Viewings: American Astronaut, Undead, The Lovemaster

[Mr_Vindictive]

Got some more flicks in from Netflix, and unlike the past few times, I finally got a chance to watch all three within a week.


American Astronaut - I originally heard of American Astronaut when planning to go to a film festival a few hours away in Durham.  They were having a special midnight showing of the film during a horror/SF film fest.  It sounded interesting, but I was unable to attend the screening (or any screenings) due to an extreme flu that I came down with right before leaving.   Thankfully, Netflix had a copy of the film.

The film stars Cory McAbee as Samuel Curtis, a space trader.  He lands at a bar on Ceres, a meteor floating around Saturn.  He trades a cat with the bar owner for a suitcase containing a "Real Live Girl".  He then meets up with his old friend The Blueberry Pirate who hatches a scheme with Curtis.  He tells him that he can take the girl to Jupiter and trade her for the "Boy Who Actually Saw A Woman's Breast", whom he can take to Venus and trade for the remains of the last man who died on Venus.  Then he can take the remains to Earth and make a hefty profit.  To complicate things, Curtis is being chased by the crazy Professor Hess who wants to kill him.  

The film is shot, quite beautifully, in black and white and it holds a bit of the same feeling as those strange experimental flicks from the 60s.  The real highlight of the film is the music, which seriously has gotten stuck in my head since viewing the film.  McAbee is one of the founding members of The Billy Nayer Show, a fairly underground rock band, so this film is pretty much a rock musical.  Songs like "Hey Boy", and "Glass Vagina" are quite addictive.  I'm probably going to have to pick up the soundtrack at some point.

I'm curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on the film, and the meaning/subtext.  For me, the film seemed to be a bit homoerotic.  There's Curtis' love/hate relationship with Hess, and there seems to be something a bit strange between him and The Boy Who Actually Saw A Woman's Breast.  Then there is the speech by the miner about humping other miners.  That and the fact that the film is a bit misogynistic.

Overall though, it was a fun view, if a bit strange.  I'll probably pick this one up on DVD sometime soon.

8/10




Undead - Now I know there have been mixed reviews about this once since it's release on DVD.  A lot of people don't really care for it, but I was actually a bit surprised at how much I liked it.

I remember speaking with the Spierig brothers while they were filming Undead.  They often frequented a horror forum that I was a moderator of at the time, and that was when my interest first started in this film.

The film is an odd mix of comedy and horror.  The comedy worked for me overall, with a few of the bits falling short.  What I loved most about the film was the gore effects.  The Spierig brothers really really put a lot of work into the FX of the film.  The other thing that I loved about the film was that it threw me a few times.  Just when I knew what was going on, the ending for example, then it would change in a way I didn't see coming.

Overall, I was impressed.  I hope the Spierigs have more coming, because they certainly are a talent to watch for.

8/10



The Lovemaster - Anyone familiar with comedian Craig Shoemaker knows about "The Lovemaster".  I saw Craig's act once a few years ago at a comedy club in Raleigh, and found the guy to be seriously funny.  Upon finding out that he had released a film in the 90s, I immediatly put it in my Netflix.

The Lovemaster is a bit of a strange thing to review.  It's about 2/3 concert movie, with Craig doing his bit, and the rest is his bit being acted out by himself and other actors.

There are two problems that I have with the film.  The first is that the various skits with the actors was absolutely terrible.  Craig's standup is pretty damned funny, yet the skits fell completely flat in my opinion.  The second problem is that it is outdated.  The concert footage is obviously set in 1995 eventhough the film was released in '97.  I never realized it before, but there is a big difference between 95 and 97.  OJ jokes don't hold up anymore.

Overall, I'm disappointed that I rented the film.  It would have been much much better had it been just a straight concert film.  The skits bog it down, and ruin the pace of the film.

Don't rent this movie.  Go see Craig live instead.

3/10



Post Edited (11-24-05 14:26)

[Jim H]

Undead was the only one of those I have seen.  I have to agree the FX are amazing, for the most part they stand up against Hollywood fare with 50x the budget.  I was disappointed, but still enjoyed it.  Probably the biggest disappointment was the action scenes, which I thought would actually be cool, but were not.  I liked Merian a lot though.  

Overall.  I'd probably give it a 7/10.

[Scottie]

I have a friend at school whose cousin helped make and produce American Astronaut. He's also an actor in the movie. He's in the trailer. I can't tell you his role since I haven't gotten the chance to see it, but I could point him out to you. Friend's name is Mark Malloy, and he teaches photography up here in Boone, NC. Nice guy, and he loves the movie.

[Scott]

AMERICAN ASTRONAUT is a good one. A strange film that I believe anyone who visits thie messageboard will love. You won't be dissappointed.

Been wanting to see UNDEAD.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Jim,

Yeah, I too had read about how awesome the action scenes were, but I was let down as well.  Merian was a great character, and the scene of him hanging upside down with the pistols is pretty good.  About the best action scene overall though is the scene with the broom and the saw blades.  I have a feeling that years from now, when someone mentions the film, that will be the only scene I remember.



Scott,

I remember you putting up quite a glowing review of The American Astronaut a while back, and that's one of the reasons why I tracked it down.  As you said, I'm sure that a lot of the people on the board would enjoy it.

After viewing it twice now, I've come to the conclusion that the scene on Jupiter with Hess singing "Lets Have A Party" and then proceeding to dance through the piles of sand, should be shown to all film school students at some point.  That's just great filmmaking.

[Shadowphile]

I haven't seen the others but I definitely agree about the fight scene in Undead.  That was awesome.

[Scott]

Scottie is the one who brought this one to our attention a while back. Vermin Boy has also seen this one.

The Dance Contest and the Bathroom scene are to funny. Not to mention stinky boy and the long surface walk.

A modern B-Movie Classic for sure.