| ||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Special Features
- A visual diary of Radiohead 1997-98 on the road and behind-the-scenes and includes a collage of unseen footage, live shows, interviews and new material
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It seems appropriate that a documentary following Radiohead during the aftermath of 1997's OK Computer--an album as conceptual as modern rock can get--should also be high-concept. With that in mind, director Grant Gee has created something truly special with Meeting People Is Easy, a movie revealing that, critically acclaimed or not, the life and times of a rock supergroup can be pretty boring. Rather than focus on Radiohead's songs and concert footage, Gee takes us behind the scenes with his handheld super-8 camera to show us grainy images of the multiple interviews, backstage boredom, and all-around monotony that followed the British group in the wake of their critically acclaimed third album. With a postmodern edge that perfectly suits the band--text from interviews scrolls across the screen, half the camera angles have the appearance of being hidden--and carte blanche to follow the group everywhere they go, Gee's movie makes for fascinating (and anything but boring) viewing. You see, Radiohead's rock & roll lifestyle is one for the 21st century: no TVs thrown out of windows, no M&M candies separated by colors, just plenty of scheduled press interviews, constant touring, and the occasional rehearsal. During the shoot of their "No Surprises" video, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke puts himself through pure agony as he tries to keep his head under water long enough for an extended camera take. ("No Surprises," it should be noted, was also directed by Gee). It's symbolic of the entire film: the band is jumping through hoops while trying (desperately) to maintain their composure. During one of the many press-conference sound bites heard in the movie, Yorke hypothesizes, "OK Computer is about everything being out of control." By the probing looks of Meeting People, that's a fair assumption. --Jason Verlinde
Product Description
Award-winning director Grant Gee spends a year on the road behind the scenes witht he band in this 95 minute document ary DVD. It includes a collage of footage from the OK Compu ter World Tour with shows in Barcelona, Paris, New York, & Tokyo. All the
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
For those of you expecting tons of live concert footage, unreleased songs, and lots of insight into the thought processes of one of the greatest bands of all time, you may be disappointed. That's not to say there isn't any live footage or interviews. There's quite a bit, actually, but it's not the focus of the film and most, if not all, of the songs and interviews are not shown in their entirety. Instead you get snippets. There is some interesting footage that shows the origins of songs on Kid A/Amnesiac, such as the piano part of "Life in a Glasshouse" being written, and Thom Yorke soundchecking "How to Disappear Completely" alone with an acoustic guitar (an amazing scene). I think "Big Ideas" is in there somewhere too. That being said, this film/documentary is much more of a story about the impact of stardom on otherwise ordinary people than an in depth look into the workings and dynamics of the band. That is why so many were disappointed with this, and that is also what makes it so damn interesting.
I think this film can best be explained by describing one scene: the movie fades from live footage of the band (playing "Lucky", my favorite Radiohead song) into a bunch of press clippings about "OK Computer", most of them claiming to know exactly what the band was thinking behind each song. The preeminent (and least pretentious) one says something like this: "You're a band. You've had some moderate success with your first 2 albums. You release your third album, which you quite like. No big deal, that's what bands do. Then, out of nowhere, you're being hailed as the saviors of rock n' roll." That is what this film is about.
Almost overnight, Radiohead went from cult favorite to some and "that band that wrote Creep" to many, into musical gods. Love the scene where they're playing "Creep" in Philly and Thom looks incredibly disinterested as he limply holds the mic to the crowd as they're singing along. Then the camera beautifully pans all the way back from a zoomed in shot of Thom to a view of the stage through one of the entrance/exit tunnels, complete with a hired goon (also known as security) in the shadows of the tunnel watching out for riff-raff. Then Jonny's "jud-jud" part kicks in and the goon is rocking out while he looks for said riff-raff. Sublime.
The most poignant scenes are not the concerts, but those of the band being interviewed. Again, and again, and again, and again. At one point they play about 5 different clips of people asking "What does music mean to you?" back to back without playing their responses. The point is not to give you some kind of insight into the people who comprise the band, but to show the effects of stardom on people who are not consumed with being stars. The sheer banality of it all must be quite tiring.
