Our weekly 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 at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Cosmos (2015): Andrzej Zulawski‘s first film in 15 years—and the last before his death in 2016—is a metaphysical farce about a law school flunkout vacationing in a strange house. Based on a novel by Witold Gombrowicz.
Tickled (2016): Investigating a “competitive tickling” video, a journalist finds himself harassed by cyberbullies. Reviewers have called this documentary “strange,” “offbeat,” and yes, “weird.” Tickled official site.
SCREENINGS – (Tribeca Screening Room, New York City, Jun. 17):
“In the Bight”: Ben Finer is offering a free screening of his latest 28-minute short, a moody, weird horror about two eight-year-olds who make macabre discoveries while playing in the woods. There are two screenings, at 7:00 and 8:00 PM, so you still have time to make a midnight movie (see below) afterwards. The screening room is at 375 Greenwich St. Tribeca Film Center.
SCREENINGS – (Nitehawk Cinema, New York City, Jun. 17-18):
Eraserhead (1977): Read the Certified Weird entry! Eraserhead on Fathers’ Day weekend; brilliance. Eraserhead at Nitehawk Cinema.
SCREENINGS – (IFC Center, New York City, Jun. 17-18):
The Holy Mountain (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry!” Lucky New Yorkers, who can catch Eraserhead one night and Mountain the next. The Holy Mountain at IFC Center.
NEW ON DVD:
Cemetery of Splendor (2015): A medium helps a woman explore the troubled dreams of a soldier with sleeping sickness in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s latest mystical drama. Anxiously awaited by “Joe”‘s fans, this release contains behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes. Buy Cemetery of Splendor.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Cemetery of Splendor (2015): See description in Blu-ray above. Buy Cemetery of Splendor [Blu-ray]
“Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Vol. 2”: A collection of obscure yakuza comedies produced by Nikkatsu in the early 1960s: Tokyo Mighty Guy, Danger Paws and Murder Unincorporated. Unincorporated is the one that caught our attention: from what we can gather from the few fans who caught it, it features assassins named “Joe of Spades” and “Al Capone III” (who uses an exploding slingshot) and features bizarrely-staged killings Seijun Suzuki might have approved of. Buy “Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Vol. 2”
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.