The Avalon Gets Its 'Freak' On

Are you one of those people who walked out of "Team America: World Police" and said to yourself, "That movie was good. But it would have been better if the puppets had more sex, mutilated each other in greater detail and snorted more cocaine"? If so, then have I got a flick for you.

"Live Freaky! Die Freaky!" -- a stop-motion animated film that revisits the Manson Family murders and will play as the midnight movie this weekend at the Avalon -- truly lives up to its name. It's like a Rankin-Bass special gone horribly wrong. Like, super-bad-LSD-trip wrong.

On the positive side, it's cool that musicians like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, John Doe of X and former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin provide voices. And some of the musical numbers, in their twisted way, are kind of catchy. But all the gore and obscene animated activity grows tiresome pretty quickly. It's all supposed to be ironic, but for what purpose, I have no idea.

Having said all that, I have to give props to the Avalon for screening "Freaky!" The Washington cinema scene needs to show more countercultural, truly independent films and this one certainly qualifies. I only wish, to riff on one of the albums by Mr. Armstrong's band, it didn't turn out to be such a pile of dookie.

-- Jen

By Jen Chaney |  January 26, 2006; 12:32 PM ET Movies
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