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 on the official site links.
NEW ON DVD:
Lost River (2014): Ryan Gossling describes his directorial debut as a “fantasy noir” and “modern day fairytale” set in a “macabre and dark fantasy underworld.” With Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, Eva Mendes, “Doctor Who”’s Matt Smith, and Barbara Steele; critics were not kind to it, but it looks like a weird event pic nonetheless. Buy Lost River.
Shadow Zombie (2013): A pill-sniffing young man who likes to dress up as his alter-ego, “Shadow Zombie,” courts a disturbed woman who dresses as a clown. This is described as part documentary, part fiction, and is hopefully all weird. Buy Shadow Zombie.
Trouble in Mind (1985): A neo-noir, set in mythical “Rain City,” about an ex-cop (Kris Kristofferson) released from prison after a murder conviction who finds nothing but trouble when he holes up at an old lover’s diner. This movie is so intent on being different, it casts Divine—as a man. Watch Trouble in Mind free.
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 on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Reality:Quentin Dupieux‘s latest project is about a horror film director searching for a perfect scream. Dupieux’s meta-absurdist comedies are always worth a look, and we anxiously await this one. Reality official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Inherent Vice (2014): Read our review! Now that this is finally on DVD, you can hover your finger over the pause button, get out your flow chart with multicolored inks to track the different subplots, and try to make sense of this psychedelic caper flick. Buy Inherent Vice.
Wild at Heart (1990): David Lynch‘s road movie about Sailor (Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) fleeing from assassins hired by the girl’s disapproving mother. This is in our reader-suggested review queue, naturally, and is one of the few Lynch films we have not yet covered. Buy Wild At Heart.
The White Buffalo (1977): Wild Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) dreams of a white buffalo and concludes it is his destiny to kill it; Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) hunts the same beast, believing its sacred hide will enable his dead child to find peace in the afterlife. A strange Western that flopped badly on release and has seldom been seen since, though it has a small cult of admirers who will be thrilled by this release. Buy The White Buffalo [Blu-ray].
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON SHOUT FACTORY TV:
The Stunt Man (1980): A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set and is blackmailed into becoming the director’s stunt man—and psychological plaything. This odd, mind-bending labor of love from writer/director Richard Rush had so much trouble finding a distributor that star Peter O’Toole said “the film wasn’t released, it escaped.” Watch The Stunt Man free on Shout Factory TV.
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.
Saturday Short guru Cameron Jorgensen doesn’t spend all his time searching for the weirdest shorts on the web. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who currently plays bass for Visitors, an “experimental alternative post-hardcore band from Salt Lake City Utah.” Just off of a tour, the band has released an advance free single, “Flailure (Reprise)” from the album ” Visitors/Bon Vivant 7″ Split,” which officially drops June 30. The cool kids tell us it rocks. It’s available via bandcamp. Please take a listen.
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 on the official site links.
FILM FESTIVALS – Tribeca Film Festival (New York City, Apr. 15-26):
With more arthouse, revival and first run theaters per capita than anyplace in the world, every day in New York City is like a film festival, so Tribeca as an event is almost redundant. Still, there are some fine movies making their North American debuts here. We noticed nothing that struck us as a weird movie must-see, but here are some interestingly offbeat films we spotted in the catalog:
Aloft – A son searches for his mother, who abandoned the family to become a New Age healer, in a drama described as “dreamlike.” Screens on the 24th & 25th.
Come Down Molly – A new mother takes psychedelic mushrooms on vacation in the Rockies. See it Apr 18, 23 or 25.
Lucifer – The devil climbs down from a ladder and lands in a paradisaical Mexican peasant village; filmed in a circular aspect ratio. Screens from 21-24.
Mojave – A depressed artist wanders into the desert where he meets a strange, violent drifter who claims to be the Devil. Plays the 18th, 19th, 22nd & 24th.
“Monty Python” – Four Python events in the festival: screenings of The Holy Grail (4/24), Life of Brian (4/25), The Meaning of Life (4/26), and the new comic-umentary Monty Python and the Meaning of Live (4/25).
All the Devils Aliens [AKA Devils in the Darkness] (2013): This low-budget feature about a med student discovering a baby alien was re-titled to be grammatically incorrect. An IMDB reviewer described it as “a bizarre piece of surreal melodrama.” Buy All the Devils Aliens.
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989): See description in Blu-ray below.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Goodbye to Language [Adieu au Langage] (2014): The latest from Jean-Luc Godard, now in his mid 80s, is shot in 3D and features nude women, dogs, philosophical discourses, and experimental visuals. Comes in a Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D (for those with that rare capability) double pack (no DVD available that we could see). Buy Goodbye to Language [Blu-ray/3D Blu-ray].
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 on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):
Lost River: Ryan Gossling describes his directorial debut as a “fantasy noir” and “modern day fairytale” set in a “macabre and dark fantasy underworld.” With Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, Eva Mendes, “Doctor Who”’s Matt Smith, and Barbara Steele; critics were not kind to it, but it looks like a weird event pic nonetheless. Lost River official site.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Brand New Testament (2015): Jaco Van Dormael‘s latest “surreal comedy” stars Benoit Poelvoorde as God. His teenage daughter hacks his computer and leaks the fates of mortals to the press. Also featuring Catherine Deneuve (we’re guessing she’s Mrs. God). Testament has already locked up most of its European distributors, but is still looking for a U.S. company to handle the release. A possible Cannes competition selection (it’s scheduled to be completed just in time…) Read more at Variety.
“Suspiria de Profundis” (TV): Based on Thomas de Quincey’s book of the same title (also the inspiration for the Certified Weird horror Suspiria), this proposed English-language series from France’s Atlantique Productions would feature de Quincey investigating paranormal phenomenon in late 19th Century London. Dario Argento is “artistic supervisor.” The company is also developing a series based on Django (the original Italian movies, not Tarantino‘s American version). Weird? Probably not, but we’ll see. More at Screen Daily.
NEW ON DVD:
If You Don’t, I Will (2014): A French (black comedy?) portrait of a dissolving marriage; after a tense hike, the wife decides to stay behind and live in the forest. Hard to get a handle on the potential weirdness here, as multiple user reviews refer to the film’s absurd, surreal or confusing nature, while most professional reviewers mention nothing of the sort. Buy If You Don’t, I Will.
The Voices (2014): Marjane Satrapi‘s first American feature is a tale of murder involving an unbalanced factory worker who takes advice from his talking cat and dog. Ryan Reynolds’ performance is drawing universal praise, but can it be any good if weird-hating troll critic Rex Reed liked it? Buy The Voices.
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