I read somewhere that "This is Spinal Tap" went into wide release on March 29, 1984, or that's when reviews were first posted. In this, the 30th anniversary of this movie, one of the funniest ever made that has achieved icon status, the movie seems to hover over many-a-rock band. Now we have Justin Bieber, artists who take themselves so seriously that to satirize them would be too hard: their a millimeter shy of it anyway. You know a film has maintained its awareness of filmgoers and musicians alike when people reference it the rest of the '80s, here and there in the '90s, sparks a comeback album, "Back from the dead" in 2010, and is highly watchable on cable when one's just clicking around. This film also came out when America was thriving again: the market had bottomed out at the end of 1982, Reagan's spending policies were encouraging good times, and here comes this understated comedy...
