MARCH MAD MOVIE MADNESS TOURNAMENT: THE EERIE 8

April 9, 2019 admin Leave a comment

We know it’s already April, but we’re too in love with alliteration to change the tournament title.

We’ve reached the quarterfinals, with only eight favorite weird movies left of the original 366 contestants.

Mostly the favorites won in the previous round. The most interesting result was Mulholland Drive, which trailed in tight voting up until yesterday but came back at the last moment to defeat Hausu and set up a death-match with another Lynch powerhouse: Eraserhead.

Here are the official Eerie 8, along with the path they took to make it this far:

The Holy Mountain (1973): defeated Playtime (1967), 135-33; defeated The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), 105-36; defeated Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), 108-45; defeated Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), 107-46; defeated Spirited Away (2001), 78-55.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): defeated Dementia [Daughter of Horror] (1955), 125-18; defeated Lost Highway (1997), 99-52; defeated Enter the Void (2009), 107-42; defeated Santa Sangre (1989), 109-51; defeated Repo Man (1984), 92-47.

Suspiria (1977): defeated Hour of the Wolf [Vargtimmen] (1968), 87-24; defeated Vertigo (1958), 123-39; defeated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), 96-68; defeated The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973), 109-36; defeated Donnie Darko (2001), 93-48.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989): advanced through play-in round; defeated Phantom of the Paradise (1974), 64-36; defeated After Hours (1985), 79-44; defeated The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (1989), 89-49; defeated Barton Fink (1991), 89-68; defeated Under the Skin (2013), 75-64,

Naked Lunch (1991): defeated Time Bandits (1981), 94-44; defeated Glen or Glenda (1953), 103-16; defeated Don’t Look Now (1973), 94-52; defeated Dogtooth [Kynodontas] (2009), 98-55; defeated Possession (1981), 67-58.

Un Chien Andalou (1929): defeated Forbidden Zone (1982), 76-49; defeated The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), 76-39; defeated Daisies [Sedmikrásky] (1966), 77-61; defeated Akira (1988), 83-71; defeated El Topo (1970), 69-65.

Mulholland Drive (2001): defeated Society (1989), 111-22; defeated Orpheus (1950), 97-27; defeated Brazil (1985), 91-69; defeated The Lobster (2015), 111-43; defeated House [Hausu] (1977), 75-70.

Eraserhead (1977): defeated Evil Dead II (1987), 99-29; defeated A Clockwork Orange (1971), 102-33; defeated The Exterminating Angel [El àngel exterminador] (1962), 117-30; defeated The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), 112-41; defeated Häxan [Witchcraft Through the Ages] (1922), 111-34.

You can see the full results and progress of the entire tournament here: https://challonge.com/tsut4018 (note that this link is just for viewing results. You must vote using the forms below.)

You may vote once every 24 hours. This round closes at midnight, EST Apr. 13.

Get to voting below! (No wagering, please.)

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema

READER POLL FOR ALFRED EAKER VS. THE 2019 SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS: THE CANDIDATES

April 8, 2019 Alfred Eaker 10 Comments

Summer’s almost here, and that means it’s time for the 366 Weird Movies reader base to send me, Alfred Eaker, on my sixth masochistic field trip of blockbuster movie torture. Since the blockbusters listed here actually extend to the end of the year in 2019, I will grant readers a choice of 4, rather than the normal 3 (AS LONG AS AT LEAST ONE CHOICE IS A FILM DEBUTING AFTER JULY). The candidates are below. Be sure to view the entire post; you will vote at the end.

