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):

Buster’s Mal Heart (2016): Buster has two (or maybe more) personalities, literally existing in two separate bodies: one a family man, the other a bearded hermit. This crime-mindbender earned mixed reviews. Buster’s Mal Heart official site.

A Dark Song (2016): A woman with ambiguous motives seeks the help of a dubious warlock to enact an occult ritual. Good reviews, but questionable weirdness. A Dark Song official site.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

• Chicago, IL. Apr. 28-May 4 -“David Lynch: A Complete Retrospective.” Including screenings of Blue Velvet (1986), Eraserhead (1977),  INLAND EMPIRE (2006), Lost Highway (1997),  Mulholland Drive (2001), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), Wild at Heart (1990), and others. Complete schedule at Music Box Theater.
• New York, NY, Apr. 28 – 29 (midnights) – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).  At IFC Center.
• New York, NY, Apr. 28 – 29 (midnights) – El Topo (1970). At IFC Center.
• Oakland, CA, May 4 – Akira (1988). At The New Parkway Theater.
• Silver Springs, MD, Apr. 30, May 1, & May 4 – Donnie Darko (2001) [director’s cut]. At AFI Silver Theater.
  

NEW ON DVD:

Catfight (2016): Two middle-aged women (Sandra Oh and Anne Heche) renew a decades-old grudge with a fistfight that gets out of hand. The fight scenes are reputedly brutal, and the Amazon reviews are littered with words like “odd,” “crazy,” “weird”… and “terrible” (admittedly, all of the reviewers probably came in with very mainstream expectations). Buy Catfight.

Tampopo (1985): A mysterious stranger helps a failing ramen shop owner conquer the local market in this “noodle western.” Offbeat satire with a few bizarre touches, this new Criterion Collection release ranks as a cult movie among Japanese arthouse devotees, and is in our reader-suggested review queue. Buy Tampopo.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

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

Tampopo (1985): See description in DVD above. Buy Tampopo [Blu-ray].

MISCELLANEOUS (Summer Camps):

“Camp John Waters”: In one of the stranger promotions we’ve heard of, 70-year old bad boy John Waters is hosting a summer camp. Featured activities include watching Waters’ one-man show, Hairspray karaoke, “Bloody Mary Bingo,” a Waters movie marathon, and that old camp standby, Scotch and cigars. Now for the bad news: it’s sold out. Before we could even report on it. Maybe Waters will add additional dates, considering how quickly this one filled up? Regardless, you can see the official announcement at Club Getaway.

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):

Slack Bay (2016): Tourists disappear in a north France beach resort; the investigation turns into an abusrdist slapstick farce. This origiably caught our eye because of the Variety reviewer who complained of the movie’s occasional resort to the beloved “weird for weirdnesses sake” aesthetic. Slack Bay official U.S. site.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

• Chicago, IL, 4/21 – 27 – Donnie Darko (2001). At Music Box Theater.
• Chicago, IL, 4/27 – Mulholland Drive (2001). At Music Box Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA 4/21 & 24 – Eraserhead (1977). At Cinefamily.
• Los Angeles, CA 4/22 (midnight) – The Apple (1980). At Cinefamily.
• Los Angeles, CA 4/26 – L’il Quinquin (2014). With Bruno Dumont in attendance at Cinefamily.
• New York, NY, 4/21 & 22 (midnight) – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). At IFC Center.
• New York, NY, 4/21  & 22 (midnight) – Eraserhead (1977). At IFC Center.

FILM FESTIVALS – Tribeca Film Festival (New York City, Apr. 19-30):

Modern film festivals are trending towards more virtual reality exhibits and TV show premieres, and, in the race to stay relevant, no one has embraced this trend more than Tribeca. Unfortunately, that means even less space for actual movies. Besides a movie or two we’ve seen listed at other festivals (e.g., the crime mindbender Buster’s Mal Heart), here are a couple of potential weirdo long shots lurking here:

• November – Magical realism from Estonia, set in a 19th century peasant milieu where werewolves and the Devil are real. Screens 4/24 to 4/28.
• Psychopaths – Four serial killers on a one-night rampage in a midnight movie programmers describe as a “fever dream.” 4/20-22 and 4/25.

