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WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 2/10/2017

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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):

CANDiLAND (2016): Two lovers retreat into an apartment where they create their own utopian reality, a paradise whose peace and harmony is threatened by the existence of Gary Busey. It’s a plot many Americans can relate to. CANDiLAND official site.


IN DEVELOPMENT (announced):

The Beach Bum (201?): ‘s next project will be a “stoner comedy” starring Matthew McConaughey. That setup doesn’t sound at all promising, but maybe Korine can put an odd spin on it. Read more at Variety.

IN DEVELOPMENT (currently shooting):

An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn (201?): Greasy Strangler auteur strikes while the iron is hot, moving on to his next comedy project. Beverly Luff Linn concerns a woman in an unhappy marriage whose ex-lover comes to town to perform a show called “An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn; For One Magical Night Only.” Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch, Craig Robinson, and Jermaine Clement highlight a cast forgoing Hosking’s usual crew of weirdos. Given the respectable names attached, you can be sure Hosking will tone down the greasiness, which may not be a bad thing as long as he can still keep it weird. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

NEW ON DVD:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004): Robots are killing cyborgs in the future. We liked the original Ghost in the Shell, but passed on adding it to the List of the 366 Weirdest Movies; is this sequel any weirder?  Buy Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

Girl Asleep (2016): Read our review. An adolescent Aussie Alice in Wonderland in the style of (but with more heart). Buy Girl Asleep.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004): See description in DVD above. Surely this is a better watch than Hollywood’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the original Ghost in the Shell. Buy Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

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

NEW ON VIDEO-ON-DEMAND:

Glass (2015): A giallo-inspired mindbender; we can’t tell more than that. The ad copy describes it as “a mind bender that Cronenberg and Lynch could argue about over lunch,” and the trailer promises a lot of sex and blood, some vomit, and a black-gloved killer. Watch the mildly NSFW teaser trailer and rent it at Vimeo.

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.

Reader Recommendations

READER RECOMMENDATION: ESCORIANDOLI (1996)

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AKA Trash – T.R.A.

Reader recommendation by “Tracian”

DIRECTED BY: Antonio Rezza

FEATURING: Antonio Rezza, Valeria Golino, Claudia Gerini, Isabella Ferrari, Valentina Cervi

PLOT: Five connected stories where the protagonist is always played by Rezza. An affair during a funeral is spiced up by the occasional comments of the deceased; the two lovers of a woman suddenly exchange their ages; a terminally bored girl is forced to join a totalitarian rehab clinic; a poet consumes his life searching for forgiveness for having stepped on a man’s toe; and a professional event-crasher loses control of his own body and is forced to cut it to pieces until only the head remains.

Still from Escoriandoli (1996)

WHY IT SHOULD MAKE THE LIST: Because it is a rare example of an arthouse film that is not pretentious but actually fun, highly committed to weirdness and yet serious in its (admittedly well-hidden) message.

COMMENTS: While you have to understand Italian to fully appreciate the lyrical, offbeat and hilarious dialogues, everyone will be amazed by the physical and vocal contortions of the protagonist(s). Pretty much everything in Escoriandoli (the title itself is a pun that roughly means “confetti-like joy in excoriating them”) is odd: an example may be how all the actors on a bus react to its movements—although the vehicle is explicitly shown as being still—but almost no scene can be considered “normal”.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“Italian surreal comedy consisting of a series of satirical vignettes… Fun at times, but the acting is way too silly.”–Zev Toledano, The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 1/27/2017

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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.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, Fri., Jan 27):

Belladonna of Sadness (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry! Seeing as how the ‘Family had a big role in rediscovering this psychedelic rape revenge musical anime, screenings have become a semi-regular thing there. Belladonna of Sadness at Cinefamily.

SCREENINGS – (Planeta, New York City, Sun., Jan 29):

Gutboy: A Badtime Story (2015): A flayed puppet fights the Man. All-marionette. This film proudly advertises itself as “the weirdest movie in the world,” which has obviously scared away distributors thus far. Check out this rare screening if you’re in the New York area. Gutboy at Planeta Facebook event page and Gutboy official site.

NEW ON DVD:

“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”: The title character investigates the murder of a millionaire and meets lots of strange characters in this comedy mystery series. The BBC America television show is based (far too loosely, according to fans) on the Douglas (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) Adams books. Buy “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976): Read Alice Stoehr’s List Candidate review! This welcome, newly restored re-release contains a Blu-ray, DVD, and a disc of special features, including new interviews with the surviving crew, and may give us an excuse to revisit this old / favorite. Buy The Man Who Fell to Earth [40th Anniversary Limited Edition DVD/Blu-ray combo].

