CQ

At once an homage to and a spoof of two signature styles of late 1960s cinema, CQ is an enjoyably eccentric entry into feature filmmaking by a writer-director who has the art form in his blood--Roman Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola's son. The title refers to an old Morse Code and ham radio signal sent to elicit any kind of response ("seek you"), and it's reflective of the movie's main character, an ambivalent aspiring filmmaker (Jeremy Davies) looking for inspiration in 1969 Paris, who is torn between his desire to make a conceptual, black-and-white New Wave art film and his day job assignment of finishing a studio's half-finished sexploitative Barbarella-like B-movie. Coppola the Younger (who has been an innovative music video director for some time) gives CQ a deliberately low-budget feel while taking stylistic cues from Godard, Antonioni and others who clearly inspire Davies' character. But for all his attention to stylistic detail, the film itself is uneven and the fact that Davies' sci-fi movie doesn't have an ending is a rather superficial parallel for the fact that he's at a loss for direction in his life. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include commentary by director Roman Coppola and cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, and on the flip side of this double-sided disc: Codename Dragonfly (the movie within the movie, plus a seven-minute "Making of a 60s Sci-Fi Film," the Codename Dragonfly trailer and alternate versions); five featurettes: "A Cinematic Odyssey," "Music and Sound," "Cinematography," "Chronique D'un Cineaste," and "Actors Acting!," ranging from seven to nine minutes in length, a seven-and-a-half minute "Mellow Live in Japan" segment featuring the band that did music for CQ, four personal documentaries ranging from seven to 17 minutes by five filmmaking luminaries including Eleanor Coppola and Sofia Coppola (Roman's mommy and little sis). Bottom line: a fine extras package for a so-so film.] (R. Blackwelder)