Courier-Journal's Dig! Review
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Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)
at Sundance Film Festival
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This explosive rock fable of two egotistical
musicians, their bands and the record industry they
hope to rule is very well-directed by Ondi Timoner
(technical kudos for the crisp live audio as well).
Timoner spent much of the last seven years inside the
world of Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM) and the Dandy
Warhols (DW), two bands steeped in '60s regalia and
tonal infusion. Anton Newcombe is the puppet master
for BJM ("I don't do things wrong; that's why I don't
apologize") and Courtney Taylor "writes everything"
for DW, justifying his large take of the band's
income. The two start out at friends and fans of each
other's work. But as DW gets signed by Capitol,
Newcombe sabotages all of BJM's amazing chances for
success. This film is a great "what-not-to-do" primer
for bands wanting to get their record company's
support, but more so, it's a tragic portrait of a
great talent, Anton Newcombe, who today is an asterisk
(for now) in the rock annals, while Taylor is a rock
star.
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