GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS
In this edition:
Tap is BACK!
Don’t Look BACK! (in anger!)
Daft Punk aren’t BACK (sort of)
The school routine has been established, and right on cue, we are now in the Covid-variant stage of sore throats and high temperatures. Luvverly!
I’ve been working on my 3-in-3 challenge, where I aim to finish three scripts in as many months. I’m working towards finishing the first script, Shoegazer, which I wrote back in 2007. It was difficult to approach the rewrite. It’s one thing to know a script needs work, another to identify the issues (especially a script that is hardly fresh in my mind). So, I picked it all apart. I wrote down what happens in each scene, looked for scenes that had less/no purpose, and tried to give it all more cohesion, as opposed to a collection of funny scenes and interesting characters jumping from one thing to the next.
The script is a “fly-on-the-wall documentary” in style - no interviews, just characters and the struggles they’re facing during the final year of school. Set over 1990/91, the story charts the closure of a school with a bad reputation and the antagonistic relations between teachers and students. Looking back, I was pleased with the dialogue and characters, but recognised that some scenes were sketch-like and lacking an arc. But, I’m on my way to fixing the script for the better (whilst prepping my next script rewrite, Perfect Harmony, which I will talk about next time).
JUST ONE MORE THING…
Kinolime just announced their short list of short screenplays for their competition where the winner takes home $7000 to make their film. Sadly, I wasn’t shortlisted- BUT - I received a very nice e-mail from them, informing me that I had narrowly missed out on being short-listed. My script was one of the last to be debated, and I had beaten over 2000 scripts to get to that point. Close, no cigar, but affirmation that my script wasn’t without merit. Right, anyone got a spare seven grand for a short film?
CINEMA
SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES
If you read last month’s Round-Up, you will know what I think of Spinal Tap. It’s my favourite film. Lightning in a bottle. And lightning never strikes twice, let alone into the same bottle.
Since they first arrived on film back in 1984, their legend has grown. They have famous fans like Sting and Ozzy Osbourne (RIP), who believe the mockumentary was real. Even Soundgarden covered Tap’s Big Bottom, if you’ll pardon the expression.
The opening five minutes of T2 lured me into the familiarity of being in safe hands - Marti Di Bergi, the use of fonts, and the subtlest touch of the fan soundbites, which echo the opening of the original (they even use one of the same fans: the ethereal “The music unites the people with the players” lady). So far, so great.
Then it gives up on any such subtleties.
It pains me to say that T2 feels rushed, considering how many years it has been since the first movie. The rights issues have been well-documented, and there’s a sense of wanting to get on with it because none of the leads are getting any younger - but the film feels subdued, mostly because two main characters - Nigel Tufnel and David St Hubbins - have had some sort of fallout in the past, resulting in animosity for the entire film.
The group has reunited due to a contractual obligation, with the daughter of the band’s now-deceased manager getting the band back together for one last gig.
All credit to Kerry Godliman, in a rather thankless role as the Sharon Osborne-esque manager (at least, in biographical terms). She actually sounds like she’s in a Spinal Tap movie, her improv skills are on the button, and I wish she featured more prominently. Unfortunately for Chris Addison, he is lumbered with a Simon Cowell-esque industry know-nothing role, delivering a moustache-twirling performance which never strikes as natural (given that it is supposed to be a documentary).
The film relies on famous cameos which don’t really add anything other than “Oh, it’s Paul McCartney”. Chunks feel redundant and repetitive, with too many scenes in the recording studio and not enough live performances. For all the pretence, Spinal Tap are great musicians and given that there is a trove of performances from over the years which could have been plundered, VH1 Behind-the-music-style celebration of the band, the film only serves up an “edited highlights” of their final gig. Instead of using footage of their music videos and interviews, director Rob Reiner repeatedly uses clips from the original Tap, as if he’s worried the audience won’t remember or draw comparisons.
So: First film - Songs, scenes, songs, scenes. Second film - Scenes, scenes, scenes, songs. The much-needed musical breaks aren’t there, nor is there much in the way of new songs. (Okay, the band had split up, but was there no room for them to create some new stuff in an attempt to recapture relevance?)
Tap 2 has more in common with BBC’s Brian Pern mockumentaries (which were heavily influenced by Tap, only less convincing). Too much time is given over to jokes which don’t go anywhere (Nigel’s customers dying?), the reason for the fallout is forced, and the conclusion unsatisfying. The pomp and ego of it all is missing, and it is not enough to namedrop K-pop to appear cutting edge. They could have leaned into the ageing, the “over-the-hill” irrelevance, or trying to recapture their youth. The film is polished, less fly-on-the-wall, which renders it less of a “mockumentary”. It is missing those rough edges that made the first film feel chaotic and natural.
