Change Your Image
dannelke
Reviews
The American Astronaut (2001)
An antidote to crap
David Lynch meets Fellinni and Salvador Dali in a bar and they form a rockabilly band, and that band then decides to do a musical western comedy as a small noir Indy film.
That's the pitch - if this movie was ever even remotely "pitchable".
I just saw it and was completely blown away. Not since Eraserhead and the earliest days of MST3K has someone so messed with my mind in a mere 91 minutes.
5 stars.
The director's commentary was also quite amusing. You're watching bits of the film being projected on a small screen in a bar while the director does Q&A. Lots of "where the hell did THAT come from?" stuff followed by, "well, there were some things going on in my life..." that actually add to the surreal quality of the film. Also, one of those rare Indy films where the quintuple threat one-man vision approach actually pays some real dividends.
My only wish is that there were more of this director's work to catch up on. And should the director read this;
"Produce! Produce! For the long night is coming wherein no man can work!"
- Barney Dannelke