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Quint joins in with The D in D TOUR: A TENACIOUS D(OCUMENTARY) at the Santa Barbara FF!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a look at a flick from the Santa Barbara Film Festival, probably one of my most anticipated movies of the fest.
D TOUR: A TENACIOUS D(OCUMENTARY)
I’m a big fan of Tenacious D. I can’t say I’ve been a fan since the band first got together in the mid-‘90s, but I have been a faithful D follower since the HBO shorts and their first album. I’ve seen their show a couple of times, starting in 2001 and going up to as recent as their Katrina Benefit concert in LA.
So, a documentary about the group was high on my hitlist.
The doc starts with what I think is the D’s first appearance, introduced by Paul F. Tompkins on-stage in a skit with David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. They sing Tribute and get critiqued by Bob and David.
The doc focuses on the period in time after they wrapped THE PICK OF DESTINY as they plan and execute their first world tour.
What’s interesting is that instead of being a puff piece about this band, we spend a whole lot of time on the drama involved, the uncertainty of this tour… Jack felt like as big as it was, it was becoming bigger than the group and less fun as a result.
On top of all the regular insecurities and uncertainties they find out that their movie bombed. Not just bombed, but Jack even at one point says it might as well have never come out at all, not even breaking the top 10 for the weekend box office. He’s genuinely sad about this, not just as a professional move, but he looked at THE PICK OF DESTINY kicking off a string of Tenacious D movies.
We’re also shown how hard it is for Kyle Gass, being the less famous of the two and just how hurtful some of the press is. There’s one great moment when they’re at the David Letterman offices, getting ready to go on when they are alerted that Letterman only wants Jack Black on the couch.
They want Kyle and Jack to perform as Tenacious D and pimp the movie (this is after release and Black has said he thinks if they kick ass on the David Letterman show they might be able to pull in some extra business for the movie), but only Jack to talk to David.
Kyle’s hurt and it probably wouldn’t have been a huge deal, but on the press tour for the movie, time after time, he gets ignored for Jack. It all piles up and this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
He says he won’t play if he’s just going to be thrown aside again and Jack admirably stands by his friend. He tells the producers that if Kyle doesn’t join him on the coach then they both walk.
I don’t know exactly who the audience for the doc is… there’s not really a through-line, it’s just a bunch of really interesting stuff about Jack Black and Kyle Gass as they go about their tour. It’s great for D fans, but will it have an audience outside of them? I can’t really say.
Just so you don’t think it’s all gloom and doom, there’s a ton of humor (as one would expect following people like Jack Black and Kyle Gass) including an absolutely priceless moment when the two get dolled up in crowns and capes for their appearance at the Chinese Theater premiere of their movie. They don’t just get dolled up, they get into a Cutlass Supreme… a particularly dodgy, rundown Cutlass at that. The steering wheel is hanging off of the steering column, the roof is sagging down… there’s a genuine fear in the duo’s eyes as it rolls down Hollywood Blvd.
You also get to see Jack bring his family along for the tour and watch him play with is kid, an absolutely adorable baby.
So, for fans of the D there’s not even a question about whether you should see this movie. I don’t know if it’s something I’d recommend to people who hate the D… I don’t think it’ll change anybody’s mind about the band, but it could give them a look at people behind the mask, expose the heart of the group. But then again, if you don’t get the band to begin with then the joke’s probably lost on you no matter what else you’re exposed to.
More reviews coming!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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+ Expand All
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damn
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did I?
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never before, and never again
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no way...and Pick of Destiny sucked
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I'm excited for it.
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but i had to do it once
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that I think that the D is great, but I thought the movie wasn't up to snuff
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Unfunny, not a single memorable song and about three years too late.
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They are an awesome duo....and in the D one is not as good as the other...they both rock!
-G -
The Pick of Destiny was just a rehash of their old stuff. If you were familiar with TheD then you'd already seen most of it. New album please!
