5. Spice World: The Movie (1997), dir. Bob Spiers

[strange_complex]

Possibly my favourite way to spend a weekend morning is to wake up late, mooch on down to the sofa, and eat my breakfast there in my dressing-gown while watching fluff on the telly and browsing LJ on my laptop. That, in fact, is what I'm doing right now. Normally, my watching fare consists of things like old episodes of Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. I don't pay the slightest bit of attention to the plot, but enjoy the sound of the familiar characters burbling in the background, and glance up at the screen every now and then to drool over the costumes and sets. Today, however, Spice World was starting on UKTV Gold just as I was sitting down. And since I have, technically, sat here throughout the whole movie, drinking coffee and reading Doctor Who spoilers, I now have to blog the film!

I actually saw it in the cinema when it first came out. I thought the Spice Girls were fab, in much the same OTT cartoon character way that I always thought KISS were fab, so I made my sister come and see it with me. It had come out that week, and there was one other girl in the cinema with us, sat right at the back. Pretty soon after that, you couldn't see it in theatres any more.

An unfair fate, though, because the film is ace! It's so ludicrous it goes straight through silly and out the other side into sheer genius. It has Roger Moore in it, being mysterious and stroking a white cat! Meatloaf, saying he'll do anything for those girls - but not that! And Bob Hoskins, who appears for about twenty seconds, for the sole purpose of pretending to be Geri Halliwell in disguise as himself! Not to mention a bad model of a Union Jack-emblazoned bus jumping over Tower Bridge, and even Naoko Mori, later of Torchwood fame.

The jokes are terrible, the plot a flimsy excuse for a succession of set-piece scenes, the acting hammy, and the entire concept deeply self-indulgent - but, but, BUT! It's so self-referential about it all, that you just don't mind. The whole movie turns out at the end to be a bad pitch spun by a couple of desperate producers to the Spice Girls' manager (Richard E. Grant at the absolute top of his game), much in the style of today's Orange 'please turn off your mobile phone' trailers. And it ends with the girls themselves breaking the fourth wall, and giggling at the couple snogging at the back of the cinema.

It's a crazy tongue-in-cheek testament to celebrity culture in the late '90s. And I love it.

Comments

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

I saw this on TV a few years ago, and remember it was trashed by reviewers as badly acted, badly directed, badly scripted and not even funny. But, as you say, the whole point of it is that its trashy and OTT, and a testament to celeb culture. What bands today inspired the devoted fanatacism of the Spices in encouraging girls to "wannabe"? I honestly can't think of any.

BTW, your blogging of every film watched in a year gave me the idea to do it myself. I don't think I've ever credited you for that, so thank you.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Hey, no problem. I took the idea myself from various people on my friendslist.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

... but it's got the SPICE GIRLS in it!

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

From where I'm standing, that's not a disadvantage. :-p

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

I saw it in the cinema too. Oh, we took a nine year old along as our "excuse", but...yeah. Funny. I do watch it in the background if it's on and I'm about, generally.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Glad I'm not the only one! Though we must be a pretty small minority, I think.

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I used to love the Spice Girls - before Geri left that is, in that they were a fantastic pop band and whilst their proclamation of girl power was flimsy to say the least in the face of some feminist/academic analysis*, they were great fun and I'd like to think they made lots of young girls think they great too and could do anything they wanted as well.

I went to see that film at the pictures with a friend (we got an awful lot of stick from some mutual friends for going) but we really enjoyed ourselves, it was a really good laugh and I'll watch it in the background if its on tv still.


*of course I'm glossing over the fact that it is also argued that the way they were marketed and promoted added to the sexualisation of childrens clothing, and the ever burgeoning lowest common denominator celeb obsessed culture......

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

No, I loved them too! I mean, obviously they were very cynically manufactured, but at least that manufacturing was based around quite catchy tunes and distinctive, in-your-face characters. In my book, that makes them a great deal more interesting than bands like Girls Aloud, who are little more than five identical mannequins in dresses.

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, at least the Spice Girls persona's came across (even if it was just vacuous clothes horse in the case of Victoria)the only Girls Aloud member I can differentiate is the red haired one - she might be called Nicola not sure, on the basis that she always looks depressed and whilst depression is no laughing matter me and Mr Pops find it hilarious that such an image based lack of substance type band have a member who always looks so miserable.

She'd be far better off in an emo band ;-)

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

my favourite way to spend a weekend morning is to wake up late, mooch on down to the sofa, and eat my breakfast there in my dressing-gown while watching fluff on the telly and browsing LJ on my laptop.

Oh yes! When I replaced my old computer at the beginning of this year I seriously thought about getting a laptop so I could sit in front of *coughs* Coronation Street and the like, or those food programmes on Saturday morning, browsing LJ in my dressing gown and answering emails. The Imac's large screen won me over though, so BBC Iplayer it is.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Absolutely - 'tis a delicious indulgence. (And I'm with you on the food programmes, too - I'll sometimes pick those if there's no Poirot on). Three cheers for living in the future, eh? :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Heh :) I think the people that slag off films like this have completely missed the point - it doesn't even remotely pretend to be a work of art, so why treat it like it is?

It does exactly what it says on the tin, and it does it rather well - however, I still maintain that while the Spice Girls were good, there ain't no party like an S-Club party.

[gair.livejournal.com]

I love that movie too! I should totally show it to gerald, actually.

I am writing a HP story set in 1996 and am listening to lots of music from that year, and am always surprised by how excellent 'Wannabe' is.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how many secret Spice World fans this post has revealed! And I do hope you will show it to gerald, because I'm dying to know what her reaction would be. (I'm assuming from your comment that she's not seen it before).

And, yeah - I don't know who was writing the Spice Girls' songs back in the day, but they clearly knew a thing or two about the grammar of good pop music. I feel much the same about Britney Spears' first couple of albums, too.