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.”
“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.’”
“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.”