I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK—FLAMING LIPS-Christmas on Mars (film & soundtrack) (2008).

I’ve been a fan of the Flaming Lips for a pretty long time.  I first heard them with “She Don’t Use Jelly” (a novelty hit from 1993…who would have thought they’d have become so amazing) but I really got into them from the time of The Soft Bulletin (and Zaireeka).  Since around this time, Wayne Coyne and the Lips have been working on Christmas on Mars.  It is a “home movie” of sorts that the Lips and some special friends made in their home town (and their backyard).  They recently released the film on CD/DVD.

The film, based on the snippets I saw and everything I’d heard about it was nothing like what I expected.  Christmas on Mars sounds like a cheesy/funny movie about, well, what Martians do for Christmas.  And seeing Wayne as a Martian seemed to confirm my suspicion.  But rather, what you get is a much less joyful celebration.

The movie is structured around a space station on Mars. There are only a half a dozen or so humans on board, and they are all going slowly crazy from a lack of oxygen.  Also on board is a “virgin” mother who is incubating a baby that was born on Mars.  One of the crew believes that the fate of the baby will determine the fate of the entire mission.

It is Christmastime on Mars, and there’s going to be a Christmas party.  But the Santa freaks out and runs outside just as a Martian walks up to the station.  The Martian is “captured” but he serenely walks around the ship, observing, mending and just being there.

There is very little dialogue.  There are really far out-trippy images.  There are lots of really creepy images (the people who let their baby be in the film were VERY trusting).  And there’s lots of vaginal imagery (in whacked out dream sequences) which makes me wonder what kind of MPAA rating this would get.

The film is a little dull at times (especially in the beginning)–although it could have just been that since I didn’t know what I was getting into, I wasn’t in the right mind frame for it…kind of like Eraserhead.  But it definitely picks up, and gets rather suspenseful.  It’s also nice that some “real” actors are in it, like SNL’s Fred Armisen,  AdamGoldberg (!) and Blue’s Clue’s Steve Burns (!!).

What’s most impressive though is the look of the film.  From interviews I read, I learned that Wayne was constructing most of the set himself (and that he got to use an abandoned processing plant for many of the scenes).  He very wisely films in low light and black and white, (with occasional splashes of supervibrant color) but the sets look really amazing.

The Flaming Lips are usually pretty upbeat and positive.  This film is overall pretty dark and negative, although there is always a ray of light shining through it.  I’m not going to give away the ending, though.

The CD is the soundtrack to the film.  It is not for the casual listener, or even necessarily for the Flaming Lips fan.  There’s no lyrics at all.  And the score is very befitting of a “lost in space at Christmastime” movie.  Unlike the typical Lips’ mood, the soundtrack is quite dark (and short at about half an hour).  The overall feel is ambient, but restless ambient.  And there’s very little in the way of tunes.  That’s not a criticism, as it is a soundtrack to the film, it’s just a warning for those expecting another “Waitin’ for a Superman.”  Although I admit it won’t be getting a lot of play in my house.

[READ: December 16, 2008] One Night @ the Call Center

A patron asked me to order Chetan Bhagat’s newest novel for her.  In the process, she told me that this novel, One Night @ the Call Center was very funny, and had finally gotten released over here.  I don’t always listen to patron suggestions, but for some reason this one stuck with me, so I inter-library loaned it.

As the title suggests, this story is set in a call center, and all the action takes place in one night (with some flashbacks).  The characters are six twenty-something Indians living in Delhi.  They work for Connections, a call center for an American appliance manufacturer. And their shift is from 10PM-2AM.

It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S., which means a nice slow night at the call center (since most Americans are too busy eating to call up and complain).  The six characters have Indian names, but for their job, they use their “American” names and accents. Shyam (Sam) is the main character and focus of the story.  He used to date Priyanka (more on her in a moment).  Esha (Eliza) is a beautiful woman who longs to be a model (although she’s a few inches too short to be taken seriously).  The other male in the office is Varun (Victor) who likes to be called Vroom, since he loves cars and driving fast.  There’s also Radhika (Regina), the only married one of the bunch.  Oh, and there’s also Military Uncle, an older gentleman who ignores and looks down on the youngsters for their disrespectful behavior.

