SPOILER ALERT! I don't think it's really a spoiler, but just so nobody gets mad at me, don't read this if you don't want to know how the movie ends and can't already figure out what happens to these losers...

A new Chris Guest mockumentary is a happy thing chez Otter. We love Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and especially A Mighty Wind. We were very excited about this, but our lives were full of Things Which Must Be Taken Care Of and we never got to see it in the theatres...thank you, Netflix!

So we watched it. And, well. It was funny. There were some great lines. But...

Okay. Firstly, it's the same cast as always. We were all (well, everyone else since I'm terrible at recognizing people) saying, Oh, there's Parker Posey, or there's Eugene Levy...by this time, we know them all in all the different roles they've played in these movies and it's hard not to get those characters mixed up with the ones they play here.

Secondly, although the writing was good and it was a good sendup of Hollywood, there wasn't the tension that is built in the three previous movies, where you're waiting for a denoument and you're not sure what it will be. Sure, in this one the denoument is Oscar night...but we already know that none of these people are going to win. This scene is a letdown, and the following scene, where we see how low their careers have fallen, is something we've seen many times before. Funny, but very familiar.

Yes, the characters were very good. Yes, the digs at Hollywood were hilarious and very apropos. Yes, it was funny. But...it just felt like been there, done that, bought the tshirt, laughed at Fred Willard being inappropriate, etc. etc. ETC. ALREADY!

I love you, Lord Haden-Guest. Please do something just as brilliant but DIFFERENT next time, okay? Your fan, Otter.