SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Take a trip back to the comatorium for some further de-lousing in the reverberating rock doc Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, directed by Nicolas Jack Davies. The movie tells the story of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, two Hispanic friends from El Paso who took the world by storm with their bands At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta.
The film starts at the turn of this century, with At The Drive-In being given a secluded ranch studio by the label to record their 3rd album. This time period is another example of how the high points were really low points for this band. Memories are shared about licking the razor blades used to cut up the crack rocks they would smoke all night. At The Drive-In’s massive stadium audiences were also a source of bitterness, as they were made up of the aggro jock crowd who was only interesting in partying by hurting people.
Enacting a band clause that if this ever gets weird that they would take a six-month break no matter what, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala left the group to form the more Latin-influenced project The Mars Volta with Ikey Owens and Eva Gardner. The hard drugs were dropped, and they were both much happier with the audiences drawn to the new band. However, their success was clouded by the lingering needle habit of Jeremy Ward, their lyricist and sound engineer. But even as Ward’s track marks became abscessed and more prevalent, the band still has no idea the turmoil that lays in store for them as they navigate the 21st Century…
“…Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala left the group to form the more Latin-influenced project The Mars Volta…”
Davies immediately gets monstro kudos for displaying the most footage of tons of weed being smoked for a rock doc not made about reggae or rap. The huge blunts always in rotation are some of the most realistic windows into musicianship we have yet been allowed to peer through. The documentary also lays out the concept that weed is not drugs quite succinctly without having to be blatant about it. Cocaine and heroin are drugs. Weed is pancake mix for perception and is in the same class as coffee. Seeing Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala using herbs to get to work and create is such a refreshing change from the f**k-offness of hot boxing-free base fumes in a studio closet.
Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird is another great example as to the wide appeal of a really good rock doc like this. There is no need to have prior knowledge of either At The Drive-In or The Mars Volta to get totally plugged into the movie. This isn’t for fans only at all. I wasn’t a fan of either band when they came out and still don’t care for them. But I really liked this movie, as will anyone else who watches it.
Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird in the end is a brilliant examination of why integrity is still a virtue. Over and over, this pair maintained their artistic integrity in the face of a monsoon of fame and fortune. This may be hard for many struggling artists to understand, especially since Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala had access to some of the last real money the traditional music industry had to offer before collapsing. However, the prices paid for that kind of success are sometimes the ones that distinguish the human from the reptile.
I can totally get behind their reasoning behind leaving At The Drive-In due to the Limp Biskit bro mosh pits. It has a lot of parallels with the band Sham 69, who broke up when they started getting Nazi skinhead audiences marching in to see them. We also have their resolve tested when the Church of Scientology shows up, which goes about as badly as any other time that particular group shows up. But no matter what, these two stick by their guns, agreeing to walk away if things get weird. In the end, it makes for a great rock doc and an excellent documentary about why there needs to be a line to never cross.
Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird screened at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival.
"…a brilliant examination of why integrity is still a virtue..."
