Min Liu took on the challenge of animating a black, white, and red gif each day for 100 days. Some focus on the mundane while the majority delve into the abstract.
WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 9/11/2015
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 at the official site links.
SCREENINGS – (AFI Theater, Silver Springs, MD, Sep. 11, 13 & 14):
Being John Malkovich (1999): Read the Certified Weird entry! Spike Jonze‘s directing debut was Charlie Kaufman‘s breakthrough script about discovering a doorway into actor John Malkovich’s mind; not bad timing for either guy. Being John Malkovich at AFI Silver Theater.
FILM FESTIVALS – Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) (Toronto, Canada, Sep. 10-20):
As you can see from the list below, TIFF has become the North American destination for sub-blockbuster films, including weird ones. It’s importance (if not its prestige) has surpassed Cannes and Sundance. We found a ton of intriguingly bizarre nuggets hidden in TIFF’s massive film buffet, and that’s excluding shorts and movies (like Charlie Kaufman‘s Anomalisa, Guy Maddin‘s The Forbidden Room, Giorgos Lanthimos‘s The Lobster, and Takashi Miike‘s Yakuza Apocalypse) that already debuted at other festivals. If we’re lucky, half of the potential gems listed below will emerge from this festival with reasonable distribution deals:
- The Apostate – “Gently absurdist” tale of a man who tries to formally and officially leave the Catholic Church, only to find himself lost in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. Screens Sep. 11, 13 and 18.
- Baskin – We have heard some positive pre-fest buzz about this Turkish midnight movie about cops who are lured into the entrance to Hell. Sep. 11, 13 & 17.
- Blood of My Blood – Begins as a tale of suicide and lechery during the Inquisition, then jumps forward in time to a haunted monastery. Screening Sep. 15, 17, & 19.
- Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton – A “strange” 30-minute making-of documentary about Paul Gross’s Hyena Road; the interesting part is who directed it: The Forbidden Room‘s Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin (together with an unknown third co-director, Galen Johnson). Runs Sep. 14-20.
- Cemetery of Splendour – Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s first full feature since Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives explores the dreams of soldiers suffering from a mysterious mass outbreak of sleeping sickness. Sep. 13 & 15.
- Chevalier – Six men play absurd dominance games aboard a yacht; from the director of Attenberg and the co-writer of Dogtooth, so its “New Weird Greece” credentials are impeccable. Sep. 12 & 14.
- Collective Invention – A mutant fish-man becomes a national celebrity in this South Korean satire that plays Sep. 14, 15 & 19.
- Couple in a Hole – A farmer takes an unhealthy interest in the fate of a couple who have renounced civilization to live by their wits alone. Sep. 15, 14 & 19.
- Endorphine – A mindbending meta-narrative story about three very different characters, all named Simone; directed by Denis Villeneuve’s cinematographer. Try to catch it Sep. 12.
- Evolution – Lucile Hadzihalilovic‘s long-delayed second film is set on an isolated island where boys are raised by the mothers and subjected to scientific experiments. Sep. 14, 16 & 20.
- High-Rise – Ben Wheatley adapts the J.G. (“Crash,” “The Atrocity Exhibition”) Ballard allegorical novel about the class struggle in a high rise apartment building. Sep. 13 – 14.
- The Mask (1961) – Don’t miss a rare chance to see this otherwise drab B-movie about a magical mask that gives the audience bizarre 3-D color hallucinations when instructed to put on their anaglyph glasses, projected in vintage 3-D. Free screening (!) Sep. 12.
- Men & Chicken – “Transgressive” black comedy from Denmark about two brothers who discover their real biological father and siblings are weirdos living on the island of Ork. Sep. 14, 16 & 20.
- Minotaur/Night Without Distance – Two short surreal Latin films screened together as a double feature; Minotaur is about a trio of sleepy thirtysomethings in a Mexico City apartment, while Night is a “hallucinatory portrait” of Portuguese smugglers. Sep 12 & 13.
