Polyphonic Spree maestro Tim DeLaughter has composed the score to the upcoming black comedy, “The Assassination of a High School President” according to the Film Music Weekly newsletter and a similar post on the Polyphonic Spree’s blog that was taken down for some reason (Google cache never forgets, people).
About a catholic high school student (Mischa Barton) who teams up with a sophomore newspaper reporter to investigate a case of stolen SAT exams, only to unocver a larger conspiracy, ‘Assassination’ recently played at the Sundance Film Festival and is also scheduled to screen at the upcoming SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Tx (many early reviews have compared it to the noir high school film, “Brick“). The film also stars Bruce Willis and Michael Rapaport. ‘Assasination’ is tentatively schedule for an August 2008 release according to IMDB.
DeLaughter has also recently completed the score for the upcoming Jared Drake’s comedy “Visioneers” which stars comedian Zach Galifianakis and Judy Greer (Kitty From “Arrested Development”) due sometime in 2008.
While the Poly Spree magnate’s first foray into films was lending a pre-existing song to Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind,” it was his work on Mike Mills’ teenage dramedy “Thumbsucker” that first saw him diving into original film score compositions. In fact, indie songwriter Elliott Smith was originally scheduled to write the songs for the Mills’ film (by tackling various covers of songs by John Lennon, Neil Young and Big Star), but his untimely death and various drug problems prevented him from completing any substantial work on the film (though three Smith songs including a pre-existing cover of Big Star’s “Thirteen” and a Cat Stevens cover made it into the movie and the subsequent soundtrack CD. The latter song was thought to be one of the last he ever recorded).
In late 2005, DeLaughter told MTV News that he would be turning his attention toward movies and film scores adding that the “Thumbsucker” experience had galvanized him. “[That]experience was amazing,” he said, adding that much of the score was written on tour and on-the-fly. “I have a group right now where I can explore the sonics of every realm of music, and that’s kind of by design in hopes of doing more film music in the future.”
Watch: Elliott Smith – “Thirteen”
