WEBVTT - From the Archive: This Is Spinal Tap, Stop Making Sense

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<v Speaker 1>What kind of a show you guys.

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<v Speaker 2>Putting on here today?

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<v Speaker 1>You're not interested in Armed now? No, look, we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to do this thing. We're going to have a.

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<v Speaker 2>Conversation eight film Spotters Adam and Josh.

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<v Speaker 1>Here.

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<v Speaker 2>The Film Spotting Archive has reviews top five and more

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<v Speaker 2>going back to two thousand and five. Access to that

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<v Speaker 2>archive is just one of the benefits you get as

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<v Speaker 2>a Film Spotting Family member, which you can learn more

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<v Speaker 2>about at Filmspottingfamily dot com. This weekend, this is Spinal

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<v Speaker 2>Tap is getting an always welcome theatrical re release.

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<v Speaker 3>Spinal Tap was part of our eight from eighty four series.

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<v Speaker 3>We did that back in twenty twenty. It was part

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<v Speaker 3>of a show dedicated to three great music movies from

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<v Speaker 3>that great movie year, Stop Making Sense, Purple Rain, and

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<v Speaker 3>Spinal Tap. How about that lineup? So from March twenty twenty,

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<v Speaker 3>here is our combined review of Tap and Stop Making Sense.

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<v Speaker 4>Hi, I got a type I want to play.

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<v Speaker 2>From the opening of Jonathan Demi Stop Making Sense. That's

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<v Speaker 2>Talking Heads front man David Byrne. We get into our

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<v Speaker 2>eight for eighty four rock trio now and we'll start

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<v Speaker 2>with the films that are the consensus masterpieces, Demi's seminal

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<v Speaker 2>concert film and Rob Reiners This is Spinal Tap. Spinal

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<v Speaker 2>Tap was first to be released. It came out in

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<v Speaker 2>March of eighty four, made a modest five million at

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<v Speaker 2>the domestic box office. That's around twelve million in today's dollars,

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<v Speaker 2>but not surprising considering it soon became a cult hit.

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<v Speaker 2>It did run in theaters for almost a year, and

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<v Speaker 2>it marked Rob reiners directing debut.

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<v Speaker 3>Looking at Stop Making Sense that only played limited release,

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<v Speaker 3>opened in New York City in October and made about

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<v Speaker 3>five million dollars in its theatrical run. Jonathan Demi had

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<v Speaker 3>been working for quite a bit, already started his career

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<v Speaker 3>a decade earlier, making cheap genre movies for Roger Corman.

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<v Speaker 3>Just before Stop Making Sense, he had made Melvin and

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<v Speaker 3>Howard and also Swing Shift. So these are two two

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<v Speaker 3>movies were familiar with Adam. As a matter of fact,

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<v Speaker 3>they both showed up when we did our top five

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<v Speaker 3>films of nineteen eighty four. I think this was I

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<v Speaker 3>think this was in twenty seventeen around, and our ranking

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<v Speaker 3>of them on those lists was a little bit different.

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<v Speaker 3>Spinal Tap for you, the best film of nineteen eighty four,

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<v Speaker 3>you had Stopped Making Sense ranked number three. I had

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<v Speaker 3>stopped Making Sense as the second best film, So Splitting

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<v Speaker 3>Hairs probably a little bit there, But that's what we

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<v Speaker 3>do on this show. So now that you've thought about

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<v Speaker 3>it a little bit more, and especially in the context

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<v Speaker 3>of Purple Rain and this year that we've been revisiting

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<v Speaker 3>in this eight from eighty four series that has prompted

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<v Speaker 3>this show, do you feel pretty solid about that top

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<v Speaker 3>ranking for Spinal Tap?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? I do, and I think it may come down

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<v Speaker 2>to that distinction. Sometimes we make between best versus favorite.

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<v Speaker 2>In a lot of ways, I think Stop Making Sense

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<v Speaker 2>might be the better film or the better craft film,

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<v Speaker 2>But in terms of the movie that I absolutely can't

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<v Speaker 2>imagine living without, I still value this as Final Tap

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<v Speaker 2>just a little bit more, and I want to avoid

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<v Speaker 2>trying to be two grandiose here and also avoid turning

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<v Speaker 2>this pandemic we're experiencing and how we're all coping with

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<v Speaker 2>it into a cliche. I mentioned this last week in

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<v Speaker 2>relation to our top five nineteen thirties films. We talked

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<v Speaker 2>about Top Hat and how it served as fantasy escapism

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<v Speaker 2>for people suffering through the Great Depression. Why couldn't it

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<v Speaker 2>transport us now as we all sit on our couches,

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<v Speaker 2>And I think Stop Making Sense offers a completely different

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<v Speaker 2>type of necessary escape. With Reread and Ginger, you're living

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<v Speaker 2>vicariously through them, and there's no real sense of community there.

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<v Speaker 2>And when I rewatched Stop Making Sense for this show,

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<v Speaker 2>I felt a little bit like Charlton Heston and the

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<v Speaker 2>Omega Man with that lone print of Woodstock, the last

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<v Speaker 2>man in the world, watching this eclectic group of performers

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<v Speaker 2>surrounded by people sharing in this collective reverie and Stop

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<v Speaker 2>Making Sense. Let's be honest, it's a party even without

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<v Speaker 2>the crowd there. Right. There are certainly songs and whole

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<v Speaker 2>stretches where you kind of forget the crowd is even there,

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<v Speaker 2>as if David Burne and company are performing only for us,

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<v Speaker 2>the film watching audience. And we can talk about that

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<v Speaker 2>in some of the ways Demi approaches it, but just

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<v Speaker 2>in terms of the number of musicians on stage and

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<v Speaker 2>the talent and joy of performing they exhibit, and their

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<v Speaker 2>interaction with each other, which is so crucial. It's like

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<v Speaker 2>you're on stage with them.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, and this is why Burne, David Byrne and Demi

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<v Speaker 3>were a perfect pairing for this film, for this music documentary.

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<v Speaker 3>It's exactly what Demi brought to the Justin Timberlake and

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<v Speaker 3>the Tennessee Kids doc from a few years ago on

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<v Speaker 3>Netflix emphasized the communal experience the fifteen plus I think

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<v Speaker 3>it was person band in that case, and the camera

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<v Speaker 3>floated among each performer and gave them their time. Similar

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<v Speaker 3>things are happening here. But just as Timberlake was the

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<v Speaker 3>conductor of that group, Burne is absolutely I would say

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<v Speaker 3>he's beyond the here. He is the auteur of this film.

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<v Speaker 3>David byrne Is and I talked a little bit about

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<v Speaker 3>this when we did that list the top five films

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<v Speaker 3>of eighty four. Because the way that he is paying

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<v Speaker 3>attention to everything from the production design to those who

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<v Speaker 3>are up on the stage with him, to the props,

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<v Speaker 3>the way he uses that lamp, that house slamp when

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<v Speaker 3>they're performing, This must be the place everything he's controlling

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<v Speaker 3>to a specific degree of Burne is and then Demi

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<v Speaker 3>is the sort of filmmaker that wants to make space

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<v Speaker 3>for all of that. His camera wants to encompass. You

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<v Speaker 3>see this in his fiction, in his drama films, his

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<v Speaker 3>camera wants to make room for everyone in the story,

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<v Speaker 3>and how many group scenes aren't there in Demi films,

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<v Speaker 3>And that's.

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<v Speaker 1>What this is.

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<v Speaker 3>A group scene. This is one long group scene made

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<v Speaker 3>up of the music, the brilliant music from Burn and

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<v Speaker 3>the Talking Heads as well. So yeah, I think it's

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<v Speaker 3>just the perfect example of everything coming together.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm going to echo what you said because that

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<v Speaker 2>clip we heard from Psycho Killer, that's one of my

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<v Speaker 2>favorite Demi moments. I think it made my top five

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<v Speaker 2>Jonathan Demi moments, a list we did back when he

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<v Speaker 2>passed away. And of course it opens just with David

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<v Speaker 2>Byrne walking out on stage and he dominates that tune.

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<v Speaker 2>But that sense of community I'm talking about in this

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<v Speaker 2>idea of unity that we see on stage showup the

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<v Speaker 2>whole rest of the film. It's built into the very

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<v Speaker 2>fabric of the movie. Yes, it starts with him alone,

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<v Speaker 2>but the next tune adds just one more piece Tina

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<v Speaker 2>Waima Rajase right, and they play Heaven and the Camera.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm pretty sure, if not the entire song, ninety five

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<v Speaker 2>percent of it stays on a two shot where they

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<v Speaker 2>are joined together that entire time. It's never about just

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<v Speaker 2>cutting to what she's doing or cutting to what David

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<v Speaker 2>Byrne is doing. It's about them together performing. And then

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<v Speaker 2>the next song adds Chris Franz on the drums, and

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<v Speaker 2>I think they perform thank you for sending Me an Angel,

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<v Speaker 2>and the way the camera then gives him his time

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<v Speaker 2>and goes from behind the drum set, rotating around to

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<v Speaker 2>the side in the front of the stage. It's rotating

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<v Speaker 2>around so that it gets those two in the shot

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<v Speaker 2>with him right, and what started as just kind of

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<v Speaker 2>the drummer becomes this trio. And then we're just going

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<v Speaker 2>to add more and more pieces until everybody finally is

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<v Speaker 2>on stage communing together. And you mention this specificity that

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<v Speaker 2>we get. There's no doubt about it. I actually want

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<v Speaker 2>to play for our listeners a quick clip that I

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<v Speaker 2>just happened to come across. Our friends at the blank

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<v Speaker 2>Check podcast tweeted this and it's a conversation after a screening.

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<v Speaker 2>I think of that justin Timberlake Concert film, where he's

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<v Speaker 2>talking about what draws him to live music and capturing

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<v Speaker 2>it and putting it on film.

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<v Speaker 4>For me, and I love shooting feature films with actors.

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<v Speaker 4>I love shooting documentaries with real people. But something about

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<v Speaker 4>shooting live music. I always this probably isn't true, but

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<v Speaker 4>I think this is the purest form of filmmaking. There

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<v Speaker 4>are these artists doing that, and we're here to team

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<v Speaker 4>up with that and capture that and in the way

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<v Speaker 4>the best suits the music that's being played.

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<v Speaker 2>And I just love Demi emphasizing the kind of giddiness

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<v Speaker 2>he has when he says there are these artists doing that,

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<v Speaker 2>and then when he says we're here to team up

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<v Speaker 2>with that again, that sense of team that sense of community,

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<v Speaker 2>and how important it is for him to do it

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<v Speaker 2>in a way that best suits the music being played.

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<v Speaker 2>That's exactly what you articulated, Josh. There is this precision

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<v Speaker 2>to it, right, the choreography of the visuals matching the

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<v Speaker 2>stage choreography. And it would be almost impossible, I think,

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<v Speaker 2>to rank the top five numbers, the top five songs

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<v Speaker 2>in this movie if we force ourselves to do it.

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<v Speaker 2>But once in a lifetime stands out. Life during wartime

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<v Speaker 2>stands out as well as making Flippy Floffe. But then

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<v Speaker 2>you look at one like what a Day That was,

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<v Speaker 2>which goes almost completely to close ups, and that dramatic

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<v Speaker 2>silhouetted lighting, almost like it's a horror movie, and for

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<v Speaker 2>a while we don't get any group shots, isolated shots

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<v Speaker 2>of each member. Some of the angles are a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit more odder, but there's almost this mathematical framing to

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<v Speaker 2>every shot there that matches the song completely.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for me, it probably is the number I mentioned.

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<v Speaker 3>This must be the place, just because it has all

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<v Speaker 3>those elements you're talking about, and it's that balance of Burn,

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<v Speaker 3>David Burn's extreme individuality, extreme oddness, right, just the oddness

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<v Speaker 3>he has as a physical presence. But then also the

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<v Speaker 3>camera will back up and make room for, as you said,

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<v Speaker 3>the group, and they have this interesting use of I

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<v Speaker 3>think we'll probably talk about this when it comes to

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<v Speaker 3>Purple Rain, especially where there is some choreograp sort of.

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<v Speaker 3>But at the same time, I think of the group

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<v Speaker 3>backing away from the stage, and this includes the backup

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<v Speaker 3>singers and dancers as well, Edna Holt and Lynn Maybury.

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<v Speaker 3>That everyone kind of backs up in unison, but at

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<v Speaker 3>the same time they're each doing their own thing. Those

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<v Speaker 3>two dancers, Maybury and Holt each have their own sort

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<v Speaker 3>of rhythm going on, and so it's at once this

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<v Speaker 3>group movement that also honors individuality, and I think that

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<v Speaker 3>that's the magic that Demi knows how to depict and

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<v Speaker 3>Burne obviously knows how to create.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that is the magic of stop making sense. Any

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<v Speaker 2>final thoughts you want to get in on the film, No, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Mean I just one maybe that will bring us into

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<v Speaker 3>This is Spinal Tap. You mentioned how you know what

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<v Speaker 3>is a personal favorite as opposed to what is the best?

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<v Speaker 3>I think another as I thought of all three of

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<v Speaker 3>these films together, you know, not even really ranking, but

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<v Speaker 3>just as they how they sit with me an inescapable

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<v Speaker 3>fact is whatever music you like the best, you're going

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<v Speaker 3>to resonate with the most. So let me give my

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<v Speaker 3>this is Spinal Tap confession, which maybe explain why I

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<v Speaker 3>did have it ranked a little bit lower. Is that's

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<v Speaker 3>just brutal music to me? And the question I have

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<v Speaker 3>for you, Adam, as someone who is in a band

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<v Speaker 3>that plays on occasion, from what I understand, I still

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<v Speaker 3>have to see you live. Have not been able to

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<v Speaker 3>do that yet, but you know, we'll play covers of

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<v Speaker 3>this genre. I'll let you name the genre, whether it's

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<v Speaker 3>heavy metal, hair metal, whatever you want to say. But

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<v Speaker 3>my question is the music in Spinal Tap. Do you

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<v Speaker 3>consider it brutal on purpose or do you consider it

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<v Speaker 3>a very particular and precise rendition of that kind of music?

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<v Speaker 3>So are they doing a good job of this kind

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<v Speaker 3>of music? Basically, if you like this kind of music,

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<v Speaker 3>are these good performances of those types of songs?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm going to say it's more the former, but

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<v Speaker 2>there's some gray area there. I guess I will fundamentally

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<v Speaker 2>disagree with your position because I have this is Spinal

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<v Speaker 2>Tap ranked as my favorite movie of the three, but

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<v Speaker 2>in terms of the music, it's by far number three,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's way down at the bottom. And I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 2>be clear here, you're taking the bold position that the

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<v Speaker 2>mediocre band that's stuck playing air force bases and amusement

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<v Speaker 2>parks and being mocked on the radio isn't very good.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that what you're saying, Josh.

0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:22.160
<v Speaker 5>No, no, no, I'm saying Heavy Metals has been like

0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.640
<v Speaker 5>I would classify as one of those sounds along with

0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.640
<v Speaker 5>leaf blowers and people like revving up their trucks as

0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:29.679
<v Speaker 5>they sit actually.

0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:31.800
<v Speaker 3>Had a stoplight that gives me the hives.

0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:32.800
<v Speaker 5>That's what I'm saying.

0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I get it, but I think the way I

0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.160
<v Speaker 2>look at it is, and thank you. You saved me

0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.319
<v Speaker 2>from having to pull out the I'm in a band card,

0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:41.640
<v Speaker 2>which is essential when talking about spinal tap.

0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.080
<v Speaker 3>But I knew, I knew it was common, so you.

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.040
<v Speaker 2>You know me, Well, there's literally nobody. I'm gonna go

0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.080
<v Speaker 2>on the record and say there's literally nobody who watches

0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.680
<v Speaker 2>this is spinal tap and appreciates the music. Unironically, any

0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:54.480
<v Speaker 2>of the musicianship. Which is it to say that those

0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.720
<v Speaker 2>guys aren't actually halfway decent players. I mean, they're all

0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.600
<v Speaker 2>decent enough musicians to fake the way through it, and

0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.760
<v Speaker 2>we've seen them perform in other Christopher Guests movies too, right.

0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.640
<v Speaker 3>And honestly, that's why I asked, because I do I'm

0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:10.839
<v Speaker 3>not saying that they are untalented. This kind of music

0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.200
<v Speaker 3>question was like how, yeah, how does their talent trance?

0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:15.080
<v Speaker 3>Well's the question.

0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.679
<v Speaker 2>I guess The nuance is is that you can't help

0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.800
<v Speaker 2>but look at songs like Big Bottom and Stonehenge and

0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.480
<v Speaker 2>sex Form and not recognize them as jokes. And I

0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.199
<v Speaker 2>think what it gets right about heavy metal and I

0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.280
<v Speaker 2>use that term loosely because I do think it is

0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.760
<v Speaker 2>more rock and roll, but heavy metal does get thrown around.

0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.080
<v Speaker 2>I think a couple times in the film it gets

0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.720
<v Speaker 2>right to that genre has a juvenile obsession with sex,

0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.880
<v Speaker 2>and there's always that vague fascination with the occult and

0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.560
<v Speaker 2>mysticism and those cheap theatrics, and even something that I

0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.080
<v Speaker 2>had never really paid attention to before, Not like it

0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.319
<v Speaker 2>wasn't obviously there, but I had never really paid attention

0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.600
<v Speaker 2>to the heart of the movie before the way I

0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.280
<v Speaker 2>did this time, which is that rivalry and that friendship

0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.440
<v Speaker 2>between lead singer and guitar player. But that's something that's

0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.120
<v Speaker 2>so crucial to almost every rock band out there as

0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.800
<v Speaker 2>well for me, every band of that ILK though from

0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.800
<v Speaker 2>that time, and frankly just about every band who's ever toured,

0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.719
<v Speaker 2>regardless of what genre they fall into. They would be

0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:14.440
<v Speaker 2>able to watch Spinal Tap and see themselves in Tap,

0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:18.480
<v Speaker 2>while also totally accurately being able to say, oh, that's

0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.040
<v Speaker 2>not us at all. We don't sound like that. Like

0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.320
<v Speaker 2>Spinal Tap is a unique entity. As much as they

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.360
<v Speaker 2>might be parroting certain aspects of heavy metal bands and

0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.200
<v Speaker 2>life on the road, the music is completely its own

0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:32.960
<v Speaker 2>thing that I don't think any one band out there

0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.120
<v Speaker 2>could say, oh, man, they really got us good with that.

0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.360
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, and they probably wouldn't want to because it

0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.280
<v Speaker 3>is pretty bad. So let's get to what is good.

0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.760
<v Speaker 3>And you mentioned it. The songs are jokes, obviously, yes,

0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:48.160
<v Speaker 3>and the lyrics are hysterical. And I could sit and

0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.760
<v Speaker 3>watch Marty de Berghee interview these guys. I mean, if

0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.280
<v Speaker 3>the movie was just that, I would be completely happy

0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.160
<v Speaker 3>and no surprise. I love comic improvisation and you can

0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.280
<v Speaker 3>just see. I love also seeing actors this talented at

0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.520
<v Speaker 3>it trying to keep character, not that they're gonna like, yeah,

0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:09.560
<v Speaker 3>not that they're gonna fall out of character and say

0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.360
<v Speaker 3>something out of character. What they're trying to do is

0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.080
<v Speaker 3>keep the glint in their eye when they see an

0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:19.400
<v Speaker 3>opening from getting too bright. And this is such rich

0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.920
<v Speaker 3>material and these guys are just so smart at delivering

0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.640
<v Speaker 3>it that that is their true challenge is just not

0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.600
<v Speaker 3>to get too excited about, you know, what they're what

0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.680
<v Speaker 3>they're gonna say, and whether it's you know, explaining the

0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:35.760
<v Speaker 3>drummers who they've lost along the way, or or even

0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.520
<v Speaker 3>like going up to eleven, just those pauses of where

0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.120
<v Speaker 3>Devergi is like dumbfounded at what he's hearing. The two

0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.160
<v Speaker 3>of them are gonna have to sustain this scene without

0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.960
<v Speaker 3>giving in or even smiling. It is brilliant stuff.

0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.840
<v Speaker 6>Now during the Flower People period, who is your drummer

0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:57.600
<v Speaker 6>Stumpy's replacement? Peter James Bonde. He also died in mysterious circumstances.

0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.200
<v Speaker 6>We were playing a festival, blues festival. When was that

0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.040
<v Speaker 6>blues jazz, really blues jazz.

0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.760
<v Speaker 1>Festival that was in the oil.

0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:17.600
<v Speaker 6>And it was tragic, really, he exploded on stage just

0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:18.080
<v Speaker 6>like that.

0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.440
<v Speaker 1>It just went up. It just was like a flash

0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:25.920
<v Speaker 1>of green light and that was it. Nothing was left. Well,

0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.840
<v Speaker 1>there was true. There's a little green globule on his

0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.360
<v Speaker 1>drum seat. It's like a stain. It was a small

0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:33.560
<v Speaker 1>of a staining, a globule.

0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:38.000
<v Speaker 6>Actually, several, you know, dozens of people spontaneously combusted each year.

0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.680
<v Speaker 6>It's just not really widely reported.

0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.200
<v Speaker 2>I agree with you. I think the best scenes in

0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.760
<v Speaker 2>the film were probably completely in lockstep that if they

0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.200
<v Speaker 2>had just made an entire movie out of Rob Reiner

0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:53.040
<v Speaker 2>as Marty de Bergie interviewing the band and watching how

0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.440
<v Speaker 2>Derek Smalls Harry Sheer knows when to insert himself into

0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:59.720
<v Speaker 2>the conversation and when to just stay on the outside

0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.960
<v Speaker 2>of it and let Michael McKean and Christopher Guest do

0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.760
<v Speaker 2>their thing, and them navigate each other and recognize when

0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:08.600
<v Speaker 2>they have to let the other guy take the lead.

0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.600
<v Speaker 2>And yes, you're right, not break character so much, because

0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.439
<v Speaker 2>they're all too good to do that. But you can

0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.959
<v Speaker 2>see that moment where they come up right against it.

0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 2>They're so impressed with some bit of riffing that the

0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.960
<v Speaker 2>guy next to them just said that they're almost willing

0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.200
<v Speaker 2>to break. But then they get back into character and

0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.280
<v Speaker 2>manage to come up with the line to follow it with.

0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.959
<v Speaker 2>And you're right for me, All these years later, no

0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.200
<v Speaker 2>matter how many times I've seen it, it's still funny.

0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.520
<v Speaker 2>It still has all those great quotable lines and those

0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:38.600
<v Speaker 2>sight gags that everyone knows. But the funniest stuff to me, honestly,

0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.399
<v Speaker 2>besides those conversation scenes we just just touched on, are

0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.639
<v Speaker 2>the moments where we get a simple cut to Christopher

0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:50.119
<v Speaker 2>Guest expressionless but chomping the gum every time Janine talks.

0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah right, just that's still a cut to him, no reaction,

0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.800
<v Speaker 2>no visible reaction, but we know everything he's thinking just

0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:57.680
<v Speaker 2>based on that cut.

0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.560
<v Speaker 3>And I'm glad you bring up Guests because I think

0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.879
<v Speaker 3>they're all obviously good and they're all giving us, you know,

0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.400
<v Speaker 3>real characters. But Guest, I think is giving a real

0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.320
<v Speaker 3>performance for sure. And it's the it's the elements you're

0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.040
<v Speaker 3>talking about, it's those little details where where he is

0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:17.120
<v Speaker 3>within that he's Nigel Toughnel. Every moment you know, he's

0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.240
<v Speaker 3>whether it's his turn to say something, to throw in

0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.320
<v Speaker 3>a riff, or just to sit there and listen.

0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:23.280
<v Speaker 1>He he is.

0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:28.520
<v Speaker 3>Not breaking character at all. And it's also that's where

0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.760
<v Speaker 3>as his films as a director go on, these other

0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.120
<v Speaker 3>mockumentaries he would make, you can see how they are

0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.919
<v Speaker 3>mostly increasingly rooted in character, in stories, in people, you

0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.760
<v Speaker 3>can imagine their full lives beyond the interview, the on

0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.240
<v Speaker 3>camera interview they're having right now, and you can see

0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.359
<v Speaker 3>the seeds of that in his performance as Nigel, in

0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:50.880
<v Speaker 3>this full character he's giving.

0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:55.720
<v Speaker 2>Us absolutely just that mixture of bravado and stupidity is

0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.560
<v Speaker 2>really brilliant. What can you do but laugh at moments

0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.120
<v Speaker 2>like him saying so it's sexy, what's wrong with being sexy?

0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.520
<v Speaker 2>When they're talking about the album cover and out sexualist.

0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.639
<v Speaker 2>It's just perfection. So yeah, I love both of these films,

0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.720
<v Speaker 2>This is Spinal Tap and Stop Making Sense. Both of

0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.480
<v Speaker 2>them are available on demand on various platforms right now.

0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:18.720
<v Speaker 7>I do, not, for one, think that the problem was

0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:20.439
<v Speaker 7>that the band was down. I think that the problem

0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.119
<v Speaker 7>may have been that there was a stone ange monument

0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.320
<v Speaker 7>on the stage. It was in danger of being crushed

0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:27.720
<v Speaker 7>by a dwarf, all right.

0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.159
<v Speaker 1>That tended to understate the hugeness of the object.

0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.200
<v Speaker 3>I really think you're just making it much too bigger

0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:33.679
<v Speaker 3>thing out of it.

0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:35.439
<v Speaker 1>Making a big thing out of it would have been

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:36.320
<v Speaker 1>a good idea.

0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:38.879
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0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:55.080
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