Christopher Guest

Christopher Guest has carved himself a place in movie history by creating these improvised actor-ensemble movies. Though Rob Reiner actually directed This Is Spinal Tap, he graduated towards more convential movies and Guest (guitarist Nigel Tufnell in Tap) has carried the torch since then.

These are wonderful movies for anyone interested:

in the craft of acting &
dialogue that is truer than many committee-written scripts that have that well-rounded tailored Hollywood script feel about them

The set-up is that the ensemble are given their parts and their character's backgrounds...and then improvise on set...with no formal script whatsoever. Guest is reliant on the actors...and they on him, to nudge them back into the overall plot if they stray too far. This leads to many wonderful pieces having to go on the cutting-room floor...but you can thankfully catch quite a few of these gems in the DVDs' deleted scenes.

Guest's movies are certainly offbeat...but well worth the trouble...though I should certainly warn you that there's a smutty undercurrent in all of them that may upset the morally conventional. If you can handle that...and are prepared to go out on a limb, Guest and friends provide rich, wonderfully erratic pickings.

This Is Spinal Tap

Dated, yes but if you like rock music, This Is Spinal Tap is a must-see. Spinal Tap are:

Nigel Tufnell...Christopher Guest
David St. Hubbins...Michael McKean &
Derek Smalls...Harry Shearer

..."the loudest band in Rock'n'Roll". An English pop band jumping on every trend just after it has peaked. In the late Sixties they were a psychedelic pop band...and in the 80s, when the movie was made, they are Heavy Metal nouveau.

Sometimes mistaken as real Heavy Metallers, Tap take delicious swipes at:

The Beatles
Yoko
the excesses of Heavy Metal
Record-biz people

Keep an eye out for very early appearances by Billy Crystal & Fran Drescher, too...and, honestly, you'll never forget the Stonehenge sequence.

Waiting For Guffman

Guest and co.'s delightful look at small-town theater shenanigans, with dialogue improvised by the actors. Wonderful.

Best In Show

The second in Christopher Guest's trilogy, this time the peculiar world of dog shows. Best In Show is frequently very funny and occasionally hilarious. Woof!

A Mighty Wind

The third in Christopher Guest's trilogy...and by far the strongest. A Mighty Wind centers around the reunion concert for some formerly successful folk singers from the early 1960s...with loving genre song-writing and musical contributions from most of Guest's troupe.