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.

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.

Okay. To try & sum this trippy little film up in (at least)one sentence: Take a jigger of Andre Tarkovsky's original Russian version of 'Solaris',mix in a dash of David Lynch's 'Eraserhead',fold in a pinch of '2001:A Space Oddyssey',add elements of John Carpenter's 'Dark Star',and just a tiny bit of 'Tetsuo:The Iron Man',shake well,pour into your cerebral cortex (with plenty of LSD),and Shazam, you have 'Christmas On Mars'. This is the absolute midnight cult film (if any cinemas had half a brain to screen midnight films,these days). This is the first feature film from the Oklahoma based rock band, the Flaming Lips. Wayne Coyne,who co writes the screenplay & co directs the film, also has a role as a space alien who never so much as speaks a word, but you somehow know exactly what he/it means. The film also features acting (?) performances by fellow Lips member,Steven Drozd as a freaked out astronaut,as well as other members of the band (and also Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse)in other roles. This film was shot over something like seven years, on a shoestring budget. Although there is no concert appearances by the band,the music & sound design was performed by the Flaming Lips (mostly a lot of deep space ambient sound). I especially admired the films visual look (which was filmed mostly in high contrast black & white with psychedelic colour bursts from time to time). This is the kind of film that will be a treat for some viewers (mostly Flaming Lips fans,who the band eternally thank at the film's conclusion), and a crashing bore to others (those who have no tolerance for something really different). The choice is yours. No MPAA rating here, but would easily snag an "R", due to course language, and some really surreal pseudo/quasi pornographic hallucination sequences. Leave the little one's home (who would probably be bored and/or confused out of their skulls,anyway).

I just saw this film this afternoon at the KGB Theatre in NYC. It was pretty much what I expected, a little weirder maybe, but a rather great feat. This is highly recommended to fans of the Flaming Lips, to lovers of avant-garde or experimental film, to fans of sci-fi film (both campy and non-campy), and, uh, to college students. Yes, I think college students will love this movie.First, the cons: Some of the acting is weak and the plot was a bit hard to follow, of what little there seemed to be.The pros: The special effects were no less than AMAZING for a movie of such a low budget. The Flaming Lips' score for the movie was equally astonishing, perhaps one of the most effective sci-fi soundtracks I've ever heard. There were enough jokes and visual surprises throughout that the film never became dull, cheesy, or cliché. The use of black and white and color in this film was fantastic--the use of overexposed light was fantastic as well.---***SPOILER ALERT***--- So here's how the first Christmas on Mars goes down: Major Cirtis is living on Mars with a bunch of other astronauts at a space station. He begins having a series of hallucinations at Christmas time, when a baby in a plastic womb is due to be born as the first human baby born on Mars.Major Cirtis had chosen some old man to play Santa for the celebration of the baby being born (I think), but the old man gets cabin fever and runs outside the space station with no suit on and kills himself.Just as he runs out the door, a Martian has arrived at the space station. He is brought inside, says nothing, then is charged with the task of being the replacement Santa. There is a rather disconnected close call with death for the crew of the ship, but they are ultimately saved while Fred Armisen and Major Cirtis sing 'Silent Night' together. The baby is born healthy, and the captain confides that the Martian turned out to be a pretty good Santa Claus after all.---***END SPOILERS***--- OK, so the plot of the film doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it doesn't need to, and it doesn't dwell on it, either, so it's really only secondary to the experience. First and foremost are the amazing visuals, perfectly complemented by the music. At times a throwback to old '40s sci-fi and at times more brash than any sci-fi flick that has come before it, the film is stunning to look at.But, if you're expecting to learn something from this, or to take away a great life lesson, or wanting some incredibly intricate storytelling, then you're looking in the wrong place. This is more of a pop-up picture book than a novel.It's kind of a cross between the Monkees' movie "Head" but with an aesthetic and setting similar to the '70s cult classic "Dark Star". Fans of a film like "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" or "Waking Life" won't have any trouble appreciating "Christmas On Mars".All in all, a wildly entertaining film. Not for everyone, for sure, but anybody who likes films that *look* different than most other films will surely enjoy this. A silly, satisfying, theatrical work of art, enthusiastic to the end, and easy to get caught up in. Go see it. You won't regret it.