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The American Astronaut

post #1 of 9
4/18/06 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
I just watched this over the weekend. How did I miss this? Fantastic scifi space musical, and the songs are great. Almost reminds me of a more restrained version of Forbiden Zone. Anyone else love this movie?
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post #2 of 9
4/18/06 at 12:46pm
One of the greatest, crazy-ass indies ever. I can see the comparison to "Forbidden Zone" in terms of it being an out there, sci-fi adventure, but the tone of "American Astronaut" is far more Lynchian in a bizarre way. It's one of those DVDs you let friends borrow just to hear them two days later be like, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?"
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post #3 of 9
4/18/06 at 2:28pm
I love, love, love this movie. I was unsure about it until the moment the "Hey Boy" number started, and after that, I was hooked.
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post #4 of 9
4/18/06 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, "Hey Boy" is the song that's most sticking in my head. It's funny, I think the reason I never saw this is that whenever I heard someone mention the title, I confused it with The Astronaut's Wife.

It ends kind of abruptly. I was expecting there to be a final chapter back on Earth. But I guess it makes sense that Earth is never actually seen in the movie, since for so many characters, Earth seems like this mystical place, this missing piece of their knowledge ("I never got that joke. But then, I've never been to Earth"). Also, maybe the fact that that Hertz Donut joke goes on so ridiculously long is meant to express the idea that stories like this shouldn't wear out their welcome.
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post #5 of 9
4/18/06 at 4:03pm
RIO YETI RIO YETI RIO YETI
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO !

Fantastic picture. The DVD commentary is brilliant too.
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post #6 of 9
4/18/06 at 4:08pm
I saw this movie at a drive-in.

Seriously.

An entire reel was projected misframed. The songs were incomprehensible over the AM-radio sound system. The back of my SUV, I discovered for the first time, was exactly one foot too short to actually stretch out in.

It was great.
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post #7 of 9
4/18/06 at 4:46pm
Saw this by accident at a friend's house. It really gets into your head for a bit. Here ya go:

Quote:

So there's this man, and he lived his whole life on Earth, and his name was Mr. Stevenson. When Mr. Stevenson was eight years old, he asked another little boy if he would like a Hurts Donut. The other boy said yes. So he hit him on the arm and he said, "Hurts Donut." Five years later, Mr. Stevenson asked another boy about his same age at that time if he would like a Hurts Donut. when the boy said yes, Mr. Stevenson stabbed him over and over again in his eye and his cheek with a pencil, saying "Hurts Donut."

Over the years, Mr. Stevenson did very well in school. On graduation day, he was sat next to another young man, who, like Mr. Stevenson, had earned high marks. When he asked the boy if he would like a Hurts Donut, the boy said, "Not if you're gonna stab me in the eye with a pencil." "I wouldn't even touch you," said Mr. Stevenson. So when the boy agreed, he presented him with a photograph of the young man's fiancée at a bachelor party, on some guy's table, fucking herself with a beer bottle. As tears filled the young man's eyes, Mr. Stevenson was heard to say, "Hurts Donut."

A few years later, Mr. Stevenson got a job as a sales clerk in an electronics store. Within a year, he was caught stealing and immediately incarcerated. When he asked his cellmate if he would like a Hurts Donut, his cellmate said yeah. So... he gave him a Hurts Donut.

Over the years, Mr. Stevenson grew too old to take care of himself, so they put him in a hospital. One day, he asked the new nurse if she would like a Hurts Donut. In anticipation of her response, Mr. Stevenson began humming and making smacking noises with his mouth. When the nurse smiled and said, "I know about you, Mr. Stevenson," Mr. Stevenson blurted out something totally incoherent and... and began to laugh.
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post #8 of 9
4/18/06 at 10:27pm

I love it!

Do yourself a favor and get the soundtrack/dvd from Billynayer.com. I got the dvd from there, and it came with a coupon for a free copy of their latest album, Rabbit, which is good, too. I hope I'm somewhere where they'll have a show/movie screening!
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post #9 of 9
10/28/11 at 8:26am

I just wanted to report that I love this film, I saw it three times in theaters... and I have an amazing TAA story to share with you:

 

The second time I went to see THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT with my friends (it came back to our small art house theater a few times over the course of several months), I popped out at one point to grab a smoke. It's a very small theater in a small town, with the entrance to the theater next to a pub. There was a guy pacing back in forth in the pub/theater lobby, and then he went outside to smoke too. The whole time I was thinking "Hmm... why is this person drawing my attention? He looks so familiar!"

 

Any guess who it was?

 

Cory McAbee, star/director of the film. The guy I'd been watching on screen just minutes before

 

AA_1.jpg

 

 

He came to see the film in our town one more time, and also took questions and stuff. Apparently yes, there was a relationship between the Cory and the Professor in their back story, and that's why there was the animosity

 

PS I have an AMERICAN ASTRONAUT tee autographed by McAbee, but it's a dark brown T with black marker autograph, so it's nearly impossible to see : /

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