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):

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014): A professor becomes a vampire-like creature, then strikes up a romantic relationship with a woman. The background to this movie may be stranger than the actual film: this is Spike Lee’s crowdfunded remake of the minor 1970s black vampire romance cult film Ganja and Hess.  Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Facebook page.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Endless Poetry (Poesia sin Fin): Alejandro Jodorowsky really is back. In his typical extravagant fashion, he’ll be announcing his next project in a live YouTube address tomorrow, Feb. 15th (no word on whether he’ll be wearing clothes), and a Kickstarter campaign will be launched at the same time. There are few firm details: the press release explains the movie will explore “the magic reality underlying our surrounding world,” while Screen Daily says that this will be another autobiographical effort starring sons Brontis and Adan, focusing on Alejandro’s time as a poet in Santiago. Tune in to Endless Poetry‘s official site tomorrow for the live address!

NEW ON DVD:

Don’t Look Now (1973): Read the Certified Weird entry! The Criterion Collection gets their hands on Nicolas Roeg‘s psychological horror of parental grief, compiling an entire disc’s worth of extra features for fans. Buy Don’t Look Now [Criterion Collection 2-disc].

Nekromantik 2 (1991): The female necrophile from the original must choose between her dead lover and a new beau, one who lacks that certain putrescence she so adores. A sticker on the front cover explains that this is a limited edition of 2000 copies with collectible artwork. Buy Nekromantik 2.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

An American Hippie in Israel (1972): A Vietnam vet founds a nudist utopia on a deserted island while being hunted by mimes with machine guns. Grindhouse Releasing calls it a “one of cult cinema’s legendary lost classics” and “the most psychedelic movie ever made.” Although this was released last year, this is the first time it is available on Blu-ray alone (as opposed to the more expensive 3-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo pack special edition). Buy An American Hippie In Israel [Blu-ray].

Don’t Look Now (1973): See description in DVD above. Buy Don’t Look Now [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

Nekromantik 2 (1991): See description in DVD above. There are 5000 copies of the limited edition Blu, making it less than half as rare as the DVD. Buy Nekromantik 2 [Blu-ray].

Vampire’s Kiss (1988)/High Spirits (1988): Vampire’s Kiss, wherein a literary agent believes he has been bitten by a vampire, is the movie with the unhinged losing-it performance that first convinced the world that Nicolas Cage might actually be mentally ill. This cult curiosity is paired with the far less interesting Steve Guttenberg/Daryl Hannah comedy High Spirits, about a man’s love affair with a ghost. Buy Vampire’s Kiss/High Spirits [Blu-ray].

FREE MOVIES ON SHOUT TV:

Dreamscape (1984): A psychic tries to rescue the President of the United States, who’s trapped inside his own nightmares. Watch Dreamscape free on Shout 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.

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):

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 the bad news is that means even weird-hating troll critic Rex Reed liked it. The Voices Facebook page.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, CA, Feb 6, 8, 12):

The Peanut Butter Solution (1985): Read our capsule review (and the many comments from the movie’s scarred adult survivors). Cinefamily always brings the cool, and now they break out a 35mm print of the much-remembered, unintentionally horrifying story about a boy who loses his hair from fright, then gets a recipe from ghosts to regrow it. Friday night’s screening begins at 7:30 PM PST and is hosted by Solution producer Rock Demers. We always hope these screenings herald an upcoming DVD release, but we’re usually disappointed. Maybe this time will be an exception. The Peanut Butter Solution at Cinefamily.

SCREENINGS – (Spectacle, Brooklyn, NY, Feb 8):

Help! Help! The Globolinks (1969): Read the Certified Weird entry! Spectacle, who screened Final Flesh just last week, once again feature an ultra-rare one with this psychedelic German television production of Giancarlo Menotti’s children’s opera about an invasion of music-hating aliens. Part of their “Rockuary” series.  Globolinks may be the least seen of all the Certified Weird movies, so you owe it to yourself to catch it in a crowd of your fellow proud weirdos if you possibly can. Help! Help! The Globolinks at Spectacle.

