Rick Moody Movies
Filmmaker J.L. Aronson offers an intimate portrait of a band in which eccentric innovation and unwavering faith forms an unlikely recipe for indie-rock stardom. The year was 1995, and aspiring musician Daniel Smith needed a project for his senior thesis project at Rutgers University. Upon handing in an album recorded by the Danielson Famile entitled A Prayer for Every Hour, the ambitious student was promptly given an A for his remarkable creative efforts. The youngest sibling in the Smith family was 11 years old, and a new era in family history had been set into motion. Born and bred in the farmlands of New Jersey, Smith and his siblings formed a band that soon took to performing in vintage white nurses' outfits to symbolize the healing power of the "Good Word." Though unfavorably received by the Christian community, the Danielson Famile found an unlikely ally in the form of the independent music community. With an outsider edge that appealed to music critics who were fast beginning to grow tired of the stagnant state of modern music, Smith and his band received widespread recognition thanks to articles in such prolific publications as Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. With little money coming in and his other siblings longing to continue their education and seek out their own paths in life, Danielson Famile frontman Smith does his best to establish himself as a solo act while mentoring a then-unknown singer/songwriter with the curious name of Sufjan Stevens. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Smith, Rachel Smith, (more)
Joe Pacheco's As Smart As They Are documents the workings of One Ring Zero, the band that formed among the writers who created McSweeney's. The film shows how many different creative writers contribute lyrics to the band's songs, and shows how music and literature feed off each other. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Set on Thanksgiving weekend of 1973, The Ice Storm looks into the lives of a wealthy Connecticut family who are calm and civil on the outside, but whose lives are quietly falling into chaos. Sixteen-year-old Paul Hood (Tobey Maguire) is home for the holidays from prep school; he'd just as soon have stayed at school, given the usual level of tension around the house and his desire to win the affections of Casey (Katie Holmes), a girl living in Manhattan. His 14-year-old sister, Wendy (Christina Ricci), is already a hardened cynic obsessed with the ongoing Watergate investigation, and she has begun acting out sexually with a neighbor boy, Mikey (Elijah Wood). Apparently, this runs in the family: Wendy's father, Ben (Kevin Kline), is having an affair with Mikey's mother, Janey (Sigourney Weaver), though Ben sees a future in the relationship and Janey does not. Elena (Joan Allen), Ben's wife, knows something is wrong with her marriage and her life, but she has no idea what she should do about it. As the teenagers surreptitiously experiment with drugs and alcohol, and the adults drift into mate-swapping, a dangerous blanket of freezing rain begins to cover New Canaan. The Ice Storm was adapted from the acclaimed novel by Rick Moody. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, (more)