The Vessel (2016): On a remote island, a man survives a drowning that should have killed him and creates a monument to the schoolchildren who lost their lives in a tsunami. This enigmatic parable, the writing/directing debut of Julio Quintana, was executive produced by and has been described as “dreamlike” more than once. Buy The Vessel.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”: See description in DVD above. Buy “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” [Blu-ray].

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976): See description in DVD above. Buy The Man Who Fell to Earth [40th Anniversary Limited Edition DVD/Blu-ray combo].

The Vessel (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy The Vessel [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.

Miscellanea

STAFF PICKS AND THE FINAL 100

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Those of you who are good at math may realize that, with the publication of our 266th Certified Weird review last week, we have exactly one hundred movies left to enshrine on the List of the 366 Best Weird Movies ever made.

We’re not going to make too big a deal over this landmark, because at our current rate of one Certified Weird review per week, that still leaves about two years of work left. There is one small announcement I’d like to make, however. Since the beginning of the project I (G. Smalley) have personally approved every single movie that goes on the List. As a small nod to the excellent taste and wide-ranging knowledge of our hard-working contributors, which often exceeds my own, I’ve decided to allow each of them to add one personally significant movie to the List—a movie they believe belongs on any sane list of insane movies, but are afraid I might pass over if left to my own devices. I’ll designate these as “Staff Picks,” and when their turn comes up I’ll link back to this post so you’ll know what the hell I’m talking about. This will also serve as a place you can see everyone’s personalized recommendations, so I’ll be updating this post over the next two years.

Without further ado, here are the Staff Picks, in chronological order of their addition to the List:

Alfred Eaker – Female Trouble (1974)

Pete Trbovich – Nothing But Trouble (1991)

El Rob Hubbard  – Thundercrack! (1975)

Terri McSorley – Indecent Desires (1968)

Shane Wilson – The Tingler (1959)

– Meet the Feebles (1989)

Rafael Moreira – Perfect Blue (1997)

Giles Edwards – A Field in England (2013)

Eric Young – Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)

Alex Kittle – True Stories (1986)

Miscellanea

YOUR VOTE DETERMINES THE WINNERS OF THE 7TH ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS

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Singing and dancing losers in La La Land? A high schooler struggling with his sexuality in the Moonlight? Casey Affleck brooding in Manchester by the Sea? Great acting, great cinematography, sure, but totally predictable. That’s exactly how they became eligible for the Oscars. Academy Award nominees reassure viewers, warm their hearts, and a bring a tear to their eye. Weirdcademy Award nominees frighten viewers, fry their minds, and sometimes bring a tiny taste of vomit to their mouths.

You want to see the strange, the mysterious, the transgressive, the surprising, and the utterly bizarre. And that’s why we’re letting you, the weird movie public, pick this year’s weirdest movie, actor, actress, and scene.

Although the editors of 366 Weird Movies select the nominees from the pool of available movies, the Awards themselves are a naked popularity contest and do not necessarily reflect either the artistic merit or intrinsic weirdness of the films involved. The Weirdcademy Awards are tongue-in-cheek and for fun only. Ballot-stuffing is a frequent occurrence. Please, no wagering.

The Weirdcademy Awards are given to the Weirdest Movie, Actor, Actress and Scene of the previous year, as voted by the members of the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness.

Who makes up the Weirdcademy? Membership is open to all readers of 366 Weird Movies. The rules for joining the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness are as follows. To officially join, locate an official online ballot (such as the one below) and hover your mouse pointer over the radial button representing the choice of movie you would like to see win any award in any category. Then, simply depress the left button of your mouse to make your selection. Selections made using the right mouse button will be disregarded, and you will be forced to reapply. If your application for membership is approved, a dot will appear next to your choice. You are not done yet, so continue reading. To be certified as a voting member of the Weirdcademy, at some point subsequent to making your selection, you must navigate your mouse button to the box marked “vote.” Now, again depress your left mouse button to confirm your membership as a voting member of the Weirdcademy.

(Vote as many times as you like, but only once per day, please. We’ll keep voting open until February 26 at 1:00 PM EST, so we can announce our results before the Academy Awards and steal their thunder).

There is no requirement that you’ve have to actually see all the movies in any category before voting.

Be sure to also vote for Weirdest Short Film of the Year. To watch all five nominees and to cast your vote, please click here.

Without further delay, we unveil the nominees for the 2016 Weirdcademy Awards below:

Continue reading YOUR VOTE DETERMINES THE WINNERS OF THE 7TH ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS →