Miscellanea

366 UNDERGROUND: THE BULGARIAN PROPHET (2010)

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DIRECTED BY: El Vulgario (Yavor Batchev)

FEATURING: Will, Chetan, Sienna, Sanjita, Anuj, Chintu

PLOT: The life story of Ivan, a Bulgarian refugee who arrives in America in the early ’70’s and begins the immigrant’s journey towards The American Dream, which in his case involves being anointed by the God of Shit to start The Temple of Holy Shit and spread the Word. Bestowed with supernatural powers, he performs miracles, advises government figures and amasses a following—until he is kidnapped by KGB agents and shipped to the USSR to use his powers for their benefit.

Still from The Bulgarian Prophet


COMMENTS: As Steve Martin once said, “Comedy is not pretty”. That saying applies equally to satire, especially when the satire is as sledgehammer blunt as it is in The Bulgarian Prophet. The movie is set in the America of the early 70’s, long after the Summer of Love has peaked and degenerated, after the Summer of Manson had finished it off. Vietnam is in full swing, Nixon is in office, and the time is right for all sorts of strangeness to take root. Enter the ‘hero,’ Ivan, escaping the Communist regime in his native Bulgaria to make a new start in America, where any man can pursue his heart’s desire—as long as that desire involves insanely huge amounts of cash and loose women with insanely large breasts.

There should be a lot of things working against this, from the animation style (courtesy of 3Danimationindia.com), to the occasional stiff line readings, but oddly, they complement the broad satire. In fact, if this were done as a live-action no-budget indie, it would come off as half-assed and worse than amateurish. Animation, even crude animation, allows for the full expression of Batchev’s ideas, unfettered by budgetary constraints and laws of physics (such as when Ivan walks across a swimming pool full of sewage in front of the media as a demonstration of his newfound divinity.) And in comedy, all that matters is that you get the laugh—and The Bulgarian Prophet does get them. After all, finesse is for critics to argue about.

Normally, you’d probably would have to look for this at underground film festivals, since the style and tone is way too blunt for mainstream film and animation festivals to screen. Your best bet to see this is to check for it on YouTube, or visit The Bulgarian Prophet official website.

 

 

Miscellanea

WEIRD HORZION FOR THE WEEK OF 9/20/2013

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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 (WIDE RELEASE):

The Wizard of Oz: An IMAX 3D Experience (1939): Read our review. Dorothy is off again to see the Wizard, now with flying monkeys in 3D. We love the movie, and are willing to tolerate the gimmick if it brings it to a wider audience. The Wizard of Oz Imax 3D official site.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

+1 (2013): Supernatural happenings disrupt the collegiate blowout of the year. The synopsis is coy about the movie’s twist, but online chatter suggests it may be something we’ve seen before. +1 official site.

FILM FESTIVALS – Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX, Sep. 19-26):

The Alamo Drafthouse may be America’s coolest theater—where else can you grab a burger and an Irish coffee milkshake before watching a screening of Willy Wonka with Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee in attendance? Their brand has grown so big that now they even distribute their own (generally weird) movies. Sure, some of them kind of suck, but still, how cool is it that an arthouse theater chain gives movies that are too “special” for general audiences a chance to be seen? One of the Alamo’s hippest projects is the Fantastic Fest, now in its eighth year. As per usual, there is a fantastic slate of weird movies and some astounding revivals here. While there are a dozen or more “of interest” movies showing here that we’ve already noted in our entries on Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and other venues, here are some other titles and events that are special to Fantastic Fest:

  • Detective Downs – Norwegian mystery (?) about a detective with Down’s Syndrome who is hired because of his presumed incompetence. Screens Sep. 20 & 25.
  • The Devils – If you’re within a two-hour drive of Austin, quick, drop whatever you’re doing; ‘s notorious, outrageous nunsploitation/artsploitation hybrid is screening today only, Friday Sep. 20th, at 2:45 PM Central Standard Time.
  • Escape from Tomorrow – To our knowledge, this surreal theme park satire, with scenes secretly shot guerrilla-style on Disney resort property, has not been screened since Sundance. Not only does it suddenly appear at Fantastic Fest, but there is an elaborate new trailer supporting it. We still worry that Disney lawyers will never allow this film to see the light of day in any meaningful way (although small scale screenings are scheduled in the future), so catch it while you can—if you missed today’s 11:30 AM showing, then Thursday, Sep. 26 is your only chance.

