I re-watched, or watched for the first time (
The Big Picture, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman) the entire filmography of
Christopher Guest* recently (mid 2020). I'm not sure what expectations I had, if any, going into this. When
Fred Willard passed away recently, I put on
Waiting for Guffman and it just set me down this path. Truthfully, I think I liked them all a little less now than I once did. I'm not sure why this is the case. People change, I suppose is the easiest way to explain it. I also don't really have much else to add to what I originally wrote and said for each of these reviews, so I'll just rank and link them here (FYI - I did a bit of deeper dive on the earlier, more obscure ones, if that's something you might be into). I will say that, IN MY OPINION, figuring out these rankings was easy and I feel definitively clearcut. The three mockumentaries stand the test of time and are all excellent, with each one an improvement on the genre. Everything else runs the gamut from pretty bad to meh to a moment or two of greatness. So without further attitude, here is the filmography of Christopher Guest ranked from worst to first...
*I chose not to include three (3) pieces of media that are at least worth mentioning for completionists: (1) This is Spinal Tap, obviously – the 1984 Stone Cold Classic that essentially coined the term "mockumentary," was co-written and stars Guest, but was directed by Rob Reiner (hence not eligible here–see Rob Reiner's Director Focus, forthcoming probably never?); (2) Morton & Hayes, a little known 1993 CBS series which ran for just six episodes that Guest had a major role in creating; and (3) 2013's HBO series Family Tree – Guest co-created, co-wrote and directed all 8 episodes of the show's only season. (For the record, I did not see either of these TV shows and TV shows are not presently eligible for inclusion on this website. Thanks for visiting.)
