Pitchfork (who else?) has the tip about an exciting piece of local music news. Portland experimental filmmaker Matt McCormick—who has directed videos for the Shins, Sleater-Kinney, YACHT, and Patton Oswalt, among others—is just putting to bed his first feature film Some Days Are Better Than Others, and today former Sleater-Kinney guitar goddess/NPR blogger Carrie Brownstein revealed a few tantalizing details on the project.

The film is currently in post-production, and will feature Browstein and James Mercer as the leads alongside a performance from YACHT (no word if it’s just Jona Bechtolt or if Claire Evans is involved as well), Brownstein’s ex-Sleater-Kinney bandmate Corin Tucker, Corina Repp and Matt Sheehy. Matthew Cooper of Eluvium contributes music to the film’s should-be-kickass soundtrack. Some Days Are Better Than Others is scheduled for a fall 2009 release, and is produced by Neil Kopp and David Cress, more local boys who also worked with Gus Van Sant on Paranoid Park and Kelly Reichardt’s Will Oldham-starring Old Joy, both of which were shot in PDX. So much local love!

WW screen editor Aaron Mesh was able to contact McCormick via email this afternoon, and here’s what he had to say about the film:

the title of the film is Some Days are Better than Others. i am not sure what genre it officially falls under, but i have been calling it ‘a charmingly melancholy look at abandonment.’ it’s one of those movies that has several characters and interweaving story-lines.

Carrie and James play the roles of Katrina and Eli. other important actors include Renee Roman Nose (Camille), and David Wodehouse (Otis), Andrew Harris (Mack) Erin McGary (Chloe), and Benjamin Farmer (Noel).

filming took place mainly in Portland and the surrounding areas.

we went through a laborious process of casting. i had directed music videos for both of their bands and i knew they were great in front of the camera, but i knew that acting in a movie was much different then being in a music video. after going through a number of auditions, i also made a short project that they acted in (Light Tiger Eye) which was basically a screen test. After doing what I thought was a fantastic job in Light Tiger Eye, I decided to offer them the roles.

we just completed principle photography and will begin editing just after thanksgiving weekend. there is still a ton of work to do; a little more shooting, editing, sound design and mix, etc etc. i don’t expect we’ll be finished until the end of spring at the very earliest. from there we will make a plan on how to best release the film to the public. so basically, it will be a long time before this movie is actually showing in theaters!

Greg Schmitt was the director of photography, and Neil Kopp and David Cress are the producers.

While the idea of Mercer and Browstein starring as Eli and Katrina in a film “about lonely people trying to create their own abstract forms of communication” is cool in itself, that got us thinking about other local musicians who we’d like to see branch out behind the camera. Stephen Malkmus playing an aloof uncle in the next Wes Anderson project? Liv Warfield as a soul diva? We want to hear from you! The best suggestion wins a copy of our forthcoming (stay tuned for details!) second annual LocalCut Christmas compilation.

A few Matt McCormick-helmed videos to get you in the mood:

“The Past and the Pending”

“Australia”

“Jumpers”

Links:
Matt McCormick
The ShinSpace
Sleater-KinneySpace

Photo courtesy of the internet. Long live Sleater-Kinney.