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.
FILM FESTIVALS: TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL (New York City, Apr. 18-29)
The Tribeca Film Festival, started by Robert De Niro (and others) in 2002, has quickly become one of the most important US film festivals—although it’s still a distant second to Sundance on the indie scene. This year, they’ve even scored a mainstream coup, hosting the premiere of the summer comic book blockbuster The Avengers (yawn—but in a nice gesture, they’re allocating all the tickets to first responders: police, firefighters and military personnel). We’re more impressed by the fact that Tribeca Film distributed the Certified Weird male-janitor pregnancy comedy The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009); for that, the organization will always hold a special place in our hearts. Here’s a few weird ones to look out for if you’re in NYC this week:
- “Avant-Garde Masters: A Decade of Film Preservation” – A special screening of seven avant-garde short films made between 1950 and 1986, including Kenneth Anger‘s “Rabbit’s Moon.” Screening 4/21.
- Chicken with Plums [Poulet aux prunes] – After his beloved violin is destroyed, a master musician loses the will to live and suffers a series of hallucinations, flashbacks and visitations from Sophia Loren and the Angel of Death. Live action from the makers of Persepolis. 4/22 & 24.
- Consuming Spirits – Experimental animation with a story involving three rust belt newspapermen with weird names: Gentian Violet 42, Victor Blue 38, and Earl Gray 64. 4/23-25.
- The Fourth Dimension – Per the festival synopsis, this triptych of short films with temporal themes is “weird, ominous, cool, compelling.” One of the three pieces is the Harmony Korine/Val Kilmer motivational speaker project we mentioned several months ago. 4/24-25, 27.
- Francophrenia (or: Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is) – Psychological thriller (?) constructed from “repurposed” behind-the-scenes footage from James Franco’s recent role as a performance artist on the “General Hospital” soap opera—confused yet? 4/22, 24-25, 28.
- Postcards from the Zoo – Indonesian film about a young woman raised in a magical realist zoo and what happens when she journeys into our drab world. 4/21, 23, 25, 28.
- Rat King – Another European film (see also Poland’s @Suicideroom) about teenagers sucked into a video game reality.
Tribeca Film Festival home page.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): It’s a re-mastered, hi definition version of the ultimate comedy cult classic. If you’ve never heard knights say “Ni!” in remastered stereophonic sound, you’re in for a treat! Also with a 12-minute mystery short subject. Playing in Boston and Detroit next week, with stops in Philadelphia, Washington DC and St. Louis the following week. Oops! We forgot to mention this re-release when it played NYC & Seattle the past two weeks! Monty Python and the Holy Grail announcement from Rainbow Releasing.
NEW ON DVD:
Dead Or Alive 2 (2000): Takashi Miike‘s Dead or Alive (1999) was a Yakuza adventure with an apocalyptically weird ending; this sequel starts where that one ended and is completely surreal from start to finish, with the hitmen spouting wings or changing into children without explanation. There is a Dead or Alive 3 (which takes the series in a science fiction direction); to our knowledge, this is the first time the second film has been released separately in Region 1 (it was previously available as part of Kino’s three-film box set
“Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials” (1961): Kovacs, the TV comedian who pioneered both experimental video techniques and absurd humor, may be the strangest funnyman you’ve never heard of. This disc collects five of his final specials for ABC TV, filmed at the height of his comedic powers just before he died in a car accident at the age of 42 on the brink of stardom. (This is a one-disc “best of”-type compilation of Shout! Factory’s 6-disc The Ernie Kovacs Collection
A Trip to the Moon (1902): A major restoration of the 13 minute A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès‘ seminal film fantastique and possibly cinema’s first blockbuster, which restores the original hand-tinted color from a single surviving print discovered in Spain. Featuring a new soundtrack by the electronic band AIR. The package contains a much longer documentary on Trip to round out the running time. This is take two on this release; as we reported in last week’s Weird Horizon, the DVD/Blu ray combo pack was released but almost immediately recalled due to problems with the Blu version. Hopefully everything is sorted out now. Buy A Trip to the Moon (Restored) [DVD/Blu-ray combo]
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
A Trip to the Moon (1902): See description in DVD above. Buy A Trip to the Moon (Restored) [DVD/Blu-ray combo]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Reefer Madness (1936): From the prologue: “[Marijuana’s] first effect is sudden, violent, uncontrollable laughter; then come dangerous hallucinations – space expands – time slows down, almost stands still ….fixed ideas come next, conjuring up monstrous extravagances – followed by emotional disturbances, the total inability to direct thoughts, the loss of all power to resist physical emotions… leading finally to acts of shocking violence… ending often in incurable insanity.” According to the movie, cannabis also makes you want to listen to piano music played really fast. Maybe it’s not what we typically think of as “weird,” but it certainly bears no resemblance to reality.
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.