It reminded me of the recent belated Beetlejuice sequel - it’s nostalgic, it gets some things right, but wouldn’t you rather just watch the original?
BUT: Nothing is lost or ruined; Tap’s legacy remains. I can lament all the things it wasn’t, but ultimately it is what it is. I sat smiling throughout - not through politeness, but because I enjoy spending time in the company of the characters. I laughed a few times - chuckles, mostly - and there were glimpses of what it could have been. I can’t see it appealing to anyone who hasn’t seen the original Tap, but we still have the straight-to-video The Return of Spinal Tap, which still feels closer in spirit to the original movie.
VERDICT: No disaster, but it could have been more. A lot more.
(*For more information on how the original Tap came to be, read this!)
Got an idea? SHOW US!
This is Spinal Tap is legendary not only for being endlessly quotable and hilarious, but for how it was made. It’s well known that the film was improvised by the cast (other than the songs, obviously), and it is held in high esteem as the Daddy of all “mockumentaries”.
STREAMING
ELIO
Elio is a space-obsessed boy living with his aunt, whose wish to leave planet Earth is granted, only to find aliens also have their share of trouble with belonging and loneliness.
It’s a likeable film, the animation is, of course, excellent, but there’s not much here for the grown-ups. There’s not a great deal to it (comparing it to previous Pixar classics), especially for something that has the entire universe at its disposal. It could have been so much more, but the story beats are simple, and it plays it safe in the groove it is in. Glordon (Elio’s alien friend) gets most of the laughs and is more of an engaging character, and the film does have echoes of Joe Dante’s 80s classic Explorers - but at least Explorers embraced the weird. Sadly, Elio offers a template for a Pixar movie, but has no intention of breaking the mold.
VERDICT: Fine, but missing the Pixar magic.
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING S5
After an excellent first season, OMITB has suffered from the laws of diminishing returns, with each season being not as good as the previous. So here we are. Season 5. Scenes of hysterical rambling, scenes which pad out characters’ histories in an attempt to keep them fresh… It just feels like the wheels are falling off, and I take no pleasure in saying that. I sincerely hope the makers go back and watch the first series again, before all the endless starry cameos and increasing hyper-ridiculousness. It all feels like a distraction from the fact that the story is running out of places to go. The podcast element (which tied the main three characters’ unlikely friendship together) feels like a distant memory. Now they’re just sleuthing because there wouldn’t be a TV show without it.
VERDICT: Tired.
READING
DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER by Daniel Rachel
My thoughts on the 90s are mixed: It was a time of hope, of “anything’s possible” and for a naive twenty-something, a small window of opportunity (now sadly been and gone). I was working in Soho, which was seemingly populated by those who wanted to emulate a lot of what goes on in this book, but were blissfully unaware they were on the outside, looking in.
The book is a definitive recollection of the before-and-aftermath of Britpop, featuring a who’s who of figureheads who were there at the time: Steve Coogan, Tony Blair, David Baddiel, Noel Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn, Tracey Emin, and many more recount the many facets of the era (chapters dealing with music, art, politics. This collection of interviews creates a broader story, charting the rise and fallout of 90s Cool Britannia.
Midway, I was feeling beaten down by yet another story of Keith Allen being off his head on coke and Baddiel’s tale of ending up in bed with a couple of Spice Girls, so while it successfully captures the excess of that time, it does make you feel like the sober one at a narcissistic party, which somehow leaves you with a hangover you didn’t earn. By the time you get to the closing chapters about 9/11 and the Iraq war, you can’t help but feel the party is well and truly over - but were we ever invited in the first place?
VERDICT: Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they're really laughing at you
And the stupid things that you do
Because you think that poor is cool
GAMING
FORTNITE: The Daft Punk Experience
The interactive Daft Punk event offers various zones to explore all things Daft Punk, and it is possibly the best event Fortnite has offered so far. It is incredibly imaginative and brilliantly designed, offering the chance to re-create DP’s Around the World video (IN LEGO, NO LESS!), remix a selection of songs using samples and beats, and there’s a run-n-blast game where the shots fired ARE the music: The more you fire, the more music you create. It is stunning to look at, and even if you’re not so into Daft Punk, the genius is undeniable. Yet all of this poses a big question: Why aren’t Daft Punk reforming for real?
The event launched on September 27, 2025, and will run until November 1, 2025.
VERDICT: I’m up all night to get (Daft) Punky.
ON ROTATION
Here’s what has been in my ears throughout September - the soundtrack for the 1990/91-set Shoegazer. So dig out your baggy clothes, pudding-bowl your hair, and enjoy!
If you enjoyed Short People, please spread the word!