'The Sparks Brothers' Clip Gives You A Look At Edgar Wright's New Music Documentary
Edgar Wright's return to narrative features, Last Night in Soho, is set to arrive later this year. But that's not the only thing the Baby Driver filmmaker has up his sleeve. He also has The Sparks Brothers, a documentary about the pop-rock band Sparks. Wright's doc has a cavalcade of famous faces turning up to sing the band's praises, and in a snappy, fast-paced clip you can watch below, Wright's interview subjects can't stop talking about how unique Sparks were when they burst onto the scene in the late 1970s.
The Sparks Brothers Clip
Here is the part of the story where I tell you I'm not really familiar with Sparks. But lots of other people are, and they're on-hand for The Sparks Brothers, a new documentary from director Edgar Wright. Beck, Patton Oswalt, Jason Schwartzman, Mike Myers, Fred Armisen, Neil Gaiman, Bjork, and many, many more people sat down to talk about the band with Wright.
Here's the film's synopsis:
How can one rock band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked all at the same time? Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Russell & Ron Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band's favorite band.
The Sparks Brothers had its premiere at Sundance this year, with the Sundance entry adding even more insight into what Wright has cooked up here:
Sparks is your favorite band's favorite band, and soon to be yours too. Whether or not you're aware of it, Sparks likely had a hand in something you're fond of. This is a band that has been in the background of almost every art form across the last 50 years. Growing up in the '60s, Los Angeles brothers Ron and Russell got by on a heavy diet of popcorn matinees and pop music until the spotlight of school talent shows illuminated their way on a musical journey that has so far spawned 25 studio albums.
Wright's spirited vision brings five decades of invention to life through nutty animations and interviews with a who's who of cool, and by digging deeply into the band's rich, career-spanning archival. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, this charming love letter to innovation, music, and two rebel artists just might make this the biggest year yet for the brothers named Sparks.
Reviewing the film at Sundance this year, /Film's Ethan Anderton wrote:
"The Sparks Brothers follows in the footsteps of many music documentaries that came before it. But with Edgar Wright behind the camera (and occasionally in front of it), this portrait of Sparks is just as lighthearted and delightful as the music you'll be tapping your toe to throughout the entire movie. As soon as the movie is over, you'll probably be adding Sparks songs to your streaming playlists and hoping that this won't be the last time that Edgar Wright feels compelled to give us a deep dive into one of his favorite musical acts."
There's no official release date for The Sparks Brothers just yet. In fact, the doc doesn't even have a distributor. But with Wright's name attached it's only a matter of time before that changes, and I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up on a streaming service soon.