Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem (201?): You may have seen the gory, blasphemous Italian short “Fist of Jesus,” which features an ass-kicking savior carving up zombies with a fish skeleton. German distributor Films Boutique just acquired rights to Jerusalem, the planned feature-length version. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it. Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem article at Variety.
Road of the Dead (201?): Romero‘s dead are scheduled to return from the grave, although George will only be serving as producer, handing the directing reins over to long-time second unit director Matt Birman. Bizarrely enough, the scenario involves zombie race car drivers, a plot twist that may be strange enough to draw our attention back to the moribund series. More at “Den of Geek”.
NEW ON DVD:
Wolf Guy (1975): Sonny Chiba stars as a kung fu/detective/werewolf in this first-time-outside-Japan release. Arrow Films touts their latest deep-cut discovery as “an unforgettable trip to the heights of Japanese cinematic weirdness.” Buy Wolf Guy [DVD/Blu-ray combo].
“Midnight Movies at the Uptown theater”: Here’s a long shot for your dollar, but it’s a good cause. Nathan Reynolds is seeking to bring midnight movies to the Richland, WA area (that’s a few miles west of Walla Walla). As I understand it, he’s already scheduled A Clockwork Orange and Delicatessenfor early June, and is looking to defray expenses and bring future films to the area. If you’re out in that area, or just looking to donate a few bucks to a worthy weird movie cause, it would be appreciated. Midnight Movies at the Uptown on You Care.
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.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
“366 Weird Movies 2016Yearbok” (Kindle edition): In case you missed the post below here’s our official release announcement for the Kindle version of the 366 Weird Movies Yearbook. Print edition to follow within a couple of weeks.
Icaros: A Vision (2016): In the wake of Embrace of the Serpent comes this trippy pseudo-autobiographical film about first worlders traveling to the Amazon to partake in ayahuasca rituals. The co-director died of breast cancer soon after the movie was completed. Icaros: A Vision official site.
Paint it Black (2017): After her boyfriend commits suicide, a grieving woman comes into conflict with the mother who blames her for her son’s death. This highly-praised psychological thriller, reportedly with surreal/experimental bits, is the directing debut of Amber (daughter of Russ) Tamblyn. Paint It Black official site.
VIDEO-ON-DEMAND EXCLUSIVE RELEASES:
“The Natural World”: A new web-series with an intriguing description: “Derek sits and is shown visions of the natural world as his life unfolds before him. A strange being begins speaking to him. His Family begins to act strangely.” The first episode ( actually more of 3-minute teaser) is out and is free to watch. The first episode (actually more of 3-minute teaser) is out and is free to watch.
FILM FESTIVALS – Cannes Film Festival (and Director’s Fortnight) (Cannes, France, May 17-28):
Cannes is an odd duck. Not known as a “weird-friendly” festival—movies like David Cronenberg‘s Crash and Antichrist have been famously hooted at by Cannes crowds who were having none of that—it aims to flatter the mainstream arthouse crowd with middle-of-the-road dramas (and, rarely, dramadies, so long as they are not too funny to be taken seriously). Cannes programmers revel in the dry, the conventional, and the pompous; Cannes’ juries’ tastes resemble those of Academy Awards voters, but with an even higher premium placed on boringness. Still, one or two movies worth looking at always seem to find their way onto the card. In many years a Cannes debut will end up Certified Weird: three films in the past five years, including, most recently, 2012’s Holy Motors. Movies at Cannes may either be screened “in competition” for the big prize, the Palm D’or; screen out-of-competition; or be entered in the “Un Certain Regard” section (a sort of also-ran competition for films that are either from first time directors, or are considered too daring or different to have a shot at the Palme d’Or). Recently, several major filmmakers have been debuting their films in the parallel festival called Directors’ Fortnight, which runs contemporaneous to Cannes proper but does not hand out awards for individual films.
There are a trio of Asian films here from directors who often interest us—Joon-ho Bong‘s monster fable Okja, Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s Before We Vanish, and Takashi Miike‘s samurai epic Blade of the Immortal—but sadly, none of them look particularly weird. Here’s what we would be checking out if we were there:
How to Talk to Girls at Parties –John Cameron Mitchell adapts a Neil Gaiman story about the perils of picking up an alien; the pedigree suggests this could be good and weird (but maybe not). Screening out of competition on 5/21.
Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc – Bruno Dumont‘s rock opera about young Joan D’Arc should ruffle the usual feathers. Playing at Director’s Fortnight, 5/21.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – this is the big weird ticket: Giorgos Lanthimos‘ followup to The Lobster (again starring Colin Farrell). Screening in competition. 5/22.
