WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 12/18/09

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 (WIDE RELEASE):

Nine: Here’s a curiosity for sure: a musical based around the putative romantic adventures of Federico Fellini while filming the classic weird movie 8 1/2.  Too bad the critics mostly hate it.  Also, we have to point out that fractional numbers are weirder than integers (though not as weird as irrational numbers).  Nine official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

A Town Called Panic: A stop-motion animated children’s film from Belgium; according to the press release, it “follows the wacky, hilarious and often surreal adventures of three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town which never fails to attract the weirdest events.”  We’re going to keep an eager eye out for the DVD release!  A Town Called Panic official site.

Ricky: Reviewers are being tightlipped about the plot of this one, but it concerns a French couple who have a remarkable, miraculous baby.  There are strong hints that many are upset by the fact that the movie begins in the realm of pure realism, and slips into magical realism for the second half, something that always makes weird-hating audiences feel cheated.  From François Ozon, the director who brought us the enigmatic Swimming Pool (2003), among other intriguing movies I haven’t seen.  Ricky official site.

IN PRODUCTION:

Alice in Wonderland (2010): Tim Burton‘s eagerly awaited adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is now in post-production, scheduled for a March 5th, 2010 release.  Burton and company released a new trailer two days ago. In a chintzy move, embedding the video is disabled so that Disney can sell exclusive embedding rights to other sites (Rotten Tomatoes will allow you to embed the video from their site—but the code hijacks the user’s browser and redirects him to Rotten Tomatoes when it finishes playing!) Access the trailer from the following link, then come back and tell us what you think:

Alice in Wonderland official Trailer 2.

We’re cautiously optimistic… but a little more cautious than optimistic after seeing this second trailer.

NEW ON DVD:

The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza] (2008): Argentinian film about a woman who experiences a mysterious form of amnesia after striking something—a dog, or a child?—with her car.  Described as head-scratching, slow and oblique.  Buy The Headless Woman from Amazon.

Year of the Fish (2007): Here’s a movie idea you don’t see everyday: a rotoscoped animated adult retelling of “Cinderella,” with the lead role taken by a Chinese immigrant woman forced to work in a “happy-ending” massage parlor and befriended by a magical goldfish.  Critically acclaimed. Buy Year of the Fish from Amazon.

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.