Once Beyond Hopelessness
| Christmas on Mars | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Wayne Coyne |
| Written by | Wayne Coyne |
| Starring | Wayne Coyne Steven Drozd Michael Ivins |
| Music by | The Flaming Lips |
| Cinematography | Bradley Beesley |
| Edited by | George Salisbury |
| Distributed by | Warner Independent Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Once Beyond Hopelessness | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by The Flaming Lips | ||||
| Released | November 11, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | January 2001 – September 2008 | |||
| Genre | Electronic music, score | |||
| Length | 32:43 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | The Flaming Lips | |||
| The Flaming Lips chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Okayplayer | (75/100) |
| The Quietus | (favourable) |
| Pitchfork | (7.1/10) |
Christmas on Mars is a science fiction film from the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips, written and directed by the band's frontman, Wayne Coyne, and featuring the entire band in the cast, as well as many of their associates, including Steve Burns, Adam Goldberg, and Fred Armisen.
The film began development in 2001, filming was completed in October 2005, and the film premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. For its general release in the United States, Christmas on Mars was booked into several dozen cities for unconventional screenings, in venues which included a former Ukrainian Socialist Social Club in New York City. The film was released in three different packages on November 11, 2008 through conventional retailers as well as through the band's website. A vinyl edition was released November 25, 2008.
The film tells the story of the experiences of Major Syrtis during the first Christmas on a newly colonized Mars.
The main character, Major Syrtis (played by Steven Drozd), is trying to organise a Christmas pageant to celebrate the birth of the first colonist baby. Coyne explains that this birth is also special for other reasons,
Fortunately, Major Syrtis finds an unlikely ally in Coyne's strange and mysterious character, a "Martian that lands, but the Martian isn't really perceived as a Martian. People just sort of think he's another crazy guy who's flipped and turned himself green. They can't find a quick replacement for Santa so they just use this Martian guy. So the Martian guy becomes the Martian and Santa Claus at the same time."
At the beginning of 2002, over 20 minutes of edited film were ready, with music and preliminary sound effects also completed for these scenes. Most of the movie was shot on 16 mm film, with most of the sets based in Wayne's Oklahoma City house. Most scenes were filmed in and around Oklahoma City, using locations such as old industrial facilities. Further filming was done in Austin, Texas.
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Wikipedia