All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Fans of the avant-garde band Califone will be the primary audience for this peculiar offering from filmmaker—and Califone frontman—Tim Rutili, which features songs from the group's titular CD. Angela Bettis stars as Zel, a young psychic whose house is populated by spirits who perform music upstairs and provide suggestions about what she should tell her customers (the ghosts also pause to address the camera, as if being interviewed, about their deaths and sundry other topics). Together, Zel and the spirits form a kind of oddball family, at least until a blazing light outside beckons the apparitions, who accuse Zel of trying to keep them from meeting their destinies, and begin to play lengthy percussive musical pieces in order to persuade her to let them go. Indifferently shot and acted, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers nonetheless boasts a certain grubby charm and features some amusing moments, as well as a twist ending that doesn't make much narrative sense but is definitely intriguing. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)