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.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Detention: A postmodern, self-aware slasher sci-fi comedy that also parodies 1980s teen movies. Depending on how the idea is handled, this could totally rule, or end up totally gay.
NEW ON DVD:
Hidden (2011): Addictions turned into literal monsters run amok at an experimental clinic. We’re listing this as a possible “so-bad-it’s-weird” candidate. One of the few available reviews is titled “David Cronenberg called, he wants his story back!” Amazon reviewers complain the movie is incomprehensible and the screenwriters are “Alan and Alana Smithy,” so we’re cautiously hopeful. Buy Hidden
Sleeping Beauty (2011): From Australia comes this modern folktale that sounds like it has more to do with The House of Sleeping Beauties than with the classic fairy tale. We like writer/director Julia Leigh’s quote: “I’m interested in Wonder Cinema…” On the other hand, we don’t like some reviewers’ quotes, like David Rooney’s “Soporific in every sense.” Buy Sleeping Beauty
A Trip to the Moon (1902): A major restoration of the 13 minute A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès‘ seminal film fantastique and possibly cinema’s first blockbuster, which restores the original hand-tinted color from a single surviving print discovered in Spain. Featuring a new soundtrack by the electronic band AIR. The package contains a much longer documentary on Trip to round out the running time. This is a DVD/Blu-ray combo set, but if you’re specifically interested in the Blu version, please read the additional notes under “New on Blu-ray” below for details on a minor defect. NOTE: Since composing this entry the set was recalled while Flicker Alley corrects the defect. We leave the link up in case you want to pre-oder (we’ll remind you again next week!) Pre-order A Trip to the Moon (Restored)
The Witches of Oz (2011): A grown up Dorothy Gale discovers that the tales of the wonderful world of Oz she spins into children’s books don’t come from her imagination, but are repressed memories of a real place, and that the Wicked Witch is now coming to New York City to claim a magical artifact in her possession. This aired as a 150 minute miniseries in the UK, then a 110 minute cut very briefly ran in US theaters as a US theatrical release (this release is the complete version). Christopher Lloyd plays the Wizard, and reviews were generally negative. Buy The Witches of Oz
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
A Trip to the Moon (1902): See description in DVD above. Per Flicker Alley, there is an issue with the Blu-ray disc: one of the alternate audio tracks was supposed to feature an orchestral arrangement along with narration written by Méliès, but the narration is missing. The feature works properly on the DVD. New Blu-rays are being remastered and will be replaced in future sets, but if you order and receive one of the defective Blus you can request a free replacement from Flicker Alley’s site. Replacement discs will be available April 19. Pre-order A Trip to the Moon Restored [Blu-ray]
The Witches of Oz (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy The Witches of Oz [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
RoboGeisha (2009): Read the reader review. It’s Japanese splatterpunk about Robo-Geishas: what more do you need to know? Watch RoboGeisha free on YouTube.
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.
“Trip to the Moon” … Actually the feature of music-with-narration does not QUITE work properly on the dvd version. It is out of sync to the picture. The sound is almost 2 seconds ahead of the image, which is mostly OK except when the big gun goes off and the moon gets hit in the eye. There are a few other nicely-composed moments that get lost this way, but probably no one will ever notice.
Frankebe, do you think it’s possible that this problem could be fixed when the new disc is issued? I think they were concentrating on remastering the Blu-ray but it probably wouldn’t hurt to request a replacement from Flicker Alley.