Christmas on Mars (2008)


It seems like the more creative and experimental the band the more likely they are to want to expand beyond doing music.  The big issue is budget.  While KISS or Spice Girls may have the chart success for someone to ask them to make a movie, someone like the Flaming Lips, despite having a hardcore fan base, is not exactly bleeding money.  

Still, director and Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne persisted over a period eight years, creating sets in his back yard, filming when he could around touring and recording new material.  If anything that is probably what finally gave the movie its push.  Over two decades into the band's existence they finally had that one big hit, "Do You Realize??", from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.  It helped sell quite a number of copies of the album and the song was used in at least two advertising campaigns that I can think of, which probably made Coyne more coin than CD sales at the time.  

Christmas on Mars is definitely a low-budget feature, and most of Coyne's experience up to this point was directing music videos.  It helps, but the inexperience still shines through in many spots.  Also, another big problem is that a band like Flaming Lips known for its psychedelic album covers and experimental sound would be expected to make a movie that is surrealistic, off-kilter and somewhat profound even in its ineptness.  I think one of the biggest surprises about Christmas on Mars is, despite having a few of those scenes, how straightforward and tepid it really is. 

Major Syrtis (Steven Drozd) is presiding over a Martian colony that is quickly falling to pieces.  It is December 24, 2055 and in order to increase morale Syrtis has arranged a Christmas pageant.  However, his Santa (Kenny Coyne) has just gone out the airlock.  The first child born in the colony is hanging on by a thread, everyone is at each other's throats and Syrtis has started hallucinating dead fetuses.  On top of that it appears that a component needed to supply oxygen to the colony has irreparably failed, meaning everyone is going to die.

Into this mess comes a strange alien (Wayne Coyne) who shows up just as Santa goes out the door.  The head of the operation, Captain Icaria (Mark DeGraffenreid) is not too happy to see him and, when Syrtis asks for someone new to be Santa, Icaria tells him to use the spaceman.  Reluctantly he does and, in doing so, unknowingly makes a connection that may save the colony. 

For Wayne's part all he has to do on screen is walk around silently and occasionally regurgitate his spaceship.  It gives him an important role without dominating the movie, which is a rare thing in a vanity project such as this, and especially for a rock star.  Still, there is enough of Coyne's vision in the script and the film itself, and it works best when some of the same acid-drenched scenes that define the band's album covers show up.  Show up it does in a number of scenes, including ones that include his strange vagina obsession.  I don't mean strange as in a normal straight man's obsession with women, but when one listens to enough of his music, it gets rather disturbing in a non-sexual manner.

Christmas on Mars could have used much more of this strangeness as the general plot reminds me of Dark Star, just without the more intellectual humor that Dan O'Bannon brought to that movie.  Same cramped quarters, same scenes of people isolated too long with each other going insane, but no sentient bomb to liven things up.  Instead most scenes, outside of Syrtis explaining Santa to the alien and Icaria's first appearance dealing with a crewmember's suicide and a stubborn alien visitor, fall flat.  The acting, to my surprise, wasn't terrible, but Drozd is not given a whole lot to do.  To Coyne's credit he pulled some strings to get some real actors whenever he needed to.

Christmas on Mars isn't as bad as its reputation would lead one to believe, but it is rather inessential.  It is good that he completed it so fans could see it, and it is bundle with copies of the soundtrack.  I just can't see anyone wanting to see it more than once because there isn't much to this below the surface.

Christmas on Mars (2008)
Time: 83 minutes
Starring: Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne, Mark DeGraffenreid
Directors: Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley, George Salisbury

 

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