back of album with his guitar.
I saw this in the theater when it came out - I was the only person that got the jokes. Fun fact - The stonehenge "issue" was based on the Black Sabbath 1983 tour - Sabbath had a stage set up that couldn't get through most of the doors in the arenas they were playing.
I saw it with my dad who was a manager for rock bands in the late 60s and early 70s. It was one of his favorite films because so much of it was true. In his book, Phil Collins said most of the on-stage mishaps in the film happened to Genesis, including Peter Gabriel getting stuck in a prop tube he was supposed to crawl through.
Indeed, there was so much demand for albums that they formed a band, because of the movie. As for Fran's first movie scene, she improvised the part about the album cover, not knowing that they intended to have an all-black album cover later in the film. So when she brought up the White album, it was too perfect, and they kept that first take, knowing they couldn't do better if they tried.
Stumpy Joe was played by one of the biggest session drummers in the industr, Russ Kunkle. To this day when on tour, his dressing room has to have a sign marking the door that reads "Stumpy Joe". He's currently on tour with Lyle Lovett, and also plays in a band called "The Immediate Family" which is made up of players who also played on the same sessions throughout the last 50 years. Spinal Tapp have done tours where they play all the tunes and pull off all the antics and a few others not shown here. The same 3 guys have done many films together, one of which spoofs the folk music scene wherein they basically play the same type of characters called "A Mighty Wind".
"Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?" "These go to eleven." Fun Fact: Director Rob Reiner is indeed Marty DiBergi. What Script Fact: Although the scenarios were written in advance, much of the actual dialogue was ad-libbed. Art Imitates Art Fact: Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling cited the movie as inspiration for the unfortunate events that cause all Defence Against The Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts to leave the job before completing a full school year. Music Enthusiast Fact: The actors are all competent musicians, so they co-wrote all the original songs and they're actually playing on the soundtrack. Although I found no charting information, Big Bottom (1984) specifically is considered a rock classic. Historical Fact: Several rock stars have commented on what an uncannily accurate spoof of the rock and heavy metal world this film was. Ozzy Osbourne said when he first watched the film, he was the only person who WASN'T laughing; he thought it was all too real. "I didn't laugh, I wept. It was so close to the truth." noted U2 guitarist The Edge. Marillion had five drummers in the space of a year between their first two albums, which guitarist Steve Rothery later admitted was: "like Spinal Tap."
It's interesting that they hit a nerve with professional musicians. Since the actors were musicians as well, they might have had some of those moments happen to them. Go in Peace and Walk with God. 😎 👍
At one point Marshall Amplifier did make a limited edition amplifier that did go to 11. Other than that label on the control panel it was identical to a regular amp.
That was FANTASTIC! When she (quite correctly) pointed out that a section of the music was parodying The Who, I knew this movie was in good hands! And hey....if you like dogs, then you gotta see much of the same crew in "Best In Show", also improvised, about a dog show. HILARIOUS. They also did another music related one that's good, "A Mighty Wind". I'm sure people have told you: Harry Shearer (the mustached member) does, like, half the voices on The Simpsons (Mr. Burns, Smithers, etc). And the other two you see in millions of movies and TV shows, always different. GREAT reaction! I'm a very happy subscriber!!!!
If you could sit and listen to/watch them for hours, maybe you should see if the DVD extras are available online. I'm not suggesting another reaction, I'm just letting you know. There's a lot of stuff that never made it into the movie and there is a cast commentary track on which they stay in character all the way through and it's as good as the actual movie. You might want to check it out for yourselves if you can. I'm glad you had fun with this. I think it splits audiences a bit: you either get the comedy and it's hilarious, or you just don't get it at all. I'm glad you got it.
Oh yes, we really want to see the extras now that we know there's so much more content! I'm really glad we had fun with it too! Luckily we have a similar sense of humor :)
Yes, they made more records and toured as a band. In fact I heard they are finally planning a sequel to this, some 40 years later. If you want another movie with amazing music watch THAT THING YOU DO with Tom Hanks.
Hi guys, kudos for another great reaction. Two of my favourite facts about this film are: 1)- Harry Shearer plays Derek Smalls (the bass player) with a slight West Midlands accent and he even wears a Shrewsbury Town FC shirt (for context they are a fairly obscure English soccer team...sorry to all the 'Shrews' fans out there). 2)- Tap's last keyboardist and drummer were both actually in English rock bands of the 1970s (Atomic Rooster & Rare Bird). 😉😊🥰
I'm not gonna scroll through all the comments but in the unlikely event that nobody else has said it... Yes, they've played live gigs in character, including Glastonbury festival and the Freddie Mercury tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Fingers crossed that the upcoming sequel comes close to being as good.
A fun thing to do is spot when they're about to break character and laugh at their improv. And, yes. They went on tour a couple of times IRL - in character.
