While writing that epic Zappa post a while back, I noticed that I had never watched Baby Snakes. That seemed like an unfortunate oversight, so I ordered up the DVD and watched it this week.
This, gentle reader, is a masterpiece of weird. Officially billed as “A Movie About People Who Do Stuff That Is Not Normal,” Baby Snakes celebrates Not Normal and deploys live concert footage, fantastical clay animation, and backstage sophomoric humor to confound the senses and defy categorization. There are long sequences of audience participation on stage, dramatic cinematic interpretations of complex compositions and driving rock beats, an interview with an artist a few peas short of a pod – producing amazing, surreal animations – and rock guitar god tributes. I think Monty Python might have copied the Zappa formula, leaving out the music parts.
In an effort to promote this amazing cinematic accomplishment, I have extracted and posted the 2-minute theatrical trailer (4.8MB .mov file). I encourage you right-click the link (Mac users: Ctrl-click) and download it to your computer in case you want to watch it more than once. Is it worksafe? That’s hard to say. It’s not obviously un-worksafe, but it’s not typical family entertainment. Best to get your own copy to watch in the privacy of your home.
I highly recommend the film; a more unique cultural artifact from 1979 will not be found. I myself hope to watch it several more times with friends, but it’s not immediately clear who, exactly, is willing to sit through two hours and forty-five minutes of Intercontinental Absurdities. It’s worth it though; it’s likely you’ve never seen anything like this.
February 18, 2006