…because I apparently can’t keep track of the schedule on my own blog, some of you may have noticed that last week was the first Monday of June, and yet there was no Drunk Movie Monday. This is because June rather snuck up on me, and I completely over-looked what day it was. Whooops. Well, these things happen. We’re just going to have to do it late.
And because I have spent most of the weekend grouchy and bed-ridden with a head cold, I’m going to talk about a movie I first watched on another occasion when I was too sick to get off the couch. Although that particular illness was more like a flu, giving me a fever of 103F and rendering my mental state very similar to that of someone who’s had just enough wine to make bad films funny.
This Is Spinal Tap: a fantastic cult-classic beloved by many, which is nevertheless not nearly as good when you watch it sober (or sans 103-degree fever).
The film: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
The premise: This movie is basically the Office for glam-metal band documentaries. It’s a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary that follows fictional British rock band Spinal Tap, satirizing both the outlandish lifestyles of 80s rock stars and the often overly worshipful style in which documentaries about them were done. Much of the film was improvised by the actors, to the point where they are actually given writing credit for it, and rightfully so because the one-liners in this thing are phenomenal. The music is all original, too–the actors actually performed a show together as Spinal Tap in 2009, in a “One-Night Only World Tour” in London, because of course.
Why you should watch it: We all love making fun of our idols, and nothing does it better than this film. There’s a reason it’s become such a cult favorite over the years. If deadpan one-liners cast against utterly absurd scenarios appeals to your sense of humor, you can’t find anything better than this film. The recurring jokes just keep building; the characters just keep getting weirder; and the music isn’t half-bad, either. Whether you love or hate glam metal, there’s something in this film that will make you laugh. Plus, fake British accents are always fun to giggle at.
That said, don’t watch it sober. Not because it doesn’t bear watching sober–it does–but because it is so much better when you aren’t paying that close attention to it. My fondest memory of this film is from that first watch, when I had such a high fever I was almost hallucinating, and the fact that the movie I was seeing was not, in fact, this film, remains a source of tragedy in my life to this day. That said, watching it drunk is a close second.
The drinking game: Drink for the dick jokes. Every single one.
Bonus: Finish your drink whenever a drummer dies.
Where it’s available: Not on Netflix, tragically, but available for instant streaming on Amazon, free if you have prime.
Yours up to eleven,
M.M. Jordahl
“We’ve got Armadillos in our trousers. It’s really quite frightening.” –This is Spinal Tap
P.S. This film was later determined to have culturally significant value, and is thus officially recognized and preserved by the Library of Congress and the United States National Film Registry.
M.M. Jordahl 