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):

Kaleidoscope (2016): Psychological thriller in which a recently-released prisoner finds his domineering mother is interfering with his ability to reintegrate into society. The second feature from Rupert Jones (brother of Kaleidoscope‘s star, veteran character actor Toby Jones); his first was an opera (2013’s The Answer to Everything) cast with homeless people. Kaleidoscope official site.

NEW ON DVD:

“Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series” (2017): The story of “Twin Peaks” picks up 25 years after the cult series’ cancellation.  Rather than just rebooting the soap opera, David Lynch confounded casual viewers by taking the series beyond the Black Lodge; review coming soon. Buy “Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series”

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series” (2017): See description in DVD above. Buy “Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series” [Blu-ray].

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.

• Bloomington, IN, 12/8 – The American Astronaut (2001). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Boston, MA, 12/11 – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). At Coolidge Corner Theater.
• Columbus, OH, 12/7-12/9 – Repo Man (1984). At Gateway Film Center.
• Los Angeles, CA, 12/14 (midnight) – A Clockwork Orange (1971). At the Nuart Theater.
• New York City, NY, 12/8-12/14 – Spirited Away (2001). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 12/9 – Cemetery Man [Dellamorte Dellamore] (1994). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 12/9, 12/12 – Possession (1981). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 12/9-12/10 – Spider Baby (1967). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 12/10 – Gothic (1986). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 12/12 – Lost Highway (1997). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 12/14 – Barton Fink (1991). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• New York City, NY, 12/14 – Wild at Heart (1990). Followed by a Q&A with  Laura Dern (separate ticket required). At Film Society Lincoln Center.
• Oakland, CA, 12/8-12/9, 12/13 – Spirited Away (2001). At the New Parkway Theater.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 12/8 – 12/9, 12/12-12/13 – Spirited Away (2001). At Row House Cinema.

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.

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 (WIDE RELEASE):

The Disaster Artist (2017): A fictional account of the making of the notorious disaster The Room, starring 2013 Weirdest Actor winner James Franco as Tommy Wiseau. OK, it’s not quite the heights of bizarreness we aspire to here, but you know you want to see it. In major cities today, with a wider rollout coming next week. The Disaster Artist official site.

Psychopaths (2017): Mickey Keating brings us a “psychedelic fever dream” of four maniacs possessed by the spirit of a serial killer, let loose on a one-night rampage. Reviews have generally been of the “we’re glad they tried something different, but…” variety. Psychopaths official site.

The Shape of Water (2017):  Guillermo del Toro‘s adult fairy tale about a cleaning woman who falls in love with a merman. We suspect it will be marginal to our coverage (though we also expect it will be excellent); at least one reviewer used the “w”-word, however. Like Disaster Artist, it will go into wider release next week. The Shape of Water official site.

VIDEO-ON-DEMAND EXCLUSIVE RELEASES:

Somebody’s Darling (2016): A fraternity president becomes obsessed with a fellow student. Microbudget psychological horror with contemporary social relevance.  Rent Somebody’s Darling.

IN DEVELOPMENT (POST-PRODUCTION):

City of Pirates (2018): Not a version of 1983 Raoul Ruiz classic of the same name, this is instead a politically-incorrect Brazilian cartoon. Or at least, that’s how it started, before the author of the original property, Laerte Coutinho, underwent gender-reassignment surgery and rejected her old work and characters. Her objections put the film on hold for almost two decades, but rather than abandon it, adapter Otto Guerra went the metafiction route and wrote Coutinho’s character into the script. No idea if this will create a magnificently weird movie, but the backstory is certainly a hit. Read about it at Variety.

Forbidden Zone 2 (20??): No firm update on Richard Elfman‘s planned sequel to his Certified Weird classic original set in the Sixth Dimension, in a recent Facebook post he gives a few updates and swears he’s still working on it (“it is my holy mission to share this film’s music and absurdity with posterity. THIS FILM WILL BE MY LEGACY!“) Stay tuned to the Forbidden Zone 2 Facebook page for future updates in the future.

