We sat down for Anthony’s birthday episode and immediately chose violence.

We’re talking about The Punisher (1989), a movie that wastes zero time proving it absolutely does not give a single coherent fuck. A film that opens like a bargain-bin James Bond fever dream, then sprints straight into explosions and foot-stab assassinations. Our Birthday Boy is riding the host chair; it’s chaos, it’s loud, and honestly, it’s kind of beautiful.

It’s also a very full house at Rewatch Party HQ, with Anthony, Nick, Elise, Manny, AND Dan all trying to keep up with a movie that refuses to explain anything besides repeating apparently legally binding exposition about 125 gangland murders on loop. That doesn't stop us from enthusiastically narrating every insane beat. [X] Sewer monologue about justice, [X] a naked Punisher living like a damp raccoon philosopher, and [X] a drunken Shakespearean informant who should not, under any circumstances, be this plugged into organized crime. And that's on top of frog-ninja assassins, exploding mansions, and a dock shootout where Punisher zip-lines off a human body.

By the time we hit Yakuza takeovers, kidnapped kids, and a casino massacre where literally everyone in the building turns out to be an assassin, we’ve fully embraced the insanity. By the end of our time together today, you'll have a full appreciation of wingnut powered torture racks, the appeal(?) of the sewer nudist lifestyle, and a villain plan that boils down to "consolidate, then obliterate." In the end, is it messy and unhinged? Yes. But that was $9 million well spent and we had a damn good time.

Part two of our Rob Reiner tribute cranks things up from "contractually obligated chaos" to "loving homage" as we continue the end with Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues. We're looking in the mirror of a movie that hinges entirely on how, despite despising each other for years, people CAN be brought back together by Big Bottoms.

For the first time in Rewatch Party history, we bring in someone who's actually in the movie: Valerie F-ing Franco. Having survived music school with Nick, she now occupies rock's most dangerous chair as drummer Didi Crockett. So yes, indulge our delight when she casually drops stories about jamming with Paul McCartney, sharing the screen with Elton John, and having Christopher Guest as her personal hype-man. She also confirms the importance of preparation in the luck equation by booking the gig live in the room with McKean, Guest, and Shearer.

From there, we mix reverence and absolute nonsense in the Rewatch Party way. Val walks us through pitching drum kits themed after every dead Spinal Tap drummer (puke drums, anyone?), the moment John Michael Higgins broke Christopher Guest with a singular question about penis pain, and how Rob Reiner casually requested a blindfold drum solo. And for the economists in the fanbase, of course we unpack the cheese-for-guitars barter economy, and you'll agree Nigel was justified in most of his choices.

We close out with a genuine tribute to Rob and Michelle Reiner, a possible TRWP henge-related scoop, and the reminder that Didi Crockett is the twelfth drummer: one beyond eleven.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20222166/

Rob Reiner. The man’s résumé could get its own standing ovation, but to celebrate his life we hop on tour with This Is Spinal Tap — an impossible film to direct, and yet, somehow he did it.

Ninety five percent improvised. No script. Just a loose roadmap, a camera, and a band of deeply committed idiots pretending to be deeply committed idiots. Anyone can say, “Just keep rolling, we’ll fix it later.” Rob actually pulled it off. We talk about how you direct chaos without strangling it, how you stage jokes that don’t technically exist yet, and why this might be one of the most daring comedy experiments ever captured on film.

The songs are real. The egos are familiar. Somewhere between a “bizarre gardening accident” and the reminder that you cannot dust for vomit, the satire becomes uncomfortably accurate. It’s a mockumentary so authentic it fooled people into thinking Spinal Tap was a real band, and honestly at this point, they kind of are.

If you’ve ever played in a band, dated someone in a band, or adjusted an amp past what is medically advisable, this one hits. Forty years later, it still goes to eleven.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/