Ever since Animal Collective decided to turn into the underground (relatively speaking) version of a Boy Band, it’s been pretty clear that, sooner or later, their very own 21st-century version of A Hard Day’s Night would be upon us. Screaming girls, campy acting jobs, plot-shirking camera mugging, bloated musical montages crammed into scene after scene sporting goofy variable frame rate effects, etc.
Now, at long last, the forever-in-the-making Animal Collective movie, directed by collaborator Danny Perez (who has worked on their pretty badass “Who Could Win a Rabbit” and “Summertime Clothes” videos), is finally making its big debut at next year's Sundance Film Festival which runs from January 21-31 in Utah. And, well, lets jut say that those Hard Day’s Night comparisons might be a little off the mark here (except for the “bloated musical montages” part, of course!).
The film has been given the brilliantly-fun-to-say title of ODDSAC. Speaking about the absurd name choice with Pitchfork earlier this year, Dave Portner (Avey Tare) said, "There's a few titles we're all psyched on, but it's a matter of finding out what sits right, what looks right in terms of putting it in the credits." And I guess what could look more right on a giant screen than the word ODDSAC spelled out in all caps? Sheesh. Actors...
Anyway, describing the film’s plot, Portner continued: "The whole thing cohesively doesn't have one narrative; it's more of a visual or psychedelic thing. There are parts that are almost completely abstract, and there are parts that are little bit more live-action." In other words, the thing will most likely look a lot like their records sound. Hopefully they’ll have an Emcee or two on hand at the festival to make keep reminding the patrons that the brown acid that is circulating around is not, specifically, too good.
