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.
SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, CA, Friday 2/28 to Thursday 3/6):
Je T’aime, Je T’aime (1968): A suicidal man volunteers for a time-traveling experiment and finds himself trapped when the machine malfunctions, re-experiencing moments from his life in random order. This Alain (Last Year at Marienbad) Resnais science fiction exploration of the nature of memory has never appeared on home video in any form in the US; some proclaim it a lost classic. Je T’aime, Je T’aime at Cinefamily.
FILM FESTIVALS – Fantasporto (Porto, Portugal, Feb. 28 – Mar. 9):
Fantasporto is the premier European film festival explicitly devoted to horror, science fiction and fantasy films. We love the taste of the programmers there, as testified to by the fact that three of the festival’s “Grande Prémio” winners—Toto the Hero, Pan’s Labyrinth and Idiots and Angels—have made it onto our List of the 366 Weirdest Movies of all time, with more to come. What Fantasporto has not done well of late, however, is to secure debuts of new movies. Many of the movies that interest us that are showing there have already appeared at other festivals, and some are even already out on DVD. A few films we’d check out if we were there include Bill Plympton‘s Cheatin’; The Human Race, about contestants forced to compete in a deadly marathon; the Alex de la Iglesia horror/comedy Witching & Bitching; Shion Sono’s long-awaited Why Don’t You Play in Hell?; and the teen hit-girl satire Violet & Daisy. We’ve highlighted the one new-to-us discovery below:
- The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears – Catett and Forzani (the team behind Amer) follow up that cult hit with another formalist experiment about a woman’s disappearance. Screening Mar 5.
Fantasporto 2014 official site (English)
NEW ON DVD:
Memory of the Dead (2011): Characters gathered to hear the reading of a will are harassed by spirits in this Argentinian homage to Evil Dead. Dread Central’s negative review called it “downright weird and disjointed,” while FearNet’s positive notice hailed it as a “bizarre mixture of dark gristle and weird humor.” Buy Memory of the Dead
Mr. Nobody (2009): In 2092, an 118-year old man recounts his life story to a reporter, but the details of the various alternate personal histories he recounts are contradictory. This four-year old speculative feature from eccentric Jaco Van Dormael (Toto the Hero) is finally seeing a U.S. release, thanks to renewed interest in Jared Leto’s career. Buy Mr. Nobody
The Wait (2013): Two sisters keep their recently deceased mother’s corpse around, hoping that a phone call from a psychic means that she will soon be resurrected. Starring indie darlings Jena Malone and Chloë Sevigny. Buy The Wait
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Hugo (2011)/Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory (1971): Warner Brothers pairs the Certified Weird Wonka with Hugo, Martin Scorsese‘s 3-D tribute to Georges Melies. No extra features are listed. Buy Hugo/Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory [Blu-ray]
Mr. Nobody (2009): See description in DVD above. Buy Mr. Nobody [Blu-ray]
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)/The Neverending Story (1984): Spike Jonze‘s meditation on childhood (read out review) matched with 80’s fantasy fave The Neverending Story. The idea to pair a newer kids’ movie with one that stirs their parents’ nostalgic impulses is a stroke of marketing genius on Warner Brothers’ part. Buy Where the Wild Things Are/Neverending Story [Blu-ray]
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, please leave them in the COMMENTS section.