writingbob1 There are some outstanding films that could be called fairy tales for adults, including: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Wings of Desire," "Eraserhead," "Pan's Labyrinth," "The Night of the Hunter," "Donnie Darko," -- and also The Flaming Lips' 2008 film "Christmas on Mars." All of these films are dreamlike, filled with a childlike sense of awe and also a mature adult understanding of the brokenness & sorrow in the human condition. It's as if the adult filmmakers of these movies still retained the joy & wonder they knew from childhood, but they also developed a melancholy sense as adults of how tragic & challenging life can be. "Christmas on Mars" is filled with a sense of grandeur & beauty, but also of the dread & drudgery that human existence can include. During the film's story, which is set in the future, Mars has a space station but the space program has gone into decline and the people there are stranded. They're doing work on the spaceships that they used to get there. The space station has become shabby & disheveled in appearance. The scientists appear to be confident, but a heavy sense of pessimism pervades the mood. But, it's Christmas, and into this scene of defeat & peril enters a celestial being, played by singer/songwriter Wayne Coyne, who brings hope. "Christmas on Mars" has a refreshingly deadpan sense of humor, and a uniquely striking visual style, along with a thrilling symphonic rock soundtrack from The Flaming Lips reminiscent of their fantastic albums "The Soft Bulletin" (1999) and "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (2002). "Christmas on Mars" is a cinematic treat, made especially powerful through the effective demonstration of how blissfully valuable hope can be in a psychologically bleak & cold environment.

Ted Christmas on Mars, the debut feature of Wayne Coyne and my beloved Flaming Lips, is just as psychotic, obtuse, and delightfully up its own ass as anyone familiar with the band might expect. The film is centered around a small human colony on Mars, its patrons just barely coping with existential despair in the face of vacuous space as Christmas approaches--of course. The medium offers mixed returns for the Lips: besides its obvious psychedelic opportunities, film allows Coyne and company to occasionally subvert cultural iconography and to deliver an endless barrage of vaginal imagery; the former visual tactic being arguably more artful. Film also means dialog, however, which isn't Coyne's strong suit: where his music often packs big ideas into few words, his sprawling drugisms have trouble supporting a narrative diegesis. If there's one thing that's truly excellent about the film, it's the trippy, operatic music--one wishes the Lips were approached for film scores more often. It is also buoyed by a few fun performances: guitarist Steven Drozd is charismatically subdued, and Mark DeGraffenried adds an essential sense of humor as the foul-mouthed Captain Icaria. I can't say how well this film will play to those uninitiated in the Flaming Lips' discography, but for those of us who are fans, there's a certain pleasure of recognition in seeing Wayne Coyne in green antennae inexplicably dropping out of space to don a Santa suit: it's completely unexpected, and that's just what we expect. -TK 9/21/10

Seamus2829 Okay. To try & sum this trippy little film up in (at least)one sentence: Take a jigger of Andre Tarkovsky's original Russian version of 'Solaris',mix in a dash of David Lynch's 'Eraserhead',fold in a pinch of '2001:A Space Oddyssey',add elements of John Carpenter's 'Dark Star',and just a tiny bit of 'Tetsuo:The Iron Man',shake well,pour into your cerebral cortex (with plenty of LSD),and Shazam, you have 'Christmas On Mars'. This is the absolute midnight cult film (if any cinemas had half a brain to screen midnight films,these days). This is the first feature film from the Oklahoma based rock band, the Flaming Lips. Wayne Coyne,who co writes the screenplay & co directs the film, also has a role as a space alien who never so much as speaks a word, but you somehow know exactly what he/it means. The film also features acting (?) performances by fellow Lips member,Steven Drozd as a freaked out astronaut,as well as other members of the band (and also Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse)in other roles. This film was shot over something like seven years, on a shoestring budget. Although there is no concert appearances by the band,the music & sound design was performed by the Flaming Lips (mostly a lot of deep space ambient sound). I especially admired the films visual look (which was filmed mostly in high contrast black & white with psychedelic colour bursts from time to time). This is the kind of film that will be a treat for some viewers (mostly Flaming Lips fans,who the band eternally thank at the film's conclusion), and a crashing bore to others (those who have no tolerance for something really different). The choice is yours. No MPAA rating here, but would easily snag an "R", due to course language, and some really surreal pseudo/quasi pornographic hallucination sequences. Leave the little one's home (who would probably be bored and/or confused out of their skulls,anyway).

iamonlyamachine I just saw this film this afternoon at the KGB Theatre in NYC. It was pretty much what I expected, a little weirder maybe, but a rather great feat. This is highly recommended to fans of the Flaming Lips, to lovers of avant-garde or experimental film, to fans of sci-fi film (both campy and non-campy), and, uh, to college students. Yes, I think college students will love this movie.First, the cons: Some of the acting is weak and the plot was a bit hard to follow, of what little there seemed to be.The pros: The special effects were no less than AMAZING for a movie of such a low budget. The Flaming Lips' score for the movie was equally astonishing, perhaps one of the most effective sci-fi soundtracks I've ever heard. There were enough jokes and visual surprises throughout that the film never became dull, cheesy, or cliché. The use of black and white and color in this film was fantastic--the use of overexposed light was fantastic as well.---***SPOILER ALERT***--- So here's how the first Christmas on Mars goes down: Major Cirtis is living on Mars with a bunch of other astronauts at a space station. He begins having a series of hallucinations at Christmas time, when a baby in a plastic womb is due to be born as the first human baby born on Mars.Major Cirtis had chosen some old man to play Santa for the celebration of the baby being born (I think), but the old man gets cabin fever and runs outside the space station with no suit on and kills himself.Just as he runs out the door, a Martian has arrived at the space station. He is brought inside, says nothing, then is charged with the task of being the replacement Santa. There is a rather disconnected close call with death for the crew of the ship, but they are ultimately saved while Fred Armisen and Major Cirtis sing 'Silent Night' together. The baby is born healthy, and the captain confides that the Martian turned out to be a pretty good Santa Claus after all.---***END SPOILERS***--- OK, so the plot of the film doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it doesn't need to, and it doesn't dwell on it, either, so it's really only secondary to the experience. First and foremost are the amazing visuals, perfectly complemented by the music. At times a throwback to old '40s sci-fi and at times more brash than any sci-fi flick that has come before it, the film is stunning to look at.But, if you're expecting to learn something from this, or to take away a great life lesson, or wanting some incredibly intricate storytelling, then you're looking in the wrong place. This is more of a pop-up picture book than a novel.It's kind of a cross between the Monkees' movie "Head" but with an aesthetic and setting similar to the '70s cult classic "Dark Star". Fans of a film like "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" or "Waking Life" won't have any trouble appreciating "Christmas On Mars".All in all, a wildly entertaining film. Not for everyone, for sure, but anybody who likes films that *look* different than most other films will surely enjoy this. A silly, satisfying, theatrical work of art, enthusiastic to the end, and easy to get caught up in. Go see it. You won't regret it.