Spinal Tap II: The End Continues (2025)

I, alongside many others, was shocked to hear about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner at the end of 2025. As a comedy fan, Rob Reiner is a bit of a legend. As a movie fan, his run of directorial credits from the mid-1980s through to the early 1990s is considered an almost-unrivalled hot streak. The fact that his film career both started and ended with Spinal Tap is at least a teeny tiny silver lining to the massive cloud that is his untimely death.

I have not really been aware of the overwhelming critical consensus on Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, but I really liked it. REALLY liked it. Like many sequels, it suffers from the fact that it just isn't the original film. But this had moments that made me laugh just as hard as I laughed at some moments in the first film.

Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are aiming to re-unite Spinal Tap after a break of many years. There has been bitterness, there have been legal wranglings, and there have been a number of unexpected side ventures. The band are ready to rock though, but are there enough fans left eager to hear them?

Written by the leads and Reiner, and once again full of riffs and tangents that showcase the improvisational skills of the cast around the loose structure, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is pretty much exactly what Tap fans should want from a sequel. The reveals of what each character has been up to prove delightful, the reworking of classic gags is done well, and the newer additions (Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison, and Valerie Franco) fit in perfectly with the established team. I would also say that all of the celebrity cameos work in service of the comedy, as opposed to bringing things grinding to a halt to simply point and highlight the household name, but I know some others disagree on that point.

It seems redundant to praise Guest, McKean, and Shearer on their ability to portray such fully-realised comedy creations, considering they have been among the very best to do it for over four decades now, but there's certainly some extra magic sprinkled over them whenever they are showing us the highs and lows of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. And if you don't chuckle as Guest explains his bizarre store that trades in cheese and guitars then I feel sorry for you.

I was really tempted to fill this review with all of my favourite quotes and moments, but I have instead tried to show some restraint. That's why it's so brief. The best comedies make you want to simply repeat the best bits to other people, and this feels like one of the best comedies I have watched in some time. More importantly, it feels like a worthy sequel to one of the all-time greats, it feels like a fitting finale for Spinal Tap, and it feels like Reiner inadvertently bookended his directorial career with two giant monuments to comedy. Like two large upright stones, if you will, that cast large shadows over the landscape.

8/10

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Prime Time: Memoirs Of An Invisible Man (1992)

Arguably the most atypical movie in the filmography of John Carpenter, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man is very much a studio movie/Chevy Chase vehicle that just happens to have been directed by the horror maestro. It's an interesting one to watch, and some of the special effects remain impressive (while some others don't), but it's important to go into it not expecting a Carpenter movie.

Chase plays Nick Halloway, a slick office guy who finds his world turned upside down when he's caught up in an accident that renders him invisible. This makes it more difficult to continue his new relationship with the lovely Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah). It also makes him a target for some shady government agent types (headed up by David Jenkins, played by Sam Neill).

Utilising noirish narration throughout most of the story, and paced briskly enough to get you along to the fun of the invisibility, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man is a consistent mix of the old and the new. It gets to restrict the need for hundreds of special effects by showing many scenes with Chase visible, although it often cuts to show the reality of how his invisible self is manipulating the environment or people around him, and the plot focuses just as much on the chase aspect than it does on the problem of no longer being able to see parts of your own body.

The script, credited to Robert Collector, Dana Olsen, and William Goldman (who has never seen the finished product and doesn't know how much of his material was left in there), is a bit of a mess. It's good in the way it moves from one (non)sight gag to another but not so good when weaving between the standard thriller aspects and the moments between Chase and Hannah.

Speaking of the leads, they don't do a bad job. Chase, however, would have been better playing this as audiences expected him to, more comedically. There are scenes that come close to capturing that cheeky twinkle he does so well, and then it's all undone by the need to have him acting seriously, either opposite Hannah or Neill, who is entertainingly ruthless in his bad guy role. Solid support comes from Michael McKean, Stephen Tobolowsky (not onscreen nearly enough), and Jim Norton (mentioned because Father Ted may wish to see "Bishop Brennan" in a John Carpenter movie).

The direction is surprisingly flat, you can tell that this was a paycheck gig for Carpenter, who doesn't provide the soundtrack either. Put this into a player without showing anyone the opening credits and I would defy anyone to put the director's name to it. That doesn't stop it from being fun, and Carpenter does well with the variety of effects (showing a wide array of previously-unseen visuals, as far as I am aware, like an invisible man smoking, and also, at one point, vomiting). It's just not a film with any fingerprints on it.

While not worth putting high on your list of priorities, especially if you have other Carpenter movies to see, this is an easy film to watch and enjoy, with a couple of great set-pieces and a fun ending.