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Feb 01, 2008 3:56:49 PM CST
RUN, RONNIE RUN and PICK OF DESTINY two-pack will save HD/DVD!!!
by det. john kimble
Donkey from Shrek told me so.
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Only you didn't get First because you're a cunt.
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Feb 01, 2008 5:08:02 PM CST
The music in "Destiny" was good, it kinda limped when it didn't
by tallboy66
Hey, any time you have Dave Ghrol being Satan it can't be all that bad. I just wish they had done music the entire time, as opposed to 75% of the time.
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the joke is they are so good with thier rock n' roll that they can vanquish demons with the power of thier rock. They aren't human, they're rock gods. Seeing them crying over thier movie bombing will kind of kill the joke.
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is the reverse equivalent of seeing your high school history teacher trying to be hip and wacky. Hate to pigeonhole the D, but they should really just stick with the over-the-top, absurdist humor. Butt Baby, anyone? This coming from a fan.
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well i guess im in a minority because i loved the movie, in fact its what made me a fan. i just checked it out cuz it was on tv and free and i was surprised how much i liked it. i eventually got the dvd and loved it even more, to the point i went and got their first album, the soundtrack and that dvd they made. so i'm now a fan of "The D". this doc sounds interesting.
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After watching the behind-the-scenes footage in their "Masterworks" DVD I've been hoping for a full blown D(ocumentary). I like the fact that two guys can create something as simple as Tenacious D and be able to take it as far as they have.
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he just needs to lose that other fat guy. that other fat guy is as funny as bringingsexyback (ie not funny at all)
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I thought it was good. I think a lot of it was ruined by people going and buying the soundtrack before seeing the movie, I saw the movie first. It was a little greatest hits and it was a little toned down but I still don't understand why nobody liked it at all.
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not that i know of
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I don't understand all the hate.
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was a very good stoner movie. But now I just can't remember if I was stoned are not while watching it? YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!
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And I don't care how terribly it performed. I want a series of movies by the D. I think they could be the new Cheech and Chong if given another chance. POD was a great movie, but a shitty fucking trailer. Every single person I've showed that flick to thought it rocked. And it does. Hard.
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I meant 'shown' not 'showed.' That is all.
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All you haters should just shut up, you're not real fans of The D.
I can see why, but I don't like, that people don't respect Kyle Gass. He's not as famous but he's just as talented, if not more, musically speaking.
The Doc sounds awesome and, as a fan of The D, I'm definitely picking this bad boy up. -
I heard Jack Black was talking about no more Ten D after the movie bombed? Say that's not true!
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Differnt vibe, yet similar.
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Seriously. When is this going to be screened limited?
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From 2003-2006 when the movie came out. I liked it, and I saw them live the week it was released, but the venue was only like 1/2 full and the whole thing seemed depressing. That's now how I wanted to see the D. It was a great show but the energy just wasn't there and it kind of made me depressed. They need to reinvent themselves or I'm just not interested.
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It committed the sin of, ironically enough, most comic book movies. (Kage and Jables as superheroes? Well, kinda.) It's an origin story. The people lined up to see the film know the origin. The people who aren't lined up don't care. Make a good movie about the band and fuck the origin. We didn't need the origin for the album or the Mr. Show stuff to be hilarious. What we wound up with was about 80 minutes of Jack not acting like Jack and Kyle not acting like Kyle. That other 10-15 minutes of them actually behaving like the D as we know them doesn't cut it. I hate the fact that they made this mistake on the movie, as the D could easily have become the next big pop culture thing. Now, probably not. And fuck all the Kyle haters, it's a team, and the humor only works as a team.
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Feb 02, 2008 6:07:40 PM CST
POD sucked because there was too much story
by stereotypical evil archer
it should have been more random and off the wall, something more subversive; you know, for kids.
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Feb 02, 2008 6:08:12 PM CST
The D should drop the major label become INDIE
by stereotypical evil archer
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...the joke was kind of worn out as it was repeated from the debut album. Plus the songs weren't as good (The Government Totally Sucks aside).
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