I never saw the HBO show the D started on, but I did catch music videos from their debut album. I loved them immediately, especially Wonderboy. The rock grandiosity, the pretentiously ridiculous lyrics. One such lyric, "That’s levitation, Holmes", turned into a Sportscenter catchphrase and then a name for my fantasy football team, "Thats Levitation Mahomes". Reaching for Patrick Mahomes the year after his breakout didn't work out, but grabbing Tom Brady this year has gone much better.
Tenacious D’s music is the best kind of parody, where talented people make fun of something, but love it enough to do right by it. I’ve been a fan of this since I was a kid. I had Weird Al’s debut album on cassette and would play it over and over on my Walkman. John Mulaney would call that “a very old-fashioned sentence”. Part of Al’s appeal to me was he kept the melodies of super-catchy songs I already loved, like “My Sharona” and “Mickey”, plus goofy lyrics as a bonus. But Al’s albums are at least half original songs, some purposely in the style of a certain musician. My favorite original on his debut was “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung”, which Wikipedia notes was a parody in the style of Arlo Guthrie.
In case you needed to be reminded of the gold standard of rock parody, check the opening gif. Songs that mercilessly ridiculed the worst excesses of music genres while still being great songs. I’m most partial to “Gimme Some Money” and of course “Big Bottom”. I’d never actually saw all of “This Is Spinal Tap” until it, that’s right, was about to leave Netflix. I wasn’t writing these columns yet, but if I had, I’d have included this Thought:
- The classic scene were the band got lost backstage was inspired by Tom Petty at a concert in Germany. He walked through a series of doors trying to find the stage, and ended up on an indoor tennis court. I like to think that Tom and the band returned to the same venue on a later tour, brought some tennis gear so they could warm up with a few matches before the show ... and could not find the tennis court.
But over the past few decades, I think the best purveyor of musical parody has been the team behind South Park. The movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” was a revelation, and I got the CD and put it on after work whenever I could. We sure couldn’t play it when the restaurant was open. I took a chance and got tickets for me, my mom, and my stepdad to see “The Book of Mormon” on tour. It was filthier than I expected (did I somehow think it wouldn’t be?), but mom and stepdad also enjoyed it. And I love “Push (Feeling Good on a Wednesday)” so much, I might include it in my personal Lorde Top Ten.
So, why am I waiting so long to talk about The Pick of Destiny? And why did I disrespect it by opening with another movie’s gif? Because I didn’t like this movie. I suspect it has the same problem every SNL-character movie not named “Wayne’s World” has: stretching a sketch out to feature-movie length rarely works. It does start out promising. The story of young Jack Black(‘s alter ego) is told in explosive musical form. I actually thought the movie might be a full-blown musical and was sorta excited by the prospect. Both Meatloaf and Ronnie James Dio show up to bring the vocal chops and presence this overblown rock opening needs. Then an adult JB ends up in California, meets up with Kyle Gass, and then, meh.
The scenes where JB and KG first team up had a casual, stoner kind of vibe, and I just wasn’t feeling it. They would watch TV, eat junk food, smoke some pot, and talk about what big rock stars they would be. And while watching them veg out on the couch, I was riding my exercise bike. Okay, I had killed an entire frozen pizza earlier that day. And I totally identified with KG saying they needed to wake up the next day by the crack of noon. But I just couldn’t get into what they were trying to do comedically, and that boredom seemed to bleed into their quest for the titular MacGuffin.
Another problem is, I was reminded of movies I had enjoyed much more than this. Jack Black made School of Rock several years earlier, and I still love that movie. I’m not sure why he was so much funnier and more electric in that movie. Though it was presumably made by more talented people, written by Mike White and directed by Richard Linklater. Plus he was bouncing off Joan Cusack and kids. And it’s bad news when the starring duo of a movie is overall less fun to watch than the supporting duo in Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob. How does Jason Mewes give a more dynamic performance than Jack Black? Okay, I was flipping channels late one night and found Mewes starring in some hot-chick vampire film called Bitten. He did show some leading-man potential.
What did I like? The comedic ringers. Ben Stiller took a break from executive producing to send JB and KG on their quest for the Pick of Destiny. He gave the ridiculous legend behind the Pick all the gravitas and reverence it absolutely did not deserve. Paul F. Tompkins was suave and stylish while humoring the two morons who thought they would be the world’s greatest rock band. Amy Poehler was fantastically deadpan and sarcastic, telling a coed who asked about paying for refills “No, you’re so pretty you’ll get everything for free.” Although, it was exactly the type of pretty girl who could get me to buy her anything. Tim Robbins and John C. Reilly are both initially unrecognizable in wonderfully weird roles.
The best part of this movie? The only thing I thought could go mano a mano with any scene from Spinal Tap? Master Exploder!!!! It’s a knockout performance, musically, comedically, and awesome-power-of-rock-ally. Just watch it instead of the movie. I know I will. And do you recognize anyone? I’ll reveal who in the comments, because I know how to spoiler tag there.
https://youtu.be/80DtQD5BQ_A
Thoughts:
- Even though I watch The Goldbergs, I would not have recognized Troy Gentile as a young Jack Black if he weren’t in the credits. I thought I recognized the kid who played young Kyle Gass, but it turns out it wasn’t the same kid who played a young Doug on King of Queens.
- After KG leaves the party in disgrace, a frat guy hits him with a beer, then turns to his fellow jagoffs to brag about the thing they had just seen. It was Colin Hanks! I know he was acting, but it just seems like a Chet Haze thing to do.
- I spotted a familiar name far down in the credits. Actor Nelson Franklin, known for a number of TV appearances including Black-ish and New Girl, was a producer’s assistant very early in his career. I know some successful actors started as assistants; Bill Hader tells some fantastic stories (“Whyyyy!”) It just seems weird. Especially when you’re 6’5” like Nelson, and you’re most likely towering over the guy you’re being subservient to.
- Dave Grohl was an early friend and patron of Tenacious D, and he shows up in the final showdown as Satan. Even if they weren’t friends, I’m guessing the band would have asked Grohl to pay the role. Whatever you may think of Foo Fighters, there is no one today more qualified to scream in rock ‘n roll, shred on guitar, and pound the drums. And if that scene looks familiar...
- You know, I don’t even care that this movie blatantly ripped off this Kids in the Hall sketch. It’s so awesome, and it premiered on my 16th birthday like some kind of prophecy to be fulfilled (not that I can rock in any way, shape or form). And if you’re wondering how Bobby could say “No, I’m seeing someone!” to the pin-up girl of his dreams, his girlfriend was a 19-year-old Ezri Dax.
https://youtu.be/PoAGasPLh30
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