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 Future (2011): Narrated by an injured cat awaiting adoption, there are strong elements of magical realism (e.g. a talking moon) in this speculative indie dramedy.  Congratulations are in order to Miranda July for getting this thing out of Sundance and into real theaters.  Opening at the IFC Center in Manhattan (with the director in attendance July 29 & 30), across the nation thereafter.  The Future official site.

Our Home: The Astral City [Nosso Lar] (2010): The most expensive Brazilian movie ever made is an afterlife fantasy about a celestial city where souls wait to be reincarnated.  It’s from a novel by a spiritualist medium, sports a score by Philip Glass, and seems like a weird choice for 20th Century Fox to distribute.  Our Home [Nosso Lar] official site.

NEW ON DVD:

American Grindhouse (2010)/Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (2009):  An interesting package of two clip-packed salacious cinema documentaries: Grindhouse addresses exploitation movies, while Nightmares covers the horror beat.  These compilation pictures—which cull the most outrageous segments for your viewing pleasure—are almost always more entertaining than the actual movies they profile. Buy American Grindhouse / Nightmares in Red, White & Blue: Double Feature (2-Disc Set).

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010):   Hollywoodized bastardization of the somewhat surreal comic that was also the basis for Dellamorte Dellamore [Cemetery Man]; it’s about a private eye who deals with the undead.  We get the feeling this is more of a wannabe blockbuster than a weird movie, but we mention it due to the tenuous Cemetery Man connection. Buy Dylan Dog.

Jackboots on Whitehall (2010): An alternate history comedy adventure in which the Nazis capture London by digging a tunnel under the English channel, told with puppets.  With the voices of Ewan McGregor as the hero, Alan Cumming as Hitler, and Richard “Riff Raff” O’Brien as Himmler, among others. Buy Jackboots on Whitehall.

Matrimony (2007):  A Chinese ghost story about a dead fiancee who resents her once-betrothed’s future marriage of convenience.  By all accounts its a subdued, dramatic, and slightly weird film, but the grisly DVD cover shows a man apparently putting a wedding band on a rotting, severed hand!  Buy Matrimony.

Park Benches [Bancs publics (Versailles rive droite)] (2009): A French comedy set in motion by sightings of a mysterious banner reading “Man Alone”: the film’s in three distinct sections, and the last (set in a shop called “Brico Dream”) is reportedly madcap surrealism.  The ad copy brags that there are almost 90 speaking roles (including one for Catherine Deneuve). Buy Park Benches.

The Puppet Monster Massacre (2010):  Truth in advertising in this direct-to-DVD spoof of/tribute to 1980s monster movies, with Nazis, puppet gore, and a character named “Raimi.”  The humor is said to verge on Meet the Feebles territory at times. Buy The Puppet Monster Massacre.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010): See description in DVD above. Buy Dylan Dog [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Nosferatu (1922):  The earliest adaptation of Dracula (unauthorized) still chills people to the bone, thanks to the unearthly presence of the unearthly Max Schreck as Count Orlock.  This is the silent movie to watch if you think you don’t like silent movies.  Be sure to turn the lights out.  Watch Nosferatu 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.

Before plugging next week’s reviews, I’d like to remind everyone that there are only 3 days remaining to vote in the 366 Weird Movies 2nd Reader’s Choice Poll.  Currently Trash Humpers has a four vote lead in group A, with Adaptation, Rubber and Dead Leaves in striking distance; Pink Floyd: The Wall has opened a six vote lead over Jan Svankmajer’s Faust in Group B; and the “rescue” category pits one of the best movies of all time against one of the worst in its The Tree of Life vs. They Saved Hitler’s Brain showdown.

There’s still plenty of time to enter our 4th review writing contest.  As of right now if you submit any review at all you’ll be the clear frontrunner…

On to next week’s slate of reviews: you can take our advice on tracking down the Norwegian horror mockumentary Trollhunter (2010); we’ll discuss whether Enki Bilal’s adaptation of his own graphic novel about the Egyptian god Horus looking to get laid in Manhattan in 2095, Immortal: Ad Vitam (2004), should earn him everlasting fame; we’ll wonder whether Black Moon (1975), Louis Malle’s utterly surreal tale of breastfeeding and unicorns, is the work of a lunatic; and to close the week, we’ll write on The Saragossa Manuscript (1965).

