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.

It’s the holidays in Hollywood, and there are only a few meager releases left to be dumped in 2014, either theatrically or on home video. None of them are particularly weird. We did scrape up a couple of news items that we’ve been sitting for a while, along with one late gift idea for the weirdo on your shopping list.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Empires of the Deep (probably completed): This Chinese mermaid fantasy, which cost a reported $130 million dollars and was promoted as China’s answer to Avatar, was made with a cast of European and American actors headlined by Olga Kurylenko. Based on the trailer, the plot involves mermaids fighting giant evil lobsters (the SyFy channel would call them “Mega Lobsters”). At least four directors (including the guy who handled Halle Berry’s Catwoman disaster—who was their first choice!) either quit or were fired while working on this one. Empires is so bad it seems to have been shelved—but is it so-bad-it’s-weird? Once the Chinese figure out capitalism, greed will bring it to light. Read more at i09.

Untitled Stephen Sondheim project: This news is a little late, but now that Sondheim’s revisionist fairy tale musical Into the Woods is in theaters, it’s arguably timely. Sondheim, who’s rapidly approaching last-man-standing status in the Broadway musical business, has announced that his project will be deliciously noncommercial, a song-and-dance extravaganza based on two classics by Surrealist master Luis Buñuel: The Exterminating Angel and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. (For those not in the know, one of these movies concerns friends who find that they can never meet for dinner, while the other is about a group of people trapped at a dinner party they can’t leave). Suggested lyrics: “these canapés are tasty/But our exit must be hasty/Oh no, we… can’t… leave!” Our main questions are, how long will this take to make it from stage to screen, and will it suck as badly as that Fellini musical catastrophe? Read more at The New York Times.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Skidoo (1968): Read the Certified Weird entry! Just a few years ago, we thought we might never get to see the long-buried flop comedy where Jackie Gleason drops acid and Groucho Marx plays “God”; now, here it is on Blu-ray. Buy Skidoo [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.

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: 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. Rotten Tomatoes lists this as opening this week, but we think they may be wrong… it’s not even up on U.S. distributor IFC’s website yet. Keep an eye out for it in January. The Duke of Burgundy official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Stranger (est. Summer 2015): A “free” adaptation of Mark Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger,” done in the style of El Topo and Greaser’s Palace. These guys are British, so hopefully their take on the acid Western will be unusual indeed. The Stranger official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Coyote (2014): An insomniac writer hallucinates. Reportedly contains Cronenbergian genital/mechanical imagery. Buy Coyote.

Stonehearst Asylum (2014): This Brad Anderson adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story (Gothic fans will immediately figure out which story, and the twist) boasts a remarkable cast: Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine… Critical opinions were all over the map: the Village Voice praised it as a “vintage Halloween treat,” while the New York Times dubbed it a “shockingly flabby effort.” Buy Stonehearst Asylum.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Stonehearst Asylum (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy Stonehearst Asylum [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 2014 Online Film Critics Society awards awards are out. As usual, weird films were not well represented this awards season. The Society chose to pass on a total of four outstanding acting jobs by Jake Gyllenhaal and Jesse Eisenberg in Enemy and The Double. Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s autobiography earned a total of zero nominations; even urinating on her husband’s chest while singing an opera aria could not get Pamela Flores a Best Supporting Actress nod.

In somewhat more positive news for our favored genre, Birdman, the odd tale of an ex-superhero movie star levitating and hallucinating while trying to direct, star in, and produce a Broadway play, did take three awards.  The apocalyptic train movie Snowpiercer garnered a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and one for Tilda Swinton as Best Supporting Actress. The weirdish alien abduction feature Under the Skin was nominated for three awards including Best Picture, although Scarlett Johansson was snubbed for a nomination as Weirdest—I mean, Best—Actress.

As always, despite the levity in my tone, I take my voting responsibility very seriously. Here is the list of this year’s winners, along with my choices and a touch of personal commentary.

BEST PICTURE

Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Also Nominated: Boyhood; Ida; The Lego Movie; Mommy; Nightcrawler; Selma; Two Days, One Night; Under the Skin; Whiplash

G. Smalley’s Vote: Whiplash

Comments: I contend that 2014 has been a year of many very good, but no great, movies. I saw three movies I would consider masterpieces in 2013: The Act of Killing, Blancanieves, and The Wolf of Wall Street. In 2014 I have seen zero, although there are about a dozen films I would consider just a notch below that level. So, I have no problem with Wes Anderson‘s typically twee The Grand Budapest Hotel winning Best Picture, despite the fact that it comes in only at #11 on my personal top 10 list. Had it been nominated, I would have voted for Calvary, the Irish passion allegory in which one priest pays for the pedophilic sins of the Catholic Church. Of the nominees that made the ballot I favored Whiplash, which while conventional in form and content was the most intense cinematic experience of the year (yes, a movie about jazz drumming was intense).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Winner: The Lego Movie

Also Nominated: Big Hero 6; The Boxtrolls; How to Train Your Dragon 2; The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

G. Smalley’s Vote: The Lego Movie

Comments: Lego charmed even Alfred Eaker‘s cold and cynical heart. Despite its product-placement premise, it was an inspired tribute to imagination, filled with humor, spectacle, shots at pop culture, and pathos. Its only serious competition came from the more artistic The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, an epic Studio Ghibli release based on a traditional Japanese folktale that contains some of the most beautiful hand-drawn cels you’ll see this year (much of the movie looks like Continue reading 18TH ANNUAL ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS (WITH OUR VOTES AND COMMENTS) →

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):

Inherent Vice (2014): A pot-smoking detective investigates a labyrinthine plot that eventually leads him to a mysterious organization of dentists known as the “Golden Fang” (among many other subplots). Paul Thomas Anderson becomes the first director to adapt a Thomas Pynchon novel, which is reason enough to salivate. Inherent Vice official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Frank (2014): Read G. Smalley’s review. Michael Fassbender in a giant papier-mâché head. ‘Nuff said. Buy Frank.

Safe (1995): A wealthy woman flees to a New Age spa in the desert when she becomes afraid that she is “allergic to the 20th century.” From the man who brought us Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, so you know Safe is anything but. Buy Safe.

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013): Read Alex Kittle’s review. Buy the DVD for the “reversible sleeve with uncensored artwork!” (We’re thinking that means nipples!) Buy The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“Fox Searchlight Pictures: 20th Anniversary Collection”: Fox Searchlight does good work, but we’re always skeptical about collections of films that have nothing to do with each other except that they were released under the same studio imprint. Nonetheless, we’ll point out that you will find the Certified Weird Beasts of the Southern Wild and Black Swan among the 21 arthouse disks here (and that the price per Blu in this set turns out to be a bargain at $6 each). Buy “Fox Searchlight Pictures: 20th Anniversary Collection” [Blu-ray].

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

Natural Born Killers (1994): Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis star as a pair of serial killers on a hallucinogenic rampage across a bloody pop-culture landscape. This “20th Anniversary” edition includes both the theatrical and director’s cuts and the new featurette “Natural Born Killers: Method in the Madness,” and comes in “Diamond Luxe” packaging. Buy Natural Born Killers [20th Anniversary Blu-ray]

Safe (1995): See description in DVD above. Buy Safe [Blu-ray].

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears [Blu-ray].

Time Bandits (1981): Read the Certified Weird review! The Criterion Collection’s on again/off again affair with the rights to Terry Gilliam‘s movies is on again. This Blu features a lenticular cover. Buy Time Bandits [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.