Here’s what we have lined up for next week: the lowdown on Carlos Atanes‘ latest weird feature, Maximum Shame, a surreal apocalyptic fetish movie; from the reader-suggested review queue, we’ll grab Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels (Ringo Starr is Larry the Dwarf as Frank Zappa!); and a report on Tabloid, Errol Morris’ latest kinky documentary about the “Mormon sex in chains” scandal. And, in the spirit of Halloween, Alfred will take a break from writing about Mozart to pay tribute to a different kind of genius: Boris Karloff.
For the past few weeks, someone has repeatedly been searching for “weird lumpy movie shorts” in hopes of being named 366 Weird Movies “Weirdest Search Term of the Week.” Each week we mentioned that search term as an honorable mention, but found something weirder worthy of the grand prize. Well, this week the competition is weaker, meaning that “weird lumpy movie shorts” would finally get its chance to be named Weirdest Search Term of the Week… except for the fact that the searcher gave up on finding lumpy shorts just this week. (We refuse to acknowledge the possibility that he may have found lumpy shorts at some other site). That leaves us, instead, to consider the following searches for the prize, beginning with “hot woman with bag briss feed min milk moves.” (What min doesn’t love a woman with bag briss?) The choice of word order can sometimes turn a perfectly ordinary search term into something strange-looking; this week’s illustration of that principle is “horror movie guy makes fat women eat netflix.” (Along similar lines is the search for a “bizarre movie about a tv that orders to kill a french movie.”) We found “japan girl biting something to drink in man movies” flatly incomprehensible. But our official Weirdest Search Term of the Week had nothing to do with cinema at all (at least, as far as we can tell): “watching the oiled reflections chime and swim.” That would be a beautiful, poetic image, if only it made a lick of sense.
As always on a Sunday, we provide you with the ridiculously long reader-suggested review queue for your perusal: 200 Motels (next week!); Kairo [AKA Pulse]; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea and Red Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE→
A 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):
Bunraku (2010): A cowboy and a samurai team up to battle evil in this alternate reality actioner starring Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson (as a mystical bartender), Ron Perlman and Demi Moore. The setup and cast are intriguing, but reviewers warn that it’s style over substance. Bunraku official site.
My Joy (2010): A Ukrainian truck driver begins his day trying to make a delivery, runs into absurd bureaucracy and corruption, and ends up trapped in a strange timeless village. Critical response has been favorable. Opens in New York with only a few dates across the country to follow. My Joy official site (US).
Take Shelter: Michael Shannon plays a crazy guy (daring casting, that) whose dreams of impending tempests are so lifelike that he cashes in his savings to build an elaborate storm shelter. Fresh off a successful festival run, Jeff (Shotgun Stories) Nicholls second feature opens in New York and Los Angeles this week, and has a full card of future dates across the country (thanks to being picked up by Sony Classics). Take Shelter official site.
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil: Not so weird, but noteworthy: a horror movie/slasher spoof where the loner hillbillies in the middle of nowhere actually don’t want to carve up the hot collegians on spring break with chainsaws—though they’d have a hard time convincing anyone of their beneficence. This independent Canadian production is getting fine reviews and somewhat predictable comparisons to Shaun of the Dead. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil official site.
NEW ON DVD:
7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964): Tony Randall plays eight (or is it nine?) different roles (mostly mythological characters like Pan and the Abominable Snowman) in this fantasy about a magical circus that comes to a Western town. This is in our reader-suggested review queue. It’s being re-released on DVD-R by Warner Archives, rather than in a nice new edition, unfortunately. Buy 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.
Baby Jane? (2010): Remember the catty camp classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Well, here’s a (nearly shot for shot?) remake. The gimmick? Joan Crawford’s and Bette Davis’ roles go to female impersonators. Buy Baby Jane?
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010): Heavily stylized Chinese action comedy about a mythical blade that is melted down and made into a kitchen knife, and passes down through three different owners. Could this be a slight stirring in the crazy corpse of the Hong Kong New Wave we detect? Buy The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman.
Heathers (1988): The hilarious cult black comedy about wholesale slaughter in high school, starring Wynona Ryder and Christian Slater. The good news is that Heathers was, surprisingly, out of print. The bad news is that this re-issue comes from Image Entertainment, who are known for releasing cheap bare-bones DVDs from substandard prints. There are no reports on any extras, which suggests there are none. A true fan might go looking for a used copy of the 20th High School Reunion Edition; this cheap release is aimed at casual fans and bargain hunters. Buy Heathers.
Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather of Gore (2010): The title says it all. Cool folks like John Waters, Joe Bob Briggs, and Frank Henenlotter are interviewed on the Blood Feast auteur’s impact on the sleaze scene. From Something Weird video by way of Image Entertainment. Buy Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather of Gore.
Maximum Shame (2010): From Carlos Atanes comes a release described as a “apocalyptic fetish horror musical chess sci-fi weird underground feature movie.” Surprisingly, that description is completely accurate. We’ll have a review of this coming shortly. Available on DVD-R only. Buy Maximum Shame.
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991): A man with superhuman strength is sent to jail for avenging the rape of his girlfriend, and once there system pushes him too hard and he must rip out his tormentors’ intestines. Tokyo Shock originally released this insane gore spectacle in 2000; no word on whether there are any upgrades this time, or if they’re just reissuing it with new cover art to capitalize on the film’s Blu-ray debut in two weeks. Buy Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Basket Case (1982): Read our capsule review! This strange, scratchy grindhouse monster flick doesn’t seem like it would benefit from high definition, but here it is anyway. The abundant special features all appear to be ported over from Something Weird’s previous DVD release. Buy Basket Case [Blu-ray].
“The Blood Trilogy”: Herschell Gordon Lewis‘ foundational gore films on one disc: the ridiculous Blood Feast (1963), the extremely nasty Two Thousand Maniacs (1964), and also-ran Color Me Blood Red (1965). Another entry in the new Something Weird/Image Entertainment partnership. Buy “The Blood Trilogy” [Blu-ray].
Next week, we’ll be taking a look at Amos Gitai’s somewhat weird, but more tedious autobiographical film Carmel (2009); we’ll knock another one off our reader-suggested review queue with an elementary introduction to the incredibly complicated Primer (2004); and to fill things out we’ll examine at the silly-as-it-sounds The Manster (1959). Of course, Alfred will tackle more mad Mozart with coverage of Joachim Schlömer’s Odysseys, a pastiche trilogy created from fragments of the composer’s unfinished works.
It was a strange, grab-bag week for bizarre search terms, making it quite a challenge to pick a Weirdest Search Term of the Week. First off, we have to encourage the “wierd lumpy movie short” search guy to keep trying: you’re fast becoming the unofficial mascot of 366 Weird Movies’ Weirdest Search Term of the Week contest. Alas, once again your search for lumpy short movies rates no weirder than an honorable mention. Speaking of honorable mentions, the query “mila kunis shave down there” scores bonus points because we (oddly) turn up in the #1 spot for this search term on Google (you have to omit the quotation marks, though). We also liked the weird challenge of trying to literally visualize “drop your mouth.” But our weirdest search term of the week comes from the indecisive searcher who wasn’t too particular whether he received results relating to “italian movie or film tomato ‘jerk off’ or masturbate pregnant.” Hey, “film tomato ‘jerk off'” alone would have been good enough for us to make it our Weirdest Search Term of the Week; the rest is just gravy.
For those who follow such things, here’s the intimidatingly massive reader suggested review queue: Primer (next week!); Kairo [AKA Pulse]; 200 Motels; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea and Red Strings; The Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE→
A 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):
The Oregonian (2011): Read our capsule review. Calvin Reeder’s surreal horror debut finally sees a very limited release: although it will be seen in about ten cities across the country, most of those are one night only screenings. The show begins Sept. 23 at Cinefamily in Los Angeles. Not a great movie, in our judgement, but it’s weirdness is undeniable. The Oregonian page at Cinemad.
Shit Year (2010): An aging, retiring actress relives her past in an impressionistic melange. We’re not fans of the calling-attention-to-itself title, but the trailer looks very good, and it’s nice to see Ellen Barkin again. Opening at IFC Center in New York with a playdate in Dallas to follow, and then presumably off to DVD. Shit Year official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Blue Sunshine (1978): A bad batch of LSD turns Stanford grads into bald killer zombies in this off-the-wall horror/thriller. The product description says it’s “packed with bonus material for fans,” but doesn’t say what that material is (though one feature reportedly is an interview with director Jeff Lieberman). Buy Blue Sunshine.
