We’ll leave it to you to describe this… special… video for yourself. We’re just going to supply the background: this short film was created by commercial director and artist Nagi Noda for a short film compilation sponsored by Panasonic celebrating the Olympics. We haven’t seen the other nine films in the series (no one has for six years now), but we suspect that this poodle fitness video (a parody of fitness guru Susan Powter) was not quite what the corporate giant expected when they commissioned the project.
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WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 3/19/2010
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.
SCREENINGS (NEW YORK CITY, CINEMA VILLAGE):
Shutterbug (2009): A photographer begins to see spots before his eyes after staring into the sun, then realizes he’s seen into another dimension and takes a Dante-esque trip through New York City looking for an explanation of his vision. Reviews were generally negative, but the Village Voice liked the way the cinematography sinisterized the city. Shutterbug official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Dillinger is Dead [Dillinger è Morto] (1969): A sixties absurdist/existentialist/leftist drama about an engineer who discovers a gun that may have belonged to John Dillinger. This movie was virtually unseen since it’s eyeblink release in the psychedelic 60s, but its legend persisted; the Criterion Collection has rescued it from obscurity. Buy Dillinger Is Dead (Criterion Collection)
Mystery Science Theater Collection: XVII: Four more episodes of the 1990s B-movie mocking cult TV program that occasionally tackled some “so bad it’s weird” movies. In this outing the episodes are The Crawling Eye, The Beatniks, The Final Sacrifice (with the notorious “Zap Rowsdower”) and The Blood Waters of Dr. Z. Dedicated fans will definitely want to add this to their collection. Buy The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: XVII
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Fallen Angels [Duo luo tian shi] (1995): Typically stylish Wong Kar-Wai production about a hit man, the female operative who plans his jobs, and a mute character, shot in an impressionistic, noirish night time Hong Kong. This film was originally planned to be a section of Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express but was expanded into a full-length feature. Buy Fallen Angels [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.
THE 366 WEIRD MOVIES 2009 YEARBOOK IS HERE!
We’re proud to announce the (long-delayed) release of a “print version” of 366 Weird Movies, the “366 Weird Movies 2009 Yearbook“!
The “Yearbook” is a trade paperback that brings together all our coverage of 2009 weird movies in one convenient place, including 22 theatrical release reviews, 13 DVD release reviews, and over 100 supplemental listings. All in a tidy 54 pages, and all for the low, low (?) price of $6.45!
Now, we know our readers, and we realize that you’re a perceptive bunch who are collectively thinking one thing right now:
Why would I want to buy a copy of the Yearbook when I can read the damn website for free?
We’ve got five good (well, good-ish) responses to that very perceptive question:
- Unlike the digital version, you can take the paper “Yearbook” into the “can” with you.
- If you unexpectedly run out of toilet paper in said “can,” the “Yearbook “can do double duty.
- This site may not always be here in the current form. (That’s not a warning, it’s a scare tactic).
- As our first Yearbook, it’s destined to within the realm of possibility that it will become a collectible worth thousands/hundreds/a few cents over what you paid for it in five years.
- Each copy sold will contribute a dollar or two towards paying our hosting/domain registration bills.
In all seriousness, we hope that some of you will enjoy the opportunity to have something 366-related that you can hold in your hands. We hope to continue this tradition in future years, while bringing you more and more coverage of the weird movie world!
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE
Look for a mini-Wonderland theme next week, as we weigh in on Tim Burton’s current version of Alice in Wonderland, and compare and contrast the ScyFy miniseries Alice. We’ll also look at a non-Alice related feature from out of our queue: Vincent Price’s The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
The masses continue to stumble onto the site by accident while looking for porn. We thought the weirdest search term used to locate the site this week was “Strange Things tissue free porn movies.” Why “tissue free”?
We spotlight the weirdest search term each week, but this week I thought we’d give a shout-out to the weirdest backlink of the week. That honor goes to SuccuWiki, a Wiki site devoted to cataloging all things related to female sex demons, who cited us as a source for Satan Hates You. Thanks!
