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 – MidWest Weird Fest (Eu Claire, Wisc., Mar. 3-5):

A relatively new, small three-day offering that’s an offshoot of a sister festival in Australia. We can’t vouch for everything here—a lot of it looks like the usual low-budget sci-fi/horror tide desperately searching for an audience—but there are a couple of films we can recommend as weird.

• Atmo HorroX – Read our festival review; an indescribable dialogue-free microbudget horror (?) worthy of the tag “WEIRDEST!” Screens Sun, Mar 5.
  
• Bad Black – Tongue-in-cheek Ugandan action/comedy made for about $200. Also Mar. 5.

Midwest Weirdfest official site.

NEW ON DVD:

A*P*E* (1976): A 36-foot tall ape (despite the title, it’s not an a*p*e*) falls in love with a blonde actress and destroys Seoul. This King Kong ripoff, rushed out to try to exploit interest in Dino DeLaurentiis’ 1976 Kong movie (which turned out to be a flop itself), often shows up on “worst of all times lists,” and famously includes a shot of the giant monkey giving the audience the finger. Buy A*P*E*.

Doctor Strange (2016): Read Alfred Eaker’s review. This “psychedelic” superhero movie is kinda, sorta weird for a Disney-backed blockbuster, if you squint real hard. Buy Doctor Strange.

We Are the Flesh (2016): Read the List Candidate review! Arrow Films gives this ultra-perverse, early weirdest movie of 2017 contender the deluxe treatment, with multiple interviews and two of the director’s short films included in the package. Buy We Are the Flesh

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

A*P*E* (1976): See description in DVD above. Will play in 3D, if your player can handle it. Buy A*P*E* [Blu-ray]

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

We Are the Flesh (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy We Are the Flesh [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.

In just a few hours, the telecast of the Oscars (or, as we refer to them, the “Weirdcademy Awards for squares”) will begin. We are happy to steal the Academy’s Thunder by announcing cinema’s weirdest winners of 2015 now.

In the category of “Weirdest Short Film,” the winner is Daniel Moshel‘s impossibly complicated street performance “Metube 2: August Sings Carmina Burnana”:

(Note: this was the only race where ballot-stuffing was involved, as “Metube” beat out Adult Swim-backed favorite “This House Has People in It” by an unlikely vote of 162-43. Of course, ballot-stuffing is perfectly legal in the Weirdcademy Awards voting. If Adult Swim wants an award next year, they can send their fans the voting link!)

In the category of “Weirdest Scene,” the Weirdcademy Award goes to Swiss Army Man for the scene where Paul Dano escapes a deserted island by using Daniel Radcliffe‘s flatulent corpse as a jet ski.

(Naturally, this clip contains scatological humor).

In the category of “Weirdest Actress,” the Award goes to the dark house, Samantha Robinson, as the titular Love Witch, seen in this salacious clip preparing one of her erotic spells (although we do not see her collecting some of her more unusual ingredients)…

(Understandably, this clip contains adult situations).

In the category of “Weirdest Actor,” the Award goes to Daniel Radcliffe, as a dead dude who can do much more than just pass gas.

And capturing almost 40% of the total vote in the ten movie field, the award for Weirdest Movie of 2015 goes to The Lobster, Giorgos Lanthimos‘ absurdist parable about a future dystopia where single people are housed in a hotel and given thirty days to find a suitable mate, or be turned into an animal of their choice.

Thanks to all members of the Weirdcademy, and see you again next year!

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):

Drifter (2016): A pair of post-apocalyptic assassins stumble into a town of psychotic cannibals. “Starburst” describes it as “[s]urreal stylings and extreme violence…” Drifter official Facebook page.

NEW ON DVD:

Psychomania (1973): Bullfrog-worshiping bikers kill themselves so they can come back as living-dead cyclists. Arrow Films restores the British cult B-movie and releases it in a DVD/Blu-ray bundle with archival interviews and supplements. Buy Psychomania [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Boy Friend (1971): An understudy gets her big break in a musical production. Ken Russell completists will be interested in this oddity in his canon: a musical spoofing musicals, starring Twiggy, and, most shockingly, rated “G.” Buy The Boy Friend [Blu-ray].

Psychomania (1973): See description in DVD above. Buy Psychomania [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

V FOR VICTORY or THE FALL AND RISE OF CONNIE STARTRAVELER (2016): Visual concept album from Athens, Ohio band SUPERNOBODY, with a plot that mixes E.T. with “Ziggy Stardust.” A gorilla befriends a space-marionette and defends it from UFO investigators. About 45 minutes, or one hour if you watch the outtakes.

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):

A Cure for Wellness (2017): A young executive goes to a remote, cult-like wellness center to retrieve his company’s CEO. Reviews of Gore Verbinski‘s latest psychological thriller have been (to put it charitably) mixed, but movies this weird don’t often get wide releases, so we feel obliged to check it out. A Cure for Wellness official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

American Fable (2017): A dreamy young girl discovers a man hidden in her farm family’s silo. A fantasy with some very dark elements from IFC Midnight. American Fable official site.

SCREENINGS – (New York City, IFC Center, Fri., Feb. 17 – Sun., Feb 9):

House [Hausu] (1977): Read the Certified Weird entry! Japan’s nuttiest haunted house movie—the one with the girl-eating piano—re-enters IFC’s impressive midnight movie rotation. Held over from last week: 2001: A Space Odyssey and soon-to-be late night cult hit The Lure.  House at IFC Center.

SCREENINGS – (Los Angeles, Cinefamily, Weds., Feb. 22):

The Color of Pomegranates (1969): Read the Certified Weird entry! Sergei Parajanov‘s hallucinatory biography of Armenian poet Sayat Nova is presented with Nicholas Jaar’s electronic score (we prefer the original soundtrack, but it’s still sure to be a one-of-a-kind experience). Two screenings. The Color of Pomegranates at Cinefamily.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Suddenly in the Dark (1981): A Korean housewife suspects her husband of infidelity with a young housekeeper who carries a mysterious wooden doll. Mondo Macabro rescues this early South Korean erotic horror film, described as “bizarre,” from obscurity. Buy Suddenly in the Dark [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.