Rating: 
Summary: Lots of charm & personality.
Review: I've only very recently become a more ardent fan of TMBG, and when I saw this DVD at the store, I picked it up mostly on a whim. I'm glad that I did. I found the documentary to be charming--informative especially for a new fan like myself, I'd imagine, but with enough personality & humor to make it interesting for anyone interested in the band. The various commentators in the film injected it with tons of humor & ga-ga fan insights (especially Sarah Vowell & Syd Straw). When cross-cut with the very humble storytelling & comments of John & John, it made for a nice kind of dichotomy that seemed to say a lot about the band's relationship with their fans, and fame in general. The sheer amount of extras also impresses me--I had seen some of those older videos from the 80s when I was a kid, and it was a treat to rediscover them. (Plus, the outtakes from the fan video booth were priceless.) All in all, a good buy--this seems like something that I'll be able to watch over and over, whenever I need a visual TMBG fix.
Rating: 
Summary: A Review Haiku by Todd Marrone
Review: If you are a fan
you will really like this film,
too long for others.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, especially for hardcore fans
Review: If you are the kind of person, like myself, who already owns every TMBG compact disc and has seen them in concert multiple times, you will definitely enjoy this DVD. The extras are great, particularly the rarities such as the Flood promo. The original Cub version of "New York City" is interesting as well. The first five videos are on here, along with a number of other things the Johns have done over the years. The documentary itself, however, is somewhat weak. It suffers from being rambling and unfocused. Even after 90 minutes, I felt I didn't know much more about the band or the lives of the Johns than when it started. On the plus side, we hear about the early days of TMBG, playing in underground clubs in NYC, the origin of the Dial-a-Song service, and the origin of the "Don't Lets Start" dance. If you are not familiar with They Might Be Giants, spend the money you would have spent on this DVD on a couple of their CDs first. Just type "They Might Be Giants" in the little search box above and to the left for a full list. Pick any two at random; they are all good. If you are familiar with TMBG and like them, you will at least like the extras on this DVD, even if you find yourself not watching the documentary itself very often after you see it the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, especially for hardcore fans
Review: If you are the kind of person, like myself, who already owns every TMBG compact disc and has seen them in concert multiple times, you will definitely enjoy this DVD. The extras are great, particularly the rarities such as the Flood promo. The original Cub version of "New York City" is interesting as well. The first five videos are on here, along with a number of other things the Johns have done over the years. The documentary itself, however, is somewhat weak. It suffers from being rambling and unfocused. Even after 90 minutes, I felt I didn't know much more about the band or the lives of the Johns than when it started. On the plus side, we hear about the early days of TMBG, playing in underground clubs in NYC, the origin of the Dial-a-Song service, and the origin of the "Don't Lets Start" dance. If you are not familiar with They Might Be Giants, spend the money you would have spent on this DVD on a couple of their CDs first. Just type "They Might Be Giants" in the little search box above and to the left for a full list. Pick any two at random; they are all good. If you are familiar with TMBG and like them, you will at least like the extras on this DVD, even if you find yourself not watching the documentary itself very often after you see it the first time.
Rating:
Summary: A Must for Any TMBG Fan!
Review: It is insane how much stuff is packed into this. 4 1/2 hours of extras! This is the most amazing document of TMBG stuff ever assembled. The extras are truly fantastic with tons of unusual archived broadcasts, videos and really off-the-wall rarities. Don't forget to download the freebie clock radio at www.tmbg.com to hear songs that aren't available anywhere else!
Rating:
Summary: Hammer down, rabbit ears!
Review: John Flansburgh and John Linnell burst onto the music scene in the mid-'80s as a two-man band with a name cribbed from an old George C. Scott movie: "They Might Be Giants."
Armed with accordions, clarinets, wicked guitars, tape loops, drum machines and voices like Big Bird, They Might Be Giants created their own hilariously geeky genre of music. They had catchy hooks to spare and a knack for existential, caffeinated Fisher-Price tongue-twisters and wordplay. Much like Brian Wilson once created what he called "pocket symphonies," the Giants made "pocket pop songs." "Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns" - doesn't give a clear,
chronological history of the band but does offer a refreshing look at two gifted musicians who usually hide behind their wall of sound and mirth.
Through clips of their live shows, videos and cogent interviews (with Flansburgh and Linnell, manager Jamie Kitman, former Pixie's frontman Frank Black, authors Dave Eggers and Sarah Vowell and others), the movie covers some of the Giants' best-known songs and the touchstones of their brief history: their formation and "do-it-yourself" early days; their Dial-A-Song service (basically an answering machine at Flansburgh's old apartment that offered a new song each day for free); the problems they encountered with their label during the grunge era; and their recent resurgence via the Internet.
As with anything of this sort, "Gigantic" isn't for nonfans (even for a moderate fan, the uniqueness of the Giants' music makes a little go a long way), but the group's countless devotees will be extremely pleased with the DVD and its giant's portion of extras.
This is how all music DVDs should be stocked: eight music videos; tons of deleted scenes and interviews; an audio presentation of their "This American Life" profile and the group's old TV appearances on "Joy Farm" and "Nick Rocks."
Rating:
Summary: Hammer down, rabbit ears!
Review: John Flansburgh and John Linnell burst onto the music scene in the mid-'80s as a two-man band with a name cribbed from an old George C. Scott movie: "They Might Be Giants."
Armed with accordions, clarinets, wicked guitars, tape loops, drum machines and voices like Big Bird, They Might Be Giants created their own hilariously geeky genre of music. They had catchy hooks to spare and a knack for existential, caffeinated Fisher-Price tongue-twisters and wordplay. Much like Brian Wilson once created what he called "pocket symphonies," the Giants made "pocket pop songs." "Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns" - doesn't give a clear,
chronological history of the band but does offer a refreshing look at two gifted musicians who usually hide behind their wall of sound and mirth.
