MUBI

It still baffles me as to why Cory McAbee hardly gets any attention; he’s one of the most inventive and original filmmakers to come out in the last decade. Mixing Sci-Fi, The Musical and the Western like an alchemist, this just proves The American Astronaut was not a one-off, here we see an expansion of what McAbee established in his debut feature: John Borrusso’s collages, in particular, really stand out, wonderfully reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s animations for Monty Python.

I usually have a dislike for musicals, mainly because the music in musicals usually suck, but with Cory McAbee’s musicals, he’s also fortunate enough to play in a band called The Billy Nayer Show to provide his soundtrack. I can’t think of a bad song throughout and a number called Fredward (a great synergy between the music and Barruso’s collages) I really enjoyed.

McAbee had to make a transition to HD for obvious budgetary reasons, but one can see that he truly loves black and white, the visuals are crisp and high in contrast, and whatever the film does lack in budget, like The American Astronaut, it makes up for in relentless imagination.