A Pair of Cinephiles: Rob Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap" & "Pompo: The Cinephile"

  

I Dig Crazy Flicks with @CatBusRuss

Bonus: This Is Spinal Tap: Remembering Rob Reiner. Remembering the Beginning

CatBusRuss⁠ did not intend to pull out an episode from the archives, but with the passing of ⁠Rob and Michelle Reiner⁠ on Sunday (December 14, 2025), he felt it was important to keep them in our minds and in the proper light. ⁠Rambling Ronnie⁠ and ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ kept their language at a "PG-13" level during this conversation about Reiner's debut feature, so our host hopes that he did not make this a "R" with stating his feeling towards the criminal who is squatting in the White House during the introduction.

For the first time, ⁠"NinetyForChill: The #Podcast"⁠ has gone international. ⁠Rambling Ronnie⁠ has come on to discuss one of her favorite comedies and what is unquestionably the most important mockumentary of all time, "This Is Spinal Tap". This was the first R-Rated feature that ⁠ThePoeticCritic⁠ rented along side her little brother ⁠Cool Movies Darth⁠. Needless to say, all parties are excited to tell the world aboot the excellence of this film.

Russ (I) definitely saw this picture before I entered the world of professional wrestling. It was hilarious, if just for picking out the cameos like Billy Crystal as Mort the Mime and the oldest (and perhaps first) Fred Willard appearance that I had ever seen. After entering a showmanship profession, this film is even funnier because it is beyond authentic.

For me, it was not a puppet show where I sustained my most severe documented concussion. It was wrestling during a Christion-promoted boxing expedition. Puppet's would have been an honor.

ThePoeticCritic spent her teens as an amateur actress. Needless to say, she has her tales of nearly falling off balconies because of poor backstage crew. Being trapped like Derek Smalls is something all performers are or will become familiar with.

Rambling Veronica (TPC's Twitter account impressed her since she was using Veronica as an alias), did not happen to have any tales to tell as a performer, but with the sincerity and politeness of Canadians, they all seem to share a common vibe. Provided they are not from Quebec. I am sorry I did not give the listeners a warning about the mocking of Montreal during this podcast.

We all seemed to have been on the same page when it comes to comedy. Ronnie's last episode was about "Monty Python's Life of Brian". Us Stevens children were raised on British comedy. Monty Python was the only MTV we were allowed to watch. With "The New Red Green Show" being Central Illinois's "Red Dwarf" lead in, this podcast seemed destined to happen.

Discussing Monty Python lead us to bring up "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash". This was Eric Idle's Beetle mock that was produced by Lorne Michaels. When you bring up Lorne Michaels, you bring us "Saturday Night Live" and "SCTV". We end up talking about all of the best Western comedy that was influenced by the British.

By proxy, I guess you can say all of Christopher Guest's mocumentaries are British comedies. He is a British Baron after all.

ThePoeticCritic and Rambling Ronnie are even bigger fans of Guest's directorial efforts than I am. We do get to address and compare and contrast these films. It was kind of a silly part since none of us have seen them all. Ronnie is a big fan of "A Mighty Wind" and TPC seemed to lean towards "Best in Show". One thing is certain, you must give ⁠"Waiting for Guffman"⁠ a chance.

Episode 250 - Pompo: The Cinephile - The Film that Gets this Podcast featuring Jess McCord

Jess McCord, co-creator of TTRPG "Skies of Fortune"⁠, left ⁠GalaxyCon Des Moines⁠'s edition of "⁠Ninety For Chill: The Panel⁠" with a suggestion for an anime that best represents the premise of "⁠Ninety For Chill: The Podcast⁠". ⁠CatBusRuss⁠ had been hearing about "⁠Pompo: The Cinephile⁠" from Jess before he met him in Iowa's capital city. Presuming this film was something that this anime expert was passionate about, how could our host not talk about this flick? We will soon discover that this was not necessarily about passion, but a punchline.

"Pompo" is the story of a movie producer who is more dedicated to giving new talent opportunities than chasing critical awards. Her PA is Gene, a true cinephile who loves to see the finest art made for the silver screen. Because of this passion, she insists that he will direct her script for such a movie. Is Gene up for that task and can he finish it in time for the investors?

The two podcaster admire the concept of this flick, but is it actually good? There is a lot to love about it. As content creators, they both understand the struggle of making a thing, but everything seems to just work out for our protagonists in this world. Jess is left feeling overwhelmed at points with such a brief, all-encompassing look at Western cinema. ⁠Russ⁠ loves the inside baseball look at what is essentially a love letter to ⁠Roger Corman⁠. With these two perspectives, does this film actually work or was it better left as a webcomic?

Regardless of the final consensus for "Pompo", the two know it is the end of the year, and as "critics", their determination of the best films that they saw this year is expected. CatBus declares his "Best Ninety For Chill" of 2025 and Jess offers his favorite films released this year.

Here's hoping this episode of "⁠I Dig Crazy Flicks⁠" is a fun Christmas gift, the ideal way to avoid family interaction if need be.

 

Follow me on Bluesky @catbusruss. If you want to be on the show, contact me on Twitter or send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All we need is a theme, movie, director, or actor and a focus on sub 100-minute material. As long as the credits start before the 1:39:59 mark on the runtime bar, the movie qualifies.