Palindromes

palindromes_poster.jpg

Original Songs co-written and performed by Curtis Moore

Directed by Todd Solondz

My writing partner Matthew Brookshire and I were asked to harken back to our Christian Rock youth, and help compose, produce, and perform several songs for the film Palindromes by acclaimed writer/director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness). The film stars Ellen Barkin and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

In the film, a group of adopted children from an ultra-conservative Christian family form a teen-pop band, known as the Sunshine Singers. Think: N*SYNC meets the New Christy Minstrels, circa 1997.

Palindromes premiered March 13, 2005

…and when we see them perform the catchy-creepy teen-pop number ‘This Is the Way (That Jesus Made Us),’ the layers of irony are head-spinning.
— Entertainment Weekly
Half ’NSync, half Polyphonic Spree—spirited songs with lyrics like ‘Everybody has a right to be born.’ This Solondz tableau isn’t designed to induce snickers—the music is catchy and the kids are charming, no matter what you think of their ‘message.’
— New York Magazine
When he shows us those handicapped Christian kids singing and boogying away, you’re not sure whether to laugh, be outraged, or burst into tears.
— Vogue