This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
This week, the dads crank it up to 11 with This Is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner's 1984 mockumentary about Britain's loudest heavy metal band and their disastrous American comeback tour. Nic gets only his second real taste of Christopher Guest's genre-defining comedy after years of hearing about amps that go to 11 and drummers who spontaneously combust, while Steve revisits a personal favorite that helped shape his love of improvised filmmaking.
The guys dive deep into what makes this fake documentary feel so real: the pitch-perfect British accents, the seamless blend of scripted songs and improvised dialogue, and how Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer created fully realized characters with genuine friendship and history. They marvel at the technical difficulty of switching between singing and speaking in different accents, while geeking out over the film's influence on everything from Best in Show to Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping. They trade favorite moments from Nigel's miniature Stonehenge disaster to Derek's foil-wrapped airport security situation.
Both dads recognize This Is Spinal Tap as essential viewing that created an entire comedy subgenre while remaining genuinely funny decades later. From "none more black" album covers to the fine line between clever and stupid, Reiner and crew built something that works both as brilliant parody and oddly touching portrait of artistic friendship. It's short, it's smart, and it rocks.