NEW ON DVD:

ABCs of Death 2 (2014): Sequel to the sporadically good, sporadically weird original; the second-string lineup of directors still includes a couple of fascinating names like Bill Plympton and Vincenzo Natali. The buzz on this installment was understandably not as big as the first time around, so we doubt we’ll be seeing ABCs 3. Buy ABCs of Death 2.

Scavenger Killers (2013): A renegade judge and a sexy defense attorney team up for a torture killing spree, trailed by oddball FBI agents including a psychic with Tourette’s Syndrome (played by–naturally—disgraced “Saved by the Bell” geek Dustin Diamond). This just came out in July 2014, and now the “Director’s Cut” is already out (released by a different distributor); the difference in listed run times between the two editions amounts to 2 minutes. Buy Scavenger Killers (Director’s Cut).

Starry Eyes (2014): Horror about Hollywood; a young actress lands a big part, and finds her body and mind transformed. Is Satan the casting director? Time suggested this is what might result “if David Lynch and David Cronenberg came together to craft a gory, psychological mindbender…” Buy Starry Eyes.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

ABCs of Death 2 (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy ABCs of Death 2 [Blu-ray].

Pom Poko (1994): Magical shapeshifting racoons struggle to save their forest home from urban encroachment. Having finally Blu-ed all the most popular Hayao Miyazaki titles, Disney turns their attention to releasing the second-tier Studio Ghibli titles. Buy Pom Poko [Blu-ray].

Porco Rosso (1992): Speaking of Miyazaki, Disney’s other Ghibli release this week is his tale of the adventures of a WWI flying ace who is under a spell that turns him into a talking pig. Not as big a crossover hit as his other films, but true Miyazaki fans treasure this oddity as much as any of the master’s more lucrative films. Buy Porco Rosso [Blu-ray].

Starry Eyes (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy Starry Eyes [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES:

A Boy and His Dog (1975): Read the Certified Weird entry! Move over YouTube; ShoutFactory TV is on! Yes, cult TV and movie specialists Shout! Factory are rolling out their catalog online, for free (commercial-supported, but still…) Shout! owns the rights to “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” “Elvira’s Movie Macabre,” Roger Corman‘s 1970s exploitation films, and more! Sadly, their impressive horror catalog, hosted on sub-label Scream Factory, does not appear to be part of this online package… yet. This announcement could mean some very big weird titles coming online for free very soon. Keep an eye out in this space for details. For now, we’ll start you out with the screen adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s crazy post-apocalyptic tale about a roving wasteland rapist and his sarcastic telepathic pooch, A Boy and His Dog. Watch A Boy and His Dog free on ShoutFactory TV (rated R).

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):

Hard to Be a God (2013): Future Earth scientists land on a planet stuck in its own version of the Middle Ages, and are treated like gods. Director Aleksei German, who died in 2013, worked on this adaptation of a novel by the Strugatsky brothers (who also wrote the source material for Stalker) for the last 13 years of his life. U.S. distributor Kino Lorber’s Hard to Be a God site.

“Oscar Nominated Short Films 2015”: As usual, this annual shorts event is divided into three programs: animated, live action, and documentary. Although years past have seen multiple experimental movies make the slate, this year looks to be a regression towards the conventional: the only thing of potential weird interest we spotted was Bill Plympton‘s latest, “Footprints,” on the animated un-nominated undercard. These bite-sized mini-masterpieces are usually worth taking a chance on, however. The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2015 official site.

