C.Q.

Roman Coppola makes his directing debut in this highly-referential period piece. If you’ve seen David Holzman’s Diary, Barbarella and Vampiros Lesbos, and if you’re the kind of coolsumer who used to buy ReSearch Magazine and has a shelf full of Thunderbirds figurines, you’ll no doubt get all that’s going on here. If not, there’s still a lot to recommend this film. Jeremy Davies is weird and compelling as a young film editor working on a science fiction film in Paris. The sets are fabulously groovy-mod, and the story, about a guy who’s trying to make "real art" by focusing only on himself, is alternately hilarious and moving. Still, it’s a bit slow-paced, and in spite of the surfeit of ideas here, the film occasionally lags. However, all your cool friends are going to see it, so unless you want to get nerd-tagged, it’s best to show up and pretend you know what’s going on.