I believe a “thank you” is in order for all the companies that are making advertisements less monotonous for their viewers. David Lynch was, once again, commissioned to make a short to promote a product, and this sponsor, Dior, seems just as unlikely as the last (42 Below Vodka).
To avoid disappointment, be informed that Lynch held back a little on his eldritch style. It has an otherworldly feel to it, but it’s weirdness pales in comparison to some of his more famous work.
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 (WIDE RELEASE):
Machete: A machete-wielding vigilante chops up his enemies in this grindhouse-styled (expanded from one of the fake trailers in Grindhouse, in fact) action flick featuring some major star power (in mostly minor roles). Starring Danny Trejo, with Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Segall and Lindsay Lohan. Weird? We’re betting no, but cult director Robert Rodriguez‘s numerous followers will be checking this out for sure. Machete official site.
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: SEP 9 – 19
The TIFF is one of the world’s top film festivals; frankly, though, we dropped the ball by not covering the horror-oriented alternative festival, Toronto After Dark, last week. Next year, TAD (though we admit we’re skeptical about any festival that could give The Human Centipede a silver medal). Regardless, here are some of the movies featured at TIFF of interest of that we’ll be keeping an eye out for in the upcoming months:
There’s also an exhibit of Tim Burton‘s artwork to check out for Torontoians (Torontites?) Toronto International Film Festival official site.
SCREENINGS (NEW YORK CITY: ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES)
Our Beloved Month of August [Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto, AKA This Dear Month of August] (2008): A narrative experiment: the filmmaker (Miguel Gomes) could not find funding for his movie but starting filming anyway, creating a documentary about vacationers in the Portuguese mountains in August. Then, he introduced a fictional drama without explaining to the audience what was documentary and what was scripted. It’s questionable whether this is truly weird, but it’s definitely experimental and “postmodern.” Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto Official Site (French).
NEW ON DVD:
Lorna the Exorcist (1974): There’s nothing truly weird debuting on DVD this week, but if you’re desperate to rent something off-the-wall you might give this Jess Franco lesbian-heavy occult fairy tale a go-go. Buy Lorna The Exorcist
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
The Evil Dead (Limited Edition) (1981): Sam Raimi‘s bloody low-budget debut, which was half remade/half sequelized as the Certified Weird Evil Dead II. There are a veritable zombie host of extras, but all of them appeared on one or another of the film’s previous video incarnations with the exception of a new commentary track from Raimi, star Bruce Campbell and producer Robert Talpert. Buy The Evil Dead (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Boxing Jesus [Il Pugno di Jesu] (2007): An odd title and plot description (Jesus returns to earth as a boxer but is sent to a madhouse where he meets John the Baptist). We couldn’t swear that this unknown Italian film is weird, rather than a lame comedy, but you can try it out and report back to us. Watch Boxing Jesus 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.
In 1992 some damn silly, so-called Christian organization threw a bullying hissy fit at McDonalds for its Happy Meal deal tie-in with Tim Burton‘s Batman Returns. McDonalds, true to form, prematurely withdrew its merchandising. Rumor has it that McDonalds issued a stern warning to Warner Brothers not to tap Burton for the next Batman film. For whatever reason, Warner Brothers caved into the golden arch and, consequently, put its franchise into a decade long grave with the unwise hiring of director Joel Schumacher.
Only the fundamentalist mindset can associate Big Macs with a certain brand of morality. Looking at Batman Returns (1992), one wonders what the Christian organization was bitching about. The Bible is all throughout the film and, actually the good book itself has far more sex and violence than Batman, Tim Burton, Warner Brothers and McDonalds combined.
Regardless, Batman Returns remains the greatest cinematic comic book movie to date and one of Tim Burton’s most uniquely accomplished films. Admittedly, I am not a fan of comic book movies, even if I did read comics some when I was kid, but then most kids I knew did. I was in the minority in preferring DC to Marvel, and I guess I am sort of looking forward to the new Green Lantern movie, mainly because the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic was a favorite when I was a wee lad in the 1960s and 1970s. That was a comic that was delightfully of its time, a bit like Star Trek in espousing an ultra-liberal message with all the subtlety of a pair of brass knuckles. Even though Green Lantern himself was a bit too righteous and bland, I liked that he was obsessed with the color green and was rendered impotent by the color yellow. There was something surreal in that, and I find the insistence of realism in comics to be a huge oxymoron. Perhaps that’s why the dark surrealism of Batman Returns did not bother me like it did mainstream audiences, comic book geeks, and militant pseudo-Christian organizations.
