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 at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
April and the Extraordinary World [Avril et le monde truqué] (2015): Animation about a girl in a steampunk France searching for her abducted scientist parents while fleeing cyborg rats and other baddies. From the producers of Persepolis. April and the Extraordinary World official U.S. site.
Baskin (2015): Turkish midnight movie about cops who are lured into the entrance to Hell. Positive festival buzz led to a limited release. Baskin official site.
SCREENINGS – (Cinefamily, Los Angeles, Mar. 27):
Liquid Sky (1982): Read Pamela de Graff’s review. Horny aliens invade New York’s heroin-chic New Wave art world in this baffling 80s cult film. Director Slava Tsukerman will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening—someone ask him what’s the deal on the overdue “30th Anniversary” Blu-ray release of the film, will ya, please? Part of the “Underground Films of the 80s” series. Liquid Sky at Cinefamily.
SCREENINGS – (IFC Center, Manhattan, Mar. 25-26):
El Topo (1970) & The Holy Mountain (1973): It’s Alejandro Jodorowsky heaven, and Alejandro Jodorowsky hell, as IFC forces you to choose between simultaneous screenings of Jodo’s surrealist Spaghetti Western retelling of the Bible, or his mystical fable about a Jesus figure who teams up the living representatives of the planetary bodies on his trip to enlightenment. Fortunately, no matter which one you see at midnight on Friday, you can catch the other at the same late hour on Saturday. “Waverly Midnights” series at IFC Center.
SCREENINGS – (Spectacle Theater, Brooklyn, Mar. 25-26):
Final Flesh (2009): Read the Certified Weird entry! The Spectacle Theater is the only outfit in the nation (besides us) diligently working to make Vernon Chatman‘s experiment in drafting four amateur porn troupes into making an absurdist apocalyptic film into a canonical midnight movie. Plays tonight at midnight. The nect night, Saturday March 26 at 10 PM, also from deep in the Certified Weird files: puppet De Sade and his talking penis star in Marquis. Both rarities are periodic offerings at the underground venue. Spectacle Theater home page.
FILM FESTIVALS –Boston Underground Film Festival (Boston, MA, Mar. 23-27):
Modest and a bit under-the-radar, the Boston Underground Film Festival has nonetheless landed some interesting titles this year. Besides some pics that played Sundance and other fests—the mermaid musical The Lure, the psychedelic anime Belladonna of Sadness, and the stoner horror Antibirth—we noticed a few debuts that might be worth checking out.
- Blood of the Tribades – low budget lesbian vampire flick the programmers promise delivers “weirdness in spades.” Sunday, Mar. 27.
- Chasing Bansky – a scam artist decides to steal and resell an original piece of Bansky street art; in a departure for Frank Henenlotter, this is based on a true story without fantastical elements. Screening Mar. 26.
- Curtain – a portal in Danni’s bathroom that eats her shower curtain is a doorway to another world. Mar. 26 at midnight.
- Karaoke Crazies – a serial killer preys on karaoke singers in this surreal (?) South Korean thriller-comedy blend. Mar 27.
And, obviously, lots of the weird shorts you will always find at these festivals.
Boston Underground Film Festival official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Birds of Neptune (2015): Two sisters, a composer and a burlesque dancer, cope with the death of their parents. Described as “dreamlike.” Buy Birds Of Neptune
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
The Trip (1967): Read our capsule review. Take a psychedelic journey outside the borders of your own mind with Roger Corman‘s “ultimate” acid movie, now on Blu-ray for the first time. Buy The Trip [Blu-ray]
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.