Flaming Lips' Christmas on Mars at Nike Sportwear

Posted Wednesday, November 12, 2008 @ 03:51 in Culture by Amorn Bholsangngam

"Are they celebrating Halloween late or Christmas early?" passers-by wondered at the sheer spectacle of last night's screening of the Flaming Lips-masterminded Christmas on Mars, the latest in the Cinema Tuesdays series at Nike Sportswear at the Montalban.  A few hundred lucky Lips fans, many dressed as Santa or their own take on how a Martian would look like, gathered at Nike Sportswear to celebrate the movie's DVD release and were treated to a rare opportunity to watch their heroes' feature film debut projected on the big screen, as well as an excuse to wear tin foil as an accessory or to get some practice before applying for a job as a shopping center Kris Kringle.  Lead singer/co-director of the film Wayne Coyne was also on hand to field questions from the audience after the movie, which he insisted would be significantly enhanced by audience participation.  With no small help from the Belvedere vodka that was flowing freely (quite literally) before showtime, the viewers certainly took note of Coyne's assertion, shouting at the screen as though there was no fourth wall between the characters and themselves and punctuating scenes with uproarious laughter or feigned concern. 

The film itself is a slow-burning piece that harkens back to the sci-fi movies of the pre-Skywalker era, carrying a distinctly Lipsian message of hope and the need for compassion to circumvent the fear of annihilation.  Steven Drozd, multi-instrumentalist of the Flaming Lips, stars as a crew member on a mission to colonize Mars responsible for organizing a Christmas celebration to thaw the hearts of his increasingly cold and emotionally unstable compatriots.  Shot almost completely in black and white, color is used to accentuate certain elements of the movie; Coyne, who plays the mysterious alien who visits the spacecraft of the Mars colonists, is one of the few subjects given the Technicolor treatment, underlining his foreignness and his role as a symbol of hope.  With cameos from Fred Armisen and Adam Goldberg, a soundtrack designed to both shock and tug at the heart strings, bizarre images such as a marching band with vaginas for heads, and darker themes that may be too complex for children to comprehend, Christmas on Mars may just be a new alternative for adults to who have tired watching A Charlie Brown Christmas a billion times each year. 

 

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