Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Perfect (2018): A troubled young man is sent to a clinic where he is given various implants to remove his imperfections. Co-produced by Flying Lotus (who also scored the film) and Steven Soderbergh, and clearly made under the influence of a heavy dose of Panos Cosmatos. .Perfect official site.
The Wandering Soap Opera [La Telenovella Errante]: A surreal and satirical spoof of Chilean soap operas. Raoul Ruiz‘s widow, Valeria Sarmiento, completed this project, which her late husband left unfinished in 1990. The Wandering Soap Opera official site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Cannes Film Festival (Cannes, France, May 14-25):
Cannes is an odd duck. Not known as a “weird-friendly” festival—movies like David Cronenberg‘s Crash and Antichrist have been famously hooted at by Cannes crowds who were having none of that—it aims to flatter the mainstream arthouse crowd with middle-of-the-road dramas (and, rarely, dramadies, so long as they are not too funny to be taken seriously). Cannes programmers revel in the dry, the conventional, and the pompous; Cannes’ juries’ tastes resemble those of Academy Awards voters, but with an even higher premium placed on boringness. Many years, an unusual film will sneak it’s way onto the card and Cannes debut may even end up Certified Weird: it’s happened for three films in the past seven years, including, most recently, 2012’s Holy Motors. This year looks particularly bleak, however; maybe they should invite Netflix to screen films there to liven things up? Movies at Cannes may either be screened “in competition” for the big prize, the Palm D’or; screen out-of-competition; or be entered in the “Un Certain Regard” section (a sort of also-ran competition for films that are either from first time directors, or are considered too daring or different to have a shot at the Palme d’Or). Recently, many filmmakers have been debuting their films in the parallel festival called Directors’ Fortnight, which runs contemporaneous to Cannes proper but does not hand out awards for individual films; it offers a more exciting slate this year.
Here’s what we would be keeping tabs on if we were in Cannes next week:
- The Dead Don’t Die – A zombie comedy by Jim Jarmusch starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, and more; probably not weird but special, and the cast alone makes it worth checking out. In competition, opening night.
- Deerskin [Le Daim] – The seventh feature from Quentin Dupieux; no plot synopsis was provided. Director’s Fortnight.
- First Love [Hatsokui] – Takashi Miike‘s latest, about a noxer and a call girl who get on the wrong side of some drug dealers. Miike han’t made a truly weird (or great) movie in years, but his name always sparks hope. Director’s Fortnight.
- Jeanne – Bruno Dumont continues the Joan of Arc story from his previous Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc; this sequel features the same actress (now 10, playing the warrior-saint at 19) but dropping the musical numbers for a more serious presentation. Un Certain Regard.
- The Lighthouse – Robert (The Vvitch) Eggers directs Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe in a black and white period horror set in a lighthouse. Director’s Fortnight.
- Red 11 – A college student signs up for a medical experiment and “things get surreal.” From genre legend Robert Rodriguez. Director’s Fortnight.
Cannes Film Festival official site.
Director’s Fortnight home page.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Saint Bernard (2013): An orchestra conductor named Bernard (natch) goes insane and sees surreal visions. One of only two sole writing/directing efforts by special effects guru Gabe Bartalos, who worked on everything from Leprechaun to multiple Frank Henenlotter to Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster” movies, with special appearances by Andy Kaufman henchman Bob Zmuda to Warwick Davis. All of this, and unreleased for six years? Severin rectifies the oversight on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. Buy Saint Bernard.
TELEVISION (HULU, DEBUTS 5/17):
“Catch-22”: A six-episode miniseries adaptation of Joseph Heller’s groundbreaking comic novel on the absurdity of war. We already declared Mike Nichols’ cinema version one of the 366 Weirdest Movies ever made. You’d have to be insane to remake it; George Clooney did. The total series runs for a little over 4 hours, allowing more of the novel to make it onscreen. Watch “Catch-22” on Hulu.
BOOKS:
“Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dalí, the Marx Brothers, The Strangest Movie Never Made” (2019): A graphic novel recreation of a propsed collaboration between Salvador Dalí and the Marx Brothers, recreated from about 4 pages of notes Dalí scribbled for the non-stater project. Comedian Tim Heidecker joined author Josh Frank in fleshing out the “screenplay,” and Manuela Pertega illustrated. Buy “Giraffes on Horseback Salad”.
CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.
- Los Angeles, CA, 5/17 (midnight) – House [Hausu] (1977). At the Nuart Theatre.
- Los Angeles, CA, 5/18 – The Canterbury Tales (1971) with Teorema (1968) (double feature). At the Aero Theatre.
- Los Angeles, CA, 5/18 (midnight) – The Love Witch (2016). At the New Beverly Cinema.
- New York City, NY, 5/17-18 (midnights) – A Clockwork Orange (1971). At Nitehawk Cinema (Williamsburg)Nitehawk Cinema (Williamsburg).
- New York City, NY, 5/17-18 (midnights) – Fight Club (1999). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 5/18 – The Milky Way [La Voie Lactee] (1969). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- New York City, NY, 5/18 & 5/21 – Belle de Jour (1967). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- New York City, NY, 5/19 – The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- New York City, NY, 5/19 & 5/22 – That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- New York City, NY, 5/19 & 5/23 – The Phantom of Liberty (1974). At the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- New York City, 5/19 – Orpheus (1950). At the Metrograph.
- San Francisco, CA, 5/22 – Desperate Living (1977). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
- Santa Ana, CA, 5/17 – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). At Frida Cinema.
- Santa Ana, CA, 5/18 – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). At Frida Cinema.
- Santa Ana, CA, 5/22-5/23 – Brazil (1985) (directors cut). At Frida Cinema.
- Tuscon, AZ, 5/17-5/18 – Pink Flamingos (1972). At the Loft Cinema.
- Vancouver, BC, Canada – A Clockwork Orange (1971). At the Rio Theatre.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Not that this matters much to the end reader, but next week editor-in-chief G. Smalley will be on vacation (not in Cannes, sadly). Although everything should continue as normal, limited access to wi-fi could cause some delays in content being posted. As far as what that content will be: Shane Wilson will give you the scoop on the free-to-watch micobudget thriler (?) She Found Now, while Giles Edwards retains his humanity while watching Rhinoceros, the 1974 film adaptation (with Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel) of Eugene Ionesco’s famous absurdist play about… people turning into rhinos.
One final note: the print version of the 2019 Yearbook is nearly ready to go, just needing one more proof review before finalization. Were that Smalley guy not on vacation, the thing would be available for purchase next week for sure… we’ll try to get it out as soon as it’s ready, but you may have to wait one additional week to place an order.
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.
