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):

The Double Hour (2009):  A lovelorn cop romances an immigrant and things turn (possibly) weird in this psychological thriller from Italy that nabbed best actor, actress and Italian film awards at the Venice Film Festival.  It’s described as full of twists, and while reviewers are keeping mum on the plot, it is being favorably compared to some great psychological thrillers like Jacob’s Ladder and Mulholland Drive, alongside more conventional thriller titles like Diabolique.  Opening in New York and Philadelphia with a few dates in major US cities to follow.  The Double Hour official site (Samuel Goldwyn films home page).

Footprints: Loosely, lightly “Lynchian” movie about a woman who wakes up with no memory outside Mann’s Chinese Theater and wanders down Hollywood Boulevard, meeting odd characters like superhero impersonators and Scientologists.  The critics aren’t digging this one.  Opening in Manhattan and L.A.  Footprints official site.

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Chronicles of Rick Roll (est. 2011):  A man and woman are lost in an Alice-in-Wonderland type world inhabited by “that guy” YouTube celebrities: that guy from the projects who called the attempted rapist “so dumb,” that guy who screamed “Leroy Jenkins!” during a World of Warcraft session, and so on.  What’s weird about this project is imagining what it will look like to people in ten years (or in ten months), when today’s disposable “Internet memes” have been long forgotten and the characters look like completely arbitrary eccentrics. Could it be an el-bizarro camp classic to future generations?  The Chronicles of Rick Roll official site.

NEW ON DVD:

“H.R. Pufnstuf: Complete Series Collector’s Edition” (1969-1970): Just one look at the “dragon” puppet with the oversized head and clown face (complete with a shock of orange hair) should tell you that “Pufnstuf” was pretty weird kiddie fare, even without knowing that the kid hero’s sidekick was a talking magic flute.  A favorite of seventies eight-year-olds and acidheads  alike, the TVs series’ complete run is now available on a 3-disc set that comes with a Pufnstuf bobblehead guaranteed to provoke nightmares.
Buy “H.R. Pufnstuf: Complete Series Collector’s Edition”.

Ricky (2009): Magical realism about a French couple who have an angel baby.  From François Ozon, the director who brought us the enigmatic Swimming Pool (2003), among other intriguing movies we haven’t yet seen. Buy Ricky.

FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:

Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008): Read our capsule review. No one on our staff much liked this gory Gothic sci-fi musical about organ repossession in the future, and we even split on its weirdness; here’s your chance to judge it for yourself. Watch Repo: The Genetic Opera 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.