Band of Outsiders

If you’ve ever seen Of Montreal live, you know that the band’s stage show is a lot like a live action acid trip with tons of costumes, prop monsters, live horses, nudity, and raw emotion. That’s why it’s no wonder that someone, namely director Jason Miller, wanted to go behind...

By Heather Hoch

August 7, 2014

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If you’ve ever seen Of Montreal live, you know that the band’s stage show is a lot like a live action acid trip with tons of costumes, prop monsters, live horses, nudity, and raw emotion. That’s why it’s no wonder that someone, namely director Jason Miller, wanted to go behind the madness to get at the core of the band, which he does in The Past Is a Grotesque Animal.

It’d be easy to compare this movie to Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Dig!, but really the constantly morphing line-up of the prolific indie band is a beast all on its own. Fans will bounce from trying to justify lead singer Kevin Barnes’ cutthroat, self-centered band practices by citing his genius, but you can’t help but wonder if it all came back to him in the end.

Of Montreal gets dissected in The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, screening at FilmBar at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 12, and again at the same time on Thursday, August 14. Tickets are $9 for the screening and can be found, along with more information, at www.thefilmbarphx.com.

Tue., Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m., 2014

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