movies,
with movies made by first timers, with odd choices for acting or music
or location. It would be easier for us as an audience to realize
that if cinema is a language, it's a language that, although we understand
it fluently, most of us have actually never spoken it.
Astroesque is the movie debut of comic book creator Mike Allred, and partially because of the experience I had watching accomplished artists struggle with a new medium, I cut Astroesque a lot of slack. Whereas Allred's comic Madman is a light peppy action comic with a romantic dreamy pull to it, Astroesque is a slow tedious haul of a movie where the occasional striking image is undercut by an amateurish script, bad sound, and terrible music. During the last ten minutes, I caught myself staring with intense concentration at the timer on the VCR, praying to make it to the end of the film.
The plot, if I understand it correctly, is something along these lines: Brad (Matt Brundage) is haunted by dreams and visions of a mysterious stranger (Mike Allred) who, in turn, is haunted by dreams and images of Brad. The mystery man is one of a race of aliens who, I think, came to the Earth to bring about Revelations. Upon his arrival on Earth, the mystery man meets Brad as a child and they've stayed in each other's thoughts since then. A vision of Brad dying draws the mystery man but, upon arriving, he crosses a vicious gay militia (well, I don't think they're meant to be gay in the movie but that's how they come off) and soon both the mystery man and Brad are fighting for their lives even as we, the audience, fight to stay awake.
Although Allred writes, directs and stars (not too bad as the mystery man, sort of a Kevin Sorbo type), he does himself the greatest disservice with allowing his band Gear to do the score for the film. Sludgy tunes and a bad sounding lead guitar (played, I bet, by Allred himself) smother the dialogue and keep any of the scenes from developing any power. Interminable Grateful Dead style jamming kill the movie's precarious sense of pacing (we never really find out what any of the characters want) and we get endless shots of people running in slow motion to brackish music. The editing is also way below standard, with a lot of dead lead at the beginning of shots and other footage (such as that chase) that must have looked too good and taken too long to shoot for the editors to feel comfortable cutting.
I dig a low-budget surrealist action flick as much as the next person, honest, and there are some well-designed shots (Allred had an experienced D.P. on hand for at least part of the shoot, it looks like) but Astroesque somehow managed to cause more tedium than delight. I give Allred points for ambition and accomplishment, but I also remember what it felt like to be watching that timer breathlessly. If you're looking for an inspiring no-budget movie, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a mini-education in what not to do with your movie, Astroesque may be worth your time.
All written material on these pages is © 1999 by Jeff Lester. With the exception of non-profit distribution, all other rights are reserved.