The tale of 2 mad geniuses
Added 7/20/2008
If you've ever wondered how this band got together...this is your answer. It follows the 2 Johns through the travels and tribulations of creating one of the more innovative bands to come from New York in the 80's (without a drummer and bass player).
It follows them through the original ideas with vintage photos and videos of the bands early days up to the more recent studio time. It delves into their obsession with coffee and answering machines.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Great Peer Inside
Added 5/7/2008
It's always great to see the people in a band you herald as demio-gods are actually implicitly quite human. I was so reluctant to knock TMBG off the pedestal I've built that it took a good long while to force myself to sit down and watch this doc.
Boy I'm glad I did! A great insight to the minds of TMBG as well as their fans and various others who contribute to John and John. A must watch even if you don't like watching documentaries.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
We get it -- they are nice guys who are good friends!
Added 7/20/2006
...you know, I got nothing against They Might Be Giants. I like some of their records, and they seem like nice guys who have found a unique niche and have weathered some tough times in a cruel and thankless industry. Their work is rooted in deep friendship and hard work. Very admirable. However, does that make for a good film? Not at all...their story has no genuine drama, no tension, no excitement. It's not that they're a bad band -- this is just a bad subject for a film.
This doc is pretty mediocre in almost every way: construction, execution, etc. Lots of talking heads, though aside from the wonderous Syd Straw, no one really distinguishes themselves as particularly charismatic. In fact, it just seems like they are lined up to kiss TMBG's co-rump. Sarah Vowell is particularly grating, steering the audience through a sea of incredibly obvious observations with a smug sense of self satisfaction, like she was Sir Francis Drake or something. I'm a nerd, and even I felt like giving her a swirly after hearing her talk for 30 seconds. Good thing I don't listen to the radio, because I hear she's on it from time to time.
Another thing that irks me about this picture is how everyone talks about their innovative early live shows and how they used tapes and props, and then the filmmakers' cut to a very conventional, dull contemporary show. Not that the current touring lineup of TMBG is bad...it's just that it's incongruous and shortsells some of the band's most artistically productive achievements.
Also, the device where comedians (Andy Richter, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, etc) read TMBG lyrics just comes off as smarmy. The small-town quaintness segments (the Polk history lesson, the debate team, etc) are a good idea but inserted jarringly and with the carelessness of a film school freshman.
Another thing that's odd...most of the "we're doing the rock band thing around New York City" footage happens between September 7 and September 10th, 2001. I know, because the filmmakers put dates on it. I'm no prophet of doom, but don't you think it would have been better to leave the dates off? All I could think in my mind was "Our world is about to change irreversabley in 7 hours, but here we are at a TMBG in-store in Manhattan." Scarey. Could have easily been avoided.
That said, there are nice extras on the DVD, particularly the amazing Tonight Show performance (I'd like to see Brandford, Eubanks, and Co. pull that off today!) and Adam Bernstein's great early videos.
Nice guys shouldn't finish last, and they don't always. But that doesn't make the race interesting to watch.
3 out of 10 people found this helpful.
|
For Giants Fans, this Comes Up Short
Added 6/2/2006
I have a few big caveats I need to give at the outset of this review. I came into this film with a lot of baggage. First, They Might Be Giants is one of my favorite bands (see CdC #9 & 10) and I've been dying to see this movie since I heard that it was being made. That said, it took an embarrassing amount of begging and pleading to get a screener copy. I contacted the producer, Shirley Moyers, on countless occasions, asking for a copy as it didn't come close to my hometown. Yet, for some odd reason, I was told that screeners would only be provided to journalists in towns where the film was playing. The logic of this escaped me.
Couple this with my knowledge that the filmmakers were offered a bevy of film footage starring the nascent Giants which they didn't accept and that could have finally uncovered the story behind Dave Kendall's claims that They Might Be Giants were roadies for The Replacements. The reluctance to have their film reviewed by a beseeching journalist and the brush-off of potential contributors (despite posting a desire for stories, pictures, et cetera) lead me to believe that A.J. Schnack's GIGANTIC: A TALE OF TWO JOHNS would be a suboptimal work.
Between the interviews and fleeting bits of archival footage is a kickass concert film. I think I'd rather that GIGANTIC was a full concert rather than putting up with the inane celebrity endorsements (Harry Shearer, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Richter, Michael McKean, et cetera) and the horribly awful voice of interviewee Sarah Vowell of NPR's "This American Life." After about a half hour of GIGANTIC I realized that I'd have gleaned more information about TMBG, from re-reading the liner notes of Miscellaneous T than from Schnack's documentary.
I tried to come in to GIGANTIC with an open mind. I also tried to look at the movie as both a fan and someone who might not have ever heard of They Might Be Giants before. As a fan, it was mighty fun watching TMBG going through their creative process. They're one of the most prolific and inventive groups I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. As a newbie, I didn't really have much of a reason to buy in to these two dweebs and their silly little songs. I would have liked to have gotten more of their impact and history much earlier in the film. Tell me the appeal of these guys rather than making me dig it out from amongst the interviews. And I could have done without the five minutes of stories about coffeemakers.
In short, GIGANTIC: A TALE OF TWO JOHNS wasn't worth the frustration or the wait. If you're a fan or coming to the band fresh stick to their music videos and albums.
3 out of 13 people found this helpful.
|
Opposites Interact
Added 4/10/2005
When my nephew Tim did me the great favor of hooking me up with these two guys, I wondered what planet they came from. This and the other DVD make it obvious: Brooklyn.
What will you learn from this disc:
1. Creative people are obsessive. The output pours from one of our Johns like it did from Mozart. He almost cannot help it. There are simply people who exude creativity, and they cannot stop themselves.
2. The talents diverge and complement. You have a John who schmoozes and a John who stays back and creates. You have a tough John and a gentle John. You have a John with glasses and a John without glasses.
3. I've never heard anybody play around with musical form and poetry like these guys can.
A carp: why so little about Apollo 18?? That was one of their best, but it's shorted in the film.
11 out of 12 people found this helpful.
|