There was a minor theme in our search for the weirdest search term used to locate the site last week: misspelled movie titles.  We appreciated the oddness of searches for “fanny games haneke 89 video” and “the wisker man (1973 uk) sex videos”  (though we would think “fanny games” would be more likely to be the UK sex video).  We’re going to go in another direction for our weirdest search term of the week, though, and nominate this searcher’s weird (if sage) advice: “avoid trash wine.”

The reader-suggested review queue continues to grow faster than we can review titles.  Here’s how it stands now: Immortal (Ad Vitam) (next week!); Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake;  The Seventh Seal;  Primer; 200 Motels; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in the World; Mulholland  Drive; The Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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):

World on a Wire (1973): Originally made for German television, this dystopian Rainer Werner Fassbinder story scooped the virtual reality storyline more than twenty-five years before The Matrix.  According to the press release, it’s a “satiric and surreal look at the weird world of tomorrow from one of cinema’s kinkiest geniuses.”  Janus Films digitally restores this rarely seen sci-fi classic (?) and takes it out on tour across the US this summer and early fall.  World on a Wire official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Skidoo (1968): Jackie Gleason drops acid and Groucho Marx plays God in this notorious flop attempt by notable squares (including director Otto Preminger) to play to the Sixties counterculture.  It’s been out of circulation since its release—some say it’s been buried to prevent embarrassment to the cast and crew.  Does this release mean that Carol Channing, John Phillip Law, Frankie Avalon, George Raft, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, and Peter Lawford have all finally passed away? Buy Skidoo.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Amélie (2001): Jean Pierre-Jeunet‘s enormously popular quirky fantasy is about a waifish waitress with magical powers to heal others; can she turn them on herself?  The 2008 Canadian Region 1 release of this film was largely disappointing; Miramax’s heavy-on-the-extras release should put the film’s North American fans back at ease. Buy Amélie [Blu-ray].

Beauty and the Beast [La Belle et la Bete] (1946): The Criterion Collection upgrades Surrealist Jean Cocteau’s dreamlike treatment of the famous fairy tale to Blu-ray. The new release adds a few minor supplements that were not on the 2003 DVD edition (the trailer, a look at the restoration of the film, and a large stills gallery). Buy Beauty and the Beast [Blu-ray].

NEW ON VIDEO-ON-DEMAND:

Vixen Highway 2006: It Came from Uranus (2009):  A grindhouse genre mish-mash spoof involving aliens, zombies, and a kick-ass gang of sexy girl bikers, from the director of Frankenpimp.  This does not appear to be available on DVD (yet, at least).  As always with Amazon VOD, you can watch the first two minutes for free. Rent Vixen Highway 2006: It Came from Uranus! on demand.

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

C Me Dance (2009): Read our capsule review.  Heretics and unbelievers of all stripes will want to flock to this free showing of the incompetently inspirational movie about a young leukemia-stricken Christian ballerina converting the globe while fighting the Devil.  “What do you know of Hell, creature?”  Watch C Me Dance free on YouTube.

Vampyr (1932): Carl Theodore Dreyer‘s expressionist vampire film (Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla”) is a (far weirder) European companion piece to Dracula.  Watch Vampyr 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.

Future reviews like these will be read by you in the future: in honor of its recent (unfortunately bare-bones) Blu-ray release, we’ll cover the cult anime Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001); we’ll try to figure out why Shinya Tsukamoto essentially remakes his experimental (and certified weird) Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) as Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009); from the reader-suggested review queue, we’ll take a post-apocalyptic trip with A Boy and His Dog (1975); and we’ll gawk at Lon Chaney as a legless crimelord in The Penalty (1920).

