The Filming Lips

Directed by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and shot by long-time Lips documentarian Bradley Beesley, Christmas on Mars hovers nowhere near rock-doc. From its trailer alone, it's clearly more like an ambitious film school project complete with cheesy costumes, low-budget special effects and even a few celebrity cameos (among them Elijah Wood, Adam Goldberg and Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock). The central cast is composed almost entirely of friends and family of The Flaming Lips as well as the Lips themselves, with Coyne starring as a mysterious alien who shows up during the first Christmas after a group of space pioneers has colonized the lonely Red Planet. Those who have seen Beesley's 2003 Flaming Lips documentary Fearless Freaks will recall that Christmas's D.I.Y. production has been plagued with complications for nearly a decade. Despite its troubled development and absurdist themes, Christmas on Mars will doubtlessly be packed with the same accessible sense of meaning and heart that The Flaming Lips are known for.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays, Sundays. Starts: Oct. 11. Continues through Oct. 14, 2008