We’ll start with the most masochistic film imaginable: Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Opening May 10). Do I have to explain why a field trip to a mortuary would preferable? Although I’ve never seen anything out of the Pokémon franchise, I know it’s supposed to be the most profitable media franchise of all time and I’ve seen enough of its merchandising to know this is something to be quite afraid of. Of course, one will never go broke underestimating the intelligence and taste of the American public, so it will naturally be the biggest thing since Moses parted the Red Sea… until the next big thing, that is.
Aladdin (Opening May 24). Strike one: Robin Williams is dead. Strike two: This is directed by Guy Ritchie, who’s never made a good film in his entire career. Strike three: Uh, live action movies of animated Disney fodder are lessons in banality and redundancy. The proof is in the pudding of Dumbo. Did anyone really think that was going to be anything less than a pile of excrement? Especially, since it was directed by Tim Burton whose mojo violently gave up the ghost twenty years ago. Disney never learns.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Opening June 7). There has been a pretty consistent lesson with the whole “X-Men” thing: hire Bryan Singer, avoid all the entries not directed by him, and do not let him direct anything else. With Singer’s personal and legal matters, his career seems to be history now, so why not put the franchise out of its misery? Not a chance, no matter how many godawful movies they churn out.
Child’s Play (Opening June 21). On the (maybe) plus side, Mark Hamill has a supporting role, hopefully as a villain, as he is far more interesting when his ugly side comes to the surface (something the crying fanboys could not grasp regarding Last Jedi). On all of the negative sides; the director, Lars Klevberg, has only directed one feature, and it was reportedly dreadful. So too was the original Child’s Play, which failed to do in 2 hours what Trilogy of Terror accomplished in 15 minutes. The sequels were even worse—so now, let’s revive that dead horse.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Opening July 5): Ok, the previous one, also directed by Jonn Watts, received great reviews. However, the trailer for this looks like a preview for the next Avengers thingamajig. Besides, I heard they killed Spidey in the last Avengers thingamajig. Still, hopefully it will suck so I can pan it and piss off Marvel fundamentalists.
The Lion King (Opening July 19). Oh, come on! Two–count ’em, two–pointless live-action rehashes from the studio of mucus in Continue reading READER POLL FOR ALFRED EAKER VS. THE 2019 SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS: THE CANDIDATES →

Saturday Short, Shorts

SATURDAY SHORT: FACE LIKE A FROG (1987)

April 6, 2019 Cameron Jorgensen 2 Comments

Sally Cruikshank’s zany animation style is distilled into its pure crystalline form in this short. It’s a psychedelic experience with so much going on that very little sticks.

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 4/5/2019

April 5, 2019 admin Leave a comment

Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…

Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.

IN THEATERS (SPECIAL EVENT SCREENINGS):

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): Read the Certified Weird entry! Hayao Miyazaki‘s steampunk fairy tale gets a nationwide revival via GKIDS/Fathom Entertainment screenings on April 7, 8 &10. Find a theater near you.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018): Terry Gilliam‘s ill-fated Quixote variation, 20 years in the making, is finally released, though not perhaps in the manner Gilliam hoped. The finally-revealed scenario, which involves Adam Driver as an ex-director confronting his former star (Jonathan Pryce) who now believes himself to be Quixote, sounds more than a little Fisher King-esque. Do an old man a favor and catch it at a theater near you: one night only, April 10.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

High Life (2018): Claire Denis joint about astronaut Robert Pattinson and daughter onboard a deserted spaceship headed towards a black hole, trying to figure out what happened to the rest of the crew. Weird-hating critic Rex Reed (I could have sworn he retired?) raved that it was “baffling, non-linear to the point of near-schizophrenia… [i]ts abstract ideas about life and death don’t make one lick of sense.” High Life official site.

Suburban Birds [Jiao qu de niao] (2018): An engineer investigating a sinkhole discovers a diary what seems to contain prophecies about his own life. A 4.0 on IMDB and 71% positive on Rotten Tomatoes; that’s the kind of spread that suggests a movie is either really boring, or really weird (or both). Suburban Birds official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT (POST-PRODUCTION):

Shakespeare’s Sh*tstorm (est. 2019): We’re a little late to the party in breaking the news about this “spiritual sequel” to Tromeo & Juliet from shock shlock studio Troma; it’s probably nearly complete by now. This time, Lloyd Kaufman gives Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” his scatological treatment. Neither James Gunn nor Lemmy will be helping out this time. The grossout trailer is filled with bodily fluids (some chunky) and is definitely not-SFW; watch at your own peril.

