Christmas on Mars

I don't like writing film reviews so I'm going to try to make sure this isn't one.

Saturday night I went to one of only three screenings of Christmas on Mars here in CT. All three were held at Real Art Ways in Hartford. Real Art Ways isn't your typical movie theatre. It is actually an art gallery that shows films in a small theatre. The films are small art house type films that don't see widespread distribution.

The film wasn't what I was expecting. Considering how uplifting The Flaming Lips music tends to be, I figured the film would be of a similar quality. I was wrong. It was hands down the most depressing and oddest Christmas film I've ever seen. Calling it a Christmas film is a stretch, aside from the fact that it takes place on Christmas Eve and features Wayne Coyne as an alien in a Santa costume there is nothing about the film that says Christmas. The acting varied from horrific to not bad. The score was excellent, as were the sets. The fact that much of the sets were built in Wayne's backyard is amazing. Most of the film was shot in black and white, and I think this was done as much for the aesthetics as it was to hide the fact that most of the sets were held together with masking tape. One thing that really caught me off guard was the number of vagina's in this film. It would have been over the top if they weren't the only redeeming quality of the film. A marching band of vagina headed musicians about to crush a baby is oddly comedic when seen in the context of this film. If you decide to watch this movie try to look for hidden vaginae. Some are more obvious than others.

I was considering buying the Christmas on Mars Deluxe Edition, but after seeing the film all of Wayne Coyne's Jim Jones-esqu selling personality couldn't win me over. The film was terrible. I'll probably pick up the DVD/ CD set just to get the soundtrack. I can't justify spending $40 for this even though it comes with so much cool stuff.