ETXR (2014)

Good concept, poorly executed.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of those movies where the idea is good and you wish someone skilled had handled it. Very bad writing, not very good acting but the acting that is good is wasted on this plot and this script. The scientist kid, the one who delivers the worst lines in the movie is ironically the best actor. Everything about this movie is done wrong.It takes about 10 minutes to realize that the actors who play the DJ and the scientist should have switched roles. The scientist actor is the most like the sketched out DJ's. Anyone who went to raves and has been in the scene would know that.Idiotic government-like propaganda conflating terrorists with environmentalists and anarchists, and lumping in the peaceful and intelligent occupy wall street people with terrorists as well. It's unnecessary, moronic drivel, especially for these times.It takes a -very- long time before the premise is solidified. More than a half-hour into the movie they finally get there and it's a disappointment. The timing and the pacing is terrible.. way too much meaningless dead content.I was dared to sit through this, that's the only reason I watched till the end because I got something out of the dare. I might have made it the half hour, otherwise.

Bix the Bug persuades his MIT-buddy to loan him his Tesla device - in order to find a crucial new sound with witch to attract people to his DJ-shows. Bix' old pal and manager is only in it for the money - which becomes obvious from the several times he goes behind Bix' back to sell the Tesla device to bad guys. "You don't know what you have", says the super bad guy, "who owns half of Europa or something..." But as it will soon become obvious... so does no one else.Bix refuses to sell, now that incorporating the Tesla device into his performances has brought him success with his concerts. The protests of his MIT-friend, that making the sounds from the device public will bring bad people scrambling to (for what ever reason - we are not told), are quietly dealt with by spiking him with some Ecstasy - so "he can live a little, maybe for the first time." And so it is. The MIT-buddy is happily persuaded to go along with Bix' plans - but some eco- terrorists, whose power pack the Tesla device is using, come to take both away, and Bix is shown an image of his buddy on a phone, dead from a bullet to the head. "This is what will happen if you don't deliver the power pack to us!"Bix has a vision that his friend is not dead, and discovers the whereabouts of the power pack. He is now fully attuned to the Tesla device and certain that the sounds it is producing are extraterrestrial, and that the receptions through the device are a sequence of some importance.YaddaYaddaYadda - Bix and his manager buddy drive to the Joshua tree in the desert and text his crowd to come for one last concert. During the concert the power pack is failing, but when Bix directly interfaces with the device, it somehow attains enough power to finish the sequence of received sounds. Which result in a nice light shower in the night sky - much like the final light show from Spielberg's Close Encounters - in the shape of a giant flower.And that's it. What was it? Some Ecstasy vision? But then we see, as we have seen throughout the film - as Bix has explained how he has always felt watched - an image of every human in his or her own existence of observation, in their own consciousness sphere, life bubble or similar explanation. All are like little mirrors of existence (similar to the surveillance layout from the TV-series "Person of Interest"). All are simultaneously co-existing in the same sphere - the Earth. And the camera pulls out to show the whole of the Earth. And pulls further and further back, until we see that the whole of the galaxy consists of the same gatherings of life-spheres. End. --I was not bored. Just very annoyed with the script. And the actors. The message is fine - but as a postulate is leaves the film hanging: We go through all this, SO that the director can tell us the Universe is teaming with life?! Some other review called it new-age crap or the like. I wouldn't go as far. I see a scriptwriter and a director striving to bring forth a vision - but if feels awfully like an Ecstasy vision. In the sense: It is a projection of personal need upheld only by this need. The same with the consciousness bubbles in the movie - on Earth and in the Universe. (Which may also be little spheres of surveillance by some other entity - it is open to interpretation.) You can say they are there. But then what? That is the problem with the script throughout. Nothing is made to matter. Relations, concepts, fates, threats. I was never involved. I was curious to see if the makers themselves knew where they were going. But I believe I can now safely say that if they did, they kept it to themselves.

The plot: A DJ receives extraterrestrial messages through his bland and generic techno music.I'm not the biggest fan of techno, but I do like it. I was a bit skeptical of the plot; any time you get a synopsis like this, it usually means you're in for 75 or 80 minutes (these are B movies after all) of bland and generic music and a throwaway plot wrapped around it. This was no exception, but it did seem to have airs toward at least aiming a bit higher than the usual horror comedy or hipster drama. There's some talk of extradimensional telepathy, collective consciousness, and transcending to a higher plane of consciousness, but, really, it's all just meaningless mumbo jumbo that doesn't affect the film's plot at all.This is a fairly shallow, by-the-numbers thriller that unfolds exactly like you think it will. There's one or two sort of trippy scenes, but they're kid's play compared to experimental films or art-house mindscrews. I was hoping for more along those lines, and I was left disappointed. Instead, it played out like the stereotypical paranormal thriller, where the government, big business, and terrorists are obsessed with taking the revolutionary, pseudoscientific invention away from a brilliant but quirky scientist. This time, we also get a techno DJ and his apparently useless friend along for the ride, too.The invention itself was somewhat interesting, but it turned out to be a huge MacGuffin, a plot device that exists only to drive conflict between the people who own it and the people who want it. Characters constantly talk about how important it is, how it can change everything, etc, but it never really does much of anything throughout the film. For a film that teases you with rather weighty metaphysical questions (such as "How would society change once you force it to a higher state of consciousness?"), there really isn't much to this film. It seems more interested in playing bland techno, showing two girls dancing with each other, and low-budget special effects.If you're expecting something wildly original, intelligent, or mindblowing, I think you're just going to be as disappointed as I was. If you walk into it with low expectations, a fondness for mainstream dance music, and a desire to see bad actors make out with each other, maybe you'll enjoy this more than I did. I can see how this might become a cult film among fans of raves, but that's about it. Anyone else is probably going to be unimpressed.

Great story and great music. This film takes you on a journey both psychologically and visually. The story flows well and the acting is really good. If you love music and science fiction this movie is for you. Bix the bug is a struggling DJ who is trying to make it. Levi Fiehler, who plays his old college buddy has a superb performance as his nerdy friend who brings him a device that he claims can communicate with extra-terrestrial beings. As the movie unfolds you actually begin to question what is or is not real... the music and visuals take you on a bit of "trip" toward the end. The last scene is open to interpretation, leaving the viewer to reflect on what they believe the message is.