Some low-budget, under-the-radar reviews are coming next week: look for pre-release coverage of James Felix McKenney‘s Christian scare film parody, Satan Hates You (2009), and John Hand’s micro-budget artsploitation horror Frankenstein’s Bloody Nightmare (2006).  For something more mainstream, we’ll throw in a review of the bizarre, reader-suggested black comedy The Dark Backward (1991).  (How many sites can claim a movie about a stand-up comic growing a third arm out of his back is the most mainstream film they’ll be reviewing that week?)

The weirdest search term used to locate the site this week was an easy choice:  “Disney movie that a tiny boy jumps into a pile of dog poop.”  We think someone may have gotten their memories of Toy Story and Pink Flamingos mixed up, but if such a movie does exist, we’d like to know about it.

The reader-suggested review queue continues to grow at an alarming pace.  Here it is: Survive Style 5+ (looking for a copy), The Dark Backward (next week), The Short Films of David Lynch, Santa Sangre, Dead Man, Inland Empire, Monday (assuming I can find an English language version), The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Barton Fink, 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, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gothic, 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, and Battle Royale.

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 Paranoids [Los Paranoicos]: Argentinian dramedy about a paranoid screenwriter who takes offense when a childhood friend adapts his life into a television show.  Looks quirky/oddball, not necessarily weird.  Not only that, but reviews have been generally negative.  The Paranoids official site.

SCREENINGS (NEW YORK CITY, THE FILM FORUM, THROUGH FEBRUARY 2)

A Room and a Half (2009): This documentary portrait of exiled Jewish Russian poet Josephy Brodsky, who became America’s Poet Laureate and won a Nobel Prize for Literature, is a collage of real-life interviews, dramatic recreations, animation, and stylized staged footage recreating the Soviet constructivist style.  70-year old animator/director Andrey Khrzhanovsky made some surreal shorts in the USSR (i.e. The Glass Harmonica, 1968) that ran into censorship problems.   Reviews are glowing and universally positive; hopefully that will be enough to get this intriguing movie a distribution deal of some sort.  A Room and a Half at the Film Forum.

NEW ON DVD:

Chantal Akerman in the Seventies: A compilation of the title director’s early experimental works from the Criterion Collection’s “Eclipse” series. I’m unfamiliar with this director, but Criterion claims she came out of the New York experimental film scene and is recommended for “adventurous” viewers.   Her most famous work, featured here, is her feature debut Je, Tu, Il, Elle (1976), which included explicit (for the time, at least) scenes of lesbian lovemaking.   3 discs.  Buy Chantal Akerman in the Seventies.

The Invention of Lying (2009):  High-concept romantic comedy set in an alternate reality where no one can tell a lie, until one man spontaneously evolves this ability.  From the creator and star of the Britcom “The Office.”  Unlikely to cross over the weird border, but definitely different, well-reviewed, and worthy of a gamble. Buy The Invention of Lying.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Invention of Lying: See description in DVD above. Buy The Invention of Lying [Blu-ray].

Magnolia (1999): Paul Thomas Anderson’s third feature was a masterful ensemble drama, containing perhaps Tom Cruise’s only truly good performance, with an unexpectedly weird ending that threw audiences for a loop.  A near masterpiece, definitely worth watching at least once and probably deserving multiple viewings. Buy Magnolia.

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.

OK, 2009 is over, but we’re still catching up on some of the worthy weird flicks we missed, so check us out next week for reviews of Terry Gilliam‘s Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (still in theaters) and Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. We’ll also thrown on a review of William (Exorcist) Friedkin’s paranoia piece, Bug (2006).

As far as the weirdest search term used to locate the site this week: we got the usual rash of weird fetish requests (1ooporno pregnant horse”) , but these are getting  a little boring.  When your bombarded with bestiality search terms, they no longer seem that weird.  We like offbeat phrasing, so we’ll select “what’s good with weird movies.”  Our answer: buttered popcorn, slathered in haggis.

We actually made some progress on the reader-suggested review queue last week, knocking out two good ones with Greaser’s Palace and Waking Life.   The remaining list looks like this: Survive Style 5+ (just discovered that this isn’t available on Region 1, which may delay our getting to it), The Dark Backward, The Short Films of David Lynch, Santa Sangre, Dead Man, Inland Empire, Monday (assuming I can find an English language version), The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Barton Fink, 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, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gothic, 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, and Ninja Scroll.

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):

44 Inch Chest: Aging London gangster drama about a bad guy who kidnaps an enemy he believes slept with his wife and considers taking revenge while being egged on by his sleazy mates.  Apparently includes fantasy sequences, which is why we mention it.  From the writers of Sexy Beast and the producers of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.   44 Inch Chest official site.

NEW ON DVD:

The Brothers Bloom (2009): Read our capsule review.  Quirky caper comedy with style to burn.  Buy The Brothers Bloom.

CockHammer (2009): CockHammer, a snuff film producer and dabbler in the occult, kidnaps the girlfriends of two losers in this deliberately juvenile and offensive home video horror-comedy. Judging by the trailer, it appears to be made by folks who believe Troma studios have sold out to the forces of good taste and glossy production values. We do like the tag line: “Sanity is for sissies!” Buy CockHammer.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (1995): A cosmetic update of the beloved cyberpunk anime—a few of the scenes have been redone with computer aided animation.  This is a rare case where the Blu-ray came out a few months before the DVD release. Buy Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

À l’aventure (2009): Not much info on this French softcore flick about a woman discovering her sexuality, but it looks like a throwback to the days of Emmanulle, only with mystical overtones (e.g., intense orgasms can apparently cause levitation). Buy À l’aventure.

Moon (2009):  Read our capsule review.  Intelligent sci-fi from David Bowie’s son; Sam Rockwell’s performance should garner an Oscar nom. Not very weird but we liked it anyway. Buy Moon.

Nun of That (2009):  Comedy involving a nun selected to join a secret supernatural religious order dedicated to wiping out the mob (!) Features cameos from Jesus, Moses, and Ghandi (!!)  Why didn’t this play our local mutliplex? Buy Nun of That.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

8 1/2 (1963): Criterion upgrades this classic weird movie to Blu-ray. A great way to get the taste of Nine out of your mouth. Buy 8 1/2 (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

The Brothers Bloom (2009): See DVD entry above. Buy The Brothers Bloom [Blu-ray].

Moon (2009):  See DVD entry above. Buy Moon [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.