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 (WIDE RELEASE):

The Green Hornet:  The martial arts-inflected hero Green Hornet is given a big-budget, comedy-tinged update.  It’s not weird, it’s a superhero movie; we mention it for those who are following (and with this release, possibly bemoaning) the career of Certified Weird director Michel Gondry.  The Green Hornet official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

I’m Dangerous With Love: Credulous-sounding documentary about the underground movement that treats heroin addiction by administering another illegal drug—ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic with a 24 hour duration used by African shamans.  Certainly an odd subject, and documentian Michael Negroponte has animated some sequences from his own ibogaine trip.  Playing the IFC center in Manhattan this week, future dates seem unlikely.  I’m Dangerous With Love listing at Michael Negroponte’s homepage.

Repo Chick: Alex Cox’s long awaited (by us, at least) “spiritual sequel” to the groundbreaking Repo Man is a “kooky” comedy casting what appears to be a modernized “Valley Girl” as the Repo Chick drawn into a kidnapping plot in Los Angeles.  Looks deliberately cheap and campy, shot mostly in green screen, and the trailer’s frankly uninspiring.  Where has Alex been since turning down the chance to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?  Repo Chick will play New York this week and LA next before hitting DVD and Blu-ray Feb 8.  No official site (really?), so check out this post on The Geek Files instead.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Congress (est. 2011/2012):  What a promising pedigree for this animated science fiction piece: it’s from a story by admired sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem (whose Solaris was adapted into a great weird film), and directed by Ari Folman as a followup to his devastating and mildly surreal Waltz with Bashir.  The original story was a black comedy involving a dystopian future in which psychoactive drugs (including hallucinogens) are used to control every aspect of the populace’s behavior; in the clip below Folman suggests he’s drifting away from Lem’s plot, but we still expect something wild.

Pairs, I’ll Kill You (est. 2012): Horror anthology set in Paris, with a title that clearly lampoons Paris, Je T’aime. It probably won’t be thoroughly bizarre, but there’s an interesting lineup of talented directors, some of whom have gone weird in the past: Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice and the vampire segment in T’Aime) and Christopher Smith (Triangle), joined by the venerable Joe Dante, Paco Plaza ([Rec]), Ryuhei Kitamura (Midnight Meat Train), Xavier Gens, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, and Joern Heitmann. Read more courtesy of Goregirl.

The Rum Diary (est. 2011):  This is probably not going to be weird, but there are several interesting things about this project.  It’s from Hunter S. (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) Thompson’s novel about drunken reporters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it stars weird favorite Johnny Depp (who’s already portrayed one Thompson alter-ego in Fear and Loathing), and it’s the first movie directed by cult director Bruce (Withnail & I) Robinson since 1992’s Jennifer Eight.  We suspect it will be offbeat, at least.

NEW ON DVD:

The Chainsaw Sally Show, Season 1:  OK, I’m officially out of the modern horror loop.  This is advertised as a bloody sitcom about a busty chainsaw-wielding vigilante, from Troma studios and with unspecified participation (a “from” credit) by Herschell Gordon Lewis.   It’s based on director Jimmyo [sic] Burril’s 2004 movie Chainsaw Sally, which I’ve also never heard of.  I ‘m pretty sure the series didn’t air on NBC. Buy “The Chainsaw Sally Show, Season 1”.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989):  An advertising exec grows what is either a boil, or a second head, out of his shoulder.  This cult black comedy from Bruce (Withnail & I) Robinson has been out of print and largely unseen forever, so this is very welcome release from Image Entertainment. Buy How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

Uncle Boonmee (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) [Loong Boonmee raleuk chat] (2010): About a man who slips in and out of past (and future) lives at the moment of death. This Thai film won the 2010 Palme D’Or, but it arrives on DVD with no fanfare whatsoever. RedSun DVD’s apologetic ad copy for this one is intriguing: “Warning: This movie, like other mood-pieces is not made for casual moviegoers.  Its definitely not a mainstream movie, and if you aren’t prepared for it, you may feel confounded and perplexed after watching it…”  If that isn’t a recommendation, I don’t know what is.  Buy Uncle Boonmee.

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.