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):
St. Bernard Syndicate (2018): A Danish businessman partners with an investor who’s just been diagnosed with A.L.S. in a scheme to sell St. Bernards to the Chinese. Sounds subtly strange at best, but Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com did claim it is “very funny at times, but also chilling and always interested in weirdness…” No official site located.
IN DEVELOPMENT (post-production):
Synchronic (2019?): Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are back to work quickly after finishing 2017’s The Endless with another film in a loose reality-bending series hearkening all the way back to their debut, Resolution. (2014’s romantic fantasy Spring is the only outlier in their oeuvre.) This time the duo play New Orleans paramedics who encounter and investigate victims of a designer drug. Scooped by Dread Central (the article may contain a minor spoiler).
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Madeline’s Madeline (2018): Read our review. This arty and dreamlike coming-of-age story features one of the best (and most overlooked) acting debut of the year in Helena Howard, and came in #8 in our list of weirdest movies of 2018. DVD, Blu-ray and VOD. Buy Madeline’s Madeline
The Plague Dogs (1982): This not-for-kids animated tale follows two hounds who escape from a research lab and are hunted down as potential carriers of the plague. Adapted by Martin Rosen from a novel by Richard Adams (Watership Down), and in our reader-suggested queue. This new Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory includes both the theatrical cut and the director’s cut (previously unavailable in the U.S.) Buy The Plague Dogs
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.
- Boston, MA, 1/18-1/21 – Mandy (2018). At the Brattle Theatre.
- Boston, MA, 1/22 – The BlacKKKlansman (2018) with Sorry to Bother You (2018) (double feature). At the Brattle Theatre.
- Boston, MA, 1/24 – The Company of Wolves (1984). At the Brattle Theatre.
- Los Angeles, CA, 1/18 (midnight) – Donnie Darko (2001) (theatrical cut). At the Nuart Theatre.
- Los Angeles, CA, 1/19 – Don’t Look Now (1973) with Cold Heaven (1992) (double feature). At the Egyptian Theater.
- Los Angeles, CA, 1/24 – Suspiria (1977) with Carrie (1976). At the Egyptian Theater.
- New York City, NY, 1/18-1/19 – Branded to Kill (1967). At the Metrograph.
- New York City, NY, 1/18-1/20 (midnights) – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 1/18-1/20 (midnights) – Mandy (2018). At IFC Center.
- New York City, NY, 1/18-1/20 (midnights) – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). At IFC Center.
- Omaha, NB, 1/21 – Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997). At the Alamo Drafthouse.
- Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1/18 (midnight) – Barbarella (1968). At the Rio Theater.
YOU LINK US! YOU REALLY LINK US!:
366 Weird Movies @ List Challenge – “Darko” has created a checklist for the List at the popular “List Challenge” site. An easy way to check off how many movies you’ve seen from the 366 canon. We know of one person who scored 100%; if you like you can tell us your score. 366 Weird Movies FULL LIST.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Next week we’ll continue to clean out our cupboards of old (but still quality) movie reviews. Shane Wilson brings you a popular one from the reader-suggestion queue in David Cronenberg‘s weirdly fetishistic Crash (1996); Pete Trbovich experiments with form in his “case study” of the Hollywood flop North (1994); and G. Smalley covers the better-late-than-never 2018 DVD debut of Alex Cox‘ wild punk gangster western comedy Straight to Hell (1987). We’ll be taking off Martin Luther King day, so enjoy your three-day weekend (Americans). See you next week!
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920): Read the Canonically Weird entry! In case you missed it last week, here is a free version of the Expressionist horror classic, one of those silent movies loved by people who hate silent movies. The classical score is by Giuseppe Becce and the title cards are in the original German (so be sure to turn on subtitles by hitting the [cc] button).
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.