Film: The Sparks Brothers
“To watch The Sparks Brothers is to listen to a superfan corner you at a party and evangelize about a favorite band with all the verve of a street preacher,” said Clint Worthington in Consequence.net. Director Edgar Wright’s “giddy” new music documentary celebrates California-born Ron and Russell Mael, who as the band Sparks have been making cheeky yet influential art pop since 1967. Never heard of them? Beck, Mike Myers, Weird Al Yankovic, Fred Armisen, and Flea are among the more celebrated artists who appear to extol Sparks for their pranksterism and musical innovation. The movie becomes “an exhaustive (at times too exhaustive) primer.” Still, “if you’ve only sort-of heard of Sparks, The Sparks Brothers is a great place to begin,” said Stephanie Zacharek in Time.com. “If you’re already a fan, you’ll go nuts for it. And if you’re like me, you’ll never lose track of Sparks again.”
(In theaters only)