How Long Is “The American Astronaut”?

Cory McAbee, a musician and performance artist who leads the San Francisco-based experimental rock band the Billy Nayer Show, wrote, directed, and stars in this surreal, expressionistic comedy. Samuel Curtis (McAbee) is an astronaut for hire, working for a delivery service that sees him piloting his spaceship from one end of the universe to another to deliver parcels. One day, Curtis finds himself waiting for a pick-up on a dusty planet in the middle of nowhere; hoping to kill some time with a few drinks, he happens upon the least friendly tavern in the galaxy, where the regulars regard him with suspicion, and a pair of bullies (Ned Sublette and Mark Manley) angrily confront him with a mean-spirited song-and-dance routine. Curtis thinks help has arrived when his longtime friend, the Blueberry Pirate (Joshua Taylor), shows up, but instead Curtis finds himself on a wild goose chase, running from one planet to another picking up packages for the Pirate, until circumstances force them to enter a dance contest. As one might expect, McAbee and the other members of the Billy Nayer Show provided the score for the film, which received its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.