Christmas on Mars Review: Eat Your Own Spaceship
Last weekend I attended the Sasquatch Festival in Gorge, Wa., and it was fantastic. 3 days, 72 bands, but one thing stood out for me, and that was being at the second showing ever of Christmas on Mars, the Flaming Lips’ movie. I would have been at the first, but the oompa-loompas in construction suits neglected to mention that we needed tickets.
The movie itself was shown in a big circus-style tent, complete with fog machines, lasers, and Wayne Coyne, the Lips’ ever-enthusiastic frontman, in attendance. In front was a large poster reading “Eat Your Own Spaceship,” and the tickets read the same. I’ll try not to spoil anything, but just in case anyone is really concerned I should put, in big letters:
MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie was not at all what I expected. I had not watched any previews that existed, although the friend I went with had. I was expecting some sort of rock opera, or something of the such, or something more whimsical, and while there was arguably a great deal of whimsy, the end result is a far more jarring film than I had anticipated.
The film started with an announcement from Wayne about the film, specifically about how loud it would be. It was explained that this loudness was to increase the intensity of the film, and I must say it worked — I was in a constant state of sensory overload throughout the film, and sitting through it was actually a fairly uncomfortable experience, which isn’t to say I regretted it. The film featured many disturbing hallucinations suffered by the protagonist, accompanied by loud, dissonant synth chords, and by the end of it I was feeling rather lightheaded. It was certainly an experience I would encourage to anyone, once, but not something I’m eager to repeat, at least not at full volume. Intense is the word.
It’s difficult to critique the acting or the plot, because neither of these things were really the point of the film. It was designed for interpretation, which I will avoid at this time because I don’t want to spoil anything.
At the end of the day, I still view the movie as one big old mindfuck, a thoroughly memorable experience that I would recommend to anyone save the infirm and pregnant, just for the experience.
Fuel another post
June 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Oh, It was completely bizzare. I was one of like 400 or something that saw it at sasquatch. I just randomly decided to go up there during the cure and got lucky. At times it was kind of disturbing, and very random for the most part, but it really tripped me out.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:17 am
[...] Film Festival. The most revealing review we’ve found so far comes from a blogger named Adam Bard, who wrote the following along with a “mild spoiler alert” warning … The movie [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Just saw “Xmas On Mars” at the Alamo Draft House in Austin last night, complete with Wayne’s cheeky Master of Ceremonies bit.
The film was overall a very fun ride and the people attracted to the event really made it memorable. Wayne was gracious as ever, hanging out the chat with virtually every last person, and remaining “full present” with each person he visited with, chatting in a very folksy, unpretentious manner… same as he’s been since I started following the band in late 1991.
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
The absolute highlight of the film, and possibly the entire visual ouvre of the Flaming Lips to date, was the fascinating Marching Band sequence. When I asked Wayne the source of his inspiration for this concept, he talked for a while about not having a specific vision for the film when he started the project other than he absolutely knew that this marching band sequence would be included complete with “Vaginal Anxieties” of growing fetuses divorced from a biological womb. He hinted at possible allegories of the waxing of female spirit, lots of different vagina references.
October 15th, 2008 at 12:57 am
[...] posts catered to the consumers of this expertise. Don’t clog your blog talking about some movie you saw, or your vendetta against auto-flushing toilets, or frustrated rants about CSS and Javascript. It [...]