Frankly, it was a terrible week for of weird search terms used to locate the site.  It was so bad that we have to mention the relatively normal (though distasteful) search string “free weird and abnormal sex organs” as one of our honorable mentions.  Equally disgusting, and even less comprehensible, is the search for “splashmyzits bizarre movies.com.”  Anyone who’s willing to register that domain name knows they will have at least one loyal customer.  We passed that one over for our favorite of a weak field, though: “franz lezbo,” which we think would make an awesome name for a sapphic punk band.

Here’s the reader-suggested review queue: A Boy and His Dog (next week!); Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; Immortal (Ad Vitam); Dead Ringers; Kairo [AKA Pulse]; The Guatemalan Handshake;  The Seventh Seal;  Primer; 200 Motels; Private Parts (1972); Saddest Music in Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE →

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):

Impolex (2009): A soldier wanders around a post-WWII European forest talking to a woodland octopi and meeting pirates and old girlfriends as he’s supposed to be looking for unexploded V2s.  This may be based on the works of Thomas Pynchon, but it definitely looks 100% weird.  Playing at the ReRun theater in NYC this week, future screenings doubtful.  We’ll be looking for the DVD soon.  Impolex on Facebook.

Tabloid (2010): Errol Morris is one of the few documentary filmmakers who’s work is sometimes characterized as “weird” due to his choice of subject matter.  This film, based on a 1977 British tabloid-fodder incident known as the “Mormon sex in chains case” involving a kidnapping beauty queen, has earned him that designation from more than one reviewer.  Tabloid official site.

The Tree (2011): An eight-year old girl becomes convinced that her dead father’s spirit inhabits a giant tree growing near the house. Life-affirming Australian magical realism starring the always-odd Charlotte Gainsbourg.  It’s opening in NYC this week and LA next week; it’s already out on DVD in Australia.   The Tree official site.

FILM FESTIVALS: FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Montreal, Canada, July 14 – Aug. 7)

The Fantasia Festival is a fast-rising event focusing on genre and fantastic films; over fifteen years it’s evolved from the “Fant-Asia” festival, which focused on Japanese and Hong Kong fantastic cinema, to become the North American premiere destination for films like Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds.  It’s a bonanza of strangeness (even without mentioning our favorite title of the year, Horny House of Horror); here is a small selection of the weirdest of the weird screenings:

• Beyond the Black Rainbow (2011): Surrealist sci-fi supposedly in the 2001 vein about a mute woman trying to escape from a mysterious enclave.  We suspect this to be one of the weirdest of the year.  Catch it July 29 or Aug. 3.
• The Catechism Cataclysm (2011):  This irreverent tale of a slacker priest’s canoe trip is already a List Candidate (read our review).  July 25 & 30.
• Deadball (2011): From Yûdai Yamaguchi (Meatball Machine) comes this tasteless, wild and gory comic tale of a killer baseball game played against a team of killer dominatrices; it’s sort of a reboot of his own Battlefield Baseball.  July 15 & 16.
• Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame: A mystery/action epic set in a fantastical steampunk China; some say this is a return to form for once-great director Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China, Zu Warriors).  July 14 or July 24.
• Detention (2011):  A postmodern, self-aware slasher sci-fi comedy that also parodies teen movies; depending on how the idea is handled, this could totally rule, or end up totally gay.  July 22.
• Dharma Guns (2010): A man awakes from a coma to find a world where a drug epidemic is turning people into zombies and a secret society called the Dharma Guns are seeking his screenplay, believing it holds the secret to time travel.  In French, in black and white, and intriguing.  July 30 and Aug 1.
• El Sol (2010): Crude (in every sense of the word) animation about a post-apocalyptic Buenos Aires where mutant potatoes roam the streets, among other absurdities. July 16 & 27.
• Exit (2011): Australian fantasy/sci-fi about the search for a door that leads to a parallel universe, which is hidden somewhere inside a city whose geography is always shifting; it sounds a bit like a cross between Stalker and Dark City.  It was originally conceived as a web series and turned into a feature, making its world premiere Aug. 4 with a second showing Aug. 6.
• Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass (2011): Pat Tremblay debuts his second feature, a minimalist post-apocalyptic comedy about a man who wakes from a cryogenic slumber to discover the world has been devastated by nuclear war followed by an alien invasion.  July 24 & Aug 2.
  
