Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…

NEW ON DVD:

Blood for Irina (2012): A world-weary female vampire lives at a broken down seaside motel. The ad copy says it’s inspired by Franco, Herzog, and (we’re guessing especially) Rollin. Buy Blood for Irina.

“The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection”: Harrington was an experimental filmmaker best known for the 1961 fantasy Night Tide (starring a young Dennis Hopper as a sailor who falls in love with a woman who may be a mermaid). He frequently based his films on the works of Edgar Allan Poe and is considered an influence on Kenneth Anger due to the homoeroticism and occultism of his movies. This release contains five complete short films along with abundant supplemental material. It appears to be only available in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack (neither format is sold separately). Buy “The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection”.

Savage Witches (2012): Read our capsule review. Available directly from the source, this limited edition box set includes (assuming they’re not sold out yet) two booklets on the film (one signed) and two film frames. The DVD is Region 0 but probably in PAL format, so be sure your player can play it if ordering from the U.S. or Canada. Buy Savage Witches.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection”: See description in DVD above. Buy “The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection”.

NEPOTISM CORNER:

“Film Panic,” Issue #1: Mr. Weird Movies himself, G. Smalley, contributed a list of his 5 favorite weird films to the inaugural issue of this 72-page “fanzine of underground, experimental, arthouse, trash, queer, amateur, outsider and cult cinema.” The filler includes interviews with filmmaker Jeff Keen and “Psychotronic” guru Michael J. Weldon. Edited by Daniel Fawcett and Clara Pais, the team that brought you Savage Witches (see above). Buy “Film Panic,” Issue #1. (At the latest update only 18 copies remained).

“La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura”: Director and “Fringe Cinema” columnist Alfred Eaker‘s primary artistic endeavor is not film, actually, but painting. With a title taken from a piece by Italian composer Luigi Nono that translates as “Desired Nostalgia for a Future Utopia,” this 41-painting gallery exhibit runs from July 5 to August 29 at the Indy Indie Art Gallery in Indianapolis, Indiana. More information here.

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 DEVELOPMENT:

Nymphomaniac (2013): We’re not convinced that Lars von Trier‘s latest provocation, which is actually about a nymphomaniac (played by the ever-game Charlotte Gainsbourg) and will be released in both hardcore and softcore versions, will be super-duper certifiably weird on the level of an Antichrist, but we thought you would want to know about it. Plus, this teaser clip from the film was just released today, and we wanted you to be able to tell your friends you saw it here first. Nymphomaniac official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Comment Ca Va? (1978): Two newspaper workers set out to make a movie, resulting in a lot of voiceover philosophizing. Even this film’s staunchest defenders consider the experience like attending a lecture on Derrida. Olive Film is slowly releasing the lesser known works of Jean-Luc Godard (and there are lots of them). Buy Comment Ca Va.

Keep Your Right Up (1987): Jean-Luc Godard plays a director struggling to deliver a film to a producer in 24 hours in this slapstick/surrealist experiment. Reputedly one of the director’s weirdest. Buy Keep Your Right Up.

The Rambler (2013): Read our review. Expect this horror/black comedy about a stoic wanderer’s surreal adventures in the Weird West to show up on some “Weirdest Movie of 2013” ballots (i.e., ours). Buy The Rambler.

Upside Down (2013): A Romeo/Juliet romance in a bizarre setting: twin planets with opposing gravity, one sitting on top of the other. Surely there’s nothing weird here besides the high concept and the visuals, but those should be strange enough to earn this movie a mention. Buy Upside Down.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Big Lebowski (1998): Bowling stoner “Dude” Lebowski’s tranquil life is turned upside down when he’s mistaken for “Big” Lebowski, the millionaire. Maybe not the strangest movie we’ve covered in these pages, but it has some weirdophilic comic dream sequences and is a cult film par excellence. This Steelbook release also contains a DVD and the usual digital copies and is advertised as a “limited edition.” Buy The Big Lebowski [Blu-ray].

Comment Ca Va? (1978): See description in DVD above. Buy Comment Ca Va [Blu-ray].

Keep Your Right Up (1987): See description in DVD above. Buy Keep Your Right Up [Blu-ray].

The Rambler (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy The Rambler [Blu-ray].

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010): Read our review. Another “limited edition” Universal Steelbook release (director Edgar Wright’s other, less weird, cult movies, including Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, are getting a similar deluxe treatment this week). Buy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [Blu-ray].

Upside Down (2013): See description in DVD above. This Blu-ray includes 3D capabilities, if you have a 3D TV. Buy Upside Down [Blu-ray + 3D].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920): This early silent adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella stars John Barrymore in creepy pinhead makeup, and is a worthy precursor to the talkie versions starring Frederic March (1931) and Spencer Tracy (1941). Watch for a hallucinated tarantula.

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 people have spoken, and the two movies that will be added to the List of the 366 Best Weird Movies of all time are:

1. Sweet Movie (1974) (no movie in Group A came anywhere close to it)
2. Keyhole (2011) (by a razor thin 79-77 vote margin over Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me)

And the movie that we initially passed over that will now become an official candidate for the list: That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).

Thanks to all who voted! You can see the full results here.

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.

SCREENINGS – (Berlin, Sun., June 21):

Rustam Khamdamov retrospective: Here’s a rare opportunity to view the works of Rustam Khamdamov, whose surreal art-house movies are generally unknown outside the Russian-speaking world. On the menu is The Jewel of Rustam Khamdamov, a short documentary by Vladislav Yö about the making of Khamdamov’s latest film, Rubies. Murder; his 2010 short Diamonds. Theft; My Heart is in the Highlands, his absurdist 40-minute adaptation of the William Saroyan book; and his operatic feature The Vocal Parallels. Lovers of Russian surrealism in the Berlin area should make it a point to check this out. At Kino Krododil (German); here’s a descriptive blog post from the sponsors (in English) and the event’s Facebook page.

SCREENINGS – (Los Angeles, CA, Tues. June 25):

That’s Sexploitation! (2013): From the vaults of Something Weird Video and the twisted mind of Frank Henenlotter comes this documentary covering the most bizarre and salacious moments of the sleazy pre-hardcore film genre, from “birth of a baby” films to nudie-cuties to roughies. Aside from the glimpses of females flesh, most of this stuff was pretty boring and it plays best as short clips of the wildest moments. Note: cery few movies make their world premier on a Tuesday night. That’s Sexploitation! world premier at Cinefamily.

NEW ON DVD:

Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan: Kids at a boot-camp learn the homicidal real history of the beloved American legend, firsthand. Dan (“Grizzly Adams”) Haggerty and Joe (brother of Martin Sheen) Estevez head the cast. Buy Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan.

The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012): Juvenile delinquents who have been exiled to outer space make their way to Earth in this 1950s-style musical spoof. The tagline promises “a truly mad concoction!” Buy The Ghastly Love of Johnny X.

Stoker (2013): Read our capsule review. Chan-wook Park‘s first English-language film is a psychothriller that plays like a more perverted (well, more explicitly perverted) Hitchcock film. Buy Stoker.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Lifeforce (1985): Read our capsule review. A very silly movie about nude space vampires, but Mathilda May in hi-def is definitely tempting. Buy Lifeforce [Blu-Ray/DVD Combo].

Stoker (2013): See description in DVD above. Buy Stoker [Blu-ray].

NEPOTISM CORNER:

“Roald Dahl on Film”: Frequent contributor Scott Sentinella wrote a piece on the film adaptations of children’s novelist Roald (Willy Wonka) Dahl for “A Living Dog.” Check out his rundown here.

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.