The Sparks Brothers

or, sing along, as loud as you wanted!

 

Singing “When I’m With You” aloud to an empty theatre is a delicious irony!

 

I just bought a bunch of $3 movie tickets at Costco to AMC, Regal, and Showcase Cinemas. Today, I looked to see if the Sparks documentary was playing at any of them.

Of course not. Those theaters are all showing the same 8 mostly crappy Hollywood big releases. If I want to watch F9, they all have me covered, though...

Oh well...

 

The Sparks documentary is playing tomorrow at the AMC theatre in Danvers, MA, where I saw it last weekend

 

Interesting. OK. Maybe it's just the ones near me that play only hits...Hmmm...Thanks for the tip!

 

You're welcome. It will be playing in the Danvers Liberty Tree Mall AMC until June 30th at 4:20 & 7:45 PM.

 

This was distributed by Universal, right???
That MAY mean that it'll show up on HBO, in about a half-a-year........maybe.....

 

Some contrarianism to shake things up - here’s an article by a Variety critic who liked everything about the movie except Sparks’ music:
‘The Sparks Brothers’ Raises the Question: Are We Allowed Not to Like Sparks? (Column)

 

From the article:
"25 albums in search of a hook."

ouch!

 

The **** does this guy think a hook even is?

One reason my wife is such a Sparks fan, and I agree, is they know how to turn repetition into a hook. It's been since Lil Beethoven that they've really gone full-bore into that idea ("My Baby's Taking Me Home" is the natural culmination), but even as early as "Wonder Girl," this was a major factor in their music.

There are many reasons not to like Sparks. The voice, the lyrics, the synthesizers, the look, whatever. Suggesting "lack of hooks" as one is just ****ing stupid.

 

I think the three songs he picked are from the shallow end of Sparks' pool.

If those are his favorites, he doesn't really "get" Sparks.

 

Complete nonsense. He's entitled to his opinion but Kimono through Big Bear is full of hooks. They had plenty of hit singles in the UK and in Europe.

 

It might be playing in t least one of your local AMC theaters. I'd visit their website and search by your ZIP code.

 

I saw this today, first movie in a theatre since Pixar's Onward.

Love the band. I'm a "2nd phase Sparks" fan more than any other phase, but I also really liked FFS.

I liked the movie, but it ultimately feel more like a hagiography to me - which is fine - I think I just no longer like documentaries anymore - it's not this one that's done it.
Too much talking about the band and not enough of the story of the band. I wish the brothers talked more.

 

Shockingly, the film is going to be in theaters for another week! The AMC Studio 28 is still showing it this weekend.

 

One of the best part about the transition from 35mm film to digital distribution is that, since they no longer have to make physical prints, tiny little films like this can play in multiple fields. And they can move the "film" from one auditorium to another with no hassle.

Back in the bad old days, they would have to make multiple prints, costing thousands of dollars in weighing as much as 100 lbs, ship that to theaters, where someone would have to assemble all of the reels onto a platter, and moving it from one screen to another would take hours.

So I love that tiny little films like this have the opportunity to appear on hundreds of screens.

 

Amazon wants 20 dollars to rent it

 

To be fair I don’t think that’s Amazon’s choice. That being said, if you’re a fan and haven’t seen it and can’t wait for the physical release, it’s worth it.

 

Watched at home - I liked it much more on the small screen - can't say why.

 

I can't wait to watch it. I love Sparks! But I do believe charging $20 online is a bit extreme. Why would I pay at home more than it would cost me to see it on the big screen? Over time I am sure the price will go down, but not sure how long I will hold out. Does anyone know when it gets a release date to purchase? I can't imagine it would be much more than $20.

The article that says they have 25 albums searching for a hook is absolutely ridiculous. Their entire career is filled with them. Not many bands in the history of music can claim to be this consistent in quality for 50 years!

 

North American tour was announced today. Looking forward to St. Paul.

February 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Walt Disney Concert Hall
February 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Walt Disney Concert Hall
March 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
March 13 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
March 14 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
March 15 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
March 18 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre
March 19 – Chicago, IL @ Copernicus Center
March 21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
March 22 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
March 24 – Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival*
March 25 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
March 26 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
March 28 – New York, NY @ The Town Hall
March 30 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Shubert Theatre
April 1 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
April 2 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre

 

Too bad we moved to Kansas City, as we were only a short bus ride from this venue on Lawrence Avenue.

 

Which also finally explains this 2001 song for me:

 

I had 2 Vancouver theaters play it. Socially distanced 10% capacity pricing is $15/head, the average year I only see 1-2 movies in theater, so I will spend $30 on a Blu ray rather than 2 tickets. I am under the impression the blu will be skimpy on bonus stuff, even if a commentary track is low hanging fruit.

Happy for success and look forward to the show here in March. Saw them Coachella about a decade ago and think I can see myself in those crowd shots from that webstream. Must be biggest US tour in nearly 40 years, 45 years as a headliner.

 

For the most part it's a great overview of their career. Because it's so thorough, it's also ****-numbingly long. I could have used an old-fashioned intermission for a stretch and a wee. Not many people in. I counted 23.

Sparks have released many (in my opinion) forgettable albums, yet a non-event like the 'Balls' received just as much screen time as 'Propaganda'. Seems somehow wrong but that's the way the brothers wanted the director to go.
Loads of footage I'd never seen before.
I'll be getting the dvd when it comes out. I guess that's where they'll make their money.

Apart from the mega-successful 'English' years, my favourite part of the documentary was the work they did with Giorgio Moroder. I never knew it was a happy accident.