Christmas on Mars (Wayne Coyne, 2008)

[somnambulating]

There was no chance of me getting in to the sole screening of its limited run here in Los Angeles but I finally got around to watching the dvd of The Flaming Lips debut feature-length last night.

The experience was one of those great moments of perpetual elation that you get less and less as you grow older. Coyne clearly cites the holy trinity he's invoking here with this midnite movie "freak-out" psychedelia: Eraserhead, Holy Mountain, and 2001: A Space Odyssey... but the result of these impressions show evidince of a vision of the world that seems entirely his own.

The film is not without it's obvious narrative and dramatic faults (in many ways these facets help to preserve its charm) but I can't help but think that within their accidential music career and subsequent accidential film frontiering, The Lips have stumbled onto something essential to the cinema... in their own clumbsy way.

[knives]

Is this only available through their website? Love the Lips but I'm wary of busting thirty bucks for such a risk.

[swo17]

You can rent it on Netflix at least. I would recommend a rental first. While the film certainly has its charms, I would say that just because you like their music does not necessarily mean you will like the movie. Probably worth finding out for yourself though.

[Gary Gnu]

I got around to watching this recently. somnambulating summed it up beautifully. Avant-Garde films are a dying breed, but films like Brand Upon The Brain! (My Favorite Film ) and this inspired little film are of no less caliber than some of the great works from the "Golden-age of Avant-garde." It is very impressive for a film made on a shoe-string budget and by someone with little experience in the way of film practice. (His subsequent music videos are fantastically self-directed now. Just watch "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine.")

I could definitely see this as being deserving of the Criterion treatment. (I don't think it will, unfortunately.) It's a damn shame that it wasn't all that well-received, even among Lips fans.* (My favorite band. Seeing them in a few weeks. )

*Yes, the film is bizarre enough to alienate (pun intended) fans of the band, like swo said. That's definitely saying a lot, but if you're a seasoned Avant-garde film-goer; this film is surprisingly of professional quality.

[domino harvey]

Is it safe to reveal that I'm actually in this film?

[Gary Gnu]

domino harvey, you've completely blown my mind.

... Wait... Are you Wayne??