American Astronaut

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speedbump

Well-known member
Bwahahahaha!

Ok. This movie is a black&white 35mm indy masterpiece starring Cory Mcabee, who is this gritty sort-of Hugh Jakeman lookalike who flies through the solar system scraping up what trading business he can.

I love this kind of stuff. Like Eraserhead, you feel like you would completely understand the whole plot if you just saw five crucial minutes of film that had been left out of the movie you are watching right now. Whatever: the stuff you get to see are just not to be missed. From the Dance Contest on Ceres to the song about the Girl With a Glass Vagina, your brow will remain in a furrowed-yet-amused state.

Stills from the movie:

http://www.americanastronaut.com/gallery/movie_stills/aaphoto01lg.jpg

http://www.americanastronaut.com/gallery/movie_stills/aaphoto03lg.jpg

http://www.americanastronaut.com/gallery/movie_stills/aaphoto02lg.jpg

Folks, THIS is the kind of movies I'd like to make.

Comments?
 
Wow, it's crazy you mentioned this, I just watched it again two nights ago. The movie is a great example of what a limited budget and a creative writer/director can achieve. It's not for everyone, and I assume some here would think it's crap. I, however, think it's one hell of a good time. The dance contest on Ceres is definitely a highlight.

The writer/director's band played the soundtrack to film which, I guess, could be considered a musical. It rocks and could stand on it's own as a cool album.

Speedbump, I see you're from Denver. I originally saw this at the Boulder Theater while drinking pints of Guiness. After the show, the director answered questions from the audience. He was travelling across the country showing his movie in college towns. Now that's old school grassroots distribution.
:thumbsup:
 
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Ritchie-

Yeah, the soundtrack rocks. And you are right; some people are going to think this movie isn't worth the praise I've heaped on it. But I loved it.

Cory is an interesting guy, and his methods of saving money are great stuff for indy moviemakers. For instance, his Behind The Scenes thing on the DVD was shot in a bar somewhere. Essentially, what they did was just set up a couple cameras, and projected the whole movie while he commented on it and took questions. Brilliantly economic.

What were you doing in Boulder?
 
speedbump said:
What were you doing in Boulder?
Click to expand...

I just moved back to Virginia after being in Boulder for about nine years. My wife and I had a baby girl, so we had to move back home and get on our feet again financially. We also wanted her to spend her first few years around family. We want to move back and hopefully will in a year or so. I worked at Wax Trax in Boulder for about eight and a half years.

I saw that Cory got a grant for the movie. How much was the production budget?
 
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I don't any idea. He was asked about the budget in his Behind The Scenes, and he said something like,' Under a million,' which could be $50K or $500K. My impression was that he only had enough to pay for film, developing, and a little bit for the actors.
 
I've been trying to find the budget out for this film for weeks. I saw it and really dug it. I thought it dragged a little towards the end, and i would have liked to see a better climax, but I loved the musical stuff, and I thought it was genius how his spaceship looked liked my granny's attic.

I can't understand how this didn't get wider appeal. To me it's miles beyond Eraserhead for the average viewer, because there is more of a story to follow, and it's less disturbing. It's bizzare, but a lighter version.

Speedbump: Do you affiliate with CASA or Group101 in Denver?
 
Maybe only folks from Colorado appreciate this movie ;)

I got it from Netflix last summer and despite a bum DVD prone to skipping thought that it was quite original... and yes, a bit disturbing in that "Is there something wrong with Uncle Charlie... no, maybe, yes?" kind of way.

I loved the use of paintings to depict space travel VFX, and the still photo montage used to convey character development was pretty inspired.

Jim Arthurs
 
As mentioned, I think it is a great example of doing something well with what you have. SFX has gotten so real that people are usually annoyed by a cheap imitation. The fact that he embraced his limitations and showed things in a DIFFERENT way instead of imitating what was already accepted is the genius of the film to me. That, and the musical numbers.

But, I do think it could have used another re-write :)

BTW, the air is kinda thin up here...maybe it's the lack of oxygen that makes us appreciate this film.
 
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