pictureofapictureinapict Am i the only person who has noticed that in the scene which appears to be TV static if you focus on one part you see bats and butterflies flying around and if you look at it another way you see Where's Waldo characters walking around. I've read countless reviews on Oddsac and none of them have yet to comment on this. This was without a doubt one of the most genius scenes i have ever seen!! I feel compelled to let people know about this as it was a complete mind-f*ck to me - in an awesome way. Before i noticed this i thought it was the most pointless scene ever - minutes of noisy, distorted static. Give it another watch, you will not be disappointed.

dr_smeebob Animal Collective's streak of brilliant but divisive work continues; from a musical standpoint ODDSAC is fantastic. They've been working on the film since 2006, and, unsurprisingly, the music is reminiscent of their albums Feels (2005) and Strawberry Jam (2007). For a band so set on changing their style between albums it's nice to see them revisit a less electronic, more unhinged sound. The songs here rank with their best work from that period (And yes, despite the film format there are definite songs, many of the sequences contain singing and lyrics. For all intents and purposes this is a new Animal Collective album.).It is easy to see why it would be badly received by film critics. ODDSAC is described on the box as a 'visual album' and it works best if you treat it as such. There is no overall plot, but the styles of the different chapters create a thematic whole. Think schlocky b-movie forest psychedelia paint splattered light show.But would an Animal Collective film have worked with a more cohesive plot or direction? There has always been an abstract streak to their music, a sense of playful weirdness. In that respect, as a fan of the band, it only adds to the experience. The visuals complement and reflect the music well where a less abstract film format might have distracted from it. So, if you're familiar with the band then go for it. You'll be used to the initial sense of confusion and will appreciate the new music. If you're approaching this as someone new to Animal Collective, then, no offense, but you probably wont get it.

Ebonyks Let me first off lead by saying I am (or perhaps was) a rabid animal collective fan. I've seen them perform live before, and am familiar with their entire discography. This movie does little to provide an extra dimension to the animal collective 'experience' (and no, sadly, drugs don't seem to help much either) The visual experience of this movie is headache inducing, and it just keeps coming. Watching this, you quickly wonder how it became a full length movie project. Lots of quick cuts between disjointed scenes come together over heavy layers of visual effects and editing create a narrative that is impossible to follow. There are long stretches of this movie which play out similar to a winamp visualizer. There's never any attempt to explain the purpose of the visuals, and therein lies the conundrum of oddsac. The narrative isn't compelling enough to add up to anything, and the visuals simply aren't interesting enough to occupy a viewer for the running time.As for the music, I'm lukewarm about it. It's a continuation of the musical direction taken with merriweather, which wasn't my favorite but there seem to be many who disagree with me. There's a whole lot of geologist tweaking knobs in this soundtrack, creating music that would sound more at home on warp than anything else animal collective has ever released. It's less pop-infused than merriweather however, more suited for a background situation than being blasted at a party. If you like that artistic direction, you won't be disappointed with the music of Oddsac.My advice would be to simply close your eyes when this starts playing, or find a soundtrack later on if you're an animal collective fan. The visuals distract from any value that the soundtrack creates.

ythomasmore ODDSAC is truly a one of a kind. It helps the viewer a whole lot with the experience if one is familiar, and actually really likes, the music of Animal Collective pre-'Feels'. If you don't 'get' their music before that then chances are your not going to 'get' ODDSAC. Animal Collective have always been progressive visceral artists. They made music that would strike you emotionally in a very unfamiliar and new way, and they were redefining what a musical experience was for the history books, in my opinion. Not to say that they were the only ones doing this in the early-mid 2000's, but they definitely had something special, almost universal, about them. So go and give 'Here Comes The Indian' and 'Hollinndagain' a shot for an interesting experience.Critiquing this film as an outsider will, more likely than not, end with a misunderstanding of what Danny Perez & Animal Collective were shooting for. Thus one might criticize the fact that there is no narrative, that it's made up of sections that have nothing to do with each other, and that there are sections that are just unbearably unsettling visually and audibly. Thus one comes out of the film thinking this movie sucked and that those guys had no idea what they were doing, and most importantly that they are bad filmmakers. Well, in the eyes of a film critic, maybe those things are somewhat true.However, through the eyes of collective artists and art admirers, especially those of the generation to which Animal Collective adheres to, this visceral experience is one that is UNBELIEVABLY SWEET. The music is ridiculously innovative and new...enough said. The production of the music makes for an incredibly interesting sonic experience alone, and the visuals work tremendously with the audio to make for a unique and fruitful experience.Many will get hung up on the fact that this film is getting so much appreciation, and they just can't understand why. Well, it's all a matter of understanding where these guys are coming from artistically. If one doesn't get ODDSAC, then you probably don't like a lot of things that are tagged 'experimental' or 'weird' or 'visceral' or 'ambient' or whatever. And many will also get hung up on the fact that they feel excluded for not being able to 'get' these sort of things, so they'll talk badly about it. ODDSAC definitely serves its purpose for those that do 'get' it, and for those that do, the experience can be magnificent....and no you don't have to do drugs to get it.