Flaming Lips - Christmas on Mars

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Flaming Lips - Christmas on Mars

“For a band whose music has long been described as “cinematic,” it’s about time —seven years, to be precise—the Flaming Lips got around to making a full-length live-action movie. “Christmas on Mars” is a characteristic wacky expression of the Lips’ love of psychedelia, birth-and-death themes and uplifting movements. The kicker: Most of the action isn’t in the music, but the acting. A cast featuring Lips Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne and Michael Ivins alongside the likes of Fred Armisen and Adam Goldberg cobbles together a believable take on human life in a futuristic Martian colony. Stress, hallucinations and technical malfunctions threaten the crew’s collective sanity, but Christmas Day heralds the arrival of a helpful alien (Coyne) and the hope-restoring birth of a human baby. The score, released separately on CD, is more textural and mood-setting than catchy in the vein of modern-era Lips albums. But in the context of the film, it works splendidly, forging a sort-of poor man’s “2001.” —Troy Carpenter”