Flying Nun Very Short Films DVD

[admin]

Has anyone seen this? A site visitor was asking about it. I googled around a bit and came across a post where a reviewer was lamenting the criminal under-representation of the Verlaines and it reminded me of this quote from Graeme, on the band's videos:

"Yes, we made lots of those. They are awful, ill-conceived, low-budget things. If God came down on the Day of Judgement and said, "Show me the vids or proceed to hell!" my reply would be "f**k you sunshine!" Don't have copies of the crap ones. Don't have copies of very many of them come to think of it. Videos . . . loathsome things, hate them."

Haha... All the same, I think "Death and the Maiden" is a pretty fun vid, though that might be in large part due to my twisted sense of humor. ;D


The Flying Nun DVD track listing is here -- www.smokecds.com/cd/35074

[PrinceValium]

Haven't seen Very Short Films yet but the transfer is supposed to be excellent. It's available in PAL only, however, so if you don't have a keen DVD player you'll be stuck squinting at the computer monitor.

I've seen the Death & The Maiden vid and I love it! It aint Citizen Kane but it definitely has that early '80s, student-film sort of charm in abundence. I found it on an older VHS comp called In Love With These Times which I've just transfered to DVD-R. Here the tracklisting:

> 1 Verlaines--Death & The Maiden
> 2 Gordons--Adults & Children
> 3 Tall Dwarfs--Turning Brown & Torn In Two
> 4 Chills--Pink Frost
> 5 JPS Experience--Flex
> 6 Straitjacket Fits--Hail
> 7 The Clean--Tally Ho
> 8 Snapper--Buddy
> 9 Tall Dwarfs--Phil's Disease/Brain That Wouldn't Die
> 10 Headless Chickens--Gascrankenstation
> 11 The Bats--North By North
> 12 Chills--I Love My Leather Jacket
> 13 Straitjacket Fits--She Speeds
> 14 Tall Dwarfs--Nothing's Going To Happen

Supposedly the producers of Very Short Films had a self-imposed limit of one vid per band, which explains (but in no way excuses!) the lack of Verlaines presence. There is sequel in the works, so hopefully we'll soon get a another gander at whatever's causing Dr. Downes so much embarrassment...

[admin]

Ahh yes, I remember noticing that it was PAL-only. I definitely need to pick up a multi-regional player. I'm missing out on too much - Manics DVD, Arizona Dream, and now this. Sheesh.


Good job listing the tracks on ILWTT - I've wanted that for ages! True to my confused nature it never occurred to me to ask.

[PrinceValium]

It seems the Very Short Films DVD sequel is due in less than a week! Check it out:

www.flyingnun.co.nz/news.cfm?newsid=217

1. The Clean - Beatnik
2. Bored Games - Happy Endings
3. Tall Dwarfs - Turning Brown & Torn In Two
4. Doublehappys - The Other's Way
5. Bill Direen - Alligator Song
6. Chris Knox - Half Man, Half Mole
7. Look Blue Go Purple - Circumspect Penelope
8. The Chills - I Love My Leather Jacket
9. The Bats - Made Up In Blue
10. Jean-Paul Sartre Experience - Flex
11. Scorched Earth Policy - Johnny Frog
12. This Kind Of Punishment - Immigration Song
13. Skeptics - AFFCO
14. Axemen - Wharf With No Name
15. Verlaines - Bird Dog
16. S.P.U.D. - Motorway (live at the Rising Sun)
17. The Terminals - Uncoffined
18. Drill - No Trouble
19. NRA - Glitch '90
20. Straitjacket Fits - Down In Splendour
21. Sneaky Feelings - Cry You Out Of My Eyes
22. 3Ds - Outer Space
23. Able Tasmans - Big Bang Theory
24. David Kilgour - No No No
25. Headless Chickens - George
26. Bailter Space - X
27. Pop Art Toasters - What Am I Going To Do?
28. Superette - Killer Clown
29. King Loser - '76 Come Back Special
30. Loves Ugly Children - Suck
31. Bressa Creeting Cake - Papa People
32. Bike - Welcome To My World
33. HDU - Lull dark restart (Soundproof remix)
34. The Hasselhoff Experiment - What's The Deal With The Man In Red?
35. Garageland - Feel Alright
36. Betchadupa - Bits
37. The Subliminals - United State
38. The D4 - Get Loose
39. PanAm - Japanese Girls
40. The Mint Chicks - Blue Team Go!

Of particular note is item #15...Bird Dog! Mulling over the lyrics, I'm dead curious as to what this one's going to look like. Anyone care to venture a guess as to its scenario? Will it erupt into a German beer-swilling pub singalong?

[PrinceValium]

Still waiting on my copy of Very Short Films from Smokecds ???In the meantime I dug up my set of Flying Nun trading cards, which were produced to commemorate FN's 10th anniversary (1981-1991). Very cool item for Nun Nerds, by the way. Should it ever appear on Ebay, do not hesitate to snap it up! Here's a juicy little tidbit from the card entitled "Videos":

"The rumor that all the early Nun videos were shot in Chris Knox's house is false, tho' Chris did shoot a specially good one for the Verlaines' "Windsong" by poking the camera out his toilet window at some cabbage trees."

Shudder on, Dr. Downes

[admin]

Wow, I'd love to get my hands on that set of trading cards. They sound uber-cool! I'll be watching eBay for those, for sure.

"The rumor that all the early Nun videos were shot in Chris Knox's house is false, tho' Chris did shoot a specially good one for the Verlaines' "Windsong" by poking the camera out his toilet window at some cabbage trees."

I'm using my imagination to visualize that vid and I'm giggling like a loon. The mental picture alone is worth any amount those pesky eBayers are likely to charge for the cards. Hee.

[chinchilla]

Hmph... I can't believe in the era of technology and blah blah one has to worry about PAL conversions and those boring thingies.
Sometimes they should stick to VHS.

I have to see these videos, though.

Hey, btw, I can't believe we're only 9 members!!

[admin]

chinchilla said:

Hey, btw, I can't believe we're only 9 members!!

Heh, I was wondering when you would sign up.

I guess the main reason it's so quiet around here is that there's just not that much Verlaines "news" to discuss, and off-topic discussions are dime-a-dozen on the web. ~shrugs~

All the same, slow growth is better than no growth at all.

[chinchilla]

I would've signed up earlier if I had known you had switched boards

It's funny how I always go back to the Verlaines.

[admin]

~L~ I posted news about the switch on the site itself (Sept 2004) but I was iffy about mentioning it on the old board since it might inspire the hosts to remove it and I wanted to keep it up as an archive. I did make the message board link on the site more prominent and included it on every page just in case anyone missed the news, but I guess I should've taken the chance that the boards2go staff wouldn't notice or wouldn't care. I'm glad you mentioned it though -- I've wondered for ages if anyone was affected.

[mike]

I agree with Graeme, a lot of those vids are pretty cringe inducing. Not just from Verlaines either . I dunno where people got the idea that dancing around on a beach made for a good vid Its pretty rare that a vid actualy compliments or add to a song.
-Mike Stoodley

[admin]

Haha. I should start a thread for best/worst vids ever. Not much point with so few active users though. Conversing with oneself in a public forum is a screaming invitation for the men in white coats.

I think the three main ingredients for a perfect video are: a concrete vision, a first-rate director and a bunch of friends brave enough to tell you if the finished product sucks.