  • Journey to the West – ‘s first directorial effort in five years is a fantasy adventure adaptation of a Chinese mythology classic featuring Buddhist demons and the Monkey King. Sep. 21 & 24.
  • Kid’s Police – A cop action/drama, performed entirely by a cast of 10-year olds (a la 1976’s Bugsy Malone). Sep. 22 & 26.
  • Mood Indigo – directs a lighthearted surreal romance from a novel by Boris Vian, starring Amelie‘s Audrey Tautou as the female love interest. No wonder it’s in our reader-suggested review queue. Sep. 22 & 25.
  • Maruyama, the Middle Schooler – From the writer of Zebraman comes this hallucinatory tale of an imaginative middle-school boy who dreams of one day becoming flexible enough to perform auto-fellatio. Sep. 22 & 26.
  • Nightbreed – The Cabal Cut – This is the director’s cut of Clive Barker’s 1990 cult horror about an encounter between a village of mutants and a serial killer. Sep. 21 only.
  • Proxy – A pregnant woman joins a support group after she is assaulted on the streets; festival programmers boast it’s “one of the most… truly crazy stories ever seen at Fantastic Fest.” Screening Monday, Sep. 23.
  • Septic Man – It sounds like a Canadian version of The Toxic Avenger, featuring a plumber who gains super powers after being trapped in a septic tank. Sep. 20 & 23.

Fantastic Fest official site.

NEW ON DVD:

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012): A suitcase keeps a man eternally young in this partly animated absurdist comedy that spans decades. Keith Poulson stars, but word has it that “Parks and Recreations”‘s Nick Offerman steals every scene he’s in.  Buy Somebody Up There Likes Me.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935): The evil Dr. Pretorius manipulates Frankenstein into creating a new creature: a mate for his Monster. This sequel adds elements of black comedy and is superior to the excellent original; it transcends the macabre genre and is truly one of the greatest movies ever made. Buy The Bride of Frankenstein [Blu-ray].

The Devil Bat (1940): In an absurd revenge scheme, mad scientist invents a giant bat and an aftershave that makes it attack the wearer. As good as The Bride of Frankenstein is, that’s how bad The Devil Bat is; still, this poverty row embarrassment has some cachet among camp fans. Buy The Devil Bat [Blu-ray].

Dracula (1931): Read our review. The Blu-ray contains the contemporaneously-shot Spanish version as a bonus feature, so you can judge for yourself which interpretation is superior. Buy Dracula (1931) [Blu-ray].

Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966): Read our capsule review. Hammer won’t let Universal hog the pre-Halloween classic Blu-ray spotlight all to itself. Buy Dracula, Prince of Darkness [Blu-ray].

Frankenstein (1931): A scientist creates life from dead bodies, then loses control of his creation. Not quite as astounding (or as weird) as the sequel Bride, but an excellent horror classic on its own terms. Buy Frankenstein [Blu-ray].

Slacker (1991): Read our capsule review. The Criterion Collection upgrades ‘s seminal indie to Blu-ray. Buy Slacker [Criterion Collection Blu-ray].

The Wolf Man (1941): Read our capsule review. Fill out your Blu-ray collection with this tale of a poor soul cursed to become a beast when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. Buy The Wolf Man [Blu-ray].

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

The Impossible Kid [AKA The Impossible Kid of Kung Fu] (1982): 2’9″ martial arts star Weng Weng returns in this goofy exploitation sequel to the Filipino “hit” spoof For Y’ur Height Only. In this outing, the kid-sized karate expert rescues kidnapped businessmen from the mysterious Mr. X. Watch The Impossible Kid 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.

Alfred Eaker's Fringe Cinema

BILL MORRISON’S DECASIA (2002)

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Bill Morrison composed Decasia (2002) as a decomposing homage to Fantasia (1940). Far from being a pedestrian imitation (i.e. Fantasia 2000), Morrison’s film is an astonishingly unique cinematic experience: a diaphanous visual collage juxtaposed to the music of composer Michael Gordon.

There is a breed of  minimalistic new age composers espousing a play-it-safe spirituality. Gordon is not among them. He is a one of a handful of authentic, spiritually challenging voices in 21st century artmusic. Gordon’s rich use of dissonance and atonal language puts him shoulder to shoulder with the likes of such 20th century artists as Luigi Nono and John Coltrane. Gordon’s “Decasia,” composed for the Basel Sinfonietta, is called a “symphony,” and is a response of sorts for those who (often correctly) believe that the symphony, as an art form, was extended to its death in the works of Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. Some would argue that Gordon’s opus, a continuous movement utilizing synthesizer and electric guitar together with full orchestra, does not fit the symphonic criteria. But then, neither did Roy Harris’ iconic work. Like Coltrane’s “Ascension,” Decasia is a demanding journey.  Gordon previously came to prominence with his intimately provocative psychological opera “Alarm Will Sound.” Based on Vincent Van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo regarding the ear lobe cutting incident, it is desolate and suffocatingly beautiful. “Decasia” is a further development of that aesthetic, moving beyond words to the tragedy of silence, making Morrison a quintessential collaborator.