SCREENINGS – (Television, Turner Classic Movies, Sat. Jan 31, 2:15 AM EST):

Twice Upon a Time (1983)/The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T (1953): TCM Underground just keeps digging up the rarities. We half expect The Day the Clown Cried to screen next month. This week, however, we get Twice Upon a Time, the never-on-DVD and rarely screened animated feature written and directed by John Korty using George Lucas’ Star Wars money. The chaotic plot involves warring tribes who deliver sweet dreams and nightmares, respectively, and parts of the dialogue were improvised by a comedy troupe (in two versions: one more kid-friendly, and one full of mild profanity). The movie utilized a painstaking, unique and never-again attempted form of animation whereby translucent cells were laid over a light table and filmed to give the movie a “stained glass” appearance. If that’s not enough to entice you, consider that they’re following that screening up with a showing of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Dr. Seuss’ Certified Weird musical fantasy about boys enslaved by a musical tyrant and forced to play a giant piano. Set your DVRs! Thanks to 366 contributor and TCM Underground monitor L. Rob Hubbard for pointing this one out (he writes much more about the film on his personal blog). Lots more Twice Upon a Time background (the movie’s backstory is maybe even more convoluted than its plot) on TCM’s official blog, “Movie Morlocks”.

SCREENINGS – (Spectacle, Brooklyn, NY, Sat. Jan. 31):

Final Flesh (2009): Read the Certified Weird entry! We don’t know exactly who’s behind Spectacle—we just discovered them this week—but anyone who publicly screens Vernon Chatman‘s DVD-only prank project wherein four amateur porn troupes enact an absurdist script about the apocalypse is OK in our book. We notice they’re hosting some more screenings of rare Certified Weird movies later in the season, so if you’re in Brooklyn or thereabouts you’ll want to bookmark their site. Final Flesh at Spectacle.

NEW ON DVD:

Miss Meadows (2014): Katie Holmes stars as a Marry Poppins-like schoolmarm with a vigilante streak. The irony here seems a little on-the-nose. Buy Miss Meadows.

Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (2013): A movie-within-a-movie is the setting for Shion Sono’s latest; the early teaser trailer featured samurai fighting yakuza and ran literal rivers of blood. We’ve been anxiously waiting on this release for some time now. Buy Why Don t You Play in Hell?

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy Why Don t You Play in Hell? [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Lazy Stoners Descending (2014): An amateur psychedelic documentary chronicling three stoners’ pro-pot musings. Is the title a play on Lucifer Rising, or am I just high? Obviously, this movie contains profanity and graphic images of legal-in-Colorado drug use. Watch Lazy Stoners Descending on YouTube.

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):

The Duke of Burgundy (2014): Peter Strickland’s followup to his giallo-tribute Berberian Sound Studio is a strange erotic melodrama about sadomasochistic relationship between an aristocratic butterfly collector and her servant. We have no idea where it’s playing or even how to access the advertised VOD release (UPDATE: it’s been spotted on Comcast cable systems), so we’ll likely have to wait for a DVD. The Duke of Burgundy official site.

R100 (2013): A sadomasochistic sex comedy from Hitoshi Matsumoto about a businessman who joins a secret club that arranges for dominatrices to attack its members in public places. We’ve been waiting on this one since it’s North American debut at TIFF last year; Drafthouse makes sure it hits all the major metro areas. R100 official site.

SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, Friday January 23, 8:00 PST):

R100 (2013)/Symbol (2009): Speaking of R100 (see above), the Cinefamily is hosting a Hitoshi Matsumoto double feature to celebrate the film’s release, pairing it with Symbol, the auteur’s bizarro 2009 comedy about metaphysical emptiness and Mexican wrestling. R100 gaijin co-star Lindsay Kay Hayward will be there, and there will be a “sushi eating whipping” contest with prizes. Los Angelinos rush out there now, ’cause it starts at 8:00 PST. R100 (2013)/Symbol (2009) at Cinefamily.