Tribeca Film Festival home page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (POST-PRODUCTION):

The Shape of Water (Winter 2017): Guillermo del Toro‘s latest stars Sally Hawkins as a maid who discovers and falls in love with an “aquatic man” (Doug Jones) being held captive at a government facility during the Cold War. The IMDB tagline currently describes it as “an other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963.” More info at Variety.

MISCELLANEOUS CROWDFUNDING:

“Cult Epics Hardcover Book”: At least three (and possibly more) of our Certified Weird movies will be featured in this upcoming weird coffee-table book: Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse, and Nuit Noire [Black Night]. The campaign closes six days from now and although the funding goal was already met, you can still get a few perks, including a pre-release version of Death Laid an Egg with a limited-edition copy of the avant-garde soundtrack. Cult Epics Hardcover Book at Indiegogo.

NEW ON DVD:

Doonnie Darko (2001) [Limited Edition]: Read the Certified Weird entry! Surely everyone knows the outline of this legendarily confusing time travel cult film by now, so let’s get right to the Limited Edition contents: two DVDs and two Blu-rays containing new restorations of both the Theatrical and Director’s cuts, three separate commentary tracks (at least one recycled), and too many featurettes and interviews—some new, some archival—to list separately. Donnie Darko [Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack].

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Doonnie Darko (2001) [Limited Edition]: See description in DVD above. Donnie Darko [Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack].

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.

UPDATE: We forgot to note a time-sensitive item in Friday’s “Weird Horizon” column. The label Cult Epics, distributors of the Certified Weird films Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, Nuit Noire, and I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse, as well as more “extreme” films (like the oeuvre of Nekromatik provocateur Jörg Buttgereit) is creating a commemorative hardcover book covering 25 years of the label’s acquisitions. While the work is fully funded through an Indiegogo campaign, there are still some rare perks to be had for those who sign up: signed DVDs, and the item that caught our eye, an advance release copy of the long-awaited title Death Laid an Egg, with a limited edition, signed copy of Bruno Maderna’s avant-garde soundtrack included as an Indiegogo exclusive.  Campaign ends April 27. Cult Epics Indiegogo Campaign.

Now, back to regular Pipeline business. Don’t forget to vote on which Summer Blockbusters to send Alfred and Aja Eaker to this year. (We’re supposed to be neutral, but it does warm our hearts to see Baywatch getting a push). You have until Thursday.

As for the rest of the week, Shane Wilson starts us off with a 366 Underground notice for the microbudget noir Road to the Well; Pete Trbovich kicks in a review from the reader-suggested queue with a look at the self-explanatory SLC Punk; and G. Smalley stays with the reader suggestions as he tries to crack the mysteries of The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb. Meanwhile, in preparation for his summer blockbuster adventure, Alfred Eaker checks out some definite non-blockbusters in his survey of exploitation film circa 1976, featuring Switchblade Sisters, Ilsa: She Wolf of the S.S., and Shivers.

It was a strange week in terms of weird Google searches that brought people to the site. At first, there was almost nothing truly demented (but see below), and then over the weekend we caught the oxymoronic search for “bestiality mainstream” and the even weirder (but no less depraved) query “movies full stories god of priest porn.” But we think that there can be no doubt that the winner of our Weirdest Search Term this week is one that is so epic in scope that it gets its own paragraph:

“hey what’s wrong alex ”i just got this from boss” ”what is it about” ”this girl she was murdered last night 1:16 am the window was broken” where is the broken windows located in the house” ”in the basement” ” that’ weird why the basement ” i don’t know but the weird thing about this whole cast is that there were 4 others girls and the girl he or she picked was the farthest room and close the the parents room ” well i don’t find that weird maybe he’s a picky murder ” enough with the jokes we need to focus why her” well let’s go to the cram seen ” that a good idea let go ” are u the parents ” ya ” will ”i’m officer sam” ”and i’m officer alex in very sorry for your lost’

Hmm… we were just getting interested when the searcher cut off his text.

