DVDebut: Christmas on Mars -- and a talk with a publicist

In the annals of limited theatrical releases, CHRISTMAS ON MARS (due out on DVD Tuesday, November 11) may rate as among the most unusual. To attend its New York City debut a few months ago, I arose pre-dawn to make my morning ablutions and down a cup of coffee prior to walking to the subway to catch an F train from Queens to the East Village in order to arrive on time for the – are you ready? – 7am screening. This is the East Village, for Christ sake. Who is even going to be awake at that hour? Exactly, noted the film’s NY publicist Ray Privett. “We figured that our audience would still be up from the night before and might attend as its final event before bedtime.” And they did.

I was imagining maybe half a dozen other suckers showing up, but I’d guess there were 25 or 30 of us sitting in the tiny Kraine arts complex on 4th Street, as the movie began. The audience was first greeted with visual/verbal admonitions to, among other things, “Relax! Get High! Have Sex!” Sounds good, right? But the very public venue, not to mention a lack of weed or a sex partner also in attendance, proved daunting. All of which should make the movie work much better on DVD, as these amenities are more easily enjoyed within the confines of your living room or bedroom. In fact, the movie might very well work better if its viewers find themselves in an altered state, since it appears to have been conceived and executed while in that state. This is not necessarily a pejorative; think of it rather as a warning: Christmas on Mars is nothing like your usual movie experience.

We’re in outer space (Mars, I guess; considering the title), where the crew is having big problems (running out of air, water, something or other). It’s Christmastime and someone is about to give birth -- which makes things look a little religious. But they're secular, too: There’s an alien running around in a Santa suit. Mix in a lot of 2001-like imagery but include some vaginal imagery along with it. (This sexual addition would likely have sent Arthur C. Clarke -- maybe Kubrick, too, though for different reasons -- around the bend. For Clarke’s reasons, read The New York Times obituary for the late Mr. Clarke, appropriately “annotated” by The Gay Recluse.)

In any case, these “space oddity” images are among the movie’s most charming and eye-filling notions. The rest of it is very seat-of-you-pants filmmaking, with actors for whom acting is clearly not their day job; writing that, while it offers some humor now and again, shows promise more as therapy than as screenplay; and direction that seems to have simply happened rather than been planned. All this may well have been the intention of the film’s creator, Wayne Coyne, who is both the “vocalist and the visionary” behind the very successful music group known as The Flaming Lips. (I admit to having no former knowledge of this group, but after seeing Christmas on Mars, I went on line, watched a number of Lips’ videos and fell in love with one of its songs: Do You Realize?)

The quote above, “vocalist/visionary,” comes from Rick Gershon, a publicist at Warner Bros Records for the past 15 years and who works with The Flaming Lips. The fact that Warner Bros records was involved in the movie’s production struck Trust Movies as unusual, so we contacted Mr. Gershon and had a talk with him about both the film and The Flaming Lips.

TrustMovies: Has WBR has been involved in producing a “narrative” feature before?

Rick Gershon: No, never liked this, no -- because this is a movie that was seven years in the making and very much a product of this particular band. They do many unusual things: They produced their own coffee table history book last year, about the first 20 years of their career. They did this independently and then we put it out thru WBR. We were just helpers on it. With this movie, it’s a similar scenario. The Lips did most of the financing and everything else. They did this completely and entirely on their own. The sets are hand built by Wayne Coyne(above, left), the vocalist and visionary in the band, along with his co-director Bradley Beesley (above, right), who has made movies and documentaries. Bradley has also been involved in The Flaming Lips videos. The band has made all its own videos, with the exception of one or two big budget things that Warner Brothers Records has done. But really, it’s their own small little videos that really capture the group best.

Can you tell us more about how Christmas on Mars came about?

Again, the movie is very much a labor of love. It took seven years to make because Wayne had never made a movie. The group did the movie in a way not dissimilar to how they record their albums! They would write a scene verbally, then visually, storyboard it, shoot it, score the music – and then figure out where to go from there.

That does sound like a… novel way to do things.

It is a funny kind of way to do things, but as a result, Wayne’s vision of not just doing things in traditional ways was made a reality. He writes scripts that have intentional holes. He doesn’t like the idea that most films answer all the questions for you. Some of his favorite films -- by Bunuel, Lynch, Kubrick -- do this too. He’s a big fan of Stanley Kubrick. 2001 is one of his favorite films. Another influence that Wayne cites is The Holy Mountain. So his movie has everything from its Santa-like alien, a nativity/Christmas child -- and vagina imagery -- all rolled into one. The vaginal thing has always been a metaphor not just for sex but for life and the inspiration that women bring – respectfully or otherwise. Genitalia is done is a certain way – and meant to be fun. The film is meant to be a sort of Ed Wood meets Eraserhead, but the idea is that there is artful craft behind it. Even though it has a positive ending there are many gaps within the story from which you can draw your own conclusion, and this is what Wayne wants. There are also clues to what is going to happen next. Why a scene is in color and why in black and white. There are reasons. Figure them out.

Do you think this might start a trend? Will more musical groups now want their own feature?

I certainly hope so. Well, but only if the movie can be as good, and as much fun as Wayne makes it. But I am not aware of anything like this happening now. Other musical group’s movies like A Hard Day’s Night and Help were made by filmmakers rather than by the musical group itself. And, by the way, this will not be the last movie made by Wayne. The Flaming Lips will make more, and they next one will NOT take 7 years.

While I enjoyed parts of Christmas on Mars, some of it dragged for me. But then I went online and watched some of the groups’ videos. I particularly enjoyed the video/song Do You Realize?

Wayne’s world view is that you must choose to make the best of everything. He believes that life is a great gift, and so every single day is a gift. Even with his audience around the world who loves the Lips and has helped them become one of the most influential bands, Wayne still lives in the community where he grew up. His live shows are like a child’s birthday party -- on acid. So it’s fun for the parents too, of course. Wayne is uplifting, simple, zen-like – reflected best I think is the group’s most popular song: Do You Realize? This song has been used in so many films and TV shows, even commercials. And yet, Wayne and that song makes it clear that there is also darkness, too. There is evil in the world, but you can overcome.

You seem to be convinced.

I am. The Flaming Lips is my favorite band, my son’s, my wife’s. I’ve been its publicist for over ten years -- and a fan for another ten. I stated out working in a record store and have always been a record collector. Working with Wayne and the group is such a treat job. I could go on for hours about how great they are.

Anything else you want to tell me before we close?

Because of how well the movie did in its New York debut, it is now screening across the country in limited release, with cities like Austin and NYC screening it indefinitely as a midnight movie. On Nov 11 out on DVD with a CD of the film score, also a special Limited Edition version that comes with t-shirts, a copy of the NYC ticket, maybe even some of popcorn from the original screenings, and a set of postcards with the character from the film. Ten of these will have a golden ticket, which which means that you’ve won seats at their New Years Eve show in Oklahoma City. The only place you can order this limited edition package is the group’s website