November 22, 2006
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
A movie that shamelessly caters to it's core audience - and it's GLORIOUS!
Starring: Jack Black, Kyle Gass
Rating: 10/10
Directed By: Liam Lynch
Runtime: 93 minutes
Starring: Jack Black, Kyle Gass
Rating: 10/10
Directed By: Liam Lynch
Runtime: 93 minutes
It's Thanksgiving, and Magnificent Bastard would like to give thanks for Jaybles and Rage Kage, and this wonderful movie, The Pick of Destiny. Did I say movie? Nay, it's more than a movie - it' an epic saga, it's a rock operetta!To be honest, from the early teasers I had seen, I was a little apprehensive. I've been a huge fan of the D since before most people outside of LA had heard of them. Part of their charm has always been that, while they loudly trumpted their status as The Greatest Band In The World, they were an acoustic duo playing primarily comedy clubs. The HBO series stayed very true to that concept. Then came the album. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but part of me missed the old D. I literally just left a midnight screening of the film, and . . . Thankfully (there's that word again), the movie works! It's very true to the original concept of the D, and even as it drifts into the fantastic (the battle with Satan), it doesn't cross the line into cheese.
If you've heard the soundtrack, you essentially know the major points of the movie, since almost every song is performed in the movie, more often than not actually providing the dialogue and exposition, and the single (POD), played over the credits, is a synopsis of every major plot point in the film. Spoilers be damned, it doesn't affect your enjoyment at all (as if you were looking for subtlety from this crowd).
The movie has numerous cameos from celebrity "Friends of The D", including Dave Grohl, Amy Pohler, Fred Armisen, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller . . . the list goes on and on, but I don't think it's possible to top an appearance, as himself, by the one and only Ronnie James Dio, resplendent in all his Dio-ness. Kyle gets to show more of his acting skillls than he ever has before, the early scenes with him as the "teacher" were a very welcome addition to the D's body of work. He's often a little overshadowed by Jack's Rocket Sauce, and while on stage he gets the spotlight with his highly underrated guitar virtuousity, it hasn't helped him get the higher paying acting gigs. Hopefully, his performance here will lead to some more roles for KG.
But to me the most amazing performance of all was delivered by Troy Gentile, who plays the young JB (He also played Jack's younger self in Nacho Libre). This young man seems to have tapped in to the very spirit of Jaybles . . . he wasn't a young Jack Black, he was a young JB! The kid tapped into a manic intensity that was riveting.
When you're at the theatre, pay attention to the end of the previews - the movie has a cold opening, with a really funny animated sequence and sound test. Don't be in too big a hurry to leave either - stay for the end of the credits to see a final scene that, when you remember the opening animation, makes for a perfect close to an awesome film.
Do you want a trailer? OK, here's a trailer . . .
and a music video for POD