256 replies to this topic

[MAK]

during all the years I've admired REM work I've also admired all of the music videos (aka short films, etc). But really I think this Walk It Back video is AWFUL.a Junior High student can make a better video than this one, really

http://www.remfan.it....aspx?NewsID=61

[CrutchFloor]

Wow. That's incredibly bad.

[Kimo]

The Fly. The Piss. The Horse's penis. I mean...   My little sister can do better than that!

Did the filmmaker even consider the theme of the song before she started shooting ???

[vplus]

CrutchFloor, on 10 March 2011 - 07:52 AM, said:

Wow. That's incredibly bad.

I've either loved or at least liked every film so far. until now.  Such a pretty song..go figure.

[Avalon]

-Woman with giant LV bag dances in parking garage

-Fly contaminates menu, kind of looks like it was dancing like the woman

-Male horse pissing

-Follow the piss trail back to the fly

-then back to the woman doing the black swan dance in the parking garage.

End video.

[Sweden]

Tkaing the piss indeed. But pretty cool project all this. I'm not sure Get Up's video would have gottwn rave reviews around here either.

[king.of.comedy]

Horrible... Is this an artistic video? I've no words... no words...
I'm very very disappointed about these videos (or film) except AAAA and MSLH...

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Holy fuck.
What was the working brief for  the contributors in this video project?  Take a camcorder and make the lamest, shittiest piece of film possible, entrants will be selected on lack of merit. You get extra poop points for stuff people can't even stand to look at.
Sweet Jesus, every time I think "nothing can be worse than the last one", I get proved wrong. I couldn't watch this one. I gave it 20 seconds of my life I will never get back and refused to tarnish a beautiful song with the dreckiness of this video, or short film, or art piece, or squirrel plop or whatever the arty trendies are calling piss poor film projects this week.
Jesus wept.

[Remmo]

It's simply "The worst video EVER"
I try to remove it from my mind, it KILLS this wonderful song!!!!!!

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Sweden, on 10 March 2011 - 08:35 AM, said:

Tkaing the piss indeed. But pretty cool project all this. I'm not sure Get Up's video would have gottwn rave reviews around here either.

In what way is it cool? Getting a bunch of drongos with no talent to submit crappy video footage that will be used to promote a really great album? That sounds like a plan. People fall in love with the music because it's  amazing, and then a bunch of no hope amateurs suck every last bit of joy out of the songs by creating visuals that make people want to drink the bleach. After necking the pills and crying a lot.
What were they thinking?? FFS.
Surely to God there are video artists who could have done work to enhance the spirit of the album or at least acknowledge it. This is fucked UP.

[MAK]

Sweet Fanny Addams, on 10 March 2011 - 09:03 AM, said:

I couldn't watch this one. I gave it 20 seconds of my life I will never get back..

If you just see 20 seconds then at least you didn't get to watch the horse's penis and peeing, that was gross

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

MAK, on 10 March 2011 - 09:15 AM, said:

If you just see 20 seconds then at least you didn't get to watch the horse's penis and peeing, that was gross

Yeah, I got the hell out of Dodge when the fly took center stage.
I am completely confused about the reasoning behind this project. Whoever vetted and approved these films hates REM and all their fans. Either that or they had their brains surgically removed.

[Driver Nate]

The way the light refracts off the horse piss is nothing short of magical.

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Driver Nate, on 10 March 2011 - 09:26 AM, said:

The way the light refracts off the horse piss is nothing short of magical.

( I missed the magical horse piss but that made me laugh. Thanks, Jonathan.)

[MurmursAdministrator]

The histrionics here are astounding. Again it's like you just discovered that REM does some fucked up shit sometimes and well, are not afraid to piss you off in the process.

Tell you what: go to hqtv and watch every video from wolves lower on up. Some crap, some awesome. Art happens in the margins and from willingness to not care.

[Driver Nate]

Since most of my R.E.M. video collection is on VHS I have been spending some time on the official site watching some old videos lately, particularly "Country Feedback", "Find the River", "Belong" and "Half A World Away". "Find the River" is basically a live performance so it really doesn't fit into the more obtuse themes of some of the others but I like those much more now than I remember liking them previously. Though I haven't watched it in years, I always liked the moving images in "Low".

Now I've just got to get back to watching that river of horse piss again.

[remrock333]

Thank heavens REM don't rely on MTV for promotion...

[CrutchFloor]

MurmursAdministrator, on 10 March 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

The histrionics here are astounding. Again it's like you just discovered that REM does some fucked up shit sometimes and well, are not afraid to piss you off in the process.

Tell you what: go to hqtv and watch every video from wolves lower on up. Some crap, some awesome. Art happens in the margins and from willingness to not care.

While I might be inclined to agree (somewhat) on your last sentence, it is worth noting that that is, of course, only one definition of what art is supposed to be. I'm thinking many (wonderful) artists, poets, theorists, etc. from, say, the 18th-century would laugh at the idea that this is "art". Is the idea that art "happens in the margins and from willingness to not care" truer because it is newer? I would say, no, not necessarily. It would take a certain kind of cultural arrogance to assume such. (Of course, not implying that that's going on here, I'm just pointing out that there isn't one monolithic definition of "art".)

All that said, even if your definition is accepted, I think that this video still fails.  

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

MurmursAdministrator, on 10 March 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

The histrionics here are astounding. Again it's like you just discovered that REM does some fucked up shit sometimes and well, are not afraid to piss you off in the process.

So you admit it's fucked up shit? Well, that's progress.

Quote

Tell you what: go to hqtv and watch every video from wolves lower on up. Some crap, some awesome. Art happens in the margins and from willingness to not care.

No need. I've seen so many shit videos in one week thanks to this project, I've exceeded my annual quota. I'm not that big a masochist. OK, art happens in the margins, that's some cute psychobabble, but please clarify. When you refer to those that don't care, of whom do you speak? REM? Warner Brothers? Evil REM hating overlords from the planet Zog?
I anxiously await your reply. That SOMEONE doesn't care is blatantly obvious. Please tell us.

[evry streetlite]

I guess the main issue I have (with this one especially)is the lack of effort taken for a video, when the song is obviously labored over quite a bit.  I like CIN but some of the songs approach glossy.  A careless video approach isn't going to supply a lacking edge.  it's just going to bring into question the songs.  i can appreciate abstract.  and yes, REM has gone indulgent and arty before...but there's usually technique involved that helps deliver the concept.  no technical skill here.  no reason to believe that this footage was shot in response to this song.  it's a sarcastic approach, when the band is reconnecting with its sincerity.  missed opportunity.