Father Malone's Weekly Roundup - Spinal Tap 2 The End Continues (2025)

Exclamation Point? It's an animated show if You're Unaware, created by Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell about a world where archaeologists are basically rock stars. They're called archies. It features all of your favorite comedians as voices, including Samberg doing his Nicholas Cage impression as the lead Rip Digman. It is a joke machine on the level of Season five of The Simpsons. I don't know that I can praise anything higher than that. Also new is NBC's desperate attempt

at remplicating The Office with The Paper. I knew you all love The Office, and I liked it for a few seasons, but I gotta admit I think John Krazinsky is really smug. I don't get the appeal. Maybe he's a good guy. I don't care. Life short and watching a show with someone you detest is not any way to live. But The Paper has Donald Gleeson in the lead and you've heard me about mister Gleeson in the past in our episode about a futile in stupid gesture,

and he's great here too. The show overall is really good. Probably a little late if they're hoping to slack the thirst of the office crowd, because it is a very close to it. But now that it's streaming they can say, fuck, I watched all of season one. I really liked it. Probably not going to follow it to season two, which

it's already been renewed for. As desperate as the idea of capitalizing on the office might be in concept, the actual attempt at making another Sophia Vargara character happen is sad. It's so fucking sitcom it hurts anytime any real emotion starts coming in. Here comes this loud in appearance and loud and attitude foreigner from Central Casting to tacky it up and introduce some tired trope that felt old back on happy days. You guys like werewolf stuff, spooky seasons.

Here got to start thinking about monsters all the time now. So just a reminder that Paul Waller from A Year in Horror podcast and I are collaborating on a new show all about our lichanthrope friends, our Children of the Moon. That's going to be over on his channel. It starts up in October. That's called Little Old Lady Got Mutilated Late last Night. It is a cinematic odyssey from Larry Talbot all the way up to the New Eggers Werewolf movie next year. Also new shows also starting in October.

It's another fest, folks. It's Books of Blood Fest. I was so inspired by the recent episode of Tales from the Dark Side we looked at that was an adaptation of Barker's short story The Yattering and Jack, that I went back and dusted off my old volumes of the Books of Blood, and I've been delighting and revisiting these tales and Barker's work in general. But like Stephen King's Night Shift or Skeleton Crew, there have been at least a dozen movie and or TV episodes that drew their

inspiration from the Books of Blood. So we're gonna be looking at those films if you want to to jump on it. Here are the titles Rawhead, Rex candy Man, Lord of Illusions, Quicksilver Highway, The Midnight Meat Train, Dread Book of Blood, Books of Blood, and those are just the movies to that end. If any of you have easy access to the film Dread from two thousand and nine, please hit me up. The email address is in the notes. I'm having a devil of a time tracking it down. HB,

who is not really a horror guy. It's his only true defect is sitting out the books of Bloodfest instead. I'll be joined by a different guest for every episode, including Paul Waller and appearing separately, though from their same show We Belong Dead podcast will have Lono and his partner Ian Wednesday. Season two is on Netflix. I haven't

watched a frame. Turns out whatever number of episodes we got last year was the perfect amount of Tim Burton's vision of the Adams Family for me, I'd be willing to give it a go if I was promised more Fester. I really liked Fred Armison's Jackie Coogan throwback to when Fester was a dangerous goof my annual rant. Fester is Mortish's uncle, not an Atoms at all, not Gomez's long lost brother or whatever the fuck. The original series is always going to be the superior version of the Atoms Klan.

You want to know why I'm gonna tell you anyway, the budgetary nature of television kept it ninety eight percent of the time in and around that house. Am I crazy for wanting to spend time with them in their environment? The normal world sucks and if it has to intrude, let it come to them. There's this perverse, really obvious tendency among writers to jump directly to can you picture them in the real world? Yes, anyone in the eighties wearing a fucking Bad Brain shirt or an Iron Maiden

shirt for that matter, no doubt. At one point heard here comes the Atoms family. I don't want to watch more Tisha at the market or Fester interacting with street lights. Who cares that? Impulse the let's see them out in These outlandish real world scenarios kept me from Wednesday, And I gotta say, is a huge stumbling blo with today's topic spinal tap too, but we'll get there. Oh my god,

Alien Earth. I have a prediction. Fuck I hope I'm right. This is speculation, not spoiler. There are five corporations on Earth in this series. I believe at the end of the show, one of those corporations is going to end up being run by a tiny invasive species. If that eyeball can move past grunting and get into our speech patterns, Oh my god, it's so tantalizing. But before that, is there any doubt we're getting a xenomorph versus a xenomorph fight coming up? I think not. I never want this

series to end. Sigourney Weaver got interviewed recently and she's fully on board with the show, watches it every week. You know, she's just about the age Amanda Ripley was just before her mom was found floating out there in deep space. That's a free idea I'm sending out into the alien verse. Let's talk tartans for a moment, shall we. It's no secret I'm a fan of the kilt. I'm

literally wearing one right now now. The kilt, in case you're unaware, is the bit of apparel, the pattern on the fabric that's the tartan, and each pattern is specific to the family that wears it. There's a registry my family's tartan. I guarantee every fucking one of you knows. Because Scotch Tape decided at some point that the Wallace Tartan makes a pretty good brand signifier. And get this, Every tartan has variations, So you've got the main design

everyone knows. In that case it's red with black and yellow overlaid. But there's a hunting tartan which swaps the redout for forrest Green. Scotch Tape used the fucking hunting tartan as well. I'm not mad. I just don't understand how a company can grab something so personal and just claim it. Also, I think there ought to be compensation. I grew up in the seventies and eighties in suburban America.

To you and me and everyone we knew, a kilt was a skirt, and it was heaped with all the bullshit gay panic that seemed to dominate in those days and still does apparently. And then one day a man arrived of villain, a heel, funny and smart and charming and fucking capable, mister Roderick George Toombs, a man wearing a kilt and who adopted a stage name. My God, have I patterned my whole life on rowdy Roddy Piper.

Remember when he boxed mister t and then he was disqualified because in the middle of a boxing match he body slammed him. Oh, those were the days. Rowdy roddy Piper wearing the kilt and being a villain was so much more powerful to me than had he been a hero. I knew, knew that those same kids who were slagging him off for wearing a dress would have been praising him and his unique apparel had he been friends with Hulk Hogan instead of his enemy. Who was right in

that case, motherfuckers, These were fair weather fucks. I knew the way they actually felt. So did Piper. And instead of cowering or switching to a sash or a beret or some other signifier, Piper used his kilt like a fucking rallying cry a shield and a cudgel. Even his initial action figures had that kilt, and I fucking loved it. It was like spotting someone in a Bad Brain shirt or that Iron Maiden shirt. That's what it was like,

seeing someone else in a kilt enjoying the breeze. Piper's tartan is now registered, and it's the simple wine red with gray lines through it. But he seemed to wear whatever was available, whenever it was available. And I would like to point out a highlight in my life round about two thousand and five or so when Piper started wearing the leather jacket over his hot rod shirt. That fucking biker leather jacket. The kilt he was wearing more often than not is the Wallace Tartan. You can google it?

Yeah baby? Wait? Why am I talking about Kilton Tartans? Oh yeah, Nigel Tough Noel lead guitar. Hi, I'm Marty de Burge. Forty years ago I was honored to direct

a film called This is Spinal Tap. The numbers or go to eleven? One lot? Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that all alone? These go to eleven? I like to think pink torpedo. That's literature. Yeah, yeah, really, A lot has happened since the last time I saw you, Cripto. Have you been playing music at all? I playing music at a pub. This is the site of Spinal Taps reunion concert? Why New Orleans? There was a cancelation. Who

was supposed to be there? An evening with Stormy Daniels. Obviously there'll be the regular merch and Hope has had a rather brilliant says artisan, we're still shorter drummer? What happened to him. He sneezed himself into a Bolivian Is thatmatically possible? So you think he might fill the bill. I don't want to die. We've only lost eleven or twelve eleven eleven drummers. The thing that you guys had as kids is that still there on a band. The

constantly is breaking apart and coming back together. But the more we retreat into the music, the nicer things become, not to be profound or anything. And it would be a first time for me Stonehead, imagine l Weather Dragon, so were quite a tail go back in the time to that method. Lad. What we need to do is secure your legacy. If during the gig at least one, but ideally no more than two of you were to die,

would you settle for a coma. Oh no, that's interesting. Yeah, that's a great bit of thinking outside well little box, I suppose. Yeah. Actually, way back in nineteen eighty four, during an interview segment in This is Spinal Tap, Nigel is sporting it. It's a Stewart Tartan. That's the Royal Family of England's tartan, which technically you're not allowed to wear without their permission, which makes it hilarious that it has become the generic go to Tartan you're most likely

to find Nigel wearing it. Is the most subtle rock star excess in a film about rock star excess, so most folks probably didn't notice. If you ask anyone to describe how he dresses, you're probably gonna hear about his exact skeleton T shirt. But for me, around nineteen eighty five, which is when most of us were turned on to spinal Tap as it hit video and HBO, more specifically, seeing someone as fucking cool as Nigel in tandem with rowdy Ronnie Piper wearing Kilts Hoo boy, my Scottish soul

was well fed. There are other charms to be had from this is spinal Tap, obviously, and if you want to hear me wax rapsotic about it, I'd head over to HP's show Noise Junkies. He had me on to discuss the film, and I'd be doing a poor job of rehashing my feelings about it here, so go there. I don't know if I mentioned this, but HP bought me twenty five years ago these eight eighteen inch incredibly detailed spinal tap action figures with instruments and tons of

little doodads. No killed. That was a little disappointing, But anyway, Spinal Tap two, the end continues. This is a legacy sequel. Right, Sequels as we know them tend to follow in rather rapid succession within a decade. Let's say, anything else is legacy, right, like Color of Money to the Hustle dropping back in later in their lives, Trained Spotting two, Bill and Ted Face the music Fuck. I wish I hadn't mentioned Color

of Money. That's the pinnacle, probably way better than the others I mentioned, But Spinal Tap two is at least better than any recent legacy sequels does Naked Gun count. I didn't review it here because I'm mad at Paramount, but I thoroughly enjoyed that movie. Of the comedy legacy sequels, that one is definitely the best, way better than Spinal Tap two. I'm sad to say, let me just dispense with the problems with the film. You can't spoil it. By the way, everything I'm saying is in the trailer.

The basic setup is taps manager Ian is dead, his daughter has inherited their contract. The band split after Glastonbury in two thousand and nine and no longer talk their contract owes one more show. She reunites them in New Orleans. They play a show, and once again Marty de Berghey is back to document it in nearly identical ways to

the first film. The first film works as well as it does because, had you not known any better, that could very easily just be a real documentary about a bunch of dummies on the road trying to keep their flagging career going. Everything that happens supports that they're on a tour that keeps falling apart. If anything is happening

from without, it has to come to them. Spinal Tap, too, spends as much time seemingly away from the band as a whole, and away from the purpose of rehearsing and working through whatever problems they have to tell us side stories about them in some cases, but just as often about newer frankly not as interesting characters, and those moments with the band while de Berghey is trying to convince them to reunite are painful. Man I believed that Spinal Tap would be booked on to an Air Force base

by an inexperienced manager. I don't believe David Saint Hubbins plays in a mariachi band to support his income. It's a funny visual kind of but really, and there's the problem. Time after time they go for the joke, which would be great if the jokes were funny, but they're not, so it all feels like time wasted. That's unfair. These are comedy giants. Nobody comes off bad. But the humor now is like reading a New Yorker cartoon as opposed

to watching an episode of SNL in its heyday. It's funny. Yeah, you might even show it to a coworker, but is it worth a forty year weight? Was Beetlejuice? It does everything we expected to do except make us laugh, although I did laugh a lot. Actually, during the end credits, they throw out all these seemingly throwaway lines while the credits are rolling, and they're bangers, and they're all Nigel. In fact, that's something that remains consistent from the original

to sequel. No one can put a button on a scene like Christopher Guest. If you enjoy a trans position in this movie, it's because he said something genuinely amusing to get you there. This movie is operating under the notion that the original film exists, it came out, and everyone knows them now. They even make reference to and include footage from their shows in ninety two when they were on tour to support Break Like the Wind and

then the aforementioned Glastonbury Festival. It's not crazy to think that a few celebrities might have become fans. But Paul McCartney and Elton John and Questlove and Lars Ulrich wait actually Lars makes sense. Remember that Spinal Tap is a metal band, right, I do, some of us do. I don't think the band does. I don't think they've thought in metal terms since nineteen eighty four. Every piece of

music since then has been barely hard rock. Even the first movie soundtrack is just dancing on the edge of metal, at least what metal was at that moment. Now I can forgive the band that Christopher Guest came up impersonating James Taylor in National Lampoon's Lemmings. The whole of them seem way closer to the folksmen. There are other alters that were featured in A Mighty Wind in real life

than they would ever be Spinal Tap. But still, where was Bruce Dickinson or Dave Mustaine or Corey Taylor or lead A Ford or Alice Cooper. If you're going to have a gay music icon show up, how about Rob Halford instead of Sir Elton. I would kill to see a scene where he and Derreck Small's discuss fashion choices.

Admittedly McCartney comes off the best. His scene is genuinely funny, but there's so much stuff, so much outside bullshit that keeps creeping in that we never really settle down with these guys and their problems, which is a total drag, because that is when the movie works. Whatever slight amusement you're getting from the various gags leading up to their first scene together, it's all e femera once they do.

Watching these old men try to get back into some sort of semblance of normalcy, the kind that they exist in is magic. Their interactions seem genuine and heartfelt and achieve that level of slight amusement. The rest of the film is trafficking in but in a sincere way. These guys have been living these characters for so long that they basically are them now, so their instincts are always great with each other, and because they've played them so consistently.

They never veer into the awful land of Dan Aykroyd coming back to Elwood Blues after nearly two decades, and suddenly he's the most Chicago guy whoever chicagoed am I right? Give me two Italian beefs and a dog that's been dragged through the garden. My favorite moments in the entire film are in no way funny. They involved Nigel and his wife Moira. Nigel owns a cheese and guitar shop, That stuff is all pretty funny. In fact, all of Christopher Guest's stuff is really funny, and his wife is

holding down the fort while he's away. Their FaceTime calls to each other are sweet in a way even the first film couldn't touch. Let me keep praising Christopher Guest. Remember the moment in the first film where Janine is complaining about doubly and Nigel jumps on that, and what we'd consider to be a total dolt in life shows wit and knowledge. That's Nigel through this whole movie, always pushing back, always a bit smarter than he lets on. Which,

don't get me wrong, they're all still monumentally stupid. But if there's a reason to watch this movie. It's Nigel Toughnel. Returning cameos are mercifully brief, with Artie Fuckin and Bobby Fleckman showing up to remind us they were in the first film. They missed a chance to have Dana Carvey return. He's a mime in that tour launch sequence in the Tap into America scene. Come on, mime is money. That's

Billy Crystal. Where was he? Let's not forget Marty de Berghy is close friends with him, having directed his HBO special back in the day. De Berghey, by the way, is a little too present in this film, which leads me to the real problem here. In trying to replicate the first film as much as possible, I think they'll

cut their legs out from under themselves. The fact is the mockumentary format was created by Spinal Tap and then given full form by Christopher Guest in films like Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show and Now It's just the norm the office, the paper, Curb your enthusiasm, actually curb is where they should have leaned. Dispense with the documentary altogether and just tell us the story of Spinal Tap.

In their later years, just them and their rehearsal, just them working their shit out, but with the new drummer, DeeDee Crockett played by Valerie Franco is the only lively thing in this entire movie. Yeah, Christopher Guest is still killing it, but any new fun energy it's coming from the drum kit. She's got a Neil Perk clobbering style that knocks me out, and her enthusiasm is fucking everything she should have been in every scene. The movie's worth

a watch overall. If you're a fan, you're gonna see it anyway. If I could recommend anything to you, though, if you haven't seen that show from nineteen ninety two, it's called alternately the Return of Spinal Tap and a Spinal Tap Reunion. The twenty fifth anniversary London sellout see that they are at the top of their game musically. The comedy bits sprinkled throughout the concert are funny. The comedy bits sprinkled out through the interstitials are funny. Even

get Artie Fufkin again. That's gonna do it this week,

No rips pick. I'm afraid we were gonna take a look at that final conjuring film and then I realized that I'm so fucking tired of that entire universe. Then I treat myself to not seeing it. How about that tune in Friday it's the return of Tales from the dark Side. The week after is at yahoucha FS where we're looking at predators. That's Adrian Brody fighting a predator. Well, he talks like a badass. Tune in a week from Friday to hear that, or head on over to Patreon

and hear it right now. In fact, you can hear that dark Side and on the next dark Side after that. Everything's at patreon dot com. Follow them Alone, doc, whatever is it fucking worth it? Yes it is. Write to me if you recognize that quote. Father them Alone seven to one at gmail dot com for Ripley, Gene and myself. Here's some spinal tap I didn't mention eleven one time. One looks like a wedge of cheese. No, it's a pizza. But now m h it's not. Someman's singing through a duck