“Twin Peaks” – Ironically, a TV series is getting more buzz than any feature film at the festival, as David Lynch debuts the rebirth of his (in)famous series here a few days before it goes live. Special screening of the first two episodes on 5/25.
We R Animals (20??): A black comedy about an underworld of sleazy puppets making exploitative cute animal videos. We first mentioned this one during its original crowdfunding campaign in 2010. Sounds like the script was optioned to someone who decided not to make it, then the creator got the rights back and decided to launch another Kickstarter campaign. They’re at $19,000 of a requested $255,000, with 26 days to go. We R Animals Kickstarter page.
IN DEVELOPMENT (completed):
Mother! (2017): Darren Aronofsky‘s latest psychological thriller stars Jennifer Lawrence (and who doesn’t want to see J-Law do a Black Swan thing?) They’re keeping a lid on the plot, but released a poster that’s getting some buzz. No official site but check out the Aronofsky Tumblr for the poster and a few rumors.
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.
Late, as usual. As always, the recycled ad copy speaks for itself:
Covering everything weird, from art house surrealism to next-generation cult movies to so-bad-they’re-weird B-movie atrocities, 366 Weird Movies has been meeting all of your weird movie needs since 2009 with a combination of sly humor and serious insight. This is our annual Yearbook covering all the weird movies released and re-released in 2016, from “April and the Extraordinary World” to “World of Tomorrow”, with over 50 full-length reviews, extensive supplemental listings, and exclusive interviews with Joel Potrykus (“The Alchemist Cookbook”), Pablo Rivera (“Psychonauts: The Forgotten Children”), and others. If it’s weird, and it’s a movie, and it’s from 2016, and 366 Weird Movies covered it, you’ll find it here.
This year, the transcriptions of the 2016 Fantasia interviews (available on our YouTube channel and on these pages) are included as exclusive bonus content (in all editions). The Kindle edition of the Yearbook has fewer pictures, but they are in color (for those with color-capable readers, obviously).
The print version of the Yearbook requires additional formatting and proofing and should be for sale in a couple of weeks.
FILM FESTIVALS – Chicago Film Critics Film Festival (Chicago, IL, Date):
CFCFF is a minor festival with no significant debuts and a few titles of marginal/questionable weird interest (David Lowery’s A Ghost Story) spotted at other venues. Still, there are two screenings here we’d like to highlight:
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children – Read G. Smalley’s Fantasia review of the animated drug abuse fantasy. We still don’t know if this strong List Candidate will get actual distribution in the U.S., but it’s nice to see it (hopefully it will fare better under the name Birdboy than it has under its former title of Psychonauts). Screening May 13 & 17.
“Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism”: Three obscure, experimental, and political Japanese New Wave features from Yoshida: Eros + Massacre (1969), about an anarchist philosopher; Heroic Purgatory (1970) (reputedly the weirdest), in which an engineer recalls his revolutionary youth; and Coup d’Etat (1973), an unconventional biopic of 1930s nationalist Ikki Kita. From “Arrow Academy,” the new arthouse-centered sub-label from Arrow Video. Buy “Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism” [DVD/Blu-ray combo]
Tall Men (2016): A man is haunted by faceless phantoms after he buys a car with a mysterious black credit card. The ad copy describes it as “Holbrookian,” which stands to reason, since it was directed by Jonathan Holbrook. Buy Tall Men.
Serial Mom (1994): Later John Waters effort starring a game Kathleen Turner as the title character. First time on Blu-ray, with all the extras from the 2008 “Collector’s Edition” DVD plus a new three-way interview with Waters, Turner, and co-star Mink Stole. Buy Serial Mom [Blu-ray].
“Lost Girls: The Cinema of Jean Rollin”: A collection of essays on idiosyncratic artsploitation auteur Rollin, best known for his slow and mildly surreal lesbian vampire cycle, all written by women. The project has already met its $12,000 goal and is now into a stretch goal of $16,000—if they reach it they promise to add 40 pages of full color images. Perks include a Rollin-themed board game. Six days left and you can put them over the top. “Lost Girls: the Cinema of Jean Rollin” at Indiegogo.
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.
The summer doldrums are officially here, with no wierd theatrical or home video releases to speak of. Things will pick up a little next week. In the meantime, you’ll have to keep an eye out for screenings near you, and enjoy the new trailer for the restored version of Andrei Tarkovsky‘s minimalist sic-fi masterpiece Stalker .
