We guarantee watching this will make you dive into their back catalogue on Spotify.
Just some of the artists and celebrities who appear during the documentary we’re talking about: Mike Myers, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bjork, New Order, Mark Gatiss, Erasure, Sex Pistols, Jason Schwartzman, Franz Ferdinand, Weird Al Yankovic, Sonic Youth, Jonathan Ross…
You know when that many people come on to a movie to discuss how much they love your music, then you’re on to a winner, and that is exactly the case with The Sparks Brothers.
Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), with some hilarious cameos by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the documentary dives into almost mystical history of Ron Mael and Russell Mael, aka Sparks, who are often referred to as the greatest band practically nobody has heard of.
The movie was released in cinemas here in July 2021 – aka when everyone was actively avoiding cinemas – so it’s arrival on the streaming platform should guarantee a much bigger audience for the critically acclaimed documentary, which currently has 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here are just some of the reviews that the movie received upon its release:
The Playlist – “Transmitting such a deep and moving paean of a band, the music they’ve created, the complex humans behind it, and bow-down respect for the long-haul resilience they’ve demonstrated over years of ups and downs, Wright presents a movie like a superdeluxe mixtape gift, adorned with loving attention to detail, gorgeous artwork, footnotes, and other bells and whistles, that is extremely easy to fall head over heels for regardless of your conversant knowledge of the band or its odd, but catchy music.”
RogerEbert.com – “Once again, Edgar Wright has proven himself to be the master of whimsical filmmaking. Never I have seen a documentary as fun as Wright’s The Sparks Brothers, which is thrilling from beginning to end.”
Los Angeles Times – “If you care about Sparks, this movie is heaven, a long-overdue answer to the group’s 1994 song ‘When Do I Get to Sing “My Way”.’ (With this doc, Ron and Russell have to feel, at least a little bit, “like Sinatra felt.”) If you don’t know about Sparks, Wright has created an introduction that gleefully demolishes any barrier you might think you have toward their music.”
SlashFilm – “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 favourite musical acts.”
The Sparks Brothers is available to watch on Netflix right now.
Clip via SPARKS
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