The reader-suggested review queue is still growing. We plan to knock out at least one of these a week, but at that rate we’re still losing ground. Here it is, updated as of this very morning: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (next week); What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams); Meatball Machine; Xtro; Basket Case; Suicide Club; O Lucky Man!; Trash Humpers (when/if released); Gozu; Tales of Ordinary Madness; The Wayward Cloud; Kwaidan; Six-String Samurai; Andy Warhol’s Trash; Altered States; Memento; Nightmare Before Christmas/Vincent/Frankenweenie; The Science of Sleep; The Attic Expeditions; After Last Season; Getting Any?; Performance; Being John Malkovich; The Apple; Southland Tales; Arizona Dream; Spider (2002); Songs From The Second Floor; Singapore Sling; Alice [Neco z Alenky]; Necromania (1971, Ed Wood); Hour of the Wolf; MirrorMask; Possession; Suspiria; Mary and Max; Wild Zero; 4; Nothing (2003); The Peanut Butter Solution; Ninja Scroll; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Danger: Diabolik; Faust; Sublime; Battle Royale; Pink Floyd: The Wall; Escanaba In Da Moonlight; Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter; Zardoz; The Films of Suzan Pitt; Toto the Hero [Toto le Héros]; Paprika; The Holy Mountain; Brazil; The Casserole Masters; Dark Crystal; Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets; The Nines; 964 Pinocchio; The Pillow Book; Final Flesh; Lunacy [Sílení]; Inmortel; Tetsuo; Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake; Dead Leaves; Frownland; The Seventh Seal; Taxidermia; Primer; Maniac (1934); Hausu; A Boy and His Dog; 200 Motels; Walkabout; Private Parts (1972); and Possession.
WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 3/12/10
A look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
It’s a very weak week for weirdness. Nothing very unusual debuting in theaters, and the video pickings are slim, so we dug a bit deeper for some strange viewing suggestions.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Abelcain (2011): We caught this title listed as “in development” when researching Santa Sangre: a new Alejandro Jodorowsky film! For years, even before Santa Sangre, Jodorowsky has been looking for financing for a new project (often referred to as Sons of El Topo). Parallel Media (Autopsy) is involved in the production, which means there is funding, at least. Plot synopsis: “Upon the death of their mother, Abel and Cain embark on a journey to bury her holy body next to their father’s grave on a forbidden paradise island. But the island’s treasures attract numerous kidnappers with different plans.” Just because it’s in development doesn’t mean the film will ever be completed, but there is reason to hope. Abelcain announcement at Parallel Media.
Heartsnatcher (2012): Per Quiet Earth (an excellent website focusing on post-apocalyptic movies that supplied us with a number of weird leads this week), Hungarian surrealist Pater Sparrow will be adapting the Boris Vian novel about an isolated island society with bizarre customs. Read the scoop at Quiet Earth.
NEW ON DVD:
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone (2007): “Neon Genesis Evangelion” is a large anime franchise centering around teenagers piloting giant robots to fight off mysterious beings called Angels bent on destroying the world. As far as we can make out, the original 26 episode television show spawned a feature film, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Then came the feature The End of Evangelion, which created an alternate ending to the TV series and is reportedly a film of interest to weird folk. This movie, however, is part of a new “rebuild” series to consist of four films; to make things more confusing, this release is an update of the first film in that series (titled Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone) with new scenes and visual enhancements. An upgrade to the rebuild? As if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m gathering that this is the second “upgrade” of the first film (the first being version 1.01). Surely, fans who are interested in this will know what’s going on with all the different versions and where this release fits in. Buy Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone.
Stingray Sam (2009): From Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut) comes this futuristic musical comedy about a lounge singer from Mars who teams up with the Quasar Kid to rescue a little kidnapped girl. We just ran across this, but festival reviews were almost universally positive. Variety characterizes it as “‘The Searchers'” meets “‘Eraserhead'” and says it “leaves one begging for more.” Still screening at festivals, but it’s also available for download or DVD purchase from McAbee’s site. Stingray Sam official site .
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone (2007): See entry in DVD above. Buy Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [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.