DiG!
2004 Directed by Ondi Timoner
Synopsis
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.
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Anton Newcombe should have been a rockstar. He's one of the great musical minds of his generation and if there were any musical justic in the world, he'd be a household name. But he isn't. This movie tells the story of how that happened.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this documentary tells two stories gathered over seven years and 1500 hours of footage. It contrasts the successes and failures of two bands that are destined (or so it seems) for stardom. The stories fit so well not just because of how well they know each other personally and all of the drama that goes with that, but also because of the fundamentally different approaches these two bands…
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As ragged as you'd expect any movie whittled down from 1,500 hours of footage of rock-star wankery to be, but hilarious as a real-life Spinal Tap about the excesses of the almost famous and fascinating as a window into the mid-to-late '90s "alternative rock" scene. More to come in this week's "Watch This" entry on Friday.
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Now I'm a pretty easy going guy. But never before have I wanted to punch anyone square in the face more than this Anton guy.
What an Oxygen Thief. Good film though.
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Como documental sobre las veleidades de las estrellas del rock apunta alto y tiene logros indiscutibles, pero se enfrenta a un obstáculo muy grave para mi gusto: la música que hacen los grupos reflejados es una basura indecente, repugnante y monjil. La contemplación de la caída de estos perdedores en el infierno de los celos, las drogas y el desvarío público tiene algo de placer malvado, al estar viendo las aflicciones de gente que me parece despreciable, y como tal el documental es potente y se pasa en un suspiro, pero al final la cosa no es ni más ni menos que como ver un episodio de Gandía Shore. Solo que la banda sonora de Gandía Shore es mejor.
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Now currently re-re-re obsessed with The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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"Is that blood?"
"Yeah."
"From where?"
"From peoples faces!"Possibly the best doco ever. I feel like I know the Brian Jonestown Massacre after watching around seven years worth of footage. I've seen The Dandy Warhols play before and even though I did enjoy most of their set, I couldn't help but think of this because even though Courtney Taylor narrates the evens that unfold, he still comes off as an arrogant douche, with quotes like "I sneeze and hits come out."
Unbeleivably candid we get to see pretty much everything from Joel Gion (a man so cooked he only plays tamborine) snorting drugs and putting detergent up his butt, to Matt Hollywoods many tantrums against Anton. Which leads us…
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As ragged as you'd expect any movie whittled down from 1,500 hours of footage of rock-star wankery to be, but hilarious as a real-life Spinal Tap about the excesses of the almost famous and fascinating as a window into the mid-to-late '90s "alternative rock" scene. More to come in this week's "Watch This" entry on Friday.
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Como documental sobre las veleidades de las estrellas del rock apunta alto y tiene logros indiscutibles, pero se enfrenta a un obstáculo muy grave para mi gusto: la música que hacen los grupos reflejados es una basura indecente, repugnante y monjil. La contemplación de la caída de estos perdedores en el infierno de los celos, las drogas y el desvarío público tiene algo de placer malvado, al estar viendo las aflicciones de gente que me parece despreciable, y como tal el documental es potente y se pasa en un suspiro, pero al final la cosa no es ni más ni menos que como ver un episodio de Gandía Shore. Solo que la banda sonora de Gandía Shore es mejor.
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Crazy documentary - didn't like the movie or indeed the characters, but the doc was a fascinating look at the ego of bands
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Duele aunque las bandas den mucho asco, cada una a su manera.
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While the driving complaint of most notices seems to be the lack of music played in whole, song length form, I'd argue just the opposite: The movie works as a bangin' intro to both bands, one whose music is a sappy pop pretending to be indie and one who is pretty much the rebirth of a druggier (is this possible?) Rolling Stones. Courtney, our humble narrator - who belongs to the Dandy Warhols, popular in Europe because a cell phone company attached a song of theirs to it's commercial - spends most of the movie in doublespeak, brandishing an obsession with The Brian Jonestown Massacre (the cool band) while simultaneously critiquing (not always outwardly) their trouble prone front man Anton…
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Now currently re-re-re obsessed with The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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Anton Newcombe should have been a rockstar. He's one of the great musical minds of his generation and if there were any musical justic in the world, he'd be a household name. But he isn't. This movie tells the story of how that happened.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this documentary tells two stories gathered over seven years and 1500 hours of footage. It contrasts the successes and failures of two bands that are destined (or so it seems) for stardom. The stories fit so well not just because of how well they know each other personally and all of the drama that goes with that, but also because of the fundamentally different approaches these two bands…
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An up close & at times hilarious look into a world of musicians who's egos, drug habits & mental health issues are far greater than their talent...