SPICE WORLD This Weekend at Midnight – Reel Late at the Tivoli

“I told them before: if they wanted to be spontaneous they had to clear it with me first”

SPICE WORLD. I’ve never seen it. When I announced the title when I introduced the midnight show at the Tivoli a few weeks, I didn’t even know what it was. Apparently it’s a movie starring the Spice Girls (the British pop girl group formed in 1994) that was made in 1997 and has somehow managed to stay under my radar for the past 15 years. But when I declared that title it was met with cheers by the 18-25-year old audience that is the mainstay of the Reel Late at the Tivoli midnight series I host, so I guess, like MEAN GIRLS, which played at midnight there to a healthy crowd a couple of weeks ago, SPICE WORLD is a cult movie for the current young generation. That’s fine with me, and this SPICE WORLD virgin is looking forward to seeing it for the first time when it plays this Friday and Saturday nights (August 2^nd and 3^rd) at Midnight as part of The Tivoli’s Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.

The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar Blvd. on ‘The Loop’ in University City, MO.

Bob Spiers (director of British TV’s Absolutely Fabulous) directed SPICE WORLD, the feature-film debut of the five Spice Girls — Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Baby Spice — as the quintet challenged the London pop scene during five days before their first live performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Photojournalists follow as they travel from press conferences to practice sessions to photo ops, passing London landmarks in the comfort of their cavernous Spicebus and emerging in a musical cascade of color, trendy clothes, and blinding flashbulbs. Shot in 43 days, the film featured cameos by everyone from Elton John and Elvis Costello, to Stephen Fry and Bob Hoskins.

SPICE WORLD was poorly reviewed when it was released in 1997.Roger Ebert claimed: “The Spice Girls are easier to tell apart than the Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that is small consolation: What can you say about five women whose principal distinguishing characteristic is that they have different names? They occupy “Spice World” as if they were watching it: They’re so detached they can’t even successfully lip-synch their own songs.” But poor reviews are often the genesis of a cult film and some movies are just plain old critic proof. Apparently a lot of very young girls saw SPICE WORLD when it was new and hold for it a special place in their hearts. These girls are now young women who will no doubt make up much of the audience this weekend at the Tivoli.

If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me dammit, and I look forward to my first exposure to SPICE WORLD.

The Tivoli’s website can be found HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

And here’s the midnight line-up for the next couple of weeks:

Aug. 9-10    KICK-ASS
Aug. 16-17   ALIEN: DIRECTOR’S CUT