Here’s how our ridiculously-long reader-suggested review queue stands: SLC Punk (next week!); The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (next week!); Grendel Grendel Grendel; Daughter of Horror [AKA Dementia]; Beauty and the Beast [Panna a Netvor] (1978); Aqua Teen Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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):

My Entire High School Is Sinking Into the Sea (2016): A crudely animated story that literally describes the disaster of its title. We’re a little surprised to see this offbeat, moderate festival hit picked up for distribution, by GKIDS, no less. My Entire High School Is Sinking Into the Sea official site.

NEW ON VIDEO ON DEMAND:

Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time (2017): Sci-fi adventure spoof about a super secret agent fighting a time-traveling mad scientist and an army of goblin puppets. This microbudgeted triumph of persistence was ten years in the making (!), and Major Winchester (David Odgen Stiers) and Chekov (Walter Keonig) lent their talents along the way. Check it out exclusively on-demand. Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time official site.

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

We’re changing the way we’re compiling this section (formerly called just “Screenings”). Simply noting the venues with minimal commentary will allow us to list more screenings across the country (and the world). If you know of an upcoming screening of a Certified Weird film, please drop us a line or mention it in the comments section of this post.

• Chicago, IL, Apr. 15 – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. At Music Box Theater.
• Los Angeles, CA, Apr. 16 & 17 – Donnie Darko (theatrical cut). At Cinefamily.
• New York City, NY, Apr. 14 & 15 – Eraserhead. At IFC Center.
• New York City, NY, Apr. 14-20 – Mulholland Drive. At IFC Center.

IN DEVELOPMENT (IN PRODUCTION):

Insects (est. 2017) – Legendary animator and Czech Surrealist Jan Svankmajer, now 83 years old, has announced that Insects will be his last movie before a well-deserved retirement. The news here is that this week he released some notes from his production diary. No bombshells here, but fascinating stuff for fans, with plenty of behind-the-scenes stills to whet your appetite. “Jan’s diary from the Insects film” on Facebook.

NEW ON DVD:

“Dead or Alive” Trilogy: Takashi Miike‘s yakuza trilogy starts out extreme with 1999’s Dead or Alive, turns surreal in the 2000 sequel Dead or Alive: Birds, and moves into post-apocalyptic territory for the 2002 installment appropriately titled Dead or Alive: Final. Arrow Video releases the whole deal in a 3 DVD or Blu-ray set, for only a slight premium over what you’d pay for a single film.  Buy “Dead or Alive Trilogy”.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Dead or Alive” Trilogy: See description in DVD above. Buy “Dead or Alive Trilogy” [Blu-ray].

“House: Two Stories”: 1985’s original horror cult film House is about a Vietnam vet/writer who inherits a haunted house after his aunt’s suicide; the barely-related 1987 sequel House II: The Second Story  has a new owner moving onto the titular locale, looking for an Aztec skull. The first installment is in our reader-suggested review queue, but not to be confused with the Japanese weird classic House [Hausu]. Buy “House: Two Stories” [Blu-ray].

“The Phantasm Collection”: All five Phantasm movies, from the Certified Weird original to 2016’s surreal finale Phantasm: Ravager, with a bonus disc containing four hours of supplemental material. Maybe this will supply the motivation we need to finally get off our butts (or rather, to stay on our butts, but with a fully-loaded Blu-ray in the player) and review Ravager. Buy “The Phantasm Collection” [Blu-ray].

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):

Your Name (2016): Two teenage strangers randomly and periodically swap bodies in this anime feature. The words “weird” and “bizarre” were briefly spotted in Rotten Tomato excerpts, along with the phrase “Oscar buzz.” Your Name U.S. distributor site.

SCREENINGS – (IFC Center, New York City, Apr.7-13):

David Lynch bonanza: The IFC Center has become so prolific in screening their stockpile of weird midnight movies that we don’t mention them every week anymore; you can just assume something cool is playing there on weekends. This week, however, their lineup is just too stacked to pass up. In conjunction with their screening of the documentary David Lynch: The Art Life, they’ve broken out their Lynch archive, with showings of Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive this weekend, along with Eraserhead playing all week long. And if you get sick of a steady diet of Lynch, there’s The Holy Mountain on Friday and Saturday at midnight to break it up. Don’t overdose, and remember you cannot live on popcorn and soda alone for long. Check the IFC Center homepage for a complete schedule.

