The Sparks Brothers

On Tuesday 'The Sparks Brothers' took in $32,770 for a 5 day total of $341,595 in 534 theaters. Not bad in the post Covid age. 534 theaters are probably 5 times it would have opened in before Covid. The film got booked in may more places that it would have. I saw it at City Place in White Plins NY that in the past would never have booked an 'arthouse' documentary. The Rita Moreno doc is also playing there.[/QUOTE]


It probably won't make its money back though I doubt Edgar cares as it was a Labour of love.

 

Honestly, it's weird that you care.

 

Did it at least confirm that they’re actually brothers?

 

I'm with Veronica, can't help but wonder if it's going to make money when the theater was almost empty. Somehow it got a second weekend at my theater.

 

You, sir, have made me laugh!
and, I thank you.

 

One of Ron's funniest reactions is in answer to that very question!

 

It's in the trailer.

Q: Are you brothers?
A: We are brothers.
Q: How did you first meet?
A: We are brothers.

 

That's the first time I've heard that Sparks cover of I Want to Hold Your Hand.

I kind of like it. I mean, sure, it's intentionally playing against the brash top 40-ism of the Beatles' original. And I can't be sure if it's meant ironically. But it's at worst interesting.

 

Police Squad called. They want their joke back!

 

Never heard of 'em.

I had to google it to find out if it's fiction.

 

I definitely want to see it again on Blu and show my wife this under appreciated group.

 

There was so much to cover--50 years!!

I enjoyed every minute while I was watching it.

In retrospect, I wish it could have dug a little deeper into some of their lyrics. I have always maintained that the Mael Brothers were too damn smart for rock n' roll. If they had instead focused on writing songs for Broadway, they would be getting their Kennedy Center Awards right about now.

I loved seeing the interviews with Muff Winwood and Tony Visconti. (I would argue that "Indiscreet" is their best album, and "It Ain't 1918" made a statement in 1975 about refusal to change that anticipated the next 40 years of FM Album Rock Radio.

Also loved the discussion on the Propaganda album artwork. Yes, what a great concept/story--all in the visuals. Love the phone off the hook, it just says so much.

I could have gone for more information on the Lil' Beethoven album. What a brilliant work that was. Songs like "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" (or the earlier "Looks, Looks, Looks") convey some of life's more brutal realities, and make you laugh as they do so.

Since Ron's (I've always called it a "Chaplin") mustache was discussed, I think there should have been something on the change in style. A short film of the earlier one being shaved (with some fanfare) was shown at the start of one of their shows at the Whiskey, around the time of Angst In My Pants.

Also: The early albums with the line, "Fan Club Secretary: Mary Martin" No mention of that. There's a story I'd like to hear about.

 

"Mary Martin" was a pseudonym for their mom, who really did run their fan club.

 

That's the only fan club I ever joined! Maybe I have some of those old newsletters in a box somewhere. And Kimono My House is the only album I ever wore out and had to replace.
When I saw FFS in Philadelphia, Ron came out on stage after the show to reveal the little-known fact that their father was from Philly.

 

That answers that question.

Since their songs were so clever, I always imagined that the Mary Martin--the one who played Peter Pan and was also Larry Hagman's mom--somehow knew the Mael brothers and wanted to promote them by listing herself as their biggest fan.

 

I'm not 100% sure but didn't Mary pass away?

 

I just read Mary Martin was a pseudonym used by their mother who ran their fan club!

 

When I saw The Thing in the cinema in 1982 I was all by myself. It was great
Seeing as there’s no chance of seeing it on the cinema round here I’ll def be getting the Blu Ray of the Sparks film.

 

I liked the segment that covered the 2008 series of shows in London where they performed all their albums, in order of release.

The amount of work that it took to re-learn and rehearse every one of their songs (including B-sides!) from their entire catalog makes the whole project an unbelievable feat.

That event alone could have been the subject of a documentary feature.

 

Great comment, although possibly Tim Burton got evil villain status for stringing the guys along for 6 years re the Maya script then bailing out.

 

If this were a Hollywood movie, the actual villain would wear a cape and mask and be called "Turnaround."

They didn't know how the game was played, which is that you do nothing on spec.

 

The Pet Shop Boys comment was interesting. Apparently Neil Tennant has never acknowledged the influence of Sparks on their music. But I see Vince Clarke and Andy Bell of Erasure did appear in the movie.

 

I didn't know about it until I saw the film! Unfortunately, they barely mentioned the album that was being promoted at that time, "Exotic Creatures of the Deep", which is one of my favorite latter day Sparks albums.

 

It's still open here in Kansas City, and we'll see it again tomorrow.

 

I saw it at noon two days ago. There was one other guy in there, who left just as they were discussing the recording of Kimono My House. (!!)

What kind of Sparks fan would do that??

He came back awhile later, and left not long after that. My guess is that he had a Regal pass that let him see anything and everything.

So I had the place to myself. Since it was my first time going to the movies since Covid, that was OK.

In retrospect, it didn't occur to me that I could have stood up and danced if I wanted to!