Tenacious comedy

It may sound brutal, but modern musicals are lame.

But with the rock-opera, one could at one point openly admit their love for musicals. "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Tommy" were two plays that audiences could admit to liking without feeling the whiplash of embarrassment.

With the release of "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny," the musical comedy directed by Liam Lynch ("Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic") has managed to bring rock, Satan and hallucinogens back to the screen.

There was once a time when the band called D was nothing out of the ordinary, until they realized that all of the rock gods of the past had one thing in common: "the pick of destiny." With the help of Ben Stiller in a cameo role, a simple trip to Guitar Center and an explanation of the pick's history, fate takes over.

The plot in The Pick of Destiny isn't anything special, but the music is. All of the songs are new D compositions and are comparable to the tracks on their original album.

Black delivers a fearless performance, whether he's whining like a baby, acting high out of his mind, or rocking everyone socks off - he does it all with ease. This is the performance of his career.

The film does a great job of tying together the songs and stories behind Tenacious D's self-titled masterpiece. It's funny from beginning to end, has an awesome soundtrack and will in no way disappoint any D fans. For the diehards out there, you will even witness the song that "Tribute" is about.

The movie begins with the epic yet extremely vulgar song "Kickapoo," which sounds like it belongs in The Who's classical album "Tommy." It's about young Jack Black's ("Nacho Libre") love for rock and his strict Christian parents' disapproval. It begins as a self-narrative but turns into a duet thanks to Meat Loaf, who plays Jack's dad.

After tearing all of Jack's posters down and storming out of his room, Meat Loaf leaves Jack to stew over his harsh words.

The only poster that remains is one of Ronny James Dio that magically comes to life and tells Black that it was his destiny to rock, and who's better to do this than a short Italian man with a knack for wearing animal pelts?

As any aspiring young rocker would do, he goes to Hollywood and meets the struggling street musician Kyle Gass ("The Jake Effect"). Gass was first unimpressed, but when Black bursts out lyrics to Gass' instrumental "Classico," a reworked version of the first half of the D classic "Rock Your Socks Off," he cannot help but give in. Black then becomes his na??ve apprentice, failing to see that Gass is really just a struggling artist.

After the D get their first fan, Lee (Jason Reed, "Tenacious D"), numerous nights of practice ensue. Here Jack is taught the importance of the "cock pushup." After nearly breaking up, Black and Gass bond over "birthmarks that they've had since birth" and manage to book their first gig.

They perform at the local nightclub that was a staple of their short-lived HBO series and Paul F. Tompkins ("Kidney Thieves") reprises his roll as the club announcer that reads the D's ridiculous promo cards. After hearing that they would receive a hefty amount of money if they won the club's battle of the bands contest, they knew they had to bring their acoustic metal to a whole new level.

Along the way the D encounters a creepy, all-knowing stranger played by Tim Robbins ("Catch a Fire"), seductive sorority girls, Sasquatch, and of course, Satan. Songs such as "Master Exploder" and "Car Chase City" tell the story with passion and fist pumping guitar licks. The entire Sasquatch scene is pee-your-pants funny.

The D eventually make it to The Rock and Roll History Museum and sneak around as if they're Laurel and Hardy hiding from Frankenstein. Their objective is to get the pick while avoiding two bumbling security guards and disable a laser fortress using a power only the D possess. The laser scene is one of the funniest and raunchiest in recent memory - it blows the marquee scene of John Ritter's risque 80's comedy "Skin Deep" out of the water.