DIG!
| Dig! | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Ondi Timoner |
| Produced by | Ondi Timoner |
| Written by | Ondi Timoner |
| Starring |
Anton Newcombe Courtney Taylor-Taylor |
| Cinematography | Vasco Nunes David Timoner Ondi Timoner |
| Edited by | Ondi Timoner |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Palm Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
107 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $127,067 |
Dig! is a documentary film directed by Ondi Timoner, and produced by Timoner, Vasco Nunes and David Timoner. Compiled from seven years of footage, it contrasts the developing careers and love–hate relationship of the bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the bands' respective frontmen Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Anton Newcombe. It won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
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. 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."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". 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". 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.
The story also leaves one with the impression, by using Courtney as a voice over, that The Brian Jonestown Massacre were no longer a band. There was no update regarding Anton at the time of release.
The film was generally very well-received critically. It currently has an approval rating of 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 69 reviews.BBC Movies called it "Erratic, tragic, and absolutely hilarious: Dig! is fantastic filmmaking" that "works as both a savagely funny rockumentary and a sardonic comment on the politics of selling out."Empire gave the film five stars out of five.
...
Wikipedia