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Music Composed and Performed by Graham Reynolds

Recorded and Mixed by Graham Reynolds and Buzz Moran

A Film by Berndt Mader, released in 2011

From the department of wannabe George Washington rural lyricism comes Five Time Champion, a coming-of-age tale that, with every landscape cutaway and twinkling note from its xylophone-heavy score, begs to be taken as a dreamy slice of countryside profundity. In an unnamed Texas town, tween Julius (Ryan Akin) slices worms and then studies their regenerative powers, a science project that attracts an esteemed prep school's attention and, more importantly, speaks to his own desire to heal deep-seated wounds—specifically, the abandonment of his daddy, whom everyone claims is gay. Such apparent slander leads Julius to fight others and to question his own sexuality when he fails to perform in bed with girlfriend Shiley (Noell Coet), whose friendship with another boy arouses jealousy in Julius and leads him to entertain thoughts of turning his affections toward a flirtatious classmate. Just as Julius's desires are torn between two girls, so too are his mom's (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) between wealthy school administrator boyfriend Melvin (Jon Gries) and local hayseed Levi (Justin Arnold), as well as his grandfather's between his wife (Betty Buckley) and the dying mistress whom he openly cares for, much to his spouse's initial chagrin. It's a veritable round-robin of romantic and carnal conflict, laid out by writer-director Berndt Mader with a schematism almost as pronounced as his young lead's one-note woodenness.

Austin-based composer-bandleader-improviser Graham Reynolds creates, performs, and records music for film, theater, dance, rock clubs, and concert halls, with collaborators ranging from Richard Linklater and Jack Black to DJ Spooky and Jeffrey Zeigler. Graham recently signed with London-based label Fire Records and released his score for Hitchcock’s silent classic, The Lodger, in October 2020.

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