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Dig!
Palm Pictures
MUSIC:
MPAA RATING:
Starring
Anton Newcombe,
Courtney Taylor-Taylor,
Joel Gion,
Matt Hollywood,
Peter Holmstrom,
Zia McCabe,
Brent DeBoer, Eric Hedford,
and
Dean Taylor
Dig! is a feature-length documentary shot over seven years about musicians Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, head of the Dandy Warhols, star crossed friends and bitter rivals. (Palm Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Ondi Timoner
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Ondi Timoner
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 12, 2005
Theatrical: October 1, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Grand Jury Prize (Documentary), 2004 Sundance Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Joel Selvin
Remarkable rockumentary.
100
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It's a teeming, steaming, bubbling stew, a tremendous good time, a rich entertainment and a heck of a lesson in music, human etiquette and the politics of making it (or not) in show biz.
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
What makes the movie powerful is Timoner's decision to structure it via Taylor's perspective on his competitor, with no holds barred.
100
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The result is one of the most unforgiving ground-level documentaries about the music business ever made -- the six-string equivalent of "Hoop Dreams."
100
Empire
Steve O'Hagan
A vibrant and vivid documentary masterwork, DiG! will have you celebrating independent filmmaking while lamenting the state of independent music-making.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The fascination of Dig! is that it invites those of us who aren't alt-rock obsessives into the hive, yet it never feels like a dilettante's tour.
90
Slate
James Barber
The movie has become a kind of highway-safety film for the rock community.
89
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
There's a genuine sense of loss when dreams go unrealized, and in these moments Dig! transcends the typical "rock movie" format and aspires to something greater: an examination of why we create and what we receive from art.
88
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
DiG! is raw, just as the band members themselves.
88
Chicago Tribune
Allison Benedikt
Anton, because after watching your tantrums, abuse and addiction in DIG! I went straight to the record store to buy your music. And that's something.
88
New York Daily News
Robert Dominguez
A riveting rock documentary.
80
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
Should be required viewing for youngsters thinking about a music career. It's a great reminder to be careful what you wish for.
80
Variety
Dennis Harvey
The terrific DIG! offers a unique chance to watch two classic rock band scenarios unfold simultaneously.
80
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
The no-frills documentary also makes it clear that Newcombe is the real deal -- both supremely gifted and organically nuts.
80
Film Threat
Tim Merrill
Fascinating, horrifying and hilarious.
80
Newsweek
David Ansen
It's like a spectacular roadside accident: you can't turn away.
80
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The video is narrated by Taylor, who magnanimously presents Newcombe as a Byronic hero, but ultimately proves that the pursuit of success and the pursuit of cool can be equally pointless.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
Captures the infantile fantasies of rock 'n' roll's self-made messiahs with an honesty that is rare in today's MTV world of promotional entertainment.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Timoner offers a resonant, often painfully funny, drama about two good friends who become enemies against the backdrop of the pop-music business.
75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
A hip eye-opener.
70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
It's a fascinating film that manages to touch on subjects as diverse as mental illness and what's wrong with the record industry, set to brilliant music by the one of the best bands you've probably never heard.
70
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
If universities ever start graduate programs in rock stardom, Dig! will surely be a cornerstone of the curriculum, for it works as both an instruction manual and a cautionary tale.
63
Premiere
Aaron Hillis
DiG! never delves deep enough to act as a true cautionary tale. It's an amusingly drunken PBS-worthy human-interest doc, unless you're too old or not cool enough to have played in the embarrassing hipster zoo, in which case DiG! may be the closest you'll ever get to the uncaged animals.
60
The Hollywood Reporter
James Greenberg
May not be for all tastes, but it's an up close and personal look at a true rock 'n' roll animal.
60
Village Voice
Laura Sinagra
These flashes push Dig! beyond recording-industry kvetch, causing it to stay with you longer than either band's ephemeral music.
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
By giving Taylor the last word, Dig! becomes little more than a self-serving, unconvincing infomercial for a musician who comes across as functional and bearable only when compared to his counterpart.
50
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
Whether or not you like this film may depend on how much interest (or patience) you have for the antics of a self-proclaimed prophet.
30
Washington Post
Richard Harrington
Ultimately undermined by the fact that the two rock bands Timoner chose to focus on -- the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols -- simply don't matter as much as she thinks they do.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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