Well, a review is in. Hitfix‘s Katie Hasty took one for the internet by traveling out to Sundance (tough gig) for last night’s premiere of Animal Collective and Danny Perez’s “visual album.” The 53-minute film, set to entirely new music from the band, is described as “a very colorful movie that entirely lacks a plot, but is a series of musical and visual motifs to make a whole.” That there’s no discernable narrative arc at play is about as surprising as its use of “very long kaleidoscopic interstitials of deep dye,” and like their most eccentric work, it’s possible there isn’t any sense to be made of it at all. In a post-film Q&A with 3/4 of the band (yes Deakin, no Panda), director Danny Perez was perfectly obtuse: “It’s for fiction of things,” he said. Helpful! (Not helpful.) Hitfix offers a few descriptive graphs of what’s in store:
A wall spews tar as a woman fruitlessly tries to suppress it. A man with a glittery face and gauze wrapped on his head plays an autoharp where no autoharp has business playing. A family of four consumes roasted marshmallows, which then grotesquely consumes them; then, they in turn are consumed by a sad vampire, whom earlier in the film captained a lone canoe.
ODDSAC is bass-heavy and droning, filled with bad guys with unknowable complaints and pleasing color palates when the melodies kick in. Much like Animal Collective shows, there are very long kaleidoscopic interstitials of deep dye and repetitive sound, serving as undulating provocations and exhilations between the more songy-songs.
A man with long, white hair sets up a three-piece drum kit in the middle of a rocky, dried river bed and plays consistently, with interspersed rapid-fire cinematic hiccups in the key of heavy metal. A quartet of indie-hip girls pretend to bake on a tiny stage built in the middle of the woods as Glitter Face unsupportively chides them until they all erupt in a food fight.
So, there’s that. Twitter was there too:
ODDSAC, the Animal Collective film, makes Matthew Barney look like Matthew McConaughey. Trippy, dense, intense, atonal, dark, fractured” -@jamesrocchi
“I walked into ODDSAC completely sober. I walked out feeling like I dropped two hits of Acid. Animal Collective fans, you’re in for a treat.” -@chasewhale
“Had to walk out on oddsac #sundance fail”
-@briankemler
Sounds about right. If you’re interested in a 26-second preview, try this trailer, and check the screening dates.
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The movie theater is the ideal place to hear AnCo in my opinion…
“A man with long, white hair sets up a three-piece drum kit” is probably the same footage as the backing video used for carrots in panda bear’s live shows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqrBBSA0bLM
Yes, that’s the same clip. In the q&a, Danny mentioned how he does the live visuals for Black Dice and Panda Bear, and that when he was doing the visuals for PB,he’d often use stuff from ODDSAC (considering the entire process of making the film was 4 years ) for PB’s live show, and also use some video that he normally uses for PB’s live show in ODDSAC as well.
Was surprised that no one in the q&a asked about Deakin’s appearance at the screening/contribution to ODDSAC vs him splitting from the band before (or was it during?) Merriweather.
The above quoted review in the main article pretty much nails it all. There’s also spinning fire dancers, appearances by members of the band (including one Matthew Barney-d out Dave Portner), and a lot of trippy visuals that seemed to be achieved through digital editing, but some of those were just so mesmerizing to watch, it didn’t feel like they lasted for as long as they did. Especially this one part where the boating vampire passes through a dark canal where long shafts of lights reflect onto the water and become so bright that the camera moves into them like moving into a different dimension.
The film could’ve been longer, it just felt so short at the end, but it’s so densely packed, there’s just so much there. Cremaster on acid.
My nickname in college was Oddsac. I think it had to do with the fact that my balls are weird lookin.
I for one am very anxious to see the film. Ever since their album Feels, I have been waiting for Animal Collective to make a feature film. And I’ve never been one to listen to critics when it comes to movie reviews, so I will definitely check this film out. Animal Collective is all about visual appeal more than anything. It’s like they want you to see their music. So this movie is probably like that in that sense. If you’re looking for an Animal Collective movie with a deep and brooding plot, you’re probably not going to find one.
this sounds and looks like bullshit. oh yeah, it’s bullshit
“the Animal Collective film, makes Matthew Barney look like Matthew McConaughey” WTF? doubtful.
This is gonna be like The Wall, except more trippy. Maybe too trippy.
I’m a big Animal Collective fan and was really looking forward to this, but honestly left a bit disappointed. The music is incredible (and I had no doubt it would be) but the imagery was inconsistent and, at times, felt like it was just weird for the sake of weird.
The director mentioned in the Q&A that he felt it was an honest expression of his emotional state– but it’s hard to imagine what kind of deep-seeded psychological issues manifest themselves visually in the form of campers choking on marshmallows and being eaten by a pasty vampire with a bad complexion. And these mind-boggling scenes are interspersed with extended animated sequences that bear more than a passing resemblance to (and are about as entertaining as) the visualizations on my Windows Media Player.
There are sequences that work well– the opening scene with the fire spinners; the lone drummer in the field; and the serene moments of the lonely man in the canoe traveling downriver at night (before I realized he was a vampire who melts into latex paint when the sun hits him)– but these scenes still feel secondary to the music. And more than once I found myself closing my eyes to simply enjoy the music without the bizarre distractions (Did I mention how insanely good the music is?). In any case, I’m sure this will probably be released on DVD some day, but I think I’ll just stick with buying the soundtrack.
This is too interpretative to review. It’s art with art. Eye of the beholder. And all that jazz.
No does this explain IamwhoIam?
come to berkeley, ODDSAC. please.
Not at all like The Wall. Pink Floyd has a social message, that this animal collective video highly lacks.
My experience at the Chicago screening:
http://yaxie.blog.com/2010/03/23/ive-been-planning-to-write-about-oddsac-for-a-while-sexism-is-still-now/
I second Joel
I strongly disagree that this movie lacks a plot. Although I didn’t understand it at all the first time I watched it, I made a lot more connections the second viewing. This is just my interpretation of the movie plot.
*SPOILER ALERT*
1. The first scene with the guy wearing the odd mask and his little fire dancers is the vampire covering his grotesque face and trying to feed on the girl in the house. The Vamp makes his victims panic and then become immobile with fear and helplessness (Same with the campfire family) The actual song is from Vamp’s view; he sings of not being able to resist this perfect girl even though he doesn’t like being this monster.
2. This scene is from the girl’s point of view after she is bitten and covered in oil. I think the she’s seeing visions and transforming into the “long haired man.”
3. Vamp wakes up in his cozy little bed and already begins seeing visions of the campfire family (dad washing rocks?)
4. Vamp makes his journey to their camp in his canoe.
5. The woman from the first scene has now been transformed into a senseless being and gathers the drum set on the rocks.
6. Vamp sees the lady from the camp washing clothes and follows her back.
7. Vamp uses same mystical powers only this time with marshmallows instead of oil. The family freaks out and starts panicking only to become paralyzed with fear as Vamp strikes at the child.
8. Vamp probably takes his time feeding on the family and in his carelessness is still there when the sun comes up. He begins burning and almost makes it to his canoe but is swallowed by the water instead.
9. Vamp recovers and tries to prey on a family of girls cooking. I think his powers have been lost after the sun incident or these girls are just not afraid of him. He tries taking of the cooking and begins to freak out with things don’t go his way. The girls don’t take him seriously and start a food fight.
10. Vamp finds happiness after just relaxing and watching the food fight.