As new opera directors rethink old chestnuts, so too does Morrison rethink Walt’s innovative concert program of film imagery wedded to music. How Morrison dances with the preexisting music is as original as that ambitious premiere in 1940. Dancing is an apt description, as Decasia begins and ends with a whirling dervish. Morrison’s approach to conveying that decay is as startling as ‘s humanizing “Messiah” and as relentless as Guth’s collaboration with Chaya Czernowin in Mozart’s “Zaide.” Morrison’s aesthetic point of entry manages to be paradoxically unsettling and accessible at the same time: no mean feat. Typically, in many postmodern endeavors it is mystery and spirituality that is forefront, usually (and lamentably) at the expense of expressive directness and all traces of humanity. Morrison does not make that mistake, and the unfolding of his vision is hypnotically entertaining.

Still from Decasia (2002)Using silent film footage and stock reels, Morrison’s imagery is akin to cadavers struggling with the effectiveness (or not) of embalming fluid. Nuns with schoolchildren, missionaries baptizing in a river, a boxer, crashing waves, a man reading a newspaper, a caravan of camels, landscapes, a geisha, miners, and volcanoes rise from the blemishes of  a Dorian Gray portrait, once as handsome and muscular as the square jawed  or as prettified as the coquettish . It is a circular, phantasmagoric dance-to-your-death potpourri. The assemblage of primordial imagery, conjoined with Gordon’s aural language, craft an evocative, textured  experience that is probably most effective on the big screen. The sole advantage to home viewing would be lack of interruption due to grumbling patrons walking out.

By taking this unpreserved archival footage, keeping it intact, and wedding it to the atonal composition, Morrison’s contemplative, non-linear narrative serves the nitrate deterioration like a protective skin. Decasia simultaneously celebrates decay and survival with an unbridled enthusiasm found in the most memorable cinematic experiments of the 1960s.

Capsules

CAPSULE: GARDEN STATE (2004)

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Recommended

DIRECTED BY: Zach Braff

FEATURING: Zach Braff, , ,

PLOT: A small-time actor, doped up on heroic doses of antidepressants, returns home to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral and finds love with a quirky lady while working through his family issues.

Still from Garden State (2004)
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: It’s quirky, not weird (and, by the end, it’s barely even quirky anymore).

COMMENTS: Originality is hard. There’s a moment in Garden State where Sam, Natalie Portman’s epileptic paralegal, stands up and spazzes out while babbling randomly in an attempt to do something completely original. Andrew Largeman, our narcotized small-time actor protagonist, is skeptical, and asks “so no one’s ever done that?” Sam’s response is “no, not in this spot.” Garden State gives us a meet cute, a manic pixie dream girl, and the power of love as an instrument of personal growth; the unavoidable stuff of its genre we’ve seen many, many times before. To make up for being unoriginal, the movie also gives us Kenny Rodgers funeral covers, knights speaking Klingon, and Method Man as a peepshow-running bellhop. No one’s ever done any of that before—at least, not in that exact spot on the quirk spectrum. Garden State is really two different movies. Before it launches into the romantic comedy, the first third is a deadpan comedy of alienation a la The Graduate (it’s no accident that Simon and Garfunkel appear on the soundtrack). So deadened that he’s unable to enjoy playing spin the bottle with a beautiful, possibly underage girl during an ecstasy-fueled orgy, Braff conveys some idea of what it must be like to have your emotions submerged under an ocean of lithium. This part of the film is the most interesting. Dysfunction makes for better stories; the healthier Largeman gets, the less interesting the movie becomes. He goes from seeing the world as bizarre and threatening to bizarre and welcoming—a saner, but less dramatic stance. Still, it would have been difficult (and possibly pointless) to sustain the initial mood of aimlessness for an entire film (The Graduate also had to leave it behind). What follows is Largeman slowly waking up from his pharmaceutical coma, helped by Sam and a stoner pal played by Peter Sarsgaard, as he goes on a therapeutic journey searching for the root of his emotional dislocation (which is where the excellent but underutilized comes into the picture). It may not be completely original (except for superficial quirks), and it’s not weird, but it is a good movie. Braff and Portman are hygienic and lovable, bringing an infectious spirit of youth that captures what its like to be lost and hopeful in your twenties. Add a Grammy-winning folk-rock soundtrack, and it’s no surprise that Garden State has become minor cult film.

The Garden State DVD is a lavish affair, with over 30 minutes of deleted scenes, another half-hour “making of” featurette, and two separate commentaries (one with Braff and Portman, the other with Braff and the crew).

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“Stormy twentysomething emotions seethe under a deft quirkfest.”–Ed Park, The Village Voice (contemporaneous)

(This movie was nominated for review by “Billy” who even wrote it up as a reader recommendation. Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!