NEW ON HOME VIDEO:

The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot (2018): Read Giles Edwards’ festival mini-review. Not as weird as the title suggests—it’s actually more of a character study—but certainly an out-of-the-ordinary turn for the popular Sam Elliott. On DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. Buy The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot.

The Man With the Magic Box (2017): In Warsaw in the near future, an amnesiac man (whose memory may have been wiped by the government) goes to work as a janitor and falls in love with a superior, but the past inevitably catches up to him. We expect to review this low-budget Polish film with an imaginative dystopia and a hard-to-swallow twist soon. Buy The Man With the Magic Box.

Terra Formars (2016): A manned mission to Mars must contend with a race of mutant cockroaches. Having apparently settled in to making batty B-movie manga adaptations in the twilight of his career, Takashi Miike hasn’t produced any (sur)real classics in the past twenty years; but then again, we haven’t seen any real bombs from him (well, possibly one…) Arrow Video releases this one on Blu-ray only. Buy Terra Formars.

Terror 5 (2016): Five interlocking tales of Argentine “terror.” Expect a review soon. Buy Terror 5.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

Cleveland, OH, 4/6 & 4/8 – Glen or Glenda (1953). At the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Denver, CO, 4/7 – Spirited Away (2001). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
Los Angeles, CA, 4/5 (midnight) – Akira (1988). At the Nuart Theatre.
Nashville, TN, 4/5-4/6 – House [Hausu] (1977). At the Belcourt.
Nashville, TN, 4/5 (midnight) – Black Swan (2010). At the Belcourt.
Nashville, TN, 4/6 (midnight) – Perfect Blue (1997). At the Belcourt.
New Braunfels, TX, 4/6 – Spirited Away (2001). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
New York City, NY, 4/5-4/7 –Weekend (1967). At IFC Center.
New York City, NY, 4/5-4/6 (midnights) – The Holy Mountain (1973). At IFC Center.
New York City, NY, 4/5-4/6 (midnights) – Mulholland Drive (2001). At IFC Center.
New York City, NY, 4/11 – Female Trouble (1974). At the Museum of Modern Art.
New York City, NY, 4/11 – Vertigo (1958). At Nitehawk Cinema (Prospect Park).
Oakland, CA, 4/11 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). At the New Parkway Theater.
San Francisco, CA, 4/5 – Dark Passage (1947) with Vertigo (1958) (double feature). At the Castro Theatre.
San Francisco, CA, 4/6 – Vertigo (1958) with San Francisco (1936) (double feature). At the Castro Theatre.
Tuscon, AZ, 4/5-4/6 – Fight Club (1999). At the Loft Cinema.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Continue voting in our Mad ~~March~~ April Movie Madness tournament, please, and/or enter our April “pick-your-prize” giveaway while it lasts (contest closes April 8). While you’re doing that, you can also check out our upcoming reviews of a the violent/absurd French cartoon MFKZ and a pair of DVD-only releases from our friends at Artsploitation pictures: Terror 5 and The Man with the Magic Box (see descriptions in “Home Video” above). And is prodigal Alfred Eaker really back and ready to take his punishment? Find out next week!

What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.

List Candidates

APOCRYPHA CANDIDATE: CLIMAX (2018)

April 4, 2019 Gregory J. Smalley (366weirdmovies) 8 Comments

Recommended

DIRECTED BY: Gaspar Noé

FEATURING: About two dozen dancers, all of approximately equal importance

PLOT: A modern dance troupe goes crazy when someone spikes their rehearsal party sangria with a heavy dose of LSD.

