Review of Dig! (2004) by Alison O — 07 Aug 2007

Best in Show: Courtney Taylor-Taylor.

One for the future: Courtney Taylor-Taylor.

Stand-out scene: "Blood from people's faces!".

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

Having been a fan of The Dandy Warhols for years I took an interest in the many articles surrounding this movie when it was released at the cinema and it was inevitable that I would eventually get around to seeing it. Knowing very little of the Brian Jonestown Massacre beforehand I was fascinated in the reported rivalry between the two bands. Having watched the movie, I am unsure whether the series of soundbites that make up the majority of the rockumentary are truly representative of the facts. On the face of it it would appear that Anton Newcombe lived and breathed an obsession with the success of The Dandy Warhols, the singer's volatile relationship with his fellow members of the human race captured in all its violent inglory. Filmed over a seven year period, the footage of both bands is fascinating and filmmaker Ondi Timoner must have been gleeful that she'd stumbled across such juicy subject matter. Distilled from 2,000 hours of footage the original premise of the project was to cover the rise and/or fall of several underground bands but it was decided that just concentrating on two bands was the way to go. With much Dandy Warhols music throughout, this certainly met the expectations of this fan and like many other message board posters I failed to see where the genius tag came from in relation to Anton Newcombe. Now clean from heroin for the last five years, Newcombe has made his feelings clear about where he stands on this rockumentary; firmly in the anti camp. I was surprised at how close the sounds of the two bands were, although Courtney Taylor's clearly the better singer. An interesting artefact.