THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT
2001
Written and Directed by Corey McAbee
A.K.A. Something NEW
PlotThe Plot is fairly simple. Astronaut Samuel Curtis is delivering a cat to a man in a bar on the moon of Ceres, where a big dance competition is being held. There he meets up with an old friend, The Blueberry Pirate, who makes a deal with him. Curtis must go to Jupiter, where no women exist, and trade a Real-Live-Girl (an embryo in a box) for the Boy Who Actually Saw A Woman's Breast, a 16-year-old who tells his tales to the workers there to keep up morale. Then, he is to take The Boy Who Actually Saw A Woman's Breast to Venus, a planet virtually devoid of men, save their king, whos life ammounts to stud service. You see, the king is dead, and the women of Venus won't give him up without a proper replacement, which is where The Boy comes in. Curtis will then take the king's corpse back to his relatives on Earth, who will pay him handsomely for it. Pretty simple.
To complicate matters, Curtis is constantly stalked by one Professor Hess, a twisted man who kills frequently, but only if he has no reason to. He intends on apologising to Curtis, then promptly killing him. On the way, he kills everyone Curtis knows, just to give himself a good reason to apologize. But the plot isn't all that's important about this film. In the 60's and 70's, a small phenomenon had sprung forth in which certain films forced their way into cult phenomena. The wonderful documentary "Midnight Movies" highlights the greatest few of these, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Rocky Horror is a film that did something no other film had: It grew a life of its own. Fans began memorizing lines, dressing up as characters, and even interacting with the events/dialogue on the screen. The film had effectively left the hands of its makers, and became something new. In fact, 30 years later, the film still earns enough as a midnight show to cover its own distribution costs, basically becoming a self-perpetuating creature. And yet, because the experience has been around so long, it could be said that its wrinkles are starting to show. Pop culture-followers have been clamoring for the next "rocky Horror" for a little while. Oddly enough two films seemed to spring up nearly simultaneously to claim the throne. One was the seminal transgender rock-opera "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", which like Rocky Horror is both a cult film and a broadway hit where audience members dress up and sing along. The other successor, obviously, is "The American Astronaut"
Upon seeing the film, you either understand why, or you don't. There's no point in trying to explain away the surreal camera angles, the non-sequitorial comments, or the infectiously weird songs randomly performed by The Billy Nayer Show, whose frontman Corey McAbee wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film. You're either hooked, or you're not. You also discover that this phenomenon extends well past the theater doors where hushed tones of "The Boy Who Actually Saw A Woman's Breast!" and jealous onlookes eyeing the box containing a real live girl reside. Suddenly you'll find youserlf greeting other members of your club conspiratorially, being able to answer the question of "What did your father teach you?" and breaking into "Rio Yeti" everytime someone answers a question negatively. This is no imitator of the Rocky Horror phenomenon. This is a different kind of animal. This is something new. |
RatingI give The American Astronaut: 
Four and a Half Rotting Shambling Corpses out of Five. Oh, and as a sidenote, another film that's been snowballing into phenomenon is the much heralded "Snakes On A Plane". This too is creating its own life. There's already audience participation plans being organized months before the film is even released. Perhaps that will have its own spark of magic as well? We'll have to wait and see. |