NEW ON DVD:

Woodshock (2017): A grieving woman (Kirsten Dunst) smokes synthetic cannabinoids in the woods and hallucinates a lot. It’s savaging by critics makes it possibly A24’s first critical flop. Buy Woodshock.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Woodshock (2017): See description in DVD above. Buy Woodshock [Blu-ray].

BOOKS:

“The Usurper King”: Elevator Movie‘s Zeb Haradon hasn’t made another fictional film since his 2004 debut, but he has written a couple of absurdist novels in the meantime. His latest involves an alternate universe where Ted Bundy is never apprehended for his murders, and becomes President; the protagonist discovers a clue to the Chief Executive’s secret while competing on a game show that involves predicting the future by reading animal entrails. There may be some references to the current political climate. Buy “The Usurper King”.

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.

• Bloomington, IN, 12/4 – Last Year at Marienbad (1961). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Columbus, OH, 12/1-12/3 – Pink Flamingos (1972). At Gateway Film Center.
• Columbus, OH, 12/7-12/9 – Repo Man (1984). At Gateway Film Center.
• New York City, NY, 12/1-12/2 (midnights) – Blue Velvet (1986). At IFC Center.
• New York City, 12/2 – Nosferatu (1922). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, 12/2 – Lost Highway (1997). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, 12/3 – Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922). The William S. Burroughs–narrated version. At the Metrograph.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 12/41-12/5, 12/7 – Spirited Away (2001). At Row House Cinema.
• Tuscon, AZ, 12/1-12/2 – Eraserhead (1977). At the Loft Cinema.

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.

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):

Antiporno (2017): A female artist/novelist degrades her submissive assistant, or at least that’s what seems to be going on… Nikkatsu studios revived their 1970s/80s “roman porno” (i.e. softcore erotic film) franchise recently, and 366-fave Shion Sono‘s subversive, experimental take on the subgenre looks like a minor international breakout hit. Nikkatsu English-language page for Antiporno.

NEW ON DVD:

Jabberwocky (1977): A hapless medieval cooper is thrust into the role of knight to defend his town from the rampaging Jabberwocky. Though directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Michael Palin, original ads warned it was “definitely NOT a Python film.” Buy Jabberwocky.

Lemon (2017): An unsuccessful, socially-inept jerk actor loses his blind girlfriend and finds a new interracial relationship in this indie comedy. Probably more in the quirky vein, but at least one critic called it “deeply weird.” Buy Lemon.

Liquid Sky (1982): Read our review! Vinegar Syndrome is making a big deal out of this long out-of-print cult classic about aliens who get high off hormones released during human orgasms. For now, a limited edition of 3000 DVD/Blu-ray units is only available for order via the Vinegar Syndrome website.

“Mystery Science Theater: Volume XXXIX”: What looks to be the final box set release of the original series includes Mamie van Doren in Girls Town, Edgar G. Ulmer‘s b-movie mistake The Amazing Transparent Man, and Mario Bava‘s colorful (and not bad) spy thriller Danger: Diabolik, which served as the series finale. Since Shout! Factory could not obtain rights for a fourth film, they released the host segments from the eleven remaining unreleased episodes on a separate disk entitled “Satellite Dishes.” Buy “Mystery Science Theater: Volume XXXIX”.

Porco Rosso (1992): Read our review. Gkids continues with their Studio Ghibli re-releases with this tale of a pig pilot in an alternate WWI setting. Buy Porco Rosso.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017): Read our review. Our Shane Wilson called Luc Besson‘s latest attempt to recapture the magic of The Fifth Element “all frosting, no cake.” Buy Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Fritz Lang: The Silent Films“: Includes Die Nibelungen (1924), Spies (1928), Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), Destiny (1921), The Spiders (1919), Woman in the Moon (1929), Four Around the Woman (1921), Harakiri (1919), The Wandering Shadow (1920), The Plague of Florence (1919), and of course the Certified Weird classic Metropolis (1927), with numerous documentaries spread across the 12 discs. An expensive way to own Metropolis, but a great Christmas present for the cinephile in your life. Buy “Fritz Lang The Silent Films”.