Dead End Drive-In (1986): Australian kids go to the drive-in where the authorities steal their tires while the teens are making out and imprison them behind barbed wire—but at least they leave the concession stand open. It’s a bizarre premise for a B-movie version of “Lord of the Flies” that drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs described as “Mildly Perturbed Max Beyond Thunderdome.” This release is part of Image Entertainment’s “Midnight Madness” series. Buy Dead End Drive-In.
Nightbreed (1990): Strange Clive Barker scenario about a possible serial killer who flees to a land of monsters underneath a graveyard, featuring David Cronenberg in a rare acting role. The bad news about this release is that it’s being relegated to Warner Archive’s burn-on-demand graveyard; the death knell for any future serious release. You might consider the video-on-demand download for half the price of the DVD-R, if you can stand watching movies on your computer/I-whatever. Buy Nightbreed.
The Strange Case of Angelica [O Estranho Caso de Angélica] (2010): A romantic ghost story about a photographer who sees the dead when he looks through his camera, from 101-year old (!) director Manoel de Oliveira. The disc contains a goodly number of bonus features, including de Oliveira’s first movie—a 1931 silent. Buy The Strange Case of Angelica.
The Stuff (1985): Read our capsule review. This “Midnight Madness” release is a downgrade from Anchor Bay’s out-ot-print-but-widely-available version, which featured a Larry Cohen commentary track, but it’s also much cheaper (under $10 at this writing). Buy The Stuff.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Casino Royale (1967): Not the “serious” 2006 Bond adaptation, this is an “only-in-the-1960s” experimental spy spoof made by six different directors with a once-in-a-generation cast including David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, William Holden, etc. The plot does not make any sense. Buy Casino Royale (1967) [Blu-ray].
“Sophia Loren: Award Collection” [Boccaccio ’70 (1962)/Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (1963)/ Marriage Italian Style (1964)/ Sunflower (1970)/ Vittorio D (2009)]: A strange collection, understandably aimed at fans of Ms. Loren (yowza!). Boccaccio ’70 is the only one of even mild interest to weirdophiles (it’s the anthology film with one by Fellini featuring a 50-foot tall Anita Eckberg, and it is available spearately). The fifth disc in the set isn’t a Blu-ray, but a DVD, and it doesn’t even feature Loren—it’s a recent documentary on director Vittorio De Sica! Buy “Sophia Loren: Award Collection” [Blu-ray].
Next week, we’ll feature reviews of the wordless, mystical experiment Le Quattro Volte (2010), Ingmar Bergman’s medieval death poem The Seventh Seal (1957), and Alfred will cover a couple more avant-garde Mozart stagings with The Dream of Scipione and Ascanio in Alba. To fill things out, we’ll also post an essay in praise of the pretentious movie (the publication date is purely coincidental and has nothing to do with the movies chosen for review this week).
Looking for our weekly catalog of weird search terms for the week? Look no further. A couple of old friends came back this week: somebody out there is still looking for something “like necrophilia but weirder,” and of course, we still have the lonely searcher seeking that “wierd lumpy movie short.” We’ll focus on a trio of newcomers to select our Weirdest Search Term of the Week, however. Second runner up goes to the philosophical question “is it okay to love an object?” (We think if its strictly Platonic, then yes; if you’re talking carnally, it depends on how hot the object is). We were impressed enough by the simple search for “absurdism in perfume” to make it our first runner up. But the Weirdest Search term of the Week, by a unanimous vote, was “hapy valentine guillotine sex,” which took last week’s honorable mention search for “guillotine women art” and upped the weirdness ante to championship levels. Congratulations to all who competed, and for the losers, weirder luck next week!
NEPOTISM CORNER: Yes, there are people out there making YouTube videos with the stated aim of being featured on 366 Weird Movies. Unfortunately, they are related by blood to the owners and operators of this website, and therefore it would be unfair to spotlight them without full disclosure. Still, how can you look at the following footage and not be thrilled at the prospect of the upcoming generation of burgeoning absurdists?
Remember, with proper guidance you too can twist and pervert inspire your sons and daughters, nieces and nephews to make their own short films about egg-laying beatniks!
Here’s the massive reader suggested review queue, for those of you who follow such things: The Seventh Seal (next week!); Kairo [AKA Pulse]; Primer; 200 Motels; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland Drive; The American Astronaut; Blood Tea Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE→
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
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