DVD Review: TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY

Out today on DVD:



TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY 

(Dir. Liam Lynch, 2006)

A friend of mine years ago (I believe upon the release of their first full length self titled album in 2001) said that he had determined that Tenacious D is funny "for about 11 minutes."

Certainly the case here the first 11 minutes including a mini rock opera in which Jables (Jack Black) escapes the rule of his oppressive father (Meat Loaf singing for the first time on film since ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW), and journeys to Hollywood to chase his musical dreams is pretty funny. 

After that we pretty much go through the movie motions with material that was better covered in their short sketch-films that aired in the late '90s on HBO - indifferent open mic-night crowds, Sasquatch, the devotion of their only fan Lee (Jason Reed), and a never ending slew of bombastic though acoustic mock anthems.

Almost immediately after getting off the bus in L.A., Black meets Kyle Gass a long haired street musician with similar delusions of rock-star grandeur whom Black mistakes for a guitar God.

After being beaten up by the droogs from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (played by a few of the Mr. Show guys - yep, it's that kind of movie) on his first night in town Black is taken under Gass's wing to be schooled in the ways of rock. 

Gass's cover story of previous rock glory that Black worships at the altar at is soon blown and the narrative becomes a quest involving a sacred guitar pick made from one of Satan's teeth.

The stoner slacker road-trip comedy genre is pretty cashed and so are the modern comedy conventions - obligatory supposedly surprise cameos (Ben Stiller, Tim Robbins, Dave Grohl as Satan), scatological gross-out humor, and even a car chase just for the sake of having a car chase proven by the soundtrack song "Car Chase City" blaring along. 


There will be hardcore fans of "the D" (as their fans call them) that will consider this a crude comic masterpiece that will become a cult classic in years to come but for the rest of us this is just a mediocre mix of BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE and THIS IS SPINAL TAP. So as Spinal Tap lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel might say on the how-many-laughs meter this "goes to eleven."



Special Features: 14 deleted/extended scenes, plus alternate endings and outtakes, The Making of The Pick of Destiny, In the Studio segment, Music video, The making of the music video, "Jump to a song" feature and trailers.

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"Yippie-kye-ay, Mister Falcon!" And Other EDITED FOR TV favorites

"This town is like a great big chicken just waitin' to get plucked.”
- Tony Montana (Al Pacino) from the edited for television edit of SCARFACE (1983) * (If you need to know the original line email the address below)



Usually I avoid when movies are shown on broadcast television because they're edited-for-time full-screen versions - I mean it's almost like they don't count. But sometimes when I come upon a movie I like when changing channels I've found they are sometimes worth watching for the re-dubbing of profane lines.




SCARFACE above, and THE EXORCIST are famous for their creative hilarious for-all-audiences re-toolings. Not content to just use 'freak' or 'freaking' the censors picked every other f-word (frozen, fruitful, foolish, etc.) in the dictionary to cover all the 'fucks' in a recent airing of FARGO. It's quite a different movie when you see Steve Buscemi yelling "you foolish people!" after being shot in the face you know?

These are some other funny examples:



THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)

Original line : "You see what happens Larry, when you fuck a stranger in the ass?"
- Walter (John Goodman)

Edited line : “You see what happens Larry when you find a stranger in the Alps?”

Also :

"This is what happens when you pump a stranger's gas!" and “What the frog?” – Barry (Jack Black)  

HIGH FIDELITY (2000)






THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998)

“Froggin’ ashpole”
- Ted (Ben Stiller) to Pat (Matt Dillon)



PLATOON (1986)

“Come on maggot farmer, move!”
- Pvt. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen)



SCARFACE (1983)

Original Line: "How'd you get that scar? Eating pussy?"
- Immigration Officer (Garnett Smith)

Edited Line: “how’d you get that scar? Eating Pineapple?” (also “pudding”)




THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)

Original Line: : "Hand me the keys you fucking cock sucker"
- spoken by all 5 suspects (Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, and Kevin Spacey) in the police line up.