6/10

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Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

Written and directed by the fairly prolific John Hughes (he only directed about 8 movies, but wrote over 30), this road trip comedy marks a career high for the much-loved John Candy, while also providing a number of great moments for Steve Martin. Martin is, essentially, the straight man here but he's on top, tightly wound, form and works so well alongside Candy that the two individuals become one great, eminently watchable, duo.

Martin is Neal Page, a man desperately trying to get home to his wife and kids in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, he keeps finding his progress impeded, accidentally, by Del Griffith (Candy). When the two men eventually meet face to face, and introductions are made, things don't get any better. Del talks a lot, he has a number of annoying habits, and he seems to be a bit of a disaster at times. He also has a big heart, however, and does his best to help Neal get home. Neal, for his part, continues to get more and more irritated by Del, though it's hard to stay angry at the guy. But, despite flight delays and rental car problems and hotel rooms with only one bed, the objective remains the same - get home.

With an ending as sappy and manipulative as it is sweet and moving, John Hughes walks a fine line here between the great laughs and the emotional core that he gives the material. Thankfully, the central pairing of Martin and Candy make the material work a lot better than it would have in lesser hands. Martin oozes cynicism and, at times, loathing. Candy is a big ball of positivity, even as he bumbles his way forward while leaving a big mess in his wake. Hughes, however, writes great moments for both, treating both characters with equal favour. Candy may get a number of great lines and sweet moments, but Martin raises big laughs when his temper explodes on at least two occasions - one leading to him emphasising that not everything is an anecdote and the other leading to a classic, profanity-laden exchange with a car rental agent, played by Edie McClurg.

The cast also includes Laila Robins (playing the concerned Mrs. Page), Michael McKean in a small role as a traffic cop, Kevin Bacon in a cameo as a commuter racing for a taxi and Dylan Baker, in his first cinema feature role, as a hick with one of the most memorable lines in the entire movie.

Everything is topped off by a decent soundtrack, I've always particularly enjoyed the use of "Red River Rock" here, and paced perfectly for the 93 minute runtime. There are flaws, with the heavy-handed ending being the major one, but it's a hard movie to dislike. Especially around Thanksgiving time.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Planes-Trains-Automobiles-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B005DS0W8O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374360302&sr=8-2&keywords=planes%2C+trains+and+automobiles

Used Cars (1980)

Used car salesmen have long been the source of mirth on the big screen, on the small screen and in other forms of entertainment. They're all fast talkers in cheap suits with a smooth style that lasts right up until the time someone drives a purchased car off the forecourt. Or so many of us assume.

Kurt Russell stars in this comedy that contains plenty of used cars and he's the fastest talking salesman with the smoothest style that you could possibly imagine. I'm not sure if he wears the cheapest suits but he's the ultimate used car salesman. Sadly, there's trouble on the horizon as his boss, Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), is harassed so much by his brother, Roy L Fuchs (also Jack Warden), who owns the competing lot across the road that he ends up dying. The salesmen (Russell, Gerrit Graham and Frank McRae, a mechanic who is roped into things) can't let anyone know that their boss has died so they start to enjoy a new-found freedom and try more and more outrageous stunts to get customers trying out their cars. An extra complication arises when the estranged daughter of Luke, Barbara Jane Fuchs (Deborah Harmon), turns up and wants to catch up with her father.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Gale, Used Cars is a lot of fun from start to finish. The script is full of great lines, the pacing is perfect and the finale is actually as wildly entertaining as it is pretty ridiculous. There are also some fantastic stunts in the mix as a huge number of cars are driven from a to b while Roy L. Fuchs tries to stop them reaching their destination.

The cast is great. In fact, Russell in the lead role makes everything feel like a Disney movie aimed at adults. It doesn't require the biggest stretch of the imagination to think of his character, 'Rudy' Russo, as an adult incarnation of Dexter Riley. Gerrit Graham and Frank McRae are both a lot of fun, with the former playing a character who is obsessed with superstition. Jack Warden is always good to watch and in this film . . . . . . . he's good to watch. Deborah Harmon is an enjoyable female presence and holds her own admirably amidst the predominantly male cast. Al Lewis, best known to many as Grandpa Munster, is excellent as Judge H. H. Harrison (AKA "Hanging" Judge Harrison). Joe Flaherty and Michael McKean have small, fun roles and fans of Dick Miller may want to keep their eyes peeled - he appears for a second or two, billed as Man In Bed.

Used Car isn't quite as good as some other movies that focus on similiar characters (Tin Men being the first, and one of the best, to spring to mind) but it's consistently amusing and makes the most of a great cast, headed by the charming and silver-tongued Russell.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Used-Cars-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00005U0HE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352024274&sr=8-1