Search - The Flaming Lips :: Christmas On Mars (CD/DVD)

Nope

rucktoon | Lincoln, RI USA | 12/03/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Love the Lips. Got everything. The soundtrack is interesting, but not listenable. Do not buy it without checking it out first. I was very disappointed with how lame the music was, compared to what they could have created. I expect the DVD to be as silly as it's been made out to be, so no review needed there. Of course I pre-ordered this, but I think reading a review like this one would have saved me 20 bucks. It'll be budget bin in a year.

Too bad - I always look forward to the latest Lips to hear what melodies they've stolen this time (insert smiley face HERE) - but no melodies on THIS puppy. (P.S. - Soft Bulletin is one of the finest albums ever made)."

VERY much worth the 7-year-wait...

Larry Davis | NYC/Long Island, NY | 11/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2-disc CD/DVD of their bigger-budget "home movie" and accompanying score is finally out and, if you know the Flaming Lips music and creators, "Christmas On Mars" makes perfect sense.



First, the score CD: the Flaming Lips have done instrumental music before...the occasional track or song-excursion, like that "Balloon" song on "Yoshimi", which was actually written for "Christmas On Mars", but was deemed too poppy for it but perfect for "Yoshimi". If you like these types of tracks that Wayne & co do, you will dig the score...however if you are a Lips fan strictly for Wayne's SINGING, you probably won't. Me, I dig the crazy creative minds of Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins, so I dig the score (it IS on the short side, 32 minutes and change).



As for the movie itself...it's black & white (with flashes of colour), 86 minutes long (not TOO long), flat-out WEIRD and fun and trippy and you see not only all 4 Lips (yes Klyph Scurlock too), but their family (Wayne's wife Michelle is VERY prominent in it, as are a Coyne brother and nephews and baby niece) and friends...the 7-years-in-the-making "Christmas On Mars" is a film extension of their unique psychedelic freakout/childrens birthday party on acid/warped pop music. How it came into being in the first place was courtesy of Wayne's mom Dolly...Wayne & his bros came home late one night, 2AM, saw their mom crying, as she saw some sad old movie and described it as people in space dying and as they coped with the idea of death, a strange being came down (an alien, God, etc) and comforted them...turns out this movie never existed in the first place...Mrs Coyne saw a combo of bits of old flicks, fell asleep inbetween and dreamt the rest. Well, Wayne was so taken by this "movie" that once he found out it never existed, he took it upon himself to actually make this movie...and actually did it!!! Using family and friends, a handful of them REAL actors, along with locations around OKC, including abandoned warehouses and Wayne's & Michelle's own backyard, scraps of found parts and metal, and sets Wayne built himself, and done in fits & starts, over the course of 7 years, inbetween albums and tours, "Christmas On Mars" is finally complete.



It's worth it...an INSTANT, weird, compelling cult classic...show it to your friends and family, buy multiple copies and give them as gifts for the holiday season!!! Spread the Lips luv!!! Perfect for anyone's warped mind and inner child!!! Equal parts "Wizard Of Oz" and "Eraserhead" and "2001: A Space Odyssey", with a nice dose of Lips warped uniqueness. Perfect!!!



I am looking forward to their next project, now that Wayne & co got this movie out of their system...an instant cult classic you have to experience for yourselves...it was very much worth the wait, oh yes.



Even further, buy the GREEN VINYL version, how cool is that??!!??!!"

Awful

Greg Kinne | midwest | 07/09/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

""Christmas On Mars" presents The Flaming Lips fully realized sci-fi film that has been gestating in Wayne Coyne's brain for seven years. The film is the culmination of the Lips efforts as it brings their psychedelic vision to a head. The films' plot centers around a colonized space station on Mars. The film's protagonist, Major Syrtis (Steven Drozd) is facing an epic dilemma. The oxygen generator and a gravity control pod are on the fritz and Syrtis is also slowly losing his mind to horrific hallucinations. Enter an alien super being (Wayne Coyne) to the rescue, and a Christmas Baby and you have all the elements for a Flaming Lips inspired oddity.



As the film opens, the weirdness commences, an orb is removed from an alien mouth. The orb then travels through a vaginal constellation of stars before descending upon Mars. Scenes melt together featuring an artificial birth of the Christmas baby, a woman and an egg before introducing Major Syrtis. Major Syrtis then espouses his theory on the universe as he views two astronauts setting up a Christmas tree outside the colony. As the film continues, the astronauts joke that Santa will save them. Clearly you aren't going to get a straight Christmas or Sci-Fi story here, which is fine, but I wish I didn't have to try to enjoy this film.



As I continue to watch this film, I want to make it stop. I don't care if the colony is saved, this film is so overwhelmingly pretentious it makes my head hurt. With its pseudo trippy visuals and grainy film stock it's very obvious that the Flaming Lips are trying way too hard to recapture the feel of a late 60's sci-fi epic. The film is sluggishly paced, like a lobotomized David Lynch film viewed on Quaaludes. The atrocious dialog and wooden acting are equally grating and stoop to sub Ed Wood levels. This wouldn't be so bad if the film wasn't so boring!



As the film meanders along and imposes morality upon the viewer, all story lines are led to their eventual resolution. I believe that those who are chemically enhanced would find some fault with this nonsense and find something else to watch. Thankfully, the soundtrack effectively captures the mood of the piece. Maybe the Lips should have just stuck with that, a soundtrack to an imagined film...what a concept."