Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

AJ Schnack

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

Documentary about the music group They Might Be Giants.

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Band | Music Video | Rock Band | Concert Footage

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Flansburgh	...	Himself
John Linnell	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gina Arnold	...	Herself
Michael Azerrad	...	Himself
Adam Bernstein	...	Himself
David Bither	...	Himself
Frank Black	...	Himself
Linwood Boomer	...	Himself
Brian Cohen	...	Himself
Patrick Dillett	...	Himself (as Pat Dillett)
Sue Drew	...	Herself
Dave Eggers	...	Himself
Jake Fogelnest	...	Himself
Joe Franklin	...	Himself
Janeane Garofalo	...	Herself
Ira Glass	...	Himself
Jonathan Gregg	...	Himself
Dan Hickey	...	Himself (Drums)
Kurt Hoffman	...	Himself
Mark Hoppus	...	Himself
Al Houghton	...	Himself
John Houlihan	...	Himself
William Ingoglia
Mike Kelly	...	Himself
Jamie Lincoln Kitman	...	Himself (as Jamie Kitman)
Josh Kornbluth	...	Himself
Bill Krauss	...	Himself
Robert Krulwich	...	Himself
Michael McKean	...	Himself
Dan Miller	...	Himself (Guitar)
Glenn Morrow	...	Himself
Alex Noyes	...	Himself
Conan O'Brien	...	Himself
Annette O'Toole	...	Herself (voice)
Gary Ray	...	Himself
Andy Richter	...	Himself
Raoul Rosenberg	...	Himself
Harry Shearer	...	Himself
Paul Simon	...	Himself
Michael Small	...	Himself
Jim Stabile	...	Himself
Jon Stewart	...	Himself
Syd Straw	...	Herself
They Might Be Giants	...	Themselves
Sarah Vowell	...	Herself
Danny Weinkauf	...	Himself (Bass)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Bonfire Films of America

Trivia:

Annette O'Toole narrates a letter in the film during one of the film's "history" sequences, and did the research herself. She had been out of town filming "Smallville" (2001) when the director came to film her husband, Michael McKean.

Quotes:

Ira Glass: How sad for them that they're actually in the band. And so for them to hear that sound they actually have to make it themselves.

Movie Connections:

Features Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Soundtrack:

They'll Need A Crane

Loved Gigantic

I am a TMBG fan, so take this review with a grain of salt, but I found the previous diatribe about this fine and amusing documentary repugnant and wanted to offer an alternative to the slam posted by littlesiddie.

To say that TMBG's career is 'flagging' is simply ignorant, as the documentary itself points out many instances of their music being used in contemporary circumstances, such as 'Malcolm in the Middle' and the PBS specials.

TMBG are witty and on point most of the time. The movie reflects this. Their music continues to be high quality after twenty years, and they are still quite entertaining. The documentary gives a lot of background info for TMBG fans which fills the void of history for those of us who came across them later, yet still stands on its own as a documentary for those who are unfamiliar with their work.

The movie, as a whole, is entertaining for fans, and enticing for novices. I would suspect that many of those who have not been exposed to this group may wish to purchase their music after being exposed to them on the screen.

Of course, if one is a dolt, or otherwise slow-witted, this movie will be somewhat tedious, as most of the higher humor will go right over the viewers' head. On the other hand, for those with higher linguistic skills who appreciate puns and other plays on words, this will be a wonderful introduction to an amazingly talented band which has delighted fans for the last twenty years with a sly and sharp sense of the absurd.

I would recommend this movie to almost anyone. The worst that might happen is that (like littlesiddie) they just won't get it.