There are a lot of worthy black and white films out there.

Yeah, these are not those films.

These are a different sort of monochromatic visual feast altogether.

I know what its like, okay?

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My dudes?

Do not make that mistake here.

I guarantee that after reading aboutThe American Astronaut, you will want to get on that shit asap.

So unskim your eyes and prep for a gentle info dump.

You wont regret it.

Lets start with whatThe American Astronautis, before moving onto what it is not.

The American Astronautis a black and white space western/musical from 2001 that has almost completely disappeared.

So lets talk about whatThe American Astronautis not.

Its not big budget and its not streamlined.

Its scrappy and suffers from those moments of languishing dialogue that you tend to find in writer/director/star passion projects.

All the special effects shots are hand-painted and the props and sets were donated or procured from thrift stores.

Producer Bobby Lurie has been pretty candid about his experience working on the film.

People think that they can fix a film with music, as if music were a band-aid or something.

But I also learned that you could take a good film and make it great with the right music.

He did and it is.

Fair warning, though: its hard to get.

Its not available on DVD or streaming, and it isnt on YouTube.

In fact, its currently only available as part of a deluxe package viaMcAbees website.

Thats…well, thats pretty much it.

Except for the madness, of course.

The plot, such as it is, is utterly insane.

He also stars in the film as both chicken boy Squeezeit and his transgender sister Rene.

(Did I mention that this film is wall-to-wall bonkers?)

Also, its really funny.

The story was written by Alain Robbe-Grillet and is a minefield of ambiguity.

Two men and a woman meet at the titular Marienbad.

Marienbadhas a lot to offer if you like to get involved in deciding the true meaning behind a film.

Everyone is capable of coming away from it with their own opinion on what happened.

It therefore stands out as a rather odd beast.

Its such an unusual cinematic experience and really pushes you out there on the stage with Power.

This is it for him.

He has to be a hit or hell be back to performing as a geek in a heartbeat.

What would Power think to its current 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and classic noir status?