PLOT: Two sisters compete with each other for dominance in a secret society of geisha assassins, which is led by the evil head of a steel manufacturing corporation.
WHY IT SHOULD MAKE THE LIST: Let’s start with the purposefully terrible dialogue. Move on to Tangu twins wearing phallic masks and matching bras. Maybe the absolutely ridiculous weapon placements including armpit swords, breast lasers, and stomach bombs. The guy with the stomach bomb has cocktail shrimp stuck in his eyes by the way. Oh yes: all this and much, much more.
COMMENTS: This movie must have been at least as fun to make as it is to watch. The first couple times I saw it I was alternating between jaw-dropping awe and side-splitting laughter. The insane and chaotic visual effects are so delightfully unpredictable and so relentless that around half an hour in you simply give in and enjoy the ride. It is purposefully bad in a rare way, and on multiple viewings it just seems to get better and better.
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):
We Need to Talk About Kevin: After her son commits an atrocity, a mom looks back on their troubled relationship and wonders if she was to blame, or if Kevin was evil from the womb. Not thoroughly weird, but it is heavily stylized and impressionistic, and it does inexplicably begin with the protagonist being hoisted over a vat of tomatoes. Expect an Oscar nom for Tilda Swinton. Opening in New York, then L.A., then the rest of us. We Need to Talk About Kevin official site.
SCREENINGS (NEW YORK CITY, Jan 12-16, 18):
Toll Booth [Gise Memuru] (2010): A psychological drama from Turkey about an unbalanced tollbooth operator who hallucinates on the job. Few reviewers have seen it but their notices have all been positive. No English language trailer exists for this interesting film. Playing at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the “Global Lens” series. Toll Booth at the Global Film Initiative.
NEW ON DVD:
Film Socialisme (2010): Jean-Luc Goddard’s latest film is enigmatically described as “a symphony in three movements,” titled “Things Such As,” “Quo Vadis Europe,” and “Humanities.” No one has been able to satisfactorily synopsize the plot. It’s split critics right down the middle, and it looks very weird. Buy Film Socialisme.
The Hellstrom Chronicle (1972): Today the fake documentary is considered a vehicle for comedy, but this 1972 mockumentary presents itself as a horror/sci-fi outing. A fictional scientist explains the threat insects pose to humanity, illustrated with then state-of-the-art microphotography of the sick and perverse world of bugs. A minor cult item that played college campuses in its heyday. Buy The Hellstrom Chronicle.
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973): The film adaptation of the seminal Andrew Lloyd Weber/Tim Rice rock opera takes some weirdish liberties with the setting, putting tanks and machine guns in ancient Judea (as if the rock music wasn’t anachronistic enough). It’s an interesting staging of a surprisingly thoughtful play about the paradoxes of predestination, but a big downside is that the vocal performances suffer in comparison to the mesmerizing 1970 concept album. We’re not aware of any special features (other than a digital copy) on this Universal re-release. Buy Jesus Christ Superstar.
Touch of Evil (1958): Orson Welles’ overheated noir about a Mexican lawman (Charlton Heston!) who uncovers border town corruption, embodied in the massive, commanding personality of bad cop Hank Quinlan (Welles). Maybe it’s not completely weird, but if you’ve never seen it you’ll likely be amazed at the ornate camerawork, frighteningly quirky characters, Code-challenging evocations of drugs and rape, and general ahead-of-its-time style. Again, there are no known extras other than a digital copy but this classic crime film has historically been underrepresented on home video, so any release counts as a good one. Buy Touch of Evil.
Maniac (1934): Read the certified weird entry! Here it is: all the orangutang men, eyeball-eating, cat-skinning, and syringe catfights one person can stand! It’s widely considered one of the worst movies ever made, yet holds an 89% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Can your sanity handle the unsettling madness that is Maniac? It is not unlike a grape, or an oyster… Watch Maniac 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.
Luis Buñuel‘s self-imposed exile in Mexico from 1946-1964 yielded a fruitful harvest, and his films from this period are, arguably, his most organic and economically composed. The director listed Nazarin, based off the Benito Perez Galdos novel, as a film he felt much affection for, and that affection extended to the character Father Nazario (Francisco Rabal). Buñuel’s paternal attachment to this child/film was sincere enough that when the film failed to win the Prix de l’Office Catholique (Catholic Film Prize), he could express a sense of relief.
The saturnine Fr. Nazario lives in a phantasmagoric haze, imagining that he is following the commandment of Christ to “take up one’s cross,” but only disaster lies in the stations Nazrio visits. Nazario does not build his house on rock, but on mud. He keeps company with a menagerie of freaks: beggars, thieves, whores, and a dwarf. Nazario refrains from bolting his door, despite the fact that his mob plunders his abode daily. He is relieved of all possessions, save his Sunday best and crucifix. Thank God for that. He befriends the suicidal Beatriz (Marga Lopez), whose self destructiveness is birthed from her incessant need for the abusive man who regularly deserts her.
Nazario provides shelter to Beatriz’ homely prostitute sister, Andara (Rita Macedo) after she is wounded in a knife fight. Andara has killed her rival and is hiding from local authorities. The local Church learns of the living arrangement and accuses Nazario of improprieties. Beatriz and Andara become Nazario’s Mary and Martha, but the paradox of the priest’s hypocrisy is that he pragmatically shuns Andara’s imaginative qualities, labeling it a “sickness.” Yet, Bunuel invests this setup with an inviting sense of irony. Nazario is Continue reading BUNUEL’S NAZARIN (1959)→
FEATURING: Natalie Press, Brendan Gleeson, Rúaidhrí Conroy, Klas-Gösta Olsson, Kris Marshall, Johannes Silberschneider, Tony Scott, Ulrich Thomsen
PLOT: This collection of sixteen award-winning shorts made by Europeans (mostly Brits) is a mix of dramas, comedies, and experimental pieces.
WHY IT WON’T MAKE THE LIST: Compilations aren’t eligible for the List. Although there are several short films on this set that are both weird, and great for their length, none of them have the weight it would take to displace a full-length feature film from the List.
COMMENTS: Like any box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get with this collection of sixteen shorts—it could be a caramel, a raspberry creme, or one of the dreaded coconuts. The wide array of styles from artists working free of commercial concerns makes collections like this excellent primers on what cinema can accomplish, and this selection from short film specialists Cinema 16 is one of the most award-studded compilations you’ll find. Not having to worry about the box office receipts allows short film-makers to experiment with technique and go weirder than they otherwise would; indeed, about half of the movies here have at least a nodding acquaintance with the bizarre, while a couple are full-fledged works of surrealist art. But no matter what direction your tastes run, rest assured there is something here to delight, and to bore, every film fan.
For completeness’ sake, I’ll briefly run down the realism-based entries first, in ascending order of quality. We’ll then spend a little more time with the experimental offerings, a few of which are extremely important to the world of weird film.
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Nazario provides shelter to Beatriz’ homely prostitute sister, Andara (Rita Macedo) after she is wounded in a knife fight. Andara has killed her rival and is hiding from local authorities. The local Church learns of the living arrangement and accuses Nazario of improprieties. Beatriz and Andara become Nazario’s Mary and Martha, but the paradox of the priest’s hypocrisy is that he pragmatically shuns Andara’s imaginative qualities, labeling it a “sickness.” Yet, Bunuel invests this setup with an inviting sense of irony. Nazario is 