All of the hype and attention starts to crack some members of the band. They are all very uncomfortable with their new found celebrity status, and it shows. One interviewer continually badgers Thom Yorke about all the celebrities attending their shows, in an unintentionally amusing, ESPN anchor/radio DJ-esque tone of voice: "So you're not impressed when, say, Tom Cruise is at your concert?" Thom does not look (nor act) impressed and then calmly explains that in England they do not quite comprehend the God-like status given to celebrities here in America. In the end, celebrities are people like everybody else, just as fallible as you and me.
This film is about so much more than music, and that is what makes it worth watching. It is about fame and celebrity, about the loss of privacy, about having to live up to unrealistic expectations from people who know next to nothing about you, yet they feel they understand you completely. The title itself speaks volumes. Meeting people might be "easier" for the members of Radiohead now that they are famous, but are they really meeting anybody worth their time? This film was not what I expected but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It may take a couple viewings for it to sink in, but this film is amazing. It seems fairly obvious why "Kid A" sounds as claustrophobic as it does after watching this documentary. If you were in a band that went through this, you would make claustrophobic sounding music too.
I've read through some of the negative reviews and their complaints aren't totally without merit. Still, I can't help but think that most of them are simply missing the point. If "artsy" films aren't your thing, you might not get it. If you're one of those people who needs everything spelled out for you and doesn't understand subtlety, you might not get it. Even if you fall into one of those categories, at least give this film a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed, but you might. If you do like artistic films and you understand what the filmmaker is doing, you will love this movie.
I think this film can best be explained by describing one scene: the movie fades from live footage of the band (playing "Lucky", my favorite Radiohead song) into a bunch of press clippings about "OK Computer", most of them claiming to know exactly what the band was thinking behind each song. The preeminent (and least pretentious) one says something like this: "You're a band. You've had some moderate success with your first 2 albums. You release your third album, which you quite like. No big deal, that's what bands do. Then, out of nowhere, you're being hailed as the saviors of rock n' roll." That is what this film is about.
Almost overnight, Radiohead went from cult favorite to some and "that band that wrote Creep" to many, into musical gods. Love the scene where they're playing "Creep" in Philly and Thom looks incredibly disinterested as he limply holds the mic to the crowd as they're singing along. Then the camera beautifully pans all the way back from a zoomed in shot of Thom to a view of the stage through one of the entrance/exit tunnels, complete with a hired goon (also known as security) in the shadows of the tunnel watching out for riff-raff. Then Jonny's "jud-jud" part kicks in and the goon is rocking out while he looks for said riff-raff. Sublime.
The most poignant scenes are not the concerts, but those of the band being interviewed. Again, and again, and again, and again. At one point they play about 5 different clips of people asking "What does music mean to you?" back to back without playing their responses. The point is not to give you some kind of insight into the people who comprise the band, but to show the effects of stardom on people who are not consumed with being stars. The sheer banality of it all must be quite tiring.
All of the hype and attention starts to crack some members of the band. They are all very uncomfortable with their new found celebrity status, and it shows. One interviewer continually badgers Thom Yorke about all the celebrities attending their shows, in an unintentionally amusing, ESPN anchor/radio DJ-esque tone of voice: "So you're not impressed when, say, Tom Cruise is at your concert?" Thom does not look (nor act) impressed and then calmly explains that in England they do not quite comprehend the God-like status given to celebrities here in America. In the end, celebrities are people like everybody else, just as fallible as you and me.
This film is about so much more than music, and that is what makes it worth watching. It is about fame and celebrity, about the loss of privacy, about having to live up to unrealistic expectations from people who know next to nothing about you, yet they feel they understand you completely. The title itself speaks volumes. Meeting people might be "easier" for the members of Radiohead now that they are famous, but are they really meeting anybody worth their time? This film was not what I expected but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It may take a couple viewings for it to sink in, but this film is amazing. It seems fairly obvious why "Kid A" sounds as claustrophobic as it does after watching this documentary. If you were in a band that went through this, you would make claustrophobic sounding music too.
I've read through some of the negative reviews and their complaints aren't totally without merit. Still, I can't help but think that most of them are simply missing the point. If "artsy" films aren't your thing, you might not get it. If you're one of those people who needs everything spelled out for you and doesn't understand subtlety, you might not get it. Even if you fall into one of those categories, at least give this film a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed, but you might. If you do like artistic films and you understand what the filmmaker is doing, you will love this movie.
