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):

John Dies at the End (2012): Two college dropouts must save the world from an alien invasion brought on by a hallucinogenic drug in Don Coscarelli‘s trippy adaptation of the cult graphic novel of the same name. One of our most anticipated titles of the new year, it’s getting a limited release through major US cities and college towns through early spring, but you can also catch it on demand if you live in a backwater (or just can’t wait until March to see it). John Dies at the End official site.

Resolution (2012): A buddy ties his meth addict pal up in a cabin in the woods for an involuntary detox, and things get weird in this low-budget meta-horror that’s earned some comparisons to The Cabin in the Woods. Screening in Los Angeles only, although it’s also available on demand on some US cable systems. Resolution official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

Spring Breakers (2012): Harmony Korine‘s new movie—which looks like a return to the exploitation roots of his first screenplay, the juvenile delinquency shocker Kids—has released its first official trailer. This project, which features ex-Disney starlets Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens and is being pumped by MTV, looks like it could be Korine’s first ever non-weird directorial effort, but we’re sure he’ll slip something strange in there. It’s hitting theaters this spring, naturally. Spring Breakers official site.

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NEW ON DVD:

Dead Sushi (2012): Noboru Iguchi (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha) makes 3-4 absurd, gory horror comedies per year. This one involves killer sushi (not “really good” sushi, but sushi that must be kickboxed into submission before it can be sampled). Buy Dead Sushi.

The Paperboy (2012): A reporter investigates a death row case; somehow, this causes Nicole Kidman and John Cusack to have psychic sex (?) We’re cautiously adding this one to our watchlist after Stephen Garrett of the New York Observer called it an “off the rails… nut-bar melodrama” in an article encouragingly titled Cannes Gets Weird. Buy The Paperboy .

Pina (2011): Read our capsule review. Criterion picks up Wim Wenders‘ documentary tribute to avant-garde choreographer Pina Bausch, which has lots of weird arty dancing. Buy Pina (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Ivan’s Childhood (1962): Three Soviet officers care for a young boy who is used as a spy during WWII. Andrei Tarkovsky‘s first movie is not as weird as his later science fiction work, but it does have famous dream sequences. Criterion upgrades their DVD edition to Blu-ray. Buy Ivan’s Childhood (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

The Paperboy (2012): See description in DVD above. This package includes a DVD as well, along with the now-ubiquitous “digital copy.” Buy The Paperboy [Blu-ray].

Pina (2011): See description in DVD above. Includes a Blu-ray 3D alongside the normal disc for those few who can play such discs. Buy Pina (3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray Combo Pack) (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

#Whoreship Movie (2012): You may have seen a bizarre viral music video called “TH3R3S R3ALLY NO 1 LYKE ME,” featuring a girl in pasties writhing, eating pizza and sitting in a bloody bathtub while performing an arrhythmic, amelodic sex rap. This is sort of an improvised, feature-length expansion of that concept, featuring half-nude “star” Labana Babylon explaining her free love philosophy accompanied by a host of el-cheapo psychedelic effects. It’s worth seeing just for the opening “LYKE ME” video, although the whole thing gets tiresome at almost an hour long. This is what happens when you give a neohippie stripper with a goddess complex access to an editing suite and all the Moroccan hashish she can inhale; it’s really weird (and NSFW). Watch #Whoreship Movie free 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.

FILM FESTIVALS – SUNDANCE (Park City, Utah, Jan 17-27):

We haven’t even wrapped up our review of 2012 yet, and the first notable films of 2013 are already rolling out as film festival season officially gets underway at Sundance, the American indie film institution. Although there are a couple of interesting sophomore films playing, we can’t say we’re bowled over by anything on the menu here; still, we’ll be following the notices and listening to the buzz for some of the potentially odd films listed below:

• Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes – A teenager finds that her next-door neighbor uncannily resembles pictures of her dead mother in what’s described as a “hyperstylized and often darkly humorous film that vacillates between surrealism and realism.” Screening Jan. 18-21, 23, 25.
• Escape from Tomorrow – A middle aged man follows two jailbait teen girls through an increasingly fantastic Disney-styled theme park. Jan 18-20, 24, 26.
• Fat Shaker – A sick, fat father tyrannizes his deaf-mute son until a mysterious woman arrives to break the cycle in this Farsi-language fable. Jan. 18-19, 21, 24.
• Halley – A security guard withdraws from the world as his body starts to waste away; advertised as “the first Mexican narrative film to shoot at the North Pole.” Jan. 18-19, 21, 26.
• Magic Magic – A young woman vacationing with friends in Chile loses her mind as insomnia takes over her life. Jan. 22-24, 36.
• The Rambler – Calvin Reeder‘s followup to his utterly surreal The Oregonian sounds like more of the same, with a male wandering protagonist (Dermot Mulroney) instead of a female one. Jan. 21-22, 24-25.
• Stoker – Chan-wook Park‘s highly anticipated American debut stars Mia Wasikowska as a girl who becomes obsessed with her uncle after the death of her father; Nicole Kidman plays the crazy, sadistic mother.
  
• Upstream Color – The long-delayed second feature from Primer writer/director sounds even more obscure than his puzzling time travel debut, with a plot synopsis hinting at microscopic alien presences that possess two human hosts. Jan 21 – 26.
• Virtually Heroes – Characters in a first-person shooter video game question the meaning of their existence; notable as the first Roger Corman produced film to ever screen at Sundance (in the “Midnight” category, natch). Jan 18-19, 22, 24, 26.

NEW ON DVD:

Branded (2012): A man discovers an advertising conspiracy in what the press release describes as “a dark and mind-bending journey into a surreal, dystopian society.” Neither audiences nor critics responded well to this barely-released dystopian satire, but we promise to keep an open mind. Buy Branded.

The Tin Drum (1979): The surreal and allegorical story of a boy in German who decides not to grow up to protest the Nazis. This Criterion release is the first appearance on video of Volker Schlöndorff’s 2010 extended cut of the film, with an additional 20 minutes restored to match the director’s original vision. Buy The Tin Drum (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Branded (2012): See description in DVD above. Buy Branded [Blu-ray].

The Tin Drum (1979): See description in DVD above. Buy The Tin Drum (Criterion Collection) [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.

It’s that time of year again: time for the movies with the largest online fan bases to organize campaigns to stuff our ballot boxes. Last week, the Academy Awards released their nominees for the Most Conventional Movies of 2012.  This week, we reveal our nominees for the 3rd Annual Weirdcademy Awards.  This is the award given to the weirdest movie, actor, actress and scene of the previous year, as voted by the members of the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness.

Who makes up the Weirdcademy, you ask? Membership is open to all readers of 366 Weird Movies. The rules for joining the Weirdcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Weirdness remain the same as last year. To officially join the Weirdcademy, locate the official online ballot (below) and hover your mouse pointer over the radial button representing the choice of movie you would like to see win the award in any category. Then, simply depress the left button of your mouse to make your selection. Selections made using the right mouse button will be disregarded, and you will be forced to reapply. If your application for membership is provisionally approved, a dot will appear next to your choice. You are not done with the application procedure yet, so continue reading. To be certified as a voting member of the Weirdcademy, at some point subsequent to making your selection, you must navigate your mouse button to the box marked “vote.” Now, again depress your left mouse button to confirm your membership as a voting member of the Weirdcademy.

(Vote as many times as you like, but only once per day. We’ll keep voting open until February 24 at 1:00 PM EST, so we can announce our results before the Academy Awards, thus making their announcement superfluous).  Just as with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, there is no requirement that you have to actually see the movies in any category before voting.

We have also opened voting for the Weirdest Short Film of the Year.  To watch all ten nominees and to cast your vote, please click here. It’s like a mini-film festival of weirdness on your computer!

Without further delay, here are the nominees for the 2012 Weirdcademy awards (below the break):

Continue reading 3RD ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS →

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:

“Channel 2020” (coming 2013): A web series devoted to exposing the “interstellar shape-shifting reptilian overlords” of the very near future through a glimpse at their very own TV network. This is a co-production by Everything is Terrible! (late of the Certified Weird Doggiewoggiez! Poochiewoochiez!) and David Krofta, co-writer/puppeteer of IFC’s “Food Party.” “Channel 2020” official site.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjLpWMc-Lxo]

“Sex City” (coming 2013): OK, the guys at Everything Is Terrible are super-busy trying to top DW! PW! by expanding into the realm of web series. This one involves teenagers who plant porno mags in the woods and come back years later to discover these seeds have grown into a full-fledged Sex City, and they are considered its gods. “Sex City” production journal.

NEW ON DVD:

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973): A seven-year old girl in Franco’s Spain sees Frankenstein (1931) and believes the Monster is real. This celebrated Spanish drama mixing reality and fantasy was an obvious inspiration for Pan’s Labyrinth. Buy The Spirit of the Beehive (Criterion Collection).

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971): This existential road movie from eccentric director Monte Hellman has two aimless gearheads (called “the Driver” and “the Engineer”) racing cars across the endless American highway, until a girl comes between them. The Criterion Collection upgrades this cult favorite to Blu-ray. Buy Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion Collection) [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.