Edited Line: "Hand me the keys you fairy godmother."




DIE HARD (1988)

Original Line: "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!"
- John McClane (Bruce Willis)

Edited Line: "Yippie-kye-ay, Mister Falcon!"






LETHAL WEAPON (1987)

2 lines both spoken by one of the candidates for MAN OF THE YEAR 2006 - Mel Gibson as lovable suicidal cop Martin Riggs :

"We bury the funsters!”
and
"I'm a real cop, this is a real badge and this is a real firing gun!"





GOODFELLAS (1990)

Original Line : "You're a fuckin' mumblin', stutterin' little fuck"
Tommy (Joe Pesci)

Edited Line : "You're a friggin' mumblin', stutterin' little fink."







THE EXORCIST (1973)

Original Line: "Your mother sucks cocks in Hell!"-
Regan (Linda Blair) possessed by Pazuzu (voice - Mercedes MacCambridge)

Edited Line: "Your mother sews socks that smell!"



PULP FICTION (1994)

Original Line : "I got my eyes wide fuckin' open!"
- Jules (Samuel L. Jackson)

Edited Line: "I got my eyes wide focused open!"



ROBOCOP (1987)


"You're gonna be a real mothercrasher!"
- Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer)



Send your favorite 'edited for TV' lines to: Boopbloop7@gmail.com









So if Peter O'Toole was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving would his mug shot look an better or worse than the poster for his latest film?


Discuss.










And all I want to know about this movie is -

does it have a montage?






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Listomania: Richard Linklater Edition

To celebrate that a spiffy brand new DVD of Linklater’s 1991 cult classic debut film SLACKER is now available as part of the Criterion collection, DAZED AND CONFUSED has just been re-released on DVD with some new special features as the “Flashback Edition,” and Linklater’s most recent film BEFORE SUNSET is also new out on DVD, I’ve decided to give the man his Film Babble Blog due.

So here it is, starting with:


Richard Linklater Filmography (and mini-guide to this post):

S: SLACKER (1991)

DAC: DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)

BS: BEFORE SUNRISE (1995) 

SUB: SUBURBIA (1996)

NB: THE NEWTON BOYS (1998)

WL: WAKING LIFE (2001)
T: TAPE (2001) 

SOR: SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003)
BS II: BEFORE SUNSET (2004)


The Richard Linklater Repertory Company Role Call:

Julie Delpy: BS, WL, BSII 
Ethan Hawke: BS, NB, WL, T, BSII Adam Goldberg: DAC, BS, WL 
Charles Gunning: S, NB, & WL 
Nicky Katt: DAC, SUB 
Kim Krizan: S, DAC 
Richard Linklater: S, WL 
Michael McConaughey: DAC, NB 
Parker Posey: DAC, SUB 
Willie Wiggins: DAC, WL 


5 Great Lines From The Mouths Of Richard Linklater Characters:

1. “Withdrawing in disgust is not the same as apathy.” - This was written on a card handed to somebody in S (This line was quoted in R.E.M.’s “What's The Frequency Kenneth?” from their 1995 album “Monster.”

2. “George Washington was in a cult, and the cult was into aliens, man.” - Slater (Rory Cochrane, DAC)

3. “Your kids have all really touched me, and I'm pretty sure that I've touched them.” - Dewey Finn (Jack Black, SOR) (written by Mike White)

4. “Idealism is guilty middle-class bullshit.” - Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi, SUB)

5. “Did you ever have a job that you hated and worked real hard at? A long hard day of work. Finally you get to go home, get in bed, close your eyes. And immediately you wake up and realize that the whole day at work had been a dream. It's bad enough that you sell your life for minimum wage but now they get your dreams for free.” (Guy Forsyth, WL)

For the record: Film Babble Blog's Top 5 Richard Linklater Films:

1. BEFORE SUNRISE
2. DAZED AND CONFUSED

3. SLACKER
4. WAKING LIFE
5. BEFORE SUNSET


More later...