SCREENINGS – (The New Parkway Theater, Oakland, CA Apr.9, 10, & 13):

El Topo (1970) and Pink Flamingos (1972): The New Parkway is new to us, but they feature an eclectic lineup of new and repertory movies, highlighted this week by two Certified Weird classics: Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s surrealist spaghetti western El Topo and John Waters‘ classic of filth, Pink Flamingos. Hope the pizza (delivered to your seat as you enjoy the film) is good, too (though we suggest skipping the brownies for Flamingos). The New Parkway calendar.

SCREENINGS – (AFI Silver Theater, Silver Springs, MD, Mon. Apr. 10):

Swiss Army Man (2016): If you’re in the D.C. metro area and you missed our pick for 2016’s second weirdest movie when it was in theaters, here’s your chance to catch it on the big screen, courtesy of AFI’s “second look” series. Swiss Army Man at AFI Silver Theater.

FILM FESTIVALS – San Francisco International Film Festival, (San Francisco, CA, Apr. 5–19 ):

We don’t always mention the second-tier San Francisco International Film Festival, but this year they’re worth noting due to a very special guest programmer and one big, weird U.S. debut. Besides a few international films we’ve seen making the rounds—Iran’s experimental A Dragon Arrives!, João Pedro Rodrigues’s mystical The Ornithologist, the erotic Mexican horror The Untamed, and the Korean doppelganger romance Yourself and Yours—the big items (from our skewed perspective) appear below:

• “Canyon Cinema 50: Guy Maddin Presents ‘The Great Blondino’ and Other Delights” – Four short avant-garde films from Canyon’s catalog, selected by a great Guy and including Daina Krumins “The Divine Miracle.” Happening Apr. 15.
• Endless Poetry – SFIFF’s big get is the U.S. debut of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s second installment in the autobiographical project that began with the Certified Weird The Dance of Reality, now concerning his experiences as a young bohemian artist in Santiago. Premiering Apr. 10, bonus screening on the 19th.
  
• The Green Fog: A San Francisco Fantasia – Guy Maddin is back, along with The Forbidden Room collaborators Galen and Evan Johnson, with a (doubtlessly transformed) collage of San Francisco footage inspired by the storyline of Vertigo, set to a new composition by Jacob Garchik preformed by the Kronos Quartet. No idea if this intriguing collaboration will ever be seen outside this live performance, but it closes the festival on April 16.

San Francisco International Film Festival home page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (rumored):

Donnie Darko sequel: We’re a little bit late in passing on this news, but Richard Kelly suggests that he’s interested in making a “bigger and more ambitious” movie (not necessarily a sequel) set in the Donnie Darko universe. Kelly hasn’t directed since 2009’s The Box, but says he has another project lined up before the Darko film. Nothing shows up on IMDB yet. In more recent Kelly news, he also suggests he might rerelease an “expanded” cut of his post-apocalyptic flop Southland Tales. Come back to us, Richard! The Playlist seems to be first with Kelly news.

IN DEVELOPMENT (currently filming):

Image et Parole (est. late 2017): Speaking of late news, we’re even tardier in telling you about ageless provocateur Jean-Luc Godard‘s latest—but this one will definitely happen, at least. All we know for sure is that its set in the Arab world and be “a mix of fact and fiction”; we assume it will follow the abstract, postmodern pattern of his late work (Film Socialisme and Goodbye to Language, both of which divided critics—we came down on the “insufferably indulgent” bandwagon). Our expectations may be low, but Godard’s distinguished career has earned him a fair hearing. The Film Stage has a few details.

NEW ON DVD:

Tank 432 [AKA Belly of the Bulldog] (2015): Post-apocalyptic mercenaries seek refuge in an abandoned tank that becomes a prison. The feature debut of Ben Wheatley‘s cameraman Nick Gillespie (Wheatley produced); reviews were not good, but it does describe itself as a “mind-bending plunge into hallucinatory terror.” Buy Tank 432.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Tank 432 [AKA Belly of the Bulldog] (2015): See description in DVD above. Buy Tank 432 [Blu-ray].

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.