Dig! | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ondi Timoner |
Written by | Ondi Timoner |
Produced by | Ondi Timoner |
Starring | Anton Newcombe Courtney Taylor-Taylor |
Cinematography | Vasco Nunes David Timoner Ondi Timoner |
Edited by | Ondi Timoner |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Palm Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $127,067 [1] |
Dig! is a 2004 American documentary film about the collision of art and commerce through the eyes of The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, focusing on the developing careers and the love-hate relationship of the bands' respective frontmen Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Anton Newcombe. It was shot over seven years and compiled from over 2,500 hours of footage. It won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art for their permanent collection.
Taylor-Taylor, Newcombe and Warhols guitarist Peter Holmstrom have all criticized the film as being unfair in its portrayal of Newcombe and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. [2] [3] [4] On The Brian Jonestown Massacre's official website the film was denounced as reducing several years of hard work to "at best a series of punch-ups and mishaps taken out of context, and at worst bold faced lies and misrepresentation of fact." [5] Courtney Taylor-Taylor said in an interview: "It's a movie, not a documentary [...] She worked her ass off and forged a plot when there was no plot. She crafted the thing to swell and ebb by taking eight years of us and a year and a half of the Brian Jonestown Massacre". [6] Holmstrom was generally displeased with the film initially, citing Timoner's use of footage that he claims "was not to be used" as a reason, but has maintained that "it's still a good film", though one "I would have done differently". [4] Dandy Warhols drummer Brent DeBoer noted the film could have easily been a "feel-good story", but instead a few rare moments were specifically chosen to give the film a "Jerry Springer"-type storyline. [3]
The film was generally very well received critically. It currently has an approval rating of 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star? Dig! compellingly chronicles the ups and downs of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, two ambitious bands whose love/hate relationship embodies many of the potential pratfalls of the music business." [7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [8]
BBC Movies called it "[e]rratic, tragic, and absolutely hilarious", saying, "Dig! is fantastic filmmaking" that "works as both a savagely funny rockumentary and a sardonic comment on the politics of selling out." [9] An Empire review described its subject as the "microcosm of ‘indie’ music on the cusp of corporate take-over" and the film as "the perfect parable of the 1990s music industry" portraying a "riveting... mêlée of spiraling egos", also giving it a five-star rating. [10]
Allmovie, while giving the film a generally positive review, criticized the film's emphasis, writing "DIG! isn't as concerned with differences in the groups' musical styles (few songs are heard for more than a few bars at a time) as it is with personalities and interpersonal conflict. In this regard, it echoes the purportedly superficial concerns of the fickle industry it depicts, and it's not entirely clear whether this is Timoner's intent [...] In the end, the music should matter more than it apparently does." [11]
PopMatters gave the film a mixed review, commenting that "The film is less effective at conveying the genius of Anton Newcombe than the madness, possibly because the latter only requires a camera and Anton himself" but ultimately called it "fascinating" as a "behind-the-music-scenes glimpse". [12]
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by Taylor-Taylor's cousin Brent DeBoer. The band's name is a play on the name of American pop artist Andy Warhol.
Anton Alfred Newcombe is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
...The Dandy Warhols Come Down is the second studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on July 15, 1997, by Capitol.
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia is the third album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols, released on June 12, 2000, through record label Capitol.
Welcome to the Monkey House is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. The album was recorded between September 2001 and December 2002, and released on May 5, 2003 through record label Capitol.
Odditorium or Warlords of Mars is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was recorded from April 2004 to January 2005 in the band's own Odditorium studio, and was released on September 13, 2005, through Capitol Records; their final album before parting ways with the label.
Courtney A. Taylor, known as Courtney Taylor-Taylor, is an American singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols, a band he co-founded. Taylor-Taylor has written the majority of the band's songs.
Matthew Hollywood is an American indie rock guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and leader of the Portland-based indie rock band The Out Crowd, as well as a founding member of the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He currently fronts the drone rock band The Rebel Drones.
Joel Gion is an American musician, best known as the tambourine player for the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
The Out Crowd was a U.S. indie rock band featuring bass guitarist Matt Hollywood, a former member of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He formed the group in late 2001 in Portland, Oregon with drummer Stuart Valentine, guitarist Elliott Barnes, bassist Joe Patterson and tambourine player Sarah Jane.
Thank God for Mental Illness is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. After releasing Take It from the Man! and Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request in mid-1996, both of which display influences from 1960s psychedelic music, departing from the band's earlier shoegaze sound, the band recorded Thank God for Mental Illness through "tangible custom lo-fi stereo" in their San Francisco home studio on July 11, 1996, with the budget of $17.36.
Bravery Repetition and Noise is the eighth full-length album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 2001.
Give It Back! is the sixth studio album by the American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 1997 by the Bomp! record label.
Take It from the Man! is the third studio album by American psychedelic rock band the Brian Jonestown Massacre. After recording their shoegaze-influenced debut album Methodrone (1995) and releasing a collection of early recordings, Spacegirl & Other Favorites, the band took influence from 1960s British psychedelic garage rock and recorded Take it from the Man! from November 1995–February 1996. After recording the entire album with an unnamed producer who scrapped the recordings, the band re-recorded the album on a minimal budget, mostly at Lifesource Studios in Emeryville, California with production from Psychic TV's Larry Thrasher, whose usual "studio" approach was vetoed out by the band's back-to-basics approach.
...Earth to the Dandy Warhols... is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was recorded in 2008 and released on May 19, 2008, the first album released on their self-founded Beat the World Records label after leaving Capitol Records in 2007.
"Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" is a song by American rock band the Dandy Warhols. It was released on June 16, 1997, as the first single from their second studio album, ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down.
The Dandy Warhols Are Sound is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It is the original mix of the band's 2003 album Welcome to the Monkey House, by Grammy Award-winning soul music mixing engineer Russell Elevado. It was released on July 14, 2009, through the band's own label Beat the World Records.
Pete International Airport is an American neo-psychedelia band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1997 by Peter Holmström of The Dandy Warhols. Original line-up includes Jsun Adams on vocals, Collin Hegna on bass guitar, Jason "El Firme Plucky" Anchondo on drums and Paulie Pulvirenti, also on drums.
This Machine is the eighth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on April 24, 2012, by record label The End. The album features a more stripped-down, laid-back style than much of the band's previous work.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.