What to say about The American Astronaut... It's a heady cocktail of DIY science-fiction, lo-fi musical, transatlantic surrealism and good old fashioned nice-guy comedy. The action revolves around Sam Curtis, a mercenary of the Han Solo school, and his increasingly colourful mission. It begins with the delivery of a cat to a small outer-belt asteroid saloon where he meets his former dance partner, and interplanetary fruit thief, the Blueberry Pirate. Peril comes in the form of nemesis Professor Hess, a bowtied geek obsessed with Curtis, who has been pursuing him throughout the solar system, curiously so that he might forgive him, then kill him. Must-watch stuff, naturally. (Our thanks go to the director, Cory McAbee, for giving us permission to rent his films. His other film, Stingray Sam is also available)