366 Weird Movies

Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, psychotronic, and the just plain WEIRD!

Entries for June, 2009

CAPSULE: THE TOXIC AVENGER, PART II (1989)

DIRECTED BY: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
FEATURING: John Altamura, Phoebe Legere, Rick Collins, Ron Fazio
PLOT:  Evil corporation Apocalypse, Inc., wanting to turn Tromaville into a toxic waste

dump, lures the mutant superhero Toxie away to Japan to search for his father, only to find a trap awaiting him there.

WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: Films churned out [...]

25. NOSTALGHIA (1983)

“I wanted the film to be about the fatal attachment of Russians to their national roots, an attachment which they will carry with them for their entire lives, regardless of where destiny may fling them.  How could I have imagined as I was making Nostalghia that the stifling sense of longing that fills the screen [...]

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 6/26/09

A look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Surveillance (2008):  Psychological thriller from Jennifer (Boxing Helena, daughter of David) Lynch in which FBI agents try to solve a string of grisly killings with the [...]

AVANT OPERA ON FILM, PART TWO

Daniel Barenboim and Harry Kupfer followed their acclaimed “Ring” cycle (discussed in last week’s column) with Richard Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal, which, if anything, was even more successful.   Alas, the film of this version has been long unavailable.

Scene from Syberberg’s Parsifal (1982)

Comparing their geometric, sparse Parsifal to that of Neues Kino director Hans-Jürgen Syberberg’s controversial 1982 multi-layered [...]

CAPSULE: THE LAND OF THE LOST (2009)

DIRECTED BY:  Brad Siberling
FEATURING: Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride
PLOT:  Obnoxious scientist Rick Marshall discovers a way to go “sideways” in time to a

world of dinosaurs, ape men and the lizard-like sleestaks in this science fantasy comedy.

WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST:  It’s quite a challenge to adapt a 1970s television show about a family [...]

366 WEIRD MOVIES ON FACEBOOK

Sorry there’s no new review today… sometimes regular ordinary life interferes with our enjoyment of weird movies.
In other news, 366 Weird Movies now has its own Facebook page.  What does this mean to you?  We have no idea.  We’re not even sure what it means for us.  Nonetheless, there it is.
Also note [...]

24. BEGOTTEN (1991)

“In BEGOTTEN, a time is depicted that predates spoken language; communication is made on a sensory level.”–E. Elias Merhige

DIRECTED BY: E. Elias Merhige
FEATURING: Actors from the experimental theater group Theater of Material
PLOT:  A man sitting in a chair disembowels himself with a straight razor.  A woman materializes from underneath his bloody robes, and impregnates herself [...]

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 6/19/09

A look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
$9.99: A Claymation feature about a young unemployed man’s search for the Meaning of Life through the wisdom to be found in a booklet on the [...]

AVANT OPERA ON FILM, PART ONE

In 1976, at Pierre Boulez’s suggestion, Wolfgang Wagner brought in the 31 year old progressive French stage and film director Patrice Chereau to produce a new “Der Ring Des Nibelungen” cycle for the centenary of the Bayreuth Festival, and aptly teamed him with Boulez as conductor. The result scandalized and shook the entire opera world. [...]

CAPSULE: DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)

DIRECTED BY:  Sam Raimi
FEATURING: Alison Lohman, Lorna Raver
PLOT: Seeking a promotion, a cute and kind-hearted loan officer decides to get tough

with the wrong customer, denying a mortgage extension to an elderly gypsy woman who curses her with a demon that will torment her for three days before dragging her to hell.

WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE [...]