- “The Returned” – The first two episodes of season 2 of the French television series, based on the idea that the dead of a particular village return and resume normal life, which has gained some comparisons to “Twin Peaks.” Screens Sep. 14, 15 & 19.
- Vertigo – A free screening of Hitchcock’s Certified Weird classic on Sep. 20.
- The Whispering Star – Shion Sono‘s latest is science fiction about a robot who makes interstellar deliveries. Check it out Sep. 14, 16 & 19.
Toronto International Film Festival home page.
NEW ON DVD:
The Editor (2014): A giallo spoof from Astron-6 about a one-handed editor suspected of murder on a movie set. In case you were wondering whether there was nudity in the movie, the complete set of IMDB keywords reads “female nudity | nudity | bare breasts | breasts |topless female nudity” (and also, Paz de la Huerta, the only actress working today with a “no non-nudity” clause in her contract, is in it). Buy The Editor [Blu-ray/DVD combo pack]
Morituris: Legions Of The Dead (2011): Rapists and their victims are attacked by zombie gladiators. It’s almost certainly no damn good, but the ad copy quotes Chris Alexander of Fangoria as calling it “Dark, cruel, strong, weird and violent…” Buy Morituris: Legions Of The Dead
Society (1989): Read the Certified Weird entry! As far as we can tell this edition has identical features to the “limited edition” Society set released earlier this year, except that it lacks the gatefold packaging and does not include the mini-graphic novel sequel. Buy Society [Blu-ray/DVD combo pack].
“Universal Classic Monsters Collection”: None of these six Universal horror classics were Certified Weird, but all have been reviewed on the site in some form and all are worth seeing. The monsters are Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy. Horror fans complain that Universal re-releases these same hits over and over in various combinations while neglecting less popular titles, but if you do not own these yet, this is the essential classic horror DVD set with tons of extra features. Buy “Universal Classic Monsters Collection.”
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
The Editor (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy The Editor [Blu-ray/DVD combo pack]
Morituris: Legions Of The Dead (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy Morituris: Legions Of The Dead [Blu-ray]
Society (1989): See description in DVD above. Buy Society [Blu-ray + DVD combo pack].
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.
A JOHN WATERS RETROSPECTIVE, PART ONE
To say that John Waters is the most polarizing of American filmmakers, even among his own fan base, is stating the obvious. Not even David Lynch invites Waters’ level of divisiveness. By and large, the cult filmmaker’s canon is split between those who prefer his pre-Hairspray (1988) work and moviegoers who cannot digest the earlier, low budget underground period, and are forced to begin with that crossover film. With the later Waters’ crowd, the consensus is that the director took the shock ’em til you succeed route, and it worked. After that, Waters made legitimate movies. Waters himself seemed to add fuel to that theory with Cecil B. Demented (2000), which took aim at independent (along with conglomerate) filmmaking, although he did not refrain from self-parody or self-critique.
When composer Igor Stravinsky followed a series of seismic, revolutionary works with a reversion to a neo-Classical style, many of his advocates (avant-garde proselytizer Pierre Boulez among them) and disciples deemed him a traitor, literally picketing his concerts. Waters’ earliest fans were far more forgiving of their idol’s mainstream success. Perhaps that is because their prophet is cut from the same pop cloth as an Elvis Presley, rather than Stravinksy’s heritage of European high art. Although Waters would certainly wax amused (at least publicly) at the notion of his work being classified as art, he is no less provocative or innovative than his counterparts in the academic avant-garde. His flair for provocation is born of his time, place, and culture. Waters’ response to his heritage is honest, rendering him an authentic American success story.
By dubbing himself “the Pope Of Trash” in early write-ups in Baltimore newspapers and speaking engagements, Waters himself allegedly gives credence to the argument from the “early film” faction that once the director lost regulars David Lochary, Edith Massey, and Divine, and experienced authentic critical and financial successes, he merely took the money and ran. The earlier films represent the real John Waters.
For a filmmaker who has always invited polemics, the controversy may be appropriate, but ultimately it proves a distraction in approaching Waters as a viable filmmaker through a substantial body of work that reveals a developing love for narrative. Waters earliest films would not have indicated this.