Their boss is a foolish man named Bakshi.  He has an MBA but no computer knowledge at all.  He is well known for passing off his FYI assignments to Sam and the team (FYI being a term Vroom made up meaning “fuck you instead”).  Sam and Vroom are working on an online manual to assist their callers, but Bakshi has no idea what to make of it (or of what the tech support guy is talking about when he comes to look at the crossed phone lines).

Each team member has his or her own crisis that night:  Vroom really wants to date Esha, but she keeps turning him down.  Esha reveals a secret she is ashamed to admit.  Radhika is tired of living with her very traditional in-laws because her husband and her mother-in-law don’t appreciate how much she does.  Priyanka, who still has feelings for Sam, has agreed to marry a Microsoft employee and to move to the States.  The only problem is that he wants to get married in two weeks, and they haven’t even met in person yet.  And Sam, well, he’s devastated at the thought of losing Priyanka.  He’s also pissed because Bakshi keeps delaying his promotion.   But in addition to all of the personal stories is the very real possibility that Connections will either be closing or having extensive layoffs due to low call volume.

The story is told from Sam’s perspective.  We hear a lot about his past dates with Priyanka, and how her family treated him.   We learn that they loved each other but there were some things that kept them from growing together…whether it was her attitude about herself and her mother or his defeatist attitude about himself and his future prospects.

As the night draws on, they learn that Bakshi has important news about their future.  Layoffs are certain, but he’s staying positive because he will be moving to Boston, Mass, in a new executive position.  And when they learn what the selling point was for his position, the team understandably loses it.  The revenge they seek is fun (when they leave the call center), clever (what they do to Bakshi), and shockingly mean (what they do to their American callers).

And about Americans….  I have never read a book that showed so much disdain for Americans.  There’s a moment where Bakshi, in giving a pep talk to his staff, says to remember that 35=10.  35=10 is code that the average 35 year old American is as smart as a 10 year old Indian.  There is also very angry anti-American sentiment from Vroom (especially after her receives an anti-Indian complaint from a U.S. customer).  The revenge they take on their American caller is very clever, but it really plays up American ignorance, and fears of a terrorist attack.  (Sadly, I suspect their plan might work in real life, too).

So, if you can get past this anti-Americanism (and if you’re not American, then there’s no problem, eh?), what to make of the story?

Well, it bookends with an unlikely tale from Chetan Bhagat: on a train ride, he meets a lady who relates the story to him under condition that he write it as his next book.  (The end of the story throws light on who the mysterious lady really is).

Well, at first I thought the story, or more to the point, the narrator (Sam) was a little annoying.  He claims at the start of the story that his English is not that great and, “if you’re looking for something sophisticated and high-brow then I suggest you read another book with plenty of long words.”  The problem with that is that he really meant it.  His earlier observations are pretty pedestrian, passed off as worldliness.  And, his story is somewhat cliched. (It could easily be made into a pretty decent film).  Not to say it isn’t good, it’s just all kind of predictable.  Except, of course, for their one special phone call that comes in and changes everything for them.

Once I got past the uninspired narrator (who gets more inspired as events of the evening progress), and the anti-American polemics (even if I agreed with some of it), I did enjoy the story.  There were some funny moments, and, honestly it was interesting to “learn” what the call center workers felt (since mostly I hear about people complaining about the calls being outsourced to India).

Plus, I learned one of the coolest Microsoft “bugs,” and I’m surprised I’ve never come across it before.  If you type =rand(200,99) into a Word document and press ENTER, you get, well, you’ll have to try it to find out what (it won’t hurt your machine, I promise).

The book is a fast read, and in the end, even though I pretty much knew what would happen, I enjoyed seeing how it unfolded.  I’m not sure I would go out of my way to recommend it to anyone, but if you’re looking for a quick read, you could do worse.