Jabberwocky (1977): See description in DVD above. Criterion Collection extras include a new documentary and interviews. Buy Jabberwocky [Blu-ray].

Liquid Sky (1982): See description in DVD above. Don’t worry, if you can’t afford a limited edition, there’s a regular release (which looks like it will be the same, but without the specially commissioned “dayglo” designer cover) scheduled for 2018. Vinegar Syndrome website.

Porco Rosso (1992): See description in DVD above. Buy Porco Rosso [Blu-ray].

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017): See description in DVD above. Buy Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets [Blu-ray].

SPECIAL SCREENINGS (Nov. 26, 27 & 29):

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): Read the Certified Weird entry! GKids celebrates their acquisition of the Hayao Miyazaki catalog with national screenings of this anime steampunk fairy tale. Dubbed on the 26th and 29th, subtitled on the 27th. Search for a screening near you.

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.

• Los Angeles, CA, 11/24-11/25 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). At the Egyptian Theater.
• New York City, NY, 11/24-11/25 (midnights) – Blue Velvet (1986). At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 11/26 – Viva la Muerte [Long Live Death] (1971). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 11/30 – A Serious Man (2009). At the Museum of Modern Art.
• Pittsburgh, PA, 11/24-11/30 – Stalker (1979). At the Row House.
• Tuscon, AZ, 11/24-11/26 – Spirited Away (2001). At the Loft.
• Yonkers, NY, 11/26 – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). At Alamo Drafthouse.

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.

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.

NEW ON DVD:

The Last Laugh (1924): An aging doorman is crushed when he’s demoted. A masterpiece of German Expressionism from the master, F.W. Murnau, out from Kino with supplements including a new score by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra. Buy The Last Laugh.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969): A psychedelic portrait of drag queens in Tokyo’s gay underground in the late 1960s. Long officially unavailable in the U.S., this legendary experimental film (that’s been sitting in our reader-suggested queue) is now out on Blu-ray from Japanese resurrectionists Cinelicious Pics (who brought us the even rarer Belladonna of Sadness last year). Buy Funeral Parade of Roses [Blu-ray].

The Last Laugh (1924): See description in DVD above. Buy The Last Laugh [Blu-ray].

SPECIAL SCREENINGS (Nov. 18 & 19):

The Exterminating Angel: Not the Certified Weird classic, but rather Thomas Adès’ new opera based on the film. It’s being simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera to theaters around the country live on the 18th, with a recorded encore the following night. These live opera broadcasts get surprisingly broad distribution, so if you’re interested it’s worth checking Fathom Entertainment’s site to see if a theater near you is hosting a screening.

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.

• Chicago, IL, 11/18-11/19 – Vertigo (1958). At Music Box Theater.
• Chicago, IL, 11/18 & 11/21 – Spirited Away (2001). At Gene Siskel Film Center.
• Los Angeles, 11/17 – Suspiria (1977). At Nuart Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA, 11/19 & 11/22 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). At Egyptian Theater.
• New York City, NY, 11/17 (midnight) – Night Train to Terror (1985). At Spectacle Theater.
• New York City, NY, 11/17-11/18 (midnights) – Belladonna of Sadness (1973). At Videology Bar & Cinema.
• New York City, NY, 11/18 – Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) . At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• New York City, NY, 11/22 – La Grande Bouffe (1973). At Spectacle Theater.
• New York City, NY, 11/22-11/23 (midnights) – Blue Velvet (1986).  At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, 11/23 – Videodrome (1983). At the Metrograph.
• Tuscon, AZ, 11/17-11/18 – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). At the Loft.
• Tuscon, AZ, 11/19 – Dogtooth [Kynodontas] (2009). At the Loft.
• Tuscon, AZ, 11/23 – Spirited Away (2001). At the Loft.
• Yonkers, NY, 11/22 –  La Grande Bouffe (1973). At Alamo Drafthouse.