Like Carla Bley in jazz and Philip Guston in painting, Waters’ earliest works were primarily abstract (surreal, non-linear). Each eventually realized their work was too thematic and moved beyond abstraction into postmodern tenets. Waters’ first effort was the little seen seventeen-minute 8MM short Hag In A Black Leather Jacket (1964). Shot on a $30.00 budget at the age of eighteen, the film was made from stolen film stock courtesy of Mona Montgomery, who starred and was Waters’ then-girlfriend. The narrative reportedly concerns a white ballerina (Montgomery) who discovers a black man (an uncredited actor) in a trashcan. After a brief courtship (with Montgomery being carried around in the garbage receptacle), the two are married by a Klu Klux Klan priest (uncredited) with a drag queen serving as the bridesmaid in a rooftop wedding (filmed at the home of the director’s parents; Waters’ mother also provided the piano score). Mary Vivian Pearce performs a dance, and the “costuming” included an American flag and tinfoil. Hag In A Black Leather Jacket is one of the few Waters films not to feature Mink Stole. Waters has maintained that it’s best this remains in the closet. Reportedly, many of the shots are nonsensical, and were influenced by arthouse films that Waters had read about (but not seen).
Waters was sent to NYU, but dropped out. His next film was the experimental 40-minute Roman Candles (1966), which featured Waters’ regular crew, the Dreamlanders, including longtime friend Glenn Milstead (whom Waters gifted with the stage name Divine), Lochary, Stole, Pearce, Maelcum Soul, and Montgomery (who again supplied the stolen film stock). It was the first film produced under Waters’ Dreamland Studios banner. Highly influenced by Andy Warhol‘s phenomenally successful underground film Chelsea Girls Continue reading A JOHN WATERS RETROSPECTIVE, PART ONE
217. ZAZIE DANS LE METRO (1960)
“The fact that the film is a failure means nothing. Didn’t God create a failure, too?”–Jonas Mekas on Zazie dans le Metro
DIRECTED BY: Louis Malle
FEATURING: Catherine Demongeot, Philipe Noiret, Vittorio Caprioli, Carla Marlier, Annie Fratellini, Yvonne Clech, Antoine Roblot, Jacques Dufilho, Hubert Deschamps
PLOT: When 10-year-old Zazie’s mother leaves her in the care of her exotic dancer uncle for the weekend , the only thing the sassy little girl wants to see is the Metro, but it’s closed due to a strike. So she sneaks out of her uncle’s apartment and encounters a dirty old man, who is also a policeman, among her many adventures. Her weekend ends when the many friends and adversaries she’s accumulated—including a cobbler, an amorous widow, and a polar bear—find themselves involved in a drunken food fight while the worn-out tyke nods off into dreamland.
BACKGROUND:
- Zazie dans le Metro is based on the hit 1959 comic novel of the same title by Raymond Queneau (a repentant former member of the Surrealist circle). The book relied heavily on wordplay and was widely thought to be unadaptable to film.
- Although the film generated a small cult in France, Zazie was Louis Malle’s first flop after beginning his career with two hits (Elevator to the Gallows and The Lovers).
- Some parents were angry at Malle’s film, believing that the sexuality made it inappropriate for children. Zazie originally received an “X” rating (16 and over) from the British Board of Film Classification.
INDELIBLE IMAGE: Surely, it must be Zazie’s impish, gap-toothed smile, which she breaks into whenever she imagines growing up to be a schoolteacher who torments her students by making them eat chalk.
THREE WEIRD THINGS: Eiffel Tower polar bear; wet dog in a parrot cage; high-heeled six shoe-ter
WHAT MAKES IT WEIRD: As Zazie’s transvestite uncle says, “Paris is a dream, Zazie is a reverie, and all this is a reverie within a dream!” If a mad scientist found a way to cross-breed Luis Buñuel and Charlie Chaplin, Zazie dans le Metro is the movie the mutant hybrid would direct.
