Spinal Tap II (2024) (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

It's actually happening:

EXCLUSIVE: After relaunching its film division last October, Castle Rock Entertainment has set a first project out of the gate that will have a familiar ring. It's Spinal Tap II, a sequel to the fabled rock mockumentary that set the film company on a run of hits, many of them directed by Rob Reiner. He made his directorial debut on the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap.

Reiner will direct the sequel and return as filmmaker Marty DiBergi. Also back are David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), the nucleus of England's loudest and sauciest heavy metal band.

Cannes Hot Package: ‘Spinal Tap II’ On Tap As Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest & Harry Shearer Back For Encore

'Spinal Tap II' On Tap As Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest & Harry Shearer Back For Encore

deadline.com

Shouldn't it be "Spinal Tap 11"?

I dunno if it's a good idea, but it's a better idea than The Princess Bride 2, anyway. Would be shocked if this isn't about the band navigating the post-#MeToo world. I'm actually kinda surprised Rob Reiner is directing this, since Guest has been doing these kinds of movies without him since the mid-'90s.

 

[Desslar]

Like the original but these guys are way too old now (mid to late 70s) to be still playing rock stars. Plus I think they've already milked this shtick as far as it'll go.

 

[John Dirk]

Mel Brooks is the only guy I can think of who can successfully keep producing brilliant comedy into his twilight years. I'm also surprised Reiner has agreed to take this on but suspect he's doing it more out of homage than general interest.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Like the original but these guys are way too old now (mid to late 70s) to be still playing rock stars. Plus I think they've already milked this shtick as far as it'll go.

Tell that to The Rolling Stones.

 

[Desslar]

Tell that to The Rolling Stones.

I would say the same thing to them. Bridges to Babylon should have been the end of the line.

But at least they could concentrate on playing music - they didn't have to be wacky comedians at the same time.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Guest, McKean and Shearer wrote and performed the songs in the original film, right? I know they also improvised a huge amount of the dialog. The original film is pure comic genius. With the landscape of older bands still touring, this new project could sort of work, and be funny.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

While I am not a fan of sequel mania and particularly when the sequel comes decades after the original, there is some good potential, if low hanging fruit, here. The Me Too movement and so much of the current Cancel Culture stuff very much deserves to be satirized.

Of course, satire is not popular now so this hinders this but if they approached this as a way to go after those movements it would be the right thing to do.

Quite obviously Spinal Tap is a band and film that does not fit with these times, hence you would think the guys that sang Big Bottoms would find themselves out of step and in trouble today. Hell, Steve Martin fell into trouble and was accused of being a racist because of his King Tut gag from the 1970s when it "resurfaced" on YouTube or something.

We live in ridiculous times where everybody overreacts, thinks anything that offends them should be blocked, banned, or cancelled, and people can't seem to act in a rational way. Spinal Tap provides an opportunity to go at that stuff in a funny way...but...can this current society grasp the joke?

 

[TravisR]

Spinal Tap provides an opportunity to go at that stuff in a funny way...but...can this current society grasp the joke?

I don't think it matters because the people you're talking about would never have any interest in seeing this movie.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I don't think it matters because the people you're talking about would never have any interest in seeing this movie.

Ha, well the way things are now everything should come with the warning "If you are easily offended please pass on this film/show/recording!"

They probably won't pay to see it but they will watch clips on YouTube over and over so their "outrage" button keeps getting pressed and then demand all copies of it are burned and buried.

How we lost track as a society that being offended is a normal and natural part of life, and particularly well suited to comedy and satire, is beyond me and has profoundly dumbed things down to an outrageous level.

 

[Keith Cobby]

And then if it makes money there will be ST3, 4, 5... plus a prequel.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

And then if it makes money there will be ST3, 4, 5... plus a prequel.

I will watch this as a huge fan of both the original film and satire but probably no chance they do another but I hope the material is biting and funny.

Of course, an off the wall, totally inappropriate, and vulgar prequel designed to offend everyone would be awesome and fun. That will never happen but hey, I can laugh thinking about it.

 

[joshEH]

I'm in. Those guys always bring it when they work together. There are jokes from the Break Like the Wind TV special that still make me laugh. Thinking more about this sequel idea....watching the band try to navigate the new world of digital music/downloads could be amusing, too.

The three leads are dependably funny even today, and there are plenty of potential angles they could come at it from. I realize that it won't be on the level of the first one, but I could use a solid comedy with these characters again. I think Guest is a near-genius, and I humbly suggest they bring in Eugene Levy as their drummer, who has been with the band for 20+ years, and dies in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I’m sure there will be satire of elderly people in a touring rock band (their road manager has to book motel rooms that are on the ground floor- can’t risk any band members having to walk up flights of stairs, the band members have to travel with certain drugs and medicines for their
certain ailments, etc). The premise is important- the band was looked at as a joke in the early 80s, aside from their cult following that could only fill theater sized venues. Unless the film sets up the premise that the band had 2 unlikely smash albums in the 80s, a la Guns N Roses, the film could be too ludicrous to be funny (a band from 40 years ago that had a few minor hits would be playing at club level today- maybe).

 

[Desslar]

When they last played in 2019 they were (as one would naturally expect) looking very grandfatherly. They were semi-believable as a band in the first film, but I doubt that would be the case this time.

I’m sure there will be satire of elderly people in a touring rock band (their road manager has to book motel rooms that are on the ground floor- can’t risk any band members having to walk up flights of stairs, the band members have to travel with certain drugs and medicines for their
certain ailments, etc). The premise is important- the band was looked at as a joke in the early 80s, aside from their cult following that could only fill theater sized venues. Unless the film sets up the premise that the band had 2 unlikely smash albums in the 80s, a la Guns N Roses, the film could be too ludicrous to be funny (a band from 40 years ago that had a few minor hits would be playing at club level today- maybe).

They were opening for a puppet show 40 years ago. How much lower can you fall? Birthday parties?

 

[John Dirk]

While I am not a fan of sequel mania and particularly when the sequel comes decades after the original, there is some good potential, if low hanging fruit, here. The Me Too movement and so much of the current Cancel Culture stuff very much deserves to be satirized.

That's a great point and I couldn't agree more but I'd be surprised if they actually produce that type of film. Much of the very heart of the culture you speak of is firmly centered in Hollywood.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I googled the band members. McKean and Guest are 74, and Shearer is 78. No doubt they could come up with funny lines, but if they’re going to play in bars/clubs at that age, I think it’s unrealistic, and a lot more sad than funny. Hopefully Reiner and the guys can come up with something valid.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

That's a great point and I couldn't agree more but I'd be surprised if they actually produce that type of film. Much of the very heart of the culture you speak of is firmly centered in Hollywood.

Well, I don't know if I would be surprised by them making that sort of film but I would agree that most financial backers don't much want to make that sort of film. I mean the original film is a satirical comedy about the rock 'n' roll business.

And yes, Hollywood, if we can call it that anymore, is being throttled by this kind of nonsense now. Basically, making a picture with a budget is now a truly bizarre undertaking. We've recently seen productions shut down with Bill Murray and Frank Langella being the people accused of...well...doing something inappropriate.

With Murray, all we know so far is that he potentially joked with some female co-workers, playfully pulled someone's ponytail, and then the heart of the whole thing is that he was supposedly in an argument with a female co-star to whom he apparently used an angry tone.

With Langella, he was filming a "love scene" during which he was sitting, his female co-star was standing, both fully clothed, and during the scene he touched her leg which supposedly was not part of the scripted blocking. When cut was called, the actress said "He touched my leg." and walked off the set never to return and Langella was fired.

I'm all for fair treatment and a safe workplace but let's be clear these things would not have shut down a set in the past. I think things have now gone way overboard in the other direction. If your wish is not to be touched, I would suggest that you not go into acting. Langella did not, according to the story, take any liberties, he was certainly not getting his rocks off touching her leg during a scene with everybody watching and shooting it, he touched the leg of a woman playing his wife.

This is pretty much the environment now. Watch the jokes you make, watch how or just don't touch anybody, and hey, give everybody 6 feet of space. A really weird time to be shooting anything.

So, shooting something that is potentially a satire with old rock guys acting inappropriately is probably a giant risk. This is what made them funny though, how oblivious they were to everything. They could do a gag about how their song Big Bottoms has been banned, they are no longer allowed to play it, like the Stones with Brown Sugar. It would probably be funny to hear them explaining why Big Bottoms is not inappropriate and arguments and anger over the song being banned.

I mean there are things you can do but would they be seen as funny or something they should do in these times? I don't know, honestly, and I am a guy in my 50s that lived through a different time when comedy was allowed to be offensive...and most times the idea of offending people was to open their minds. To get them to think. Pushing people to think now is itself considered offensive. Weird times we live in.

Now as it is explained on a film set "Intention does not matter only impact matters." which translated means "You are guilty no matter what you did as long as someone accuses you of being guilty."

So, I am happy they are making this picture, could it be horribly neutered? Sure, if the comedy has to comply with a set of rules that deem what is appropriate. Pretty much all decently budgeted pictures are required now to comply with a set of rules to make them appropriate and not just in terms of comedy. In terms of who is cast, how characters are portrayed, that the writing must be as bland as possible, it is a list that keeps growing.

I won't name any names but I see a lot of people doing comedy now that are pretty terrible at it or they just have to try to work material that is deemed appropriate. Pryor, Murphy, Williams, Carlin...I think could not do the material they did now. Carlin being a guy that loved screwing with language and how we use it maybe could work up some funny stuff now based on the insanity of where we have gone.

To borrow a phrase "Lighten up people, it is going to be alright."

Kind of makes that line of work not very desirable.

 

[John Dirk]

Pretty much all decently budgeted pictures are required now to comply with a set of rules to make them appropriate and not just in terms of comedy. In terms of who is cast, how characters are portrayed, that the writing must be as bland as possible, it is a list that keeps growing.

Not to beleaguer this point but Standards and Practices is nothing new. What is relatively new is appropriate behavior and writing guidelines being defined by public opinion instead of the Legal Department and common sense. In todays world when you don't like what a comic says you simply rush the stage and attack them instead of realizing it was only a joke and not intended to be taken seriously. When this recently happened to Dave Chappelle the LAPD refused to charge the assailant with a felony, opting for only misdemeanor charges instead, even though the man had a replica gun which contained a switchblade. I'm also in my 50's and very happy about that. I wouldn't want to have to navigate this crazy world as a 20 year old.

 

[David Deeb]

A scene should include an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For simply being around too long. Perhaps Artie Fufkin could give the induction. Then some jamming with Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and others. The thank you speeches would be hilarious.

 

[Russ Felton]

Like the original but these guys are way too old now (mid to late 70s) to be still playing rock stars. Plus I think they've already milked this shtick as far as it'll go.

Maybe that will be the focus on this sequel....to poke fun at all the old rock stars that are still out there doing it.