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Christmas On Mars is the years in the making super-independent first feature film from The Flaming Lips. A few years ago lead-Lip Wayne Coyne rounded up his bandmates, a few friends, and set out to make an interstellar psychodrama built around sets constructed from found objects primarily located around the Coyne home compound in Oklahoma City. The plot line involves ... actually we have to admit there barely is a plot line. The movie underwent numerous re-writes over the years as locations fell by the wayside, and the band's full-time obligations forced long lulls in filming. The end result is a disturbing tone-piece constructed from cameras that veer from disturbing close-ups to static location shots, and pop back and forth between black and white and color.
C'mon, it's The Flaming Lips, did you expect anything different?
The film came out on DVD a few weeks ago but, aside from a few festivals and some showings at this year's Lollapalooza, if you wanted to see it on the big screen you were out of luck. Well, if that's what you wanted, your fortunes just changed since the movie will run at Music Box Theatre this Friday and Saturday as a midnight movie.
Christmas On Mars plays December 5 and 6 at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport, midnight, $9.50 advance tickets available
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I'm pretty much going because I have a mad crush on Wayne Coyne.
I treked all the way out to Naperville about a month ago to see this because I am that big of Flaming Lips geek, and I cannot say DON'T SEE IT enough. I have seen very few things as dark and depressing as this movie. It was such a shock coming from the Lips who are one of the happiest and most uplifting bands around.
I'm not exactly sure who this happy sunny Flaming Lips is that you're talking about though. From the get-go Coyne and co. have been pretty seriously dark, and even in recent years as their sound has lightened their thematic interests have grown ever darker. Sure, the band has it's humorous side at times, but even that tends to skew towards black comedy. I think the mistake a lot of more recent fans make about this band is through assuming that Coyne's wide-eyed embrace of life is driven through some sort of hippie idealism.
Their is a life affirming giddiness to their shows, but I even think that is filtered through the band's attempts to dress their darker urges as some intergalactic house party.
I do agree with you on one point, Christmas On Mars is very dark, depressing, and kind of disturbing (as I wrote in my preview of the film) so if that's not your cup of tee, then do please avoid the hell out of it.
But what were you expecting, The Yoshimi That Tickled Christmas? C'mon.
Yeah, a lot of their lyrics have a macabre undertone. And although Wayne is a very optimistic guy, he's had and been around his fair share of demons.
The Lips bring a very upbeat and positive aspect to their live show, but you have to keep in mind that is performance and a live show shouldn't be depressing so they are going to keep in fun and mostly light.
"Do you realize-that everyone you know someday will die."
See?
"You and me were never meant to be part of the futuuuure."
Just want to second Tankboy's sentiments. I've always thought of the Flaming Lips music as being a bit dark, even fatalistic in a few instances. I don't even think newer fans have an excuse for being misinformed given that one of the bands last videos was for "Mr. Ambulance Driver".
"Mr. Ambulance Driver
I'm not a real survivor
Cause I'm wishing that I was the one
That wasn't going to be here anymore"
In fact, I'm having trouble coming up with an outright optimistic tune by them. W.A.N.D., I guess? Still, I don't find the Lips depressing at all although they can be a bit macabre.
On the other hand, Wayne does have a tendancy to see the mystical in things that might be depressing to the rest of us: a fan battling cancer, a girl dealing with the death of a friend, drug addiction, a "spiderbite", etc. So there is often that silver lining, but I sure wouldn't call it Polyphonic Spree. If anything, I think their fantastical stage shows are one big "eff it, let's just go for broke", as well as a testament to Wayne's sense of the dramatic.