The Criterion Collection’s “3 Reasons” video for Zazie dans le Metro
COMMENTS: There’s nothing in Louis Malle’s oeuvre that’s remotely like Zazie dans le Metro. There’s nothing else in the rest of the Continue reading 217. ZAZIE DANS LE METRO (1960)
CAPSULE: TROMA’S WAR (1988)
DIRECTED BY: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
FEATURING: Sean Bowen, Carolyn Beauchamp, Patrick Weathers, Rick Washburn
PLOT: After a plane crash on a Caribbean island, stranded citizens of Tromaville organize to defeat an army of terrorists.
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: Working with their largest budget ever, the Troma team loses focus on their signature brand of transgressive comedy with War. Between firing thousands of blank rounds and bursting hundreds of blood squibs, blowing up watchtowers and lighting up stuntmen in flame-retardant suits, War occasionally fools itself into thinking it’s a real action movie rather than an absurd spoof.
COMMENTS: Survivors of the Tromaville flight that crashes onto a not-so-deserted Caribbean island include a lisping flight attendant, a used-car salesman/Vietnam war vet, a busty feminist, an optimistic priest, a sleazy Wall Street financier, a British guy who appears to be a secret agent (he carries curare darts, at least), and the three girl/one guy punk band “The Bearded Clams,” among many others. Their antagonists are “the cream of the crap”: Cubans, the IRA, the PLO, a squad of HIV-positive rapists, a snorting pig-faced colonel, and military-industrial Siamese twins. With a cast like that, just wind them up and let the carnage begin, right?
It’s not quite that easy, it turns out. While War never lags, it never really heats up, either. Troma conceived of War as their opportunity to break into the (relative) mainstream after scoring low budget cult hits with iconic titles like The Toxic Avenger (1984) and Class of Nuke ‘Em High (1986). The resulting project seems to want to be too many things to too many different audiences: it’s a spoof of Rambo and other anti-Communist 1980s action flicks, while at the same time it tries to put together legitimately thrilling, bullet-riddled action scenes. It takes a stab at serious anti-authority satire with the claims that the political left and right are two sides of the same greedy coin, and that the powers-that-be have an interest in cultivating public hysteria, whether it be over Communists, terrorists, or AIDS. But that serious message is undermined when it panders to its horny male teen demographic, with gratuitous female nudity and dirty diaper jokes. The film has ludicrous surreal touches, like the literal Fascist pig and the twins conjoined at the face. (There’s also a strange bit where a hysterical woman looks out from the wreckage and sees crash victims running about on fire, their flaming bodies lit up against the night sky; the problem is, her scenes are shot in the daytime. It’s not clear whether it’s supposed to be a flashback, a joke, or if it’s one of the worst continuity errors of all time, but it appears to be a low-budget first: night-for-day photography). Still, for most of its running time it’s the most “realistic” (relatively speaking) movie Kaufman and Herz ever shot. Other than the farcical firefights where our heroes mow down dozens of terrorists per Uzi burst while the bad guys return fire with Stormtrooper aim, the oddest thing in the film may be its deadpan camp dialogue. “I have just about had it with you terrorists!” screams a mom-turned-commando as she stuffs a baby’s jumpsuit into a guerrilla’s mouth. War actually does what I’ve been saying Troma should do for years—play it straighter, not indulging in the “we’re deliberately making a bad movie, it’s funny!” jokiness—yet it doesn’t really work this time out. Making bad movies is harder than it sounds.
Troma’s 2015 Blu-ray release is nothing special visually or sonically (not a big surprise given the source material), but as usual the studio packs on the extra features. Several featurettes are ported over from the 2010 “Tromasterpiece” DVD, but there is a new introduction and about 30 minutes of new interviews. In the included commentary, Kaufmann comes across as extremely bitter about the cuts demanded by the MPAA before they would grant the film an “R” rating. He seems to legitimately believe that War was his masterpiece, torpedoed by censorship. Nonsense. Tromeo & Juliet was his masterpiece, and has the Certified Weird laurel to prove it. Even in its uncut state, War is not the glorious adventure it’s made out to be.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY: