Missed Bruce McDonald's "This Movie Is Broken" — his quasi Broken Social Scene concert doc cum narrative drama — when it blipped into U.S. theaters for a second in early September?
While Canadians got a deeper shot at seeing the film earlier this summer, non-Canucks and the rest of the globe will have a second shot at seeing the film next year.
FilmBuff has picked up worldwide (minus Canada) digital, Video On Demand and TV rights for the film and are aiming to release it on all digital platforms starting March 2011. Here's the film's synopsis:
Unbelievable! Bruno (Greg Calderone) wakes up in bed next to Caroline (Georgina Reilly, who starred in McDonald's zombie film, "Pontypool"), his long time crush. But tomorrow she's off for school in France, and maybe she only granted this miracle as a parting gift for her long time friend. So tonight -- tonight is Bruno's last chance. And tonight, as it happens, Broken Social Scene, her favourite band, is throwing a big outdoor bash. Maybe if Bruno, with the help of his best pal Blake (Kerr Hewitt), can score tickets and give Caroline a night to remember, he can keep this miracle alive.
We praised the unique film in our SXSW review, calling it "marvelously chaotic" and featuring a love story that moves "from conventional to unconventional at unexpected moments." Having seen it too, this writer will tell you it's really imbued with a drunken exhilaration and the BSS performances captured are top notch.
The perennially busy McDonald just released the trailer for his new documentary, "Music From The Big House," and saw his latest feature, "Trigger," debut at the Toronto Film Festival. That's essentially three films released in one year, not bad. McDonald recently directed "My Babysitter's A Vampire," a made-for-TV family film that he says "takes the piss out of the Twilight thing.” Last, but not least, the filmmaker also has an untitled "Hardcore Logo" sequel already in the can and last we heard was getting ready to shoot the women's prison martial arts film, "Lucky Ho."
Alright, to keep it brief. You've already seen the soundtrack tracklist, you've heard some of the music and you know that Broken Social Scene wrote the score, plus some original songs for Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's upcoming coming-of-age dramedy, "It's Kind Of A Funny Story" which stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis and on-the-rise starlet Emma Stone.
The soundtrack does feature contemporary indie bands like The Wowz, Pink Mountaintops, The Middle East, '80s punk from The Damned, A Pixies' cover on piano (Maxence Cyrin's "Where Is My Mind"), soul R&B funk from Little Denise (the awesome "Check Me Out") and Egyptian funk (RachidTaha's "Habina") to name a few.
But music is an integral part of the film and there's much much more. Indie-rockers will be happy to hear the name-check mention of Vampire Weekend, plus use of The xx, The Drums and Dead Oceans, classicists will enjoy the mentions of Dylan, the standout use of Queen/Bowie, Black Sabbath, hip-hop heads will dig the Common and Method Man trainspotting and deep cut soul enthusiast will surely love the appearances of Kenny Smith, the aforementioned Little Denise, Lil` Lavair and The Fabulous Jades ("Cold Heat"). There's plenty of music in the film and it's all well utilized. Anywhoo, if you're curious. All the music is listed below. The soundtrack dropped on Tuesday (September 28 via Rhino Records) and the film hits theaters October 8. All The Music Featured In "It's Kind Of A Funny Story" “Chameleon” - Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning “No Smiling Darkness/Snake Charmers Association” - Broken Social Scene “Weddings” - Broken Social Scene “Ambulance For The Ambience”- Broken Social Scene “Millionaire” - Izza Kizza “Busy Shoppers” - Len Stevens “Let’s Go Surfing” -The Drums “Smash It Up” - The Damned “Happy Today” -- The WoWz “Tourist In Your Town” - Pink Mountaintops “Icarus” - Dead Oceans “Intro” - The xx “The Breaks” -Kurtis Blow “2-4-6-8 Motorway” - The Tom Robinson Band “Murderous Assault” -Harry Lubin “Don’t Forget Your Torch” --Jon Durnie Brooks “Soledad” - Pharoah Sanders “Where You Go” - Elden Calder “Beym Rebin’s Sude” --Robin Jeffrey and Roddy Skeaping “Under Pressure” --Queen & David Bowie “The Ills” --Mayer Hawthorne “Da Rockwilder” --Method Man and Redman “Lost In The Galaxy” --Harry Lubin “Where Is My Mind?” -- Maxence Cyrin (Pixies cover) “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” --Bob Dylan (only referenced in dialogue) “Blood” - Middle East “It’s Alright” - Black Sabbath “Cold Heat” - Lil’ Lavair and The Fabulous Jades “We Have Each Other”- Kenny Smith “Check Me Out”- Little Denise “Habina” - Rachid Taha “Be (Intro)” - Common “Major Label Debut (Fast)” - Broken Social Scene “Not At My Best” - Broken Social Scene
Earlier this month we noted the soundtrack details to Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's mental-illness dramedy, "It's Kind Of A Funny Story" (read our TIFF review here).
The album features two new Broken Social Scene songs, plus cuts from the The Damned, Method Man and Redman, Pink Mountaintops and The Middle East.
Arriving on September 28 via Rhino Records, while the disc only contains one iTunes bonus instrumental cut ("Sweet Number One") -- BSS composed the film's entire score as well -- eight songs from the soundtrack are currently streaming at Spinner.
The previously unreleased Broken Social song, "Not At My Best," is very '8os, seemingly a mix of R.E.M. meets the Mekons or The Hoodoo Gurus, but it's pretty rad if simply for being so different from what the band normally does. It's also right at home with the film's tone which is said to be highly influenced by John Hughes.
"It's Kind Of A Funny Story" hits theaters October 8. If you're at all a fan of the bands involved, you should check out the Spinner stream.
Missed Bruce McDonald's "This Movie Is Broken" — his quasi Broken Social Scene concert doc cum narrative drama — when it blipped into U.S. theaters for a second in early September?
