Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

GazerRise Fantastic!

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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

catfish-er Believe me, I like horror movies. I like science fiction movies. I like independent films. And, I like low-budget, B movies. Sometimes, I even like bad acting, plodding scripts, wooden lines, improbably situations, and the like. However, I did not like Christmas on Mars. It just doesn't work on so many levels. For all the reasons listed previously, and many more. That includes the nonsensical, blatant use of images of female genitalia. And the many allusions to male genitalia, in a very Freudian way.I am convinced this is purely from ineptitude. As opposed to some attempt at doing something really different. I mean any movie that takes years to film, just cannot keep up the level of congruity and focus demanded by modern audiences.I had hoped that the whole movie was just a dream or hallucination by the main character. However, sadly, it was meant to have happened, as we saw things unfold on screen. About the only kindness that I can express, is that the image at the end was stupendous. If this had been used at the beginning, instead of the end, it could have allowed the film to take off where 2001 ended... To bad they didn't try that instead. I just don't understand what was so important about this film that it even had to be made. Was it the plot? Surely, it couldn't be. Was it the characters? I doubt it; I mean, I could live without knowing about Ed 15. Was it the dialog? Emphatically, no. The music? Perhaps, but more-likely the unvarnished ego of the principals needing to be stroked. Much better efforts have died on the cutting room floor.

Argemaluco The movie Christmas on Mars was a strange creative project from the group The Flaming Lips,whose music I quite enjoy; so I had a lot of curiosity how they were going to adapt their style to a film.The result is that,while I found this film moderately interesting,I also found it to be pretty disappointing.Christmas on Mars tries too hard to be a "cult film"...which is the main mistake from all the movies which try to be cult.I think that condition only comes when the film authentically deserves it (like,for example Donnie Darko or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension).On the contrary,making a movie intentionally bizarre or eccentric reveals some dishonesty which plays against the movie,as we can see on Christmas on Mars.If I had to make a short summary of this movie,I would say it is a combination of Eraserhead,The American Astronaut,Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,Forbidden Zone,Dark Star and 2001.On my case,that combination resulted to be moderately interesting but not very satisfactory after all.I can give a slight recommendation to this film because it has some good elements (specially,its very creative visual aesthetic),but I certainly expected more from Christmas on Mars.

Rabh17 I give this a five because I didn't feel the urge to just yank the disk out of the player-- although I did fast forward through a good portion of it. However I did watch it through to the end. . .and scratched my head when it was done.For most of you ordinary folks who might feel moved to try this video offering. It's set on Mars. That's just about ALL the Science Fiction that will make direct sense to you. The rest of the plot is rather spare and spotty. The colony is falling apart. It's Christmas Eve. A Baby is being born in some weird machine. An enigmatic Alien shows up. The Guy who's supposed to play Santa for the Base commits suicide.And a Station Manager is walking about and we hear his maundering thoughts as he listens to all the complaints, protests and hopelessness from the fellow colonists.Beyond that, the special effects are more in line with the old visual/photographic effects of the old Beatles cartoon movies--but done pretty well. The set of the Mars base/station is actually pretty cohesive and believable. . .but it's the story that requires your willful mental compliance (or is it Complacency?), not the sets or the visual effects.It's saying something about Hope and Birth and Christmas, I think-- but you'll still be scratching your head when it ends.This weird offering is best enjoyed with a group with lots of food and alcohol and conversation. The Alcohol should be liberally distributed and imbibed BEFORE the movie is started.Many of you have seen or been to parties where a big flatscreen was playing some weird video while everyone is talking and having a good time and listening to music. And every once in a while, they look at the big screen on the wall and go: Huh?That's exactly what this movie is like.