Through clips of their live shows, videos and cogent interviews (with Flansburgh and Linnell, manager Jamie Kitman, former Pixie's frontman Frank Black, authors Dave Eggers and Sarah Vowell and others), the movie covers some of the Giants' best-known songs and the touchstones of their brief history: their formation and "do-it-yourself" early days; their Dial-A-Song service (basically an answering machine at Flansburgh's old apartment that offered a new song each day for free); the problems they encountered with their label during the grunge era; and their recent resurgence via the Internet.
As with anything of this sort, "Gigantic" isn't for nonfans (even for a moderate fan, the uniqueness of the Giants' music makes a little go a long way), but the group's countless devotees will be extremely pleased with the DVD and its giant's portion of extras.
This is how all music DVDs should be stocked: eight music videos; tons of deleted scenes and interviews; an audio presentation of their "This American Life" profile and the group's old TV appearances on "Joy Farm" and "Nick Rocks."
Rating:
Summary: What is not to love?
Review: Much has been made of the quirky touches that director A.J. Schnack gives his feature-film debut, Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns), a documentary about the alternative-pop duo They Might Be Giants. The band is well-known for working in a wide range of musical styles (punk and New Wave, power-pop, country, folk, jazz, etc.) and writing about subject matter that you don't normally expect to find in pop songs (cyclops, night-lights, puppet heads, Belgian painter James Ensor, president James K. Polk, etc.), and this film is often as clever and unpredictable as TMBG themselves. It begins with a speech from Illinois senator Paul Simon, and it includes a parody of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary somewhere in the middle, a scene in which a group of high school students try to interpret the lyrics of "Particle Man," and a few interludes in which such funnypeople as Harry Shearer, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Richter, and Michael McKean give dramatic readings of TMBG lyrics. Despite these unconventional touches, though, Gigantic's narrative arc is pretty straightforward. The two bandmates -- paunchy, bespectacled singer-guitarist John Flansburgh and wiry, floppy-haired singer-keyboardist-accordionist John Linnell -- take us from their school days in Lincoln, Massachusetts in the 1970s, to their move to Brooklyn in the early '80s and the performance-art scene out of which they formed TMBG, to the creation of their trademark "dial-a-song" service, through the latter half of the '80s when they became the most successful indie band of that time ("That's like being the world's tallest midget," Flansburgh remarks in an interview), through their move from an independent record label to the major label Elektra and their switch from a duo sound to a full-band sound in the first half of the '90s (much to the dismay of many of their early fans), up to their late-'90s film and TV work after they got dropped by Elektra. In addition to some terrific music-video clips and archival footage of the Johns, many of their former and current associates are on hand to help tell their story. Of course, there are a few too many fan testimonials, and there isn't a whole lot of information about the Johns' personal lives (although both Johns sport wedding bands, Linnell has a son named Henry, and Flansburgh's wife Robin is alluded to as the singer of "Dr. Evil," TMBG's song for 1999's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me). This backstory is interwoven with scenes of the Johns in action, circa 2001: They record Mink Car, their first studio album in 5 years; they perform a big show at the Polish National Home (from which much of the film's concert footage was taken); they drop by Late Night With Conan O'Brien and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart; Flansburgh takes us into his home studio and records a dial-a-song demo; Linnell takes his son to the park and laments about not getting to see him much because of touring; and the Johns give an in-store performance at a Tower Records in New York to celebrate the midnight release of the Mink Car CD (in a sad coincidence, just hours before the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11). The film turns unexpectedly touching as the Johns each discuss what the other brings to the table (the showmanship and business smarts of the outgoing Flansburgh, the melodic gifts of the introverted Linnell) and open up about their own feelings of inadequacy (Flansburgh as a musician and songwriter, Linnell as an "essential" part of the band). Otherwise, the film refrains from taking itself too seriously, presenting the Johns not as great men, but as a couple of smart, adorable, funny, talented, independent-minded and basically decent guys who -- with their integrity, strong friendship and unique musical collaboration -- have managed to achieve success (however modest and unlikely) on their own terms for over 20 years. P.S.: I won't even try to describe the wealth of extra material included on this disc, but suffice it to say that I highly recommend everything under "bonus materials" (additional live performances, a few audio-only goodies, the hilarious promotional video for their 1990 LP Flood, etc.) and "music videos," as well as the 2 deleted scenes and the 3 extra Polish National Home performances; these are certainly worthy supplements to the film. The "raw footage and interviews" stuff is mostly hit-or-miss, although I enjoyed the "Doctor Worm" sound-check, the radio-show performance of "Cowtown," and the amusing exchange between Flansburgh and his wife about buying a new belt. P.P.S.: Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) has no MPAA rating, but I think it would merit a hard PG-13 or a light R for brief strong language. Ultimately, though, the Johns themselves come across as positive role models, and their story could be inspiring to older kids. I highly recommend this film for ages 14 and up.
Rating:
Summary: Great band, so-so documentary
Review: The documentary part of the DVD is essentially a few interviews blended unskillfully with a single concert performance. Frankly, I could give a damn what NPRite Sarah Vowell thinks about TMBG. The Johns are, as usual, brilliant. But I kept thinking that I could have done the same thing given a camcorder and a few days with the boys. What saves this DVD is all the extras. Especially appreciated are the outtakes from the ABC TV series that TMBG created all sorts of songs/videos for. Highly recommended for all TMBG fans.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome and Inspiring DVD
Review: These guys are nothing short of amazing. If you don't know about them, this DVD is a great place to start. I've been a fan for years but this turned me into a bonafied fanatic. IF you like Frank Zappa or Weird Al Yankovic, the Giants are for you. DON'T MISS IT!!!
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