FILM FESTIVALS – Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT, Date):

The 2015 movie season officially kicks off with Sundance, where a hundred hopeful independent movies, including some off-the-wall ones, come to vie for a handful of distribution contracts. Last year brought us The Double, and the previous year’s Sundance sensation was Escape from Tomorrow, so there is almost always at least one weird winner to be found here. Here are the ones we’ll be keeping an eye on:

• Beaver Trilogy Part IV – A documentary about the making of Trent Harris‘ Beaver Trilogy, an odd movie about an oddball kid from Beaver, Oregon. Screens the 23rd, 27th and 31st.
• The Forbidden Room – This might possibly be of interest: a new Guy Maddin movie, with a cast of Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Rampling and Udo Kier. Try to catch it on the 26th, 28th, 29th or 31st (but expect to be put on the wait list).
• H. – The story of two women named Helen in Troy, NY who descend into madness, or the end of the world, or something. Screening 1/25, 27, 30 & 31.
  
• The Tribe – A graphically violent and sexually explicit Ukrainian film, with no dialogue, about students at a school for the deaf who run a prostitution ring.  Screens the 24th, 26th & 27th.
• White Dog – There’s been some buzz about this allegorical movie about dogs who go to war with the city of Budapest after it enacts a tax on mixed-breed canines. 1/23, 25 or 31 are your chances to check it out.

Sundance Film Festival official site.

NEW ON DVD:

La Belle Captive (1983): A man finds a beautiful woman lying bound in the road, takes her home, makes love to her, and sees visions of the paintings of René Magritte.  The belated interest in the sadomasochistically surreal films of Alain Robbe-Grillet continues, with Olive taking the torch passed by Redemption Video. Buy La Belle Captive.

Coherence (2013): Read our review. This “Twilight Zone”-y story about a comet that metaphysically disrupts a dinner party isn’t the weirdest out there, but it was one of last year’s very best ultra-low-budget sci-fi features. Buy Coherence.

Lucy (2014): Read our review. Luc Besson‘s dopey sci-fantasy about Scarlett Johansson using 100% of her brain was inexplicably popular; at least the visuals are trippy. Buy Lucy.

My Winnipeg (2007): Guy Maddin‘s fantastical, surreal documentary about his hometown of Winnipeg. Maddin and the Criterion Collection are a match made in movie heaven. Buy My Winnipeg.

Winter in the Blood (2013): An alcoholic Native American wakes up in a ditch, then returns to his home on a Montana reservation to discover his wife has left him, taking his beloved rifle with her. A modern vision quest with surreal elements. Buy Winter in the Blood.

Zero Theorem (2013): Read James Harben’s review. Terry Gilliam‘s latest didn’t make mucho weird waves, but it’s always good to watch the master at work. Buy The Zero Theorem.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

La Belle Captive (1983): See description in DVD above. Buy La Belle Captive [Blu-ray].

Lucy (2014): See description in DVD above. This is a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. Buy Lucy [Blu-ray/DVD].

My Winnipeg (2007): See description in DVD above. Buy My Winnipeg [Blu-ray].

Zero Theorem (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy The Zero Theorem [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.

Dear readers, in the past week we have been under intermittent attack by an idiot botnet trying to brute-force admin passwords so it can insert spam links that would take us a few hours to clean up. There were over 15,000 login attempts over night!

The situation is as if I had a car with two separate keys (username and password), one for the door and one for the ignition. The botnet is like a car thief with a massive keyring of thousands of keys (password guesses). He tries out each key hoping it will magically work. If by some miracle he finds the right key (username) to open the door, then he would need to go through the whole thing again to get the car to drive (by guessing the password). Then, I would recover the car a few hours later with LoJack anyway.

Unfortunately, despite having no chance of success, this moronic behavior taxes our server resources. Therefore we’ve taken some extra security steps to try to keep the scripts from ever reaching the login page in the first place.

The TLDR point of all this is that if you find the site behaving oddly (especially in regards to logging in or commenting) due to the defensive maneuvers we’ve been forced to take, we’d appreciate it if you’d contact us and let us know.

Thanks brave readers!