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.

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.

FILM FESTIVALS – AFI Fest  (Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 9-16):

The American Film Institute’s official film festival is the last stop on the yearly festival circuit, so you’re unlikely to see many films debuting there (they do get some films technically making their first appearance in the U.S., but the Toronto Film Festival steals most of their first-release thunder). Some weird-ish festival hits are taking a final bow there: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead‘s UFO cult mindbender The Endless, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani‘s poliziotteschi tribute Let the Corpses Tan, and Guillermo del Toro‘s soon-to-be merman hit The Shape of Water. In revivals, this year AFI celebrates Robert Altman with a slate of twelve films (including the Certified Weird 3 Women). You can also catch a rare screening of the raw and controversial 1967 mental hospital exposé  Titicut Follies. Here are a few lesser arthouse-style titles of potential weird interest that we failed to highlight when they played the crowded TIFF slate:

• Foxtrot – An Israeli father grieves for his dead soldier son in a film structured as an absurdist triptych. Screens Nov. 14 & 15.
  
• On Body and Soul – Two slaughterhouse workers find that they share a common dream (literally—they each have the exact same dream night after night). Nov. 12 & 15.
• Winter Brothers – Two brothers struggle with alternate perceptions of reality in a lonely Danish mining town.  Also Nov. 12 & 15.

AFI Fest homepage.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Mandy (201?): Nicolas Cage stars as “a broken and haunted man [who] hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life” in what producers promise will be a “surrealist, heavy-metal-soaked story of battle axes and demon bikers.” That sounds cool, but the kicker is that it’s being directed by promising stylist Panos Cosmatos, who hasn’t been seen sighted his 2010 Certified Weird debut Beyond the Black Rainbow. Deadline broke the story.

NEW ON DVD:

The Untamed (2016): Erotic Mexican horror about an unhappy marriage and some sort of creature in the woods. It made a minor splash, but we hope it’s not too tame. Buy The Untamed.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:`

The Untamed (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy The Untamed [Blu-ray].

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.

• Bloomington, IN, 11/10 – Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995). At Indiana University Cinema.
• Boston, MA, 11/10 – Phantom of the Paradise (1974). At Coolidge Corner Theater.
• Boston, MA, 11/16 – Donnie Darko (2001). At Coolidge Corner Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA, 11/10 (midnight) – Eraserhead (1977). At Nuart Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA, 11/11 – 3 Women (1977). Part of AFI Fest. At AFI Mark Goodson Screening Room.
• New York City, NY, 11/10 – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). At Film Society Lincoln Center.
• New York City, NY, 11/10-11 (midnights) – The Holy Mountain (1973). At Videology Bar & Cinema.
• New York City, NY, 11/11 – Blancanieves (2012),  double feature with Rusalochka (1968), with live scores for both performed by Tenth Intervention. At Videology Bar & Cinema.
• New York City, NY, 11/11 – Audition [Ôdishon] (1999). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, 11/11 – Shock Corridor (1963). At the Metrograph.
• New York City, NY, 11/12 – La Grande Bouffe (1973). At Spectacle Theater.
• Silver Spring, MD, 11/10-11/16 – Suspiria (1977). At AFI Silver Theater.

NEPOTISM CORNER:

“PA Days: A ‘Guy with a Website’ Is Put to Work on the Film Set of ‘Pay Day’” –  Our own Gregory J. Smalley volunteered as a production assistant (and was pressed into duty as an extra) on the set of the upcoming (not weird) microbudget hostage drama Payday (2018), then wrote about the experience—which turned into a meditation on the relationship between critic and filmmaker. Please read it at PopMatters.

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.