my mom was watching this the other day and i kinda spaced out and thought she said it was tommy boy (1995) so i just stood there in confused silence for about six minutes wondering where the hell david spade was

i can't believe this movie about roger daltrey becoming a pinball master is the only thing that makes me feel slightly less suicidal

A great oddity to behold, the big screen translation of The Who's Tommy is exclusively for fans of the band and admirers of Ken Russell. Attempting to catch up on all things Russell this year, I'm easily becoming a huge fan of his style. The man is a master of provocative imagery and this opera overfloweth with intoxicating gusto and memorable sequences just like everything I've so far seen from him. Like I said, the story is first and foremost for fans of the music, but who would blindly throw on Tommy without any knowledge of The Who? I slowly but surely grew tired of Ann Margaret as it went, but there are more than enough showstopping cameos and Oliver Reed secretly steals every moment like he does in every Russell film he's in.

TOMMY RULES OK

I love Ken Russell's orgiastic and exceedingly homoerotic take on the Who's muddled concept record, but the way he explicitly links Keith Moon's pedophilic Uncle Ernie to homosexuality -- for no specific reason and in a throwaway shot -- is particularly vile. That's some Anita Bryant shit, and so out of place in a movie that tries so hard to be camp that it unintentionally becomes an entirely different type of it.

Still, getting to see this in a theater with the restored quintaphonic soundtrack cranked up is an overwhelming experience. As far as operatic pop musicals go, I'd kinda take this over something like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. There, I said it.

If you combined mother! and Pink Floyd's The Wall, you would get this movie.

Went into a screening of this not knowing what it was about, only knowing Ken Russell directed it. I found out seconds before it started it was a rock opera by The Who. After seeing it I'm still not sure what it's about, but I do know I'll never stop thinking about it.

Hands down my favourite musical.

I don’t regret anything, but I least regret watching this.

Almost everything about this is overkill, and I'm not particularly fond of The Who either. But boy I did enjoy this overproduced piece of camp. Seeing all those beautiful old pinball machines getting destroyed hurt though.

I understand it but I hate it so much my eyes were bleeding after the movie was done.

(also the abuse scene was terrible. not even in an artsy way, just terrible.)

It’s a fun game trying to decide in a given scene if Oliver Reed is normal drunk or Oliver Reed drunk. Some clearly swing the latter.

I wish I was on as many drugs as they must have been on making this.

Ken Russell is the master of dicks. If they had an award for Best Phallic Imagery Featured in a Motion Picture he would win every time.