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.
Looking over this week’s big-screen offerings, it occurs to me that once 366 Enterprises becomes a multi-million dollar corporation, we’re going to have to relocate our offices to New York City; that’s the only place in America you can see two exclusive, unavailable-anywhere-else weird films in one week. Right now, we can’t afford the cost of Manhattan popcorn, much less rent.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Big River Man: Documentary about Martin Strel, a hard-drinking, overweight, eccentric Slovenian, and his unprecedented attempt to swim the length of the Amazon river. By their very nature, documentaries start behind the eight ball in terms of weirdness, but Strel is such a character that this doc is being labeled “strange,” “insane,” and “surreal” and “bizarre.” Appears to be playing NYC only. Big River Man official site.
Film ist: A Girl and a Gun: A montage of silent-film footage arranged into a “a highly suggestive, quasi-narrative, but essentially enigmatic mosaic.” Playing this week at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City only. No official site, but see Anthology Film Archives for more information.
SCREENINGS (DEC. 11 & 12, NEW YORK CITY):
Coming Soon (2006/2008): See our review. The controversial bestiality mockumentary makes its U.S. debut at The Living Theater. Mark your calendars, and expect one weird crowd.
NEW ON DVD:
The Brooklyn Heist [AKA Capers] (2008): Three teams of criminals each plan to rip off the same Brooklyn pawnbroker on the same night in this caper spoof; the twist is that each team is living in a different cinematic reality, including a gang apparently based on the French New Wave whose scenes are shot in black and white. This comedy slipped under our radar, but reviews and film festival audience reactions were both positive. Looks worth a shot. Buy Brooklyn Heist from Amazon
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
Creepy Christmas Film Fest: 25 short films, one for every day from Dec. 1st to Dec. 25th, each built around a different creepy Christmas toy selected by artist Beck Underwood from her grandmother’s collection. The subtly disturbing films come from Larry Fessenden, Voltaire, Graham Reznick, and Ti West, among others. A couple of these shorts will be featured on these pages in the coming month; for the other 23, you’ll have to go to creepychristmas.net. It’s a recommended visit.
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.