Even though I will acknowledge that Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight (2008) was well crafted, it would not have worked without Ledger’s performance holding it together. Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, however, pales compared to Michael Keaton‘s much more intense, internalized, subtle and complex Wayne. Finally, Nolan’s film feels like it has one subplot too many. Comparatively, Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is a Continue reading BATMAN RETURNS (1992): A SUPERHERO BURLESQUE
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DIRECTED BY: Ji-Woon Kim
FEATURING: Kang-ho Song, Lee Byung-Hun, Jung Woo-sung
PLOT: Set in 1930’s Manchuria (during the Japanese occupation of China) and loosely based on Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, the film concerns the mad-cap, gunslinging antics of three men in search of a mythical treasure.
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: Sure it’s got a fun premise and goofy atmosphere, but the weirdest thing about the film is the “Weird” of the title, who’s primarily a wacky take on Eli Wallach’s “Ugly” character from Leone’s film, with spiky hair and the best jokes in the script. It’s an excellent, peculiar movie, but never reaches List-worthy levels of bizarre.
COMMENTS: Yoon Tae-goo—AKA “The Weird” (Song Kang-ho)—is a resilient petty thief who chances upon a treasure map while robbing a group of Japanese soldiers. Park Chang-yi—AKA “The Bad” (Lee Byun-hun)—is a malicious assassin sent to reclaim the map, who resigns himself to hunting down Tae-goo. Park Do-won—AKA “The Good” (Jung Woo-sung)—is a taciturn bounty hunter chasing after both men’s rewards, who eventually teams up with Tae-goo in the search for the treasure. Sprinkle in some curious Manchurian bandits and a dedicated group of Japanese soldiers, and soon you’ve got an all-out chase replete with wackiness, gunfights, and thrills!
There’s a lot going on in this film, but the sheer enthusiasm that brings it together makes it all completely work. The story is fun and interesting, the action is loud and inventive, the characters are appealing, and the visuals are detailed and colorful. There’s a range of costumes, weapons, and gadgets, giving the movie a slightly anachronistic/steampunk feel. The premise is both an homage to and appropriation of Leone’s original, but infused with its own imaginative mythos and offbeat sense of humor, distinguishing it from a simple remake. The addition of complex Manchurian history involving a multinational conflict gives the story a unique perspective.
The three leads are superb, but Song Kang-ho really owns the film. As “The Weird” he’s hilarious, likable, and unexpectedly capable. Plus, he’s got a secret past! The writers did well to make him the central character, devoting the most time to his story and giving him the best lines. Song is adept at wacky comedy but never slides into flat characterization, making him both engaging and intriguing to watch. Lee Byun-hun as “The Bad” spends most of his time being incredibly badass and looking sharp. Jung Woo-sung as “The Good” is a bit bland, and it doesn’t help that there isn’t much attention paid to his character. He has impressive firearms and his mustache looks silly.
There is very little about this movie to criticize (except perhaps the under-utilization of The Good’s character). With its oft-frenetic pace, out-there stunts, and silly, exuberant atmosphere, it had the audience laughing out loud and gasping at crazy moments in equal measure. The final chase scene at the end is guaranteed to have everyone riveted, while the film itself leaves viewers instinctively smiling from ear-to-ear. I believe the technical critical term is “a rip-roarin’ good time.”
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
NOTE: This review is published in slightly different form at Film Forager.
![The Good, The Bad, The Weird [Limited Edition]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rTpDyE8aL._SL500_.jpg)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has been promoted onto the List of the 366 Best Weird Movies of All Time. Comments on this initial review are closed. Please leave any comments about the movie on the official Certified Weird entry.
