Shins’ Mercer For Lead Role in Movie

Yes, some days ARE better than others, aren't they?

By Fred Mills

Some Days are Better Than Others is the name of an upcoming film directed by Matt McCormick, already well-known to indie-rock fans for having worked on Shins videos. No surprise here, then: Shins vocalist James Mercer was tapped by McCormick to play the lead. It will also star erstwhile Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein.

According to a report by the NME, McCormick describes the film as concerning "lonely people trying to create their own abstract forms of communication."

Wow. That's helpful. Please God, don't let it be about Twitterers...

At any rate, McCormick notes, of Mercer, "the character he plays is in many ways an extension of the character that I created for him in The Shins "The Past and Pending" video I did a while back. While writing the script, James sort of became this character by default. The character isn't necessarily based on James, it was just James' face that was in my head when writing this character. And then after I did the "Australia" video I was just completely impressed with his poise and ability to take direction, and eventually decided to give him a shot at playing this role."

Well, all right then! The film's due next Fall. No details yet on what studio will be distributing the film.

And yes, sharp-eyed readers are already noting that the film title is the same as that of a U2 song from Zooropa...

[Photo by Crackerfarm]