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 (LIMITED RELEASE):
Consuming Spirits (2012): Experimental animation with a story involving three rust belt newspapermen with weird names: Gentian Violet 42, Victor Blue 38, and Earl Gray 64. Playing this week at Film Forum in New York—writer/director/animator Christopher Sullivan will be there in person this Friday and Saturday. No official site: here is the link to the Film Forum screening.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Frame (est. 2014): Jamin Winans, director of the Certified Weird Ink, has recently announced a new feature film project. The Frame team is being tight-lipped about the plot and the production, but I have been personally assured by an anonymous source that we can expect to see some “serious weird” in the finished product. We’ll keep an eye on it. The Frame Facebook page.
NEW ON DVD:
“Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi” (2002): Two kids find themselves thrown into various dimensions (parodies of video games or TV shows) in this anime TV series. We don’t normally pay that much attention to anime, because it plays by its own set of rules that make the word “weird” obsolete, but YouTube clips of this one suggest it may be up some of our readers’ alleys. Buy “Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi” Complete Collection
Miami Connection (1987): A rock band fights drug-dealing ninjas in Miami. This newly resurrected 80s camp has been championed by the Alamo Drafthouse and Everything is Terrible! as “so-bad-it’s-good,” but is it “so-bad-it’s-weird”? Buy Miami Connection
“The Qatsi Trilogy”: Koyaanisqatsi (1982)/ Powaqqatsi (1988)/ Naqoyqatsi (2002): Koyaanisqatsi (the Hopi Indian term means “life out of balance”) was a highly innovative, wordless documentary with an influential Philip Glass score and an environmental theme. Director Godfrey Reggio followed up the surprise cult hit with two similar sequels; the Criterion Collection has assembled the trio together in one set with the usual abundance of supplemental material. Buy “The Qatsi Trilogy” (Criterion Collection)
The Toxic Avenger – Japanese Cut (1984): Read our capsule review. Okay, we’re not Toxie’s biggest boosters, but fans may be interested in seeing the 11 extra minutes of footage in this never-before-released Japanese cut of the proudly obnoxious cult hit. Buy The Toxic Avenger – Japanese Cut
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Miami Connection (1987): See description in DVD above. If you really need to see Miami Connection in hi-def, here’s your chance. Buy Miami Connection [Blu-ray]
“The Qatsi Trilogy”: Koyaanisqatsi (1982)/ Powaqqatsi (1988)/ Naqoyqatsi (2002): See description in DVD above. Buy “The Qatsi Trilogy” (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
“The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection”: This 14-disc (!) set contains all of Kino’s Keaton Kollection. You can buy it for Sherlock Jr. and throw out the rest of the discs. Buy “The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection”
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.