Review of Dig! (2004) by Mitch M — 06 Oct 2009

A compelling film, although the more I read about it, the more I feel like I was fed a director-concocted narrative rather than a birds-eye observation (e.g. the film implies that a BJM tour collapsed and the band broke up after Anton was arrested for drug possession in Georgia when - as far as I can tell from other sources - it was in fact the director herself who was arrested).

Timoner has said the film is about the different "choices" that the two bands (The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre) make in pursuing their art/careers, but there's little sense of "choice" - Newcombe is frankly bizarre and self-destructive (and therefore makes the film), but the Warhols are signed to a major label and simply continue along that path as far as it takes them. There's little sense of real conflict on that side.