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The consummate Radiohead fan will absolutely adore this video-documentary. Thom Yorke not only establishes himself as a great live performer via snippets of live concert footage, but he also paves the way for his band's ascent as an all-encompassing experience beyond the generic trivialities of being a "rock group" - whatever that term happens to mean today. I have always maintained that Radiohead was and is a band for the next millenium, consistenly producing music head-and-shoulders above their contemporaries. What's more is that Radiohead have become far more than a purely musical experience, and this film emphasizes all these intangibles. Radiohead's outlook has forever seemed to be deeply rooted in a frenetic paranoia, in man's routine struggles against the relentless oppression of technology and the future, and the fight against the loss of self-awareness under the onslaught of the corporate mentality, and the Orwellian shackles that are becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday society. Most every Radiohead song seems to evoke the feel and mood that Big Brother is indeed, watching. The fact that this menacing outlook comes across in beautiful melodies stemming from the voice of an enchanting frontman only makes the experience that much more spectacular. This film takes you through Radiohead's touring persona, so to speak, from Yorke warming up his vocal cords before a concert, to producers polishing off the final touches on a video release, to band members handling the pressures of often prying media. Meeting People Is Easy is masterfully psychedelic and ominously dreary, but cannot be denied as an absolute work of art... What a fitting way to steal a peek into the goings-on of the world's best rock and roll band!
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
*PLEASE* ignore the vapid MTV morons that have given this bad reviews, if you are genuinely into Radiohead, and don't just blindly swallow the latest 'fashionable' band that the music media shoves down your throat, then fear not, you will get it. Its different and for me, takes repeated viewings, with each one proving more rewarding. The upshot of it all is that I feel I know the personalities of the individual Radiohead members, from the intermittent snatches of interviews and incidents, a hundred times better than could ever be possible with your garden variety VH1 'rockumentary'. For example, Thom Yorke's responses to a clueless interviewer's questions about celebs at their gigs or his half bored/half bemused expression as he holds the microphone to a crowd bellowing the lyrics of Creep are invaluable.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Happier, more content
As a diehard Radiohead fan, this video immurses itself into the confines of my heart, soul, angst, anger and fears. Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. M. Palacios
An interesting look at the destruction that fame can cause.
In the summer of 1997, British alternative rock band Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Steven Skomski
as futuristic a movie as OK Computer is an album
please watch this movie Radiohead fans
see thom yorke at his awkward best as he receives awards, acclaim, disdain
watch them at the peak of their nineties glory
see thom yorke at his awkward best as he receives awards, acclaim, disdain
watch them at the peak of their nineties glory
Published 12 months ago by C. Loera
review
Very glad to see a film about the band that is sensitive to the negative aspects of being number one for a while.
Published on December 27, 2009 by Kevin Currier
everything was perfect
everything was perfect. it arrived at perfect timing and the product was also in very good condition.
Published on November 16, 2009 by Serra G. Akyel
A bit boring...
I'm a huge Radiohead fan and was very excited to finally buy this dvd, but I have to say I was disappointed. Read more
Published on June 4, 2008 by L. Moy
Could have been about anything
I too am fascinated and enthralled by much of Radiohead's work. But this film is really just a project of the director attempting to create an artistic statement. Read more
Published on May 6, 2008 by Timothy P. Scott
Little insight into Radiohead
I think this DVD was boring and pointless. It is made up of many pointless clips. The only one I found interesting was when Thom Yorke and crew were trying to get into a restaurant... Read more
Published on January 11, 2008 by Radioheadeatsdust
Radiohead doesn't suck.. but they sure do on this DVD
I love Radiohead. I love documentaries and live shows about artists.
This sucked, sucked, sucked. Read more
This sucked, sucked, sucked. Read more
Published on December 7, 2007 by S. C. Rauch
The product doesn't do the subject justice
This is one of those tricky cases where the actual product - in this case the DVD - hurts the reception of the content. Read more
Published on April 21, 2006 by Daniel Robbins
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Movies & TV > TV
- Music > Alternative Rock
- Music > Pop
- Music > Rock
