Mock Up on Mu (2009)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Mania on the Moon

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Mock Up on Mu on DVD.

Filmmaker Craig Baldwin (Tribulation 99, Spectres of the Spectrum) returns with his fourth feature film, and it's yet another amazing, amusing sociopolitical rant, disguised as a cheesy science fiction film and using a weird mashup of real people and fictional events. It's made up of some new footage, but mostly zillions of clips from movies of all stripes, ranging from trailers, to industrials, B-movies and even some classics (North by Northwest). The movie is divided into 13 chapters like an old sci-fi serial. It involves cult leader L. Ron Hubbard (Damon Packard), a sexy girl spy (Michelle Silva, and voiced by Jeri Lynn Cohen), and B-movie star-turned rocket scientist Jack Parsons (Kalman Spelletich). The main complaint has something to do with using technology to invent weapons instead of anything useful. It's by turns funny, angry and crazy; it hits you from all angles, and not all of it sticks (it's by far Baldwin's longest film, and it gets to be a bit much), but it's definitely worthwhile. Other Cinema released the DVD, complete with a Baldwin commentary track, a brief clip of Baldwin in action and trailers.