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):
After.Life: Looks like another psychothriller about a dead person who doesn’t know she’s dead, although this one tips its hat in the plot synopsis. Christina Ricci wakes up on a slab in funeral parlor director Liam Neeson’s mortuary; she insists she’s alive, he tells her she’s in passage to the afterlife (or the after.life, I guess). Critics have been cruel; Ricci’s nude scenes may be the main draw. After.Life official site.
It Came from Kuchar (2009): Documentary on the works of the undeservedly obscure Kuchar twins, the 1960s trash-underground filmmaking pioneers who made Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965) among other titles that should be covered here. Buck Henry, John Waters, Atom Egoyan and Guy Maddin are among the hip celebrities attesting to their influence in the doc. Screening at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City this week; playing San Francisco and Berkeley the week after. Be on the lookout for a DVD release this summer. It Came from Kuchar official site.
Women Without Men (2009): Iranian magical realist story about four women who find respite from chaos and men in a magical garden during the 1953 coup that installed the Shah. Playing in the L.A. area only, unknown if there will be any future dates. No official site.
SCREENINGS (NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 12):
The Battle of the Sexes: Animated!: It’s girls vs. boys as the audience gets a chance to vote on which gender is better at making short animated (non-porno) sex films. Featuring films from five male directors (Bill Plympton, John Goras, PES, Duncan Beedie and Ondrej Rudavsky) and five females (Signe Baumane, Lisa Yu, Saray Dominguez and Joanna Quinn). The bout is scheduled for Monday, April 12 at 9 PM at the IFC Center; more information here.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Paprika: The sort-of good good news: MTV is reporting that director Wolfgang Petersen (The Neverending Story) has high hopes for a treatment of a live-action version of the surreal anime film Paprika (currently languishing in our reader-suggested review queue). The very, very bad news: Petersen is quoted as saying that he hopes to make this version “more accessible for a wide audience… more of a film for a mainstream audience.” Bad Wolfgang! Bad director!
NEW ON DVD:
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009): The concept, at least, is totally crazy: the great Werner Herzog remakes Abel Ferrara’s singular, bleak Bad Lieutenant, but as a self-aware action parody, with Nicolas Cage going wild (maybe channeling Klaus Hinski?) as the titular drug-crazed cop. We missed this in its eyeblink theatrical release and look forward to catching it on video. Buy Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Jade Warrior [Jadesoturi] (2006): A Finnish/Chinese (!) co-produced fantasy about a Nordic blacksmith who relives a past life as a Chinese warrior. Reportedly quite confusing, though good. “Mystery Science Theater” fans may be pleased to hear that the plot prominently features a “sampo,” so this may be your chance to finally find out what a “sampo” is. Buy Jade Warrior
Little Hercules (2009): Little Hercules travels from Mt. Olympus to Los Angeles in this apparent remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger flop Hercules in New York (1970). Surprisingly, this was a flop too, despite the remarkable cast: Judd Nelson, Robin Givens, Elliot Gould (as Socrates!), top-billed Hulk Hogan (as Zeus!), and three of Hulk Hogan’s offspring. Rated a 1.9 on IMDB, which would be low enough to put it in the bottom 100 movies if it had enough votes. Buy Little Hercules
Taxidermia (2005): Three interwoven stories about three generations of Hungarian men: a WWII veteran grandfather, a would-be athlete father, and a taxidermist son—surrealy woven together by weird director György (Hukkle) Pálfi. This is currently sitting in our reader-suggested review queue; we’ve been awaiting this Region 1 DVD debut for some time now. Buy Taxidermia
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009): See description in DVD above. Buy Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans [Blu-ray]
Dreamscape (1984): Forgotten would-be blockbuster about a psychic who agrees to a job entering people’s nightmares to try and fix them. Starring Dennis Quaid, with Max von Sydow; the multiple dream sequences are supposed to be pretty good. Buy Dreamscape [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.