Still from Climax (2018)

WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE LIST: Literal LSD trip movies don’t come along that often. Ones made with this much skill and care are even rarer. Climax is messy and flawed, but impossible (for us) to overlook. And Gaspar Noé is probably the only master of world cinema who regularly contributes trip reports to Erowid.

COMMENTS: Near the beginning of Climax, we watch interviews, presumably from the audition process, playing on a TV screen. Attractive young people are asked about their philosophy of life, their drug use, their greatest fear. We get to know them a little, but what might be more important are the names of the books and VHS tape boxes flanking the TV screen: Possession, “Un Chien Andalou,” Salo, Suspiria, “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome”, Zombie. While none of these (except perhaps Suspiria) have much real thematic relationship to Climax, Gaspar Noé’s roll call of influences at least puts the well-traveled weirdophile on notice that they’ve bought the right ticket.

The movie is not one long, unrelieved freakout; it does build to a, well, Climax. After those preliminary interviews and some preliminary structural foolishness (the end titles play first, and the opening credits are delivered in the middle of the film), we start with a long, energetic, contortionist techno dance number, a real wower for fans of intricate choreography. (It must have been quite a challenge for the casting director to find top-notch professional dancers who were also capable of overacting to Noé’s demanding specifications). After they’re done rehearsing, the troupe choose to unwind by… dancing, but now lubricated by a punchbowl of sangria. At this point several of the dancers break off into pairs and we watch a series of conversations that further introduce us to the sprawling cast of characters. While everyone is bisexual and can think of few topics of conversation besides who wants to screw whom, it’s remarkable how efficiently this dialogue establishes a recognizable look and narrative hook for each of the dancers so that we seldom accidentally confuse them when the trip proper begins. It’s character differentiation more than character development, but it works very precisely in this context. Next up is another long dance scene, this one shot from above, as the dancers form a circle and each takes his or her turn freestyling in the center of the mob. After this diversion the party breaks apart and people start to notice that they’re feeling weird, leading them to wonder just what was in the sangria. When one dazed dancer suddenly starts urinating on the floor, they realize they’ve definitely been dosed, and paranoia starts to rise as the mob throw accusations at first one suspect, then another.

After the LSD kicks in the film adopts a Slacker strategy, with the camera following a single dancer around, watching the mini-drama as he or she copes with the situation, then peeling off to follow another. Sexual jealousies and suppressed perversions are, naturally, the main demons that the tripping hoofers battle, but there are also violent beatings, suicidal impulses, and a child wandering around the premises to be dealt with. Some simply succumb to the terror of being on an unknown, but high, dose of an intense psychotropic drug with no preparation. Each dancer gets a chance to freak out, with some spotlight solos. At the movie’s peak—which perhaps goes on uncomfortably long—everything is light in a hellish red with upside down and spinning cameras, as the party dissolves into an indistinct orgy of sex and violence. The denouement is grim, but we do actually find out who was responsible for all the carnage.

What does it all mean? The author offers us a couple of pretentious epigrams. “Love is a collective impossibility.” “Death is an extraordinary experience.” Not really helpful. More than anything, the drug trip is a convenient excuse for Noé to indulge in melodramatics that would otherwise be implausible. His characters howl, writhe, and piss themselves in animalistic degradation. It’s equally an excuse for him to indulge his melodramatic style. Is Climax a satire? Perhaps, since everyone is ultimately so unlikable, but if so it is a very dry and unfunny one. Is it a metaphor for our chaotic, backbiting modern times? Maybe. France is described as hell (specifically by the minority members of the troupe), and yet the titles announce (ironically?) that Climax is “a French film and proud of it.” I don’t think Noé commits himself to any particular interpretation; he’s simply interested in choreographing as much misanthropic excess as possible. With Climax, I’m more convinced than ever that Gaspar Noé has no idea what he wants to say with his art—but is nevertheless supremely confident about how he wants to say it.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“… the nuttiest, trippiest dance party you’ll ever attend.”–Brian Truitt, USA Today (contemporaneous)

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