If you listen closely when they talk about their drummer spontaneously combusting, Michael McKean says, "We found his face." This is almost completely drowned out by Christopher Guest's line, "There was a little green globule." McKean drops the part about the face, and we get the bit about the globule or stain.
Check out The Commitments (1991). It's not exactly a "mocumentary", but it is the story of a fictional Soul / R&B / MoTown-styled band, and it has a killer soundtrack of iconic retro songs.
As far as mock-rockumentaries, the other classic one (that predates Spinal Tap) is basically a Monty Python/Saturday Night Live hybrid: "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash". If you know The Beatles at all, that is a must see, hilarious, brilliant, spot-on, and again, the music is fantastic and mind-bogglingly authentic sounding. (And catchy!). Bonus: It's only an hour long and no one has reacted to it yet! If you know the basic Beatles story/biography, it's even better. Like Spinal Tap, the more you know, the more you'll get.
@@adaddinsane COMPLETELY agree, and I almost recommended it! I would LOVE to see a reaction to "A Hard Day's Night" and they would be great reactors for it. (Ditto "Yellow Submarine".) (or any of the Beatles movies!)
My favourite movie with a great soundtrack is To Live and Die in LA. A gritty crime drama with a fantastic 80s soundtrack. Total bangers all by the band Wang Chung.
To Live and Die in L.A. also has one of the best authentic-feeling car chase scenes in movies. Yeah, Friedkin got tons of acclaim for the one in French Connection, but I MUCH prefer his chase in To Live and Die in L.A. It's also just a better movie, all around. I still remember it having one of the most WTF! moments I have ever experienced in a movie. If you know it, you know it. ;-)
Spinal Tap still does shows every now and then- more like appearances, not full up shows- and the running gag is that a few days ahead of time they advertise for drummers. This the absolutely best fake band ever. Second album title was 'Break like the Wind'. (Did you catch Billy Crystal as the mime? "Mime is Money" Also, a young Angelica Huston is the lady who made the 'Stonehenge' prop.)
Michael McKean (blond) was Lenny on Laverne & Shirley show. Christopher Guest (Sat Nite Live) is married to Jamie Lee Curtis, has written & acted in other movies- Best In Show is a sendup of dog shows & is hilarious. Harry Shearer (beard) has a radio show/pod cast from New Orleans.
They're all so enormously talented. I know young people who saw this and had their minds blown when they realized that David St Hubbins is Chuck McGill from Better Call Saul.
McKean was recently in the first season of "Good Omens". Guest is perhaps best known as the six-fingered man in "The Princess Bride". Shearer has done about a million different voices on "The Simpsons".
Shooting is supposed to start this month on a Spinal Tap sequel. In addition to the original cast, Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks will be in it. Rob Reiner originally wanted to release the film in March 2024 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original, but production got pushed back because of the Hollywood strikes.
And the cherry on the top of all that talent is, the main band are all from the US so they were doing it all while putting on an English accent (OK, as a UK native I can attest they're far from perfect BUT they're perfect _in these roles_ which is surely what counts). (on that note, despite the channel name I sometimes forget you guys are Canadian then Chandra will use a word like "jumper" and make it crystal clear again :)
as a sub, I am hoping you guys continue the LOTR trilogy...... You did such a fantastic job with the first movie. The main reason I subscribed. You are so pleasant to watch react. Blessings to you both..
Agreed. However I would add The Hobbit (1977) before the LOTR trilogy, as it is the adaptation of the book that preceded the novel trilogy. Go in Peace and Walk with God. 😎 👍
" This Goes To 11 "😂😂😂. When interviewing a band or singer , they're asked " Have You Ever Had A Spinal Tap Moment ? ". Which means : When Something Went Wrong😂😂😂
They've done two "World Tours" of 30-40 stops in the US, Canada & the UK. They've played in the Royal Albert Hall and both old and new Wembley stadiums. The drummer for the film (RJ Parnell) played most of their tours up until recently as his characters' twin brother. Parnell actually was the drummer on Toni Basil's one hit wonder "Mickey" from the early '80s.
Do check out THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH. It's a "mockumentary" that details the history of The Rutles (i.e. the Beatles). It was made in 1978 for NBC TV by Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame - see "Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and features cameos by GEORGE HARRISON, Paul Simon and Mick Jagger. It has a lot of the original cast of Saturday Night Live (Bill Murray, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner). "The RUTLES are a living legend. A living legend that will live on long after other living legends have died."
"Would you be happy doing that?" Implying that any mundane job would be impossible for a rock star to contemplate "Well I don't know...what are the hours?" 🤣Yep, just sublime subtle humour.
