D-livered!

My goal tonight was to watch "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny" for free at a previewed showing in a local mall. Not even a wedged tractor trailer in the mid-town tunnel could keep me from this task! I had painstakingly planned out my afternoon to give a massage at my boss's house, then home to shower/eat/smoke up and have friends meet at my place to go to the movie together. Everything got botched on my way home from the massage thanks to the squished semi and I had to go straight to the mall and call the peeps (no, i don't have a cell!) regarding plan B - "everyone meet me at Chili's in the Food Court while I suck down Long Islands!".

Tenacious D's first album blew my mind. Sure the songs were a rip off of every major rock song from the 'classical' period, but the music paid homage to sex, drugs and rock and roll. How fun it is to scream motherfucker with the bravado of Robert Plant! I figured the "Pick Of Destiny" would be a let down in that they would just replicate the episodes from their HBO show, but I was stupid excited about the new songs that would grace the soundtrack. To my surprise the exact opposite happened because the new songs for the movie are kinda weak and the movie itself was fresh. The title track is by far the most kick ass and the opening musical number with Meatloaf and the child actor who looks just like JB is pretty tasty, but the rest of the songs come nowhere close to "Wonderboy" or "Double Team". I also was left wanting more of the control freak Jables. His usual cocksure portrait of the frontman is one of the most precious things about Tenacious D and it only lightly appeared.

I was happy with the plot development - prophetic vision given by Dio, chance meeting of KG, train for mission then rock off with Satan - and the guest appearances by Dio, #1 fan Lee, executive producer Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, Tim Robbins, Colin Hanks, John C. Reilly (as tripping Sass) and self-believed rock god Dave Grohl were fun to spot. The story used key elements that worked on the HBO show and added some made for the big screen components, like a car chase, that held your attention for the running time. All in all, the D got their message of "friends that rock together are border line queer for each other " out there. I laughed out loud, I predicted jokes, I pointed at the screen and I sang along to the "History of The D" thanks impart to the stuck truck that drove me to drink (alot!). I suggest you have a shot or hit before you download the torrent of this movie and it will be D-lightful.

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