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):
The Voices (2014): Marjane Satrapi‘s first American feature is a tale of murder involving an unbalanced factory worker who takes advice from his talking cat and dog. Ryan Reynolds’ performance is drawing universal praise, but the bad news is that means even weird-hating troll critic Rex Reed liked it. The Voices Facebook page.
SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, CA, Feb 6, 8, 12):
The Peanut Butter Solution (1985): Read our capsule review (and the many comments from the movie’s scarred adult survivors). Cinefamily always brings the cool, and now they break out a 35mm print of the much-remembered, unintentionally horrifying story about a boy who loses his hair from fright, then gets a recipe from ghosts to regrow it. Friday night’s screening begins at 7:30 PM PST and is hosted by Solution producer Rock Demers. We always hope these screenings herald an upcoming DVD release, but we’re usually disappointed. Maybe this time will be an exception. The Peanut Butter Solution at Cinefamily.
SCREENINGS – (Spectacle, Brooklyn, NY, Feb 8):
Help! Help! The Globolinks (1969): Read the Certified Weird entry! Spectacle, who screened Final Flesh just last week, once again feature an ultra-rare one with this psychedelic German television production of Giancarlo Menotti’s children’s opera about an invasion of music-hating aliens. Part of their “Rockuary” series. Globolinks may be the least seen of all the Certified Weird movies, so you owe it to yourself to catch it in a crowd of your fellow proud weirdos if you possibly can. Help! Help! The Globolinks at Spectacle.
NEW ON DVD:
ABCs of Death 2 (2014): Sequel to the sporadically good, sporadically weird original; the second-string lineup of directors still includes a couple of fascinating names like Bill Plympton and Vincenzo Natali. The buzz on this installment was understandably not as big as the first time around, so we doubt we’ll be seeing ABCs 3. Buy ABCs of Death 2
Scavenger Killers (2013): A renegade judge and a sexy defense attorney team up for a torture killing spree, trailed by oddball FBI agents including a psychic with Tourette’s Syndrome (played by–naturally—disgraced “Saved by the Bell” geek Dustin Diamond). This just came out in July 2014, and now the “Director’s Cut” is already out (released by a different distributor); the difference in listed run times between the two editions amounts to 2 minutes. Buy Scavenger Killers (Director’s Cut)
Starry Eyes (2014): Horror about Hollywood; a young actress lands a big part, and finds her body and mind transformed. Is Satan the casting director? Time suggested this is what might result “if David Lynch and David Cronenberg came together to craft a gory, psychological mindbender…” Buy Starry Eyes
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
ABCs of Death 2 (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy ABCs of Death 2 [Blu-ray]
Pom Poko (1994): Magical shapeshifting racoons struggle to save their forest home from urban encroachment. Having finally Blu-ed all the most popular Hayao Miyazaki titles, Disney turns their attention to releasing the second-tier Studio Ghibli titles. Buy Pom Poko [Blu-ray]
Porco Rosso (1992): Speaking of Miyazaki, Disney’s other Ghibli release this week is his tale of the adventures of a WWI flying ace who is under a spell that turns him into a talking pig. Not as big a crossover hit as his other films, but true Miyazaki fans treasure this oddity as much as any of the master’s more lucrative films. Buy Porco Rosso [Blu-ray]
Starry Eyes (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy Starry Eyes [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES:
A Boy and His Dog (1975): Read the Certified Weird entry! Move over YouTube; ShoutFactory TV is on! Yes, cult TV and movie specialists Shout! Factory are rolling out their catalog online, for free (commercial-supported, but still…) Shout! owns the rights to “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” “Elvira’s Movie Macabre,” Roger Corman‘s 1970s exploitation films, and more! Sadly, their impressive horror catalog, hosted on sub-label Scream Factory, does not appear to be part of this online package… yet. This announcement could mean some very big weird titles coming online for free very soon. Keep an eye out in this space for details. For now, we’ll start you out with the screen adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s crazy post-apocalyptic tale about a roving wasteland rapist and his sarcastic telepathic pooch, A Boy and His Dog. Watch A Boy and His Dog free on ShoutFactory TV (rated R).
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.