DIRECTED BY: Edgar Wright
FEATURING: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Jason Schwartzman
PLOT: Slacker bassist Scott Pilgrim must defeat seven evil exes in order to win the girl of his dreams.
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: An alternate reality comedy that at times feels like something Monty Python would have come up with if they’d been raised on video games and graphic novels instead of “The Goon Show” and Oscar Wilde, Scott Pilgrim has substantial cult movie potential. The movie dispenses with logic scene by fractured scene, but probably its weirdest joke is casting Michael Cera as an action hero. It’s shiny surface sheen is fascinating, but at heart it’s a conventional coming-of-age tale for the PlayStation set; despite it’s comic leaps of illogic, it’s weird-ish, at best.
COMMENTS: With its role-playing game quest to defeat seven escalating opponents (right up to the final “boss” battle) and it’s onscreen scoring system (defeated enemies turn into piles of coins as a digital score rises from their corpses), Scott Pilgrim becomes the first film in history to use the video game as a metaphor for growing up. The movie milks maximum mileage from this conceit: when Scott goes to the bathroom, we watch a pop-up pee meter go from full to empty so we can stay informed on the condition of his bladder. The viewer is stuffed inside a video game console, treated to constant text updates on the characters’ status. But even beyond that basic technique, director Edgar Wright piles on the artificiality and stylization whenever an idea crosses his mind: multicolored valentines bloom from young lovers locked lips at first kiss, 1960s Batman-style “KAPOWS!” accompany fight scenes, and when a character’s profanity is bleeped out on the soundtrack a black bar also appears over her mouth. The bent humor sports a pop-absurdist tone; this is the only movies where a villain sets up a duel to the death by email, then brings his own Bollywood backup singers to the fight. Sometimes Wright’s choices become overly referential and fall flat, as when one expository scene is announced by the “Seinfeld” theme song, but you have to admire his willingness to try absolutely anything, and there are more hits than misses in the mix. The film moves almost too fast at times, with dream scenes emerging back into reality with no warning (there’s little difference between the two states anyway), and jarring leaps forward in time. But Wright embraces the short-attention span aesthetic and makes one of the cornerstones of the film; it’s neither a satirical jab at youth culture nor an unconscious adoption of its rhythms, but a stylistic choice that works in the context of the zeitgeist he’s trying to evoke. The fast-cut style is also necessary to fit in all the film’s teeming ideas: Scott Pilgrim is delightfully overstuffed, a real bargain for your matinee dollar. There are six big, comic fight scenes, multiple romantic subplots and back stories, a Battle of the Bands, and so many quirky supporting characters you almost need a scorecard to keep up. Besides everyboy Pilgrim, there’s cool love interest Ramona Flowers (whose shifting dye jobs call to mind Kate Winslett’s Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), jailbait romantic rival Knives Chow, wisecracking gay roommate Wallace Wells, Scott’s band-mates in the awkwardly named “Sex Bob-omb,” evil exes who’ve become Hollywood action stars or Vegan bass players… and even with that list I’ve still omitted somebody‘s favorite of the dozens of significant characters. The film is anarchic and ramshackle in spirit, but it’s actually tightly controlled and easy to follow and connect with. With it’s ADD edits, it’s geeky embrace of everything pop culture and willful ignorance of any other type of culture, and its amiable twenty-somethings who act like John Hughes’ teenagers of an earlier era, Scott Pilgrim suggests either that the onset of adulthood is slipping ever closer to 30, or that the film is aimed at a demographic aged much younger than its protagonists. I prefer to believe the latter; and, like the aforementioned Mr. Hughes’ film, the movie’s innocence about love and the easy answers about life’s big lessons creates a nostalgic crossover appeal for adults, even if they don’t get every NES video game system reference.
Edgar Wright’s previous two films were cultish genre spoofs: the zombie film parody Shaun of the Dead and the cop burlesque Hot Fuzz. Scott Pilgrim sees Wright stretching his talents with a far more baroque, but equally hilarious, approach. With Scott Pilgrim Wright’s no longer exaggerating the conventions of an existing genres to ridiculous lengths; he’s inventing an entirely new genre.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY: