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Color Me Obsessed - Replacements Doc


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FWIW - pretty much every review I've read, from both critics & viewers alike, has been very, very positive. I'm also curious about it because it doesn't sound like the kind of documentary about a band that I would enjoy, but if it ever comes around here I'll definitely be there.

 

The director, Gorman Bechard, said in one of the interviews I read about it that even though people don't see / hear God that doesn't stop them from telling wonderful, compelling stories about him... so he figured the same would work with the 'mats (he's apparently a HUGE fan).

 

He set out to do something no one has ever done before in this genre - that no one would ever think of doing - and apparently, he succeeded.

 

edit: here's the quote... in the imdb description, not an actual interview :lol

 

Director Gorman Bechard brings an extraordinary vision to a unique filmmaking challenge with COLOR ME OBSESSED, the first documentary on the influential '80s indie-rock band, The Replacements. "I wanted to give the band god-like treatment," he explains, "but I didn't want to make a VH-1 where-are-they-now style documentary." Combining the band's mystique with the passion of their fans, Bechard made a music documentary with no music and not one single image of the band. "People believe in god without ever seeing or hearing him or her," the director says. "I'd like viewers to believe in the band that way." Rockers (Colin Meloy, Craig Finn, Tommy Ramone, Grant Hart, Goo Goo Dolls), journalists (Robert Christgau, Legs McNeil, Ira Robbins), fans both famous (Tom Arnold, Dave Foley, George Wendt) and not, Bechard interviews over 135 believers, delivering the potentially true story of The Replacements, America's last best band. The most influential band you've probably never heard of. Despite containing not one note of music, COLOR ME OBSESSED is a doc that really rocks!

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The film is told entirely through interviews with fans and people who were involved with the band. I didn't know much about the 'mats at all before the film, but I really liked it. I recognized a lot of the interviewees. The director was present at the screening, and he said afterward that one of the surprising people who wanted to be interviewed but the timing didn't work out was Pat Sajak! Anyway, there were so many great stories people told. My favorite may have been the one about Bob Stinson playing pinball with a guy in the bar and missing the first two and a half songs of the set. There were also various quotes on the screen throughout the movie, with some audio explanation from other people, and one quote was from Jeff Tweedy - that anecdote from 1997 at the Fillmore where he said "Everything we do is based on the Replacements" before they played a cover of "Color Me Impressed."

 

There kind of is one image of the band - at the end of the film you see the cover of "Let it Be."

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My first reaction to the idea of a documentary where the band does not appear and their music is not played was disappointment. How can you have a movie about a great, great band and not have their music in it? And the irony: so many people do not know the Replacements and their music, and now they get the documentary treatment.......and you don't see the the band members or hear any of their music.

 

Now that I think about it, it sounds like a movie I want to see! The perfect documentary for The Replacements.

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My first reaction to the idea of a documentary where the band does not appear and their music is not played was disappointment. How can you have a movie about a great, great band and not have their music in it? And the irony: so many people do not know the Replacements and their music, and now they get the documentary treatment.......and you don't see the the band members or hear any of their music.

 

Now that I think about it, it sounds like a movie I want to see! The perfect documentary for The Replacements.

 

That's a shame. I figure it comes down to licensing the songs. I guess that guy could not afford to pay for them. There a lot of documentaries like that out there. It's usually a bunch of critics talking about a band, with some questionable footage, and sound alike music playing in the background.

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No matter what the treatment, I am going to have to see this.

Sounds really interesting anyway. Is it on Netflix yet? Will it be?

That's pretty much the only way I'll be able to see this thing.

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That's a shame. I figure it comes down to licensing the songs. I guess that guy could not afford to pay for them. There a lot of documentaries like that out there. It's usually a bunch of critics talking about a band, with some questionable footage, and sound alike music playing in the background.

That's what a lot of people thought when the doc was getting made, but the director has been pretty adamant that licensing and $$$ were never the reason for taking this approach.

 

Read this thread over at the Westerberg forum for more info... Gorman was posting as he was conceiving/creating the doc: http://paulwesterber...lay&thread=6395

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  • 1 month later...

Well, I finally got to see this last night... and I must say I was not disappointed in the least. I was reminded of what made them special for me; why, despite how much I might like band X or Y, there will never be another Replacements for me.

 

I did not miss the music at all, although I would imagine that someone not familiar with the songs might get lost without being able to reference the soundtrack in their heads. But my wife, who's heard a lot of these songs by osmosis but couldn't name a single one of them, loved it also. The stories are so entertaining and richly interwoven that it's enjoyable to watch just for what it is, even if what it is about isn't as important to you.

 

Definitely worth catching if it makes it out to a theater near you. Hopefully he'll get a distro deal so it'll be even more widespread.

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  • 1 month later...

This is pretty cool. Download of the Shit, Shower and shave CD. Downloading now so not sure of the quality.

 

Shit, Shower & Shave, recorded in 1989, is the sound of the band while on tour with Tom Petty who, later, infamously, ripped off Westerberg’s “rebel without a clue” line from the Mats “I’ll Be You.” When asked about Petty’s nicking of the lyric, Westerberg, in character, responded “I’d steal something back from him, if I could find something I liked.” Touché.

 

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2011/01/06/the-replacements-shit-shower-shave-1989-2/

 

1 Talent Show

2 ‘Round And ‘Round (Chuck Berry)

3 The Ledge

4 Can’t Hardly Wait

5 September Gurls (Big Star)

6 Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones)

7 Within Your Reach

8 Left Of The Dial

9 Alex Chilton

10 Nightclub Jitters

11 I’ll Be You

12 Bastards Of Young

13 Talent Show

14 Answering Machine

15 Anywhere’s Better Than Here

16 Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones)

17 Here Comes A Regular

18 Achin’ To Be

19 Waitress In The Sky

20 Don’t Ask Why

21 Unsatisfied

22 I’ll Be You

23 I Will Dare

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  • 9 months later...

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