AIRHEADS has a great soundtrack, and so does SINGLES. SINGLES is a great film, as is SAY ANYTHING and ALMOST FAMOUS, all by Cameron Crowe, who did JERRY MAGUIRE
Christopher Guest has done some brilliant mockumentories, waiting for Guffman , best in show , a mighty wind ( he is also Lord Hayden Guest and married to Jamie Lee Curtis 😊😊😊😊(
Even though I know Nigel was played by Christopher Guest, and I know Christopher Guest played the six-fingered man in The Princess Bride...they just absolutely do not seem like the same actor to me.
Apparently, at least it is what I heard, the stonehenge bit actually happened to Black Sabbath (neither Ozzy nor Dio incarnation though) but instead of making it smaller they actually made it bigger than it was supposed to be. The bass player voices a few characters on the Simpsons, Mr. Burns and Smithers among others. I recal seeing a performance of Big Bottom here on RU-vid, it might have been at a festival, where every band playing in the festival went up on stage to play that song. As far as suggestions off the top of my head of movies including great soundtrack (I will cheat a bit and include musicals): Reservoir Dogs, Sound of Music, the Phantom of the Opera, The Producers (2005), Knight's Tale, Guy Ritchie's King Arthur
Check out "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind," and "Waiting for Guffman" for more hilarious mockumentaries from these guys. "Best in Show" is probably my favorite. And they play all their own folk music in "A Mighty Wind."
Brian May the guitarist from Queen was hospitalized after injuring buttocks in ‘over-enthusiastic’ gardening incident a few years back, so I guess its not that hard to beleive.
From Wiki: "In May 2022, director Rob Reiner announced that he is working on a sequel to the film, which will include him returning to play DiBergi, and McKean, Shearer, and Guest as the members of Spinal Tap. The film will be Castle Rock Entertainment's first film following its revival in 2021. Filming is scheduled to start in February 2024."
A great story many don't know. They put together a folk group called 'The Folksmen' and they would get into makeup looking completely different. Then they went on tour opening up for Spinal Tap. They would get bood and many people never realized they were the same guys. The Folksmen are featured heavily in A Mighty Wind, another mockumentary by them focusing on a folk music tribute show.
They've definitely performed as Spinal Tap. They also recorded an audio commentary track in character. They released a track called Back From The Dead. Rob Reiner and the group are filming a sequel right now. Other movies with great soundtracks include: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Pulp Fiction, Heavy Metal and American Pop. There is also 90 minutes of outtake footage out there to watch.
I remember my friends finding this album buried in a record store and the cover WAS ALL BLACK! We were dying, right from the first song actually titled: TONIGHT I'M GOING TO ROCK YOU TONIGHT
Hi Jordan & Chandra!😊 The fact that some people have watched this and weren't sure if the band was real or not, just shows how believable the film actually is. Great reactions to this fun mocumentary, Maplenut Kids!!!!🎬👏👏👏👏
All the actors are famous well traveled comedians. Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest)and St Hubbins (Micheal McKean) were on SNL. Harry Shearer played the bass player was on SNL and many other comedy shows. They've done a whole slew of spoof movies, but Spinal Tap started it all. They are just competent enough playing music that they could perform these songs (which is in itself a spoof about 80s Hair Metal).
I think the one Spinal Tap album you were referring to at the end of the video was Break Like The Wind. The cover had the three standing proudly. One of the songs was The Majesty of Rock.
Here's a pro-tip for those who enjoy TIST. On the DVD audio commentary, the three main actors watch and comment on the movie IN CHARACTER. It is essentially like getting a second helping of This is Spinal Tap but even funnier.
You really should try to dig up the commentary for this movie from the DVD. The three guys do the commentary in character, and it's like watching a whole new movie. (The amount of time they spend bitching about the hatchet job Marty di Bergi did on them is hilarious.) Also, there's a great piece of interview with Christopher Guest here on YT where he explains the origin of Nigel Tufnel. It's hysterical. 😂
This movie is required viewing for rock bands. It shows some of the craziness of the business. When we would go through one and recognize it, it feels like a badge of laughter and ridiculousness. 🤣
This movie pretty much created the "mockumentary" concept. Most of the folks here have collaborated on several other mockumentary's, the best IMO, being "Best in Show" which follows a group of people and their dogs getting ready to compete in a big dog show. Others are "A Mighty Wind" (a reuinion of an old folk music group), "Waiting for Guffman" (about community theater), "For Your Consideration" (cast of an indy movie anticipating a surprise Oscar nomination), and "Mascots" which I just found out about but haven't seen.
Hilarious stuff guys! I can't stop laughing at around 5:30... Chandra's been handling the Game of Thrones reactions with no problem but her reaction to "pink torpedo" is pure disgust... hahaha!
Great band, for real! I saw them live at Glastonbury Festival and they blew away a lot of the "real" bands on the bill... really talented musicians x You should get the special edition DVD, over an hour of deleted scenes. It's almost a sequel!
