I thought For Your Consideration was a poor film, I expected better. Spinal Tap was not as funny as I thought, only because I'd constantly been told just how very funny it is, it was bound to be a bit of a let down.
Christopher Guest seems a sweet chap as himself, Harry Shearer made a couple of appearances on British TV, didn't find him hilarious, just a decent bloke. Not too sure about the others.
Kenneth, got to agree that The Rutles has by far the best, cleverest, standalone songs of any music parody. It is soooo like the Beatles, I once sold tapes of it as bootlegs.
But despite loving Idle, Innes, and the subject matter, the film is imo not great, by any means. It relies too heavily on knowing the Beatles well enough to spot a lot of the parody. The cameos fail: Jagger's is particularly feeble. There are moments of greatness, usually the music clips, but not enough to sustain. Saying that, it is the only music parody I own and watch regularly.
Bad News were dire, imo. It's main gag being "Is that camera on? Turn it off." The music was miserable.
Spinal Tap leads the way in the film as a cohesive comedy whole, but only just.
If it comes down to the musical content alone, then it's indisputably Innes' genius with mashing several songs to create an equally good and irritatingly catchy derivative piece. The soundtrack CD is a masterclass in composition to an incredibly strict brief... and sound engineering.
Quote: SlagA @ April 6 2009, 1:10 PM BSTIt relies too heavily on knowing the Beatles well enough to spot a lot of the parody.
That's me - massive Beatles (and Stones) fan - so jokes like 'Bill Murray the K' were greatly appreciated. I love all the attention to detail. Like the Yellow Submarine style animation for Cheese and Onions. Wow! And the Piggy in the Middle clip.
Quote: SlagA @ April 6 2009, 1:10 PM BSTThe cameos fail: Jagger's is particularly feeble.
I loved the cameos, especially Mick! He recounts when the Stones were struggling nobodies and the Rutles wrote a song for them: "It was horrible. And so we never bothered to record it." And listening to them perform on stage: "It was crap." And being asked why the Rutles broke up? "Women, just women getting in the way." (He sounds as if he's speaking from experience). And asked if he thought the Rutles would ever get back together: "I hope not." And there's John Belushi and Danny Aykroyd!
Quote: SlagA @ April 6 2009, 1:10 PM BSTIf it comes down to the musical content alone, then it's indisputably Innes' genius with mashing several songs to create an equally good and irritatingly catchy derivative piece. The soundtrack CD is a masterclass in composition to an incredibly strict brief... and sound engineering.
D'accord. I love the Rutles music, especially the songs Love Life and Piggy in the Middle. Are you familiar with the album 'Rutles Highway Revisited'? It's got various artists covering the songs of the Rutles; Bongwater's cover of Love Life is magic, plus there's Shonen Knife (the Japanese girl band who covered The Ramones and sang the Powerfuff Girls theme) doing Goose Step Mama, and King Missile doing Doubleback Alley. Probably the best covers album until 'Wig in a Box' - the covers of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
I've the expanded Rutles soundtrack and Archaeology. But I'll have a look at the covers album. 
Let's be Natural, Cheese and Onions, and the classic Between Us is possibly the most beautiful song Lennon and McCartney never wrote. There is no studio version on YT but this excerpt from the film (when it kicks in) barely does it justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WpXNptHPUo
Never been into Innes' Bonzo Dog Band but this is micky take is persuading me to give them a shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKolyDx5kRc - Give Booze a chance.
Quote: SlagA @ April 6 2009, 3:50 PM BSTGive Booze a chance.
I was hooked on the Bonzos after seeing them (as the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) perform Death Cab for Cutie with a stripper in Magical Mystery Tour. Not long after that they were doing the silly musical numbers in Do Not Adjust Your Set. I have Give Booze a Chance on an old record - the Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit) of the Bonzos, as it used to be the only way to get a recording of the song. No doubt it's widely available on various releases now.