The Shaggs - The Movie (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

According to The Shaggs' official website (yes, there is such a thing), a Shaggs movie is in the works! Actually, it's supposed to have started filming this past March, but I don't know if that came to pass. Katherine Dieckmann is credited as the screenwriter (her IMDb page shows she has written and directed one movie), and it's to be released through Artisan. I hope this comes to pass. I'll go see it. It could be a Rocky kind of movie with a lot of heart. You should see it, too. Foot Foot would want you to.

 

[Greg_S_H]

No information is given, but it's my understanding that actors will portray them.

 

[Vickie_M]

The Shaggs are in a major revival. A new play is starting in Chicago (brought from Los Angeles). Not a revival as a band, but as an "experience." I learned about them in 1988, and I used to play them on my radio show (very sparingly).

They're very easy to make fun of because they really are truly terrible, but it's still a good story, so I hope the movie does them justice and doesn't just poke fun at them.

Here's a nice article from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Totally wiggin': 'Philosophy of the World' in the key of originality

 

[Greg_S_H]

They seem to be involved, so I doubt if they'll be raked over the coals. To tell you the truth, the music really does grow on you.

 

[Steve Felix]

I also like The Shaggs since their attempted music is so complex while being the least pretentious stuff ever recorded. But if I recall Susan Orlean's New Yorker article correctly, there isn't an uplifting end to this story. (Yes, they're famous now, but only in the sense that Ed Wood is famous!) It's sort of the anti-Ed Wood story: they ended up with entertaining material because they were so uninterested in their medium, while Wood did it by being desperately in love with his medium. It could be Hollywoodized easily, but under a good director it could be great, as Ed Wood almost is. I'm looking forward to it!