10/01/06 Dig!

Dig! (2004), directed by Ondi Timoner

watched solo; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

This had been a documentary that I heard a lot of buzz about over the last few years, in both the cinematic and musical worlds. I knew that it wasn't necessarily based on a type of music that I would particularly like (honestly, other than hearing about both bands the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols...I had only really heard the Warhols' one-hit wonder "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth"...or better known as that "heroin is so passe" song). However, I thought if nothing else, the scope of this documentarian's work was spanning nearly a decade and involving a brand of drama that everyone should love...rock bands and the drugged-out turmoil their diva-esque personalities can create. That is sure fire entertainment folks. And considering that when the movie first begins, it is the unknown beginnings of both of these bands...the fact that they had such ego-driven mentalities from the get go was hilarious. Both bands evolved out of the West Coast of American fringe bands in the early 90's, and were part of a sub-genre of rock that was hell-bent on providing the disruptive revolution of the corporate music industry. A valiant ideology yes, but with poor execution on the parts of these hopeless dreamers. All of the bandmates offer strong personalities to the screen, but none more so than the two frontmen of the bands...and their bitter friendship/rivalry at becoming famous and furthering their art. Anton Newcombe of the Massacre, and Courtney Taylor of the Warhols play the foils to each others success most times...as the friendship begins in drunken excess and poetic license. The film follows all of the band members on their rocky road to promising stardom, witnessing as a video diary their collective drug abuse, violent on-stage antics, partying, arrests, death threats and love fests. It's compelling to watch such real-life people act in such larger-than-life kind of mentalities, when all of their talents usually end up in frustration and unfulfilled tragedy. This is what "Behind The Music" was all about, and unfortunately it's not around anymore either. It's ironic too, in that this film is trying to document each bands rise to fame, and when one band (the Warhols) seem to "sell out" in their friends' (Massacre) eyes...nothing is more bittersweet than their subsequent encounters with each other over the years...ultimately showcased in this very documentary on a large screen for them to become famous (or infamous) all over again. That's deep man...you should write a song about it, and sell out. Ultimately I wasn't overly impressed with the film...as it at times just seems to go through the motions of life and a petering out of a relationship. While documentaries will seem to always fascinate, these bands are just passe.

3 out of 5 stars