While V stayed in the city after work for shenanigans with Jenz, i came home to feed Tara and contemplated my evening. I toyed with the idea of catching the 7pm showing of Steven Spielberg's Munich in San Mateo, but a quick check of the traffic report and assessment of my energy convinced me to relax at home. I had some leftover pizza for dinner then made a pot of coffee, set myself up in pajamas under a blanket on our armchair, and made it movie night.

First up was a DVD i got for Christmas from my sister Hilary. Dig! is a documentary concerning the rise of the Dandy Warhols and the fall of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The former rode to indie stardom and European commercial success, while the latter squandered their talent amidst endless internal squabbles. Having come of age when the Dandys were just releasing their first album (i remember being invited to a house party they played in SF circa 1996), and when the BJM was a San Francisco standard/circus, this was right up my alley. In fact, i was surprised to see an old friend playing guitar for the BJM in older footage ... and to see his exit from the band as he and head BJM lunatic Anton Newcombe got into a roll-on-the-floor fistfight during an industry showcase gig.

Let me say from the outset that i never really rated the Dandys after they signed to Capitol Records and left their older, less commercial roots behind. Having disclosed that, i found the movie a bit oddly constructed. It was apparently conceived and directed by an independent filmmaker (as evidenced by the early footage where she approaches BJM centerpiece Anton Newcombe), but is narrated by head Dandy Courtney Taylor. This omnipresence of the Dandys' viewpoint flavors the entire film. In truth, the BJM is way more interesting than the Dandys. Anton is the classic rock'n'roll tragedy, a tortured genius à la Syd Barrett who emerges with a revolutionary vision but can't find the common ground needed to convey it to the masses. He is in a sense admirable for steadfastly (and violently) refusing to adjust his thinking to allow mass consumption. Granted, he's got massive problems with substance abuse and mental illness, but that doesn't change the fact that he uncompromisingly made brilliant and groundbreaking music. On the other hand, the Dandy Warhols emerged from Oregon, made a good/great indie record (Dandy's Rule, OK?), then signed to a major label and lived the rock star life producing album after album of ho hum cheeky rock/pop. What's interesting about that story?

The ongoing debate of the film lies in the friendship and competition between the two bands ... who stole what from who, who maintained their credibility, etc. Courtney wants you to believe that the Dandys signed to Capitol and unwillingly went along with their formula for mainstream success, letting the label pick their singles and make $400,000 videos of them directed by Dave Lachapelle. The band didn't want to, but this was how they were going to get their music out. Of course later you see footage of Lachapelle relating an argument he had with Courtney where the Dandys frontman screamed at him, demanding they reshoot his closeups. Courtney's narration in the second half of the film, as the Dandys achieve commercial success in Europe, becomes increasingly pompous as he talks about how fast their records are selling. They celebrate their stable upbringings, stating "we're the most well-adjusted band in America". Meanwhile the BJM fights, reworks its lineup, fights some more, makes tons of great albums on shoestring budgets, and flirts with success before sabotaging itself. Anton claims "i am not for sale". The music is there, but the stability is not. Anton and Courtney, close friends from the beginning, initiate a rivalry that the BJM quickly takes past the tolerance of the Dandy Warhols and their burgeoning rock star attitudes. The song "Not If You Were the Last Dandy On Earth", released on the BJM's 1997 album Give It Back!, is an obvious swipe at the Dandys and their hit earlier that year "Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth". The non-Courtney Dandys express a lack of indulgence for Anton's antics, comments that ooze pretension and judgement. Keyboardist Zia McCabe amazingly remarks "they actually did the drugs we were singing about", a comment that sums up the Dandys distance from rock'n'roll. Guitarist Peter Holmstrom comments on how the members of BJM never seem to be able to have a home, a car, and a career at the same time. The Dandys increasingly become occupied with measuring their success in material terms, and distancing themselves from the rock'n'roll mentality and way of life that they supposedly embody. The key scene occurs when the Dandys stage an unannounced visit to the BJM's LA house/squat to conduct a photo shoot. It was ostensibly Courtney's brilliant idea, but as the BJM's Matt Hollywood remarks, it's obvious they did it to make it look like they were living this crazy lifestyle and partying like mad.

That observation makes me think that Courtney, who obviously respects Anton's impenetrable genius, has decided to attach himself to it in an attempt to gain some kind of artistic credibility. It failed, for me at any rate. At the close of the film, Dandys guitarist Peter lambasts Anton for his failed musical revolution, claiming that in order to lead a revolution you have to emerge from the underground and get your message out. True enough, although i would say that the act of emerging from the underground is not more important than maintaining the ideals of the revolution. What artistic causes have the Dandy Warhols inspired? Still thinking? So am i. Meanwhile, Anton's colleagues have gone on to form B.R.M.C. and the Warlocks, and have produced bands from the Lilys to Beachwood Sparks. He has inspired a revolution, shaping the face of U.S. indie rock despite his personal lack of success.

All i know is that Take It From the Man! is one goddamn brilliant album, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre encapsulates a time in my life when everything was vibrant, friends were everywhere, and crazy shit happened.

i wish that you could see
you stay the same as you have always been
'cause you're wonderful
you live in a lie 'cause it makes you happy
you do what you like, if you want you can ask me
what i know is i never knew nothing
so i know that i need to learn
where to go? oh wo wo wo

Phew!

Well after taking copious notes on the first feature of the evening, i switched off the DVD player and fired up Roman Polanski's 1974 film noir homage Chinatown on the tivo. I put down the notepad for this and instead immersed myself in the twisting thriller. The story and acting are excellent. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in particular put in enthralling performances. This is the kind of tale that Hollywood just doesn't make anymore, a thinking man's movie that doesn't beat you over the head with clues and presents a realistic ending that doesn't cater to the industry's current "good guys finish first" ideal. Although the depressing climax didn't really put me in a cheery mood for bedtime.

Tara and i hit the hay around 12:30am, me sufficiently contented with my evening's viewing.