Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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

rwagn The film is an absolute snoozer. Comparing this to Eraserhead, Solaris, etc. is like comparing Christmas to Kwanza-one is the established real deal and the other is a pale, pale wannabe.Yes, they both occur in December but that is where the similarities end. The only thing I can recommend about this film is the soundtrack and the incredible 5.1 surround mix. Kudos to whomever was involved in mixing. Both the music and the spoken audio are taken to new places by this mix. That would be it for anything positive I would have to say. Low low budget coupled with non-actors, no script, and the realization that nobody gives a tinker's damn about any of the characters, let alone what is happening to them weighs this turkey down. 83 minutes shot to hell.

TheTeh This is exactly the sort of movie you'd expect the Flaming Lips to make. Trippy, bizarre, overindulgent, ridiculous, but all the while very enjoyable to watch if you're a fan of experimental movies. The film tells a barely understandable (at first) story about a group of depressed, disillusioned colonists on Mars who rediscover their humanity with the help of a silent martian and a sort of "virgin birth." The movie is a kind of a roller-coaster ride--at some points, it's very interesting, artistic, and beautiful to watch. The opening scene is fascinatingly bizarre, and there are a number of interesting (but horrifying!) hallucinations involving various awful things happening to babies. There's also a fair amount of the sort of ponderous, philosophical dialog you'd expect in a Flaming Lips movie. BUT there are also some problems with the movie--sometimes it seems too abstract, to the point where you have no idea what's going on. At other points, dreary, repetitive, awkwardly written and poorly acted dialog scenes nearly drag the movie to a standstill. I still recommend it though, because it's an interesting artistic experience, a bizarre treat for fans of the band, and because it does seem to have some sort of ultimate message about humanity.

iamonlyamachine 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.