Well, it’s finally here, and it’s holed up in a dark corner of a Ukranian speakeasy in the East Village as we speak. Wait, what? That’s right, The Flaming Lips’ long-awaited (and long-delayed) outer space Christmas pageant getdown Christmas On Mars is making its New York City premiere today at the Kraine Theater within the KGB Complex (85 East Fourth Street).
But why the KGB as opposed to say, a real movie theater? It’s very simple, dear reader, and I can spell it out to you in seven words (or eight depending on how you feel about hyphens): ZETA BOOTIS MEGA SUPERSONIC SUPER-SOUND SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM!
You see, Wayne Coyne has insisted that Christmas On Mars should only screen in a custom-designed screening room complete with a special surround sound speaker system (enter the Zeta Bootis) designed by the Lips themselves. Behold the Zeta, in all its THX-meets-Dolby Surround-meets-blotter acid opening-logo glory:
Not bad, right? Now imagine having your skull rattled by that in glorious surround sound at 7am this morning. Yes, that’s AM and not PM, as the very first NYC screening took place at seven in the morning today, with many more showings (several of which are already sold out well in advance) lined up until September 30th. You can check availability and order tickets HERE. And for those of you still unsure what the hell Christmas on Mars is, here’s the latest trailer:
And a translation of what the hell’s going on: a brief description of the film, from the Mars site -
It’s Christmastime, and the colonization of Mars is underway. However, when an oxygen generator and a gravity control pod malfunction, Major Syrtis (the Lips’ Steven Drozd) and his team (including the Lips’ Michael Ivins) fear the worst. Syrtis also hallucinates about the birth of a baby, and many other strange things. Meanwhile, a compassionate alien superbeing (Coyne) arrives, inspiring and helping the isolated astronauts.
We’d love to get feedback from anyone so bold as to see one of the initial screenings; hell, an EF field trip looks to be in the works….
Visit The Flaming Lips on MySpace.
above image found HERE
10.12.08 1:56 pm
The film was fantastic. The soundtrack and overall feeling is much different than what they have put out in their music, but many of the themes remain intact. With clear influences such as 2001 and Wizard of Oz, and lesser known influences such as David Lynch’s Eraserhead, you know that you’re in for a wild ride. The beginning is intensely psychedelic (and LOUD), but takes on a narrative structure as the story and characters come into play. Christmas on Mars also gives the audience time to mull ideas and events over in their minds rather than common tennis-match-dialogue and events that fall over themselves in a race to explain themselves.
If I may give a piece of advice to future viewers of this film, do not be eating while watching it. This is for two reasons. One, Christmas on Mars is a movie best watched actively, as in the audience must do some work to get all that they can out of this film. The other reason is that the amount of imagery involving female genitalia and infanticide, while an essential aspect of telling the story and fleshing out the characters, make eating less than desirable companion to the film.