Gigantic (2002)
The last film I saw at SXSW 2002 was this lackluster
documentary about the quirky alt_rock band They Might
Be Giants. Although the documentary covers much of the
band’s professional career, and focuses on the duo who
make up the band, John Flansburgh and John Linnell,
the film has almost no information about anything outside
this small sphere. There is almost no talk of the guy’s
youth. There is only a cursory look at the band’s beginnings.
There is almost nothing about their personal lives and
certainly nothing of note about their musical quirkiness.
The film does talk to some fans and some of the
folks who “knew them when.” There is one cool female
fan who really discusses the band and their music and
she is delightful. But filmmaker AJ Schack, a music
video director who knows the band, doesn’t ask the guys
any pertinent questions about their work, really. It
isn’t discussed. A friend and fan of the band talks
about how hard it is to get the two Johns to discuss
these issues, but we never see anyone really attempt
to either
Schnack does do some clever work here in an attempt
to do cinematically what the band does aurally. For
example, he opens the show with some hometown antics
since the band is from Lincoln. He gets politician Paul
Simon (oh he of the bow tie) to make some opening remarks.
And since the band does a song about President James
K. Polk, Schnack includes a little documentary segment
about the Prez before the band launches into the song
live. The live music segments here, however, are rather
lackluster and do little to really make us understand
how great the band is.
Schnack also has musicians who have toured with
TMBG talk about the band. Frank Black and Syd Straw
are interviewed with Straw’s interview being some of
the most fun moments in the movie. Too bad neither of
the Johns seem as cool and as quirky on film as she
does. Schank also interviews one of the guys from Blink
182, that kid who used to host Squirt TV, and NYC TV
host Joe Franklin, as well folks from People Magazine
and the band’s record label. Scenes from the band on
Conan and “The Daily Show” are cool. But nothing is
as interesting as seeing the duo play with Doc Sevrinson
and the Tonight Show Orchestra from back in the Johnny
Carson heyday. That’s really a treat!
In a fit of creativity, Schnack also has quirksters
like Harry Shearer, Janeanne Garofalo, Michael McKeon
and Annette O’Toole read the band’s lyrics as if it
were poetry. These are usually quite dull sections (that
are confusing as hell) although McKeon does have some
fun Suessing it up.
All in all “Gigantic” isn’t even the big picture
on the band; It’s just a slice of what they are all
about. A good introduction to the band’s music and musical
themes, but, really, little else.
Note:
Seen at
SXSW 2002.
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Report
Card
Content:
D
Completeness: B
Cinematography\Lighting: C
Special Effects\Make Up: C
Music: B+
Final
Grade: C-
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