• Helldriver (2010): The team behind Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is back with another wild one featuring ninjas, zombies, cannibalism, a sexy samurai babe with a chainsaw blade, and of course, splatter.  July 22 & 23.
• Karaoke Dreams (2011): Set in (maybe?) a brothel that exists to absorb men’s subconscious dreams, this film by rock guitarist Jean Leclerc may be intended as a promotion and feature length music video for an accompanying album by his new band, the Last Assassins.  See and hear it Aug. 5.
• “La Nuit Eccentrique”:  A night dedicated to badfilm, with several strange mangled shorts and the headline feature I Am Here… Now, which may just be the strangest ecologically-themed movie about a pudgy Jesus who returns to Las Vegas to fight crime lords ever made.  Festivities are scheduled for July 29.
• Milocrorze: A Love Story (2011): A trifecta of surreal tales about a boy who falls in love with a grown woman, a disco relationship coach, and a cyberpunk samurai; the press release compares it to Funky Forest.  July 15 only.
• Pop Skull (2007): Along with new releases the festival is screening many older hits (including the killer kids classic Battle Royale on July 23rd and 24th).  This one may be the most interesting because it’s the most obscure re-release; it’s not on DVD, so there’s no other way to see it.  It’s the story of an Alabama pill-head who’s hallucinations may mask the fact that he may really be haunted by ghosts of people who were killed in his current residence.  July 24 is your only chance to catch it.
• Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) [Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe)] (2010)– The latest Jan Svankmajer film uses a technique of cut-out collages alongside the usual stop animation, and the scenario involves a man who impregnates his own anima (!) while undergoing psychoanalysis.  Good for the fine people of Montreal that they get to see this on the big screen, but it’s been on the festival circuit for a year now, and the rest of us are ready to see it on DVD finally. Screening July 28, 30 & 31.
• The Theatre Bizarre (2011): A six-film horror anthology from directors Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Jeremy Kasten, Tom Savini, and Richard Stanley.  Apparently Hussain’s segment is surreal.  July 16-17.
• Underwater Love [Onna no kappa] (2011):  A “pink musical” (!) about a woman who falls in love with a water spirit; lensed by big-time cinematographer Christopher Doyle, with “outrageous” sex scenes.  July 20 & 23.
• The Wicker Tree (2011):  This “spiritual sequel” to the Certified Weird The Wicker Man from director Robin Hardy has been in the works for decades; no word yet on whether it was worth the wait.  You can find out at the world premiere on July 19.
• You Are Here (2010):  A series of absurdist narrative snippets make up Daniel Cockburn’s feature debut; promoters are bandying about Charlie Kaufman‘s name as a stylistic touchstone.  Another weird film that’s been playing festivals for a year now.  See it July 20-21.

That’s an impressive lineup—and we left out a lot of movies that were of marginal interest at first glance, but could turn out to be real gems. Fantasia International Film Festival official site.

NEW ON DVD:

“Buster Keaton – Short Films Collection: 1920 – 1923”: We mention this Kino 3-disc release because it includes the 1921 short “Play House,” which includes the most successfully surrealistic dream sequence in early cinema: Buster Keaton dreams that everyone in a theater has the face of Buster Keaton (decades before John Malkovich came down with a similar affliction).  The other 18 shorts are probably pretty good, too. Buy “Buster Keaton – Short Films Collection: 1920 – 1923”.

Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010):  Read Kevyn Knox’s guest review.  It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for this strange, Palme D’or-winning reincarnation tale to get its official DVD release. We’re happy now. Buy Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Brazil (1985):  Read the Certified Weird entry.  Terry Gilliam’s weird dystopian masterpiece makes it’s long overdue debut on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal; the only downside is there are no extras worth speaking of. Buy Brazil [Blu-ray].

“Buster Keaton – Short Films Collection: 1920 – 1923”: See description in DVD above. Buy “Buster Keaton – Short Films Collection: 1920 – 1923” [Blu-ray].

Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010): See description in DVD above. Buy Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [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.