Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…

CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We won’t list all the screenings of this audience-participation classic separately. You can use this page to find a screening near you.

• • New York City, New York City, May 12-18 – Solaris [Solyaris] (1972). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
  • New York City, New York City, May 12-18- Stalker (1979) (newly restored). At Film Society of Lincoln Center.
    
  • Oakland, CA, May 12-14, 16-18 – Akira (1988). At the New Parkway Theater.
  • Silver Springs, MD, May 12-15, 17 – Eraserhead (1977). At AFI Silver Theater.

FILM FESTIVALS – Chicago Film Critics Film Festival (Chicago, IL, Date):

CFCFF is a minor festival with no significant debuts and a few titles of marginal/questionable weird interest (David Lowery’s A Ghost Story) spotted at other venues. Still, there are two screenings here we’d like to highlight:

• Birdboy: The Forgotten Children – Read G. Smalley’s Fantasia review of the animated drug abuse fantasy. We still don’t know if this strong List Candidate will get actual distribution in the U.S., but it’s nice to see it (hopefully it will fare better under the name Birdboy than it has under its former title of Psychonauts). Screening May 13 & 17.
  
• Southland Tales – Read Alice Stoehr’s review of the dystopian satire. This screening (in 35mm) is part of a general reappraisal of Richard Kelly‘s 2006 career-killing flop. May 13 only.

Chicago Film Critics Festival home page.

NEW ON DVD:

Brain Damage (1988): Read James Phillips’ review. Arrow takes a typically lavish approach to releasing this bad taste drug abuse horror, with new commentary from director Frank Henenlotter and multiple extra features. Buy Brain Damage [DVD/Blu-ray combo pack].

“Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology”: The latest compilation from Flicker Alley focuses on early women filmmakers (1902-1943). To be honest, we’ve never heard of any of them except for Maya Deren, represented by her Certified Weird classic Meshes of the Afternoon. if you don’t own Meshes yet and have an interest in this subject, this release is for you. Buy “Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology” [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

“Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism”: Three obscure, experimental, and political Japanese New Wave features from Yoshida: Eros + Massacre (1969), about an anarchist philosopher; Heroic Purgatory (1970) (reputedly the weirdest), in which an engineer recalls his revolutionary youth; and Coup d’Etat (1973), an unconventional biopic of 1930s nationalist Ikki Kita. From “Arrow Academy,” the new arthouse-centered sub-label from Arrow Video. Buy “Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism” [DVD/Blu-ray combo]

Tall Men (2016): A man is haunted by faceless phantoms after he buys a car with a mysterious black credit card. The ad copy describes it as “Holbrookian,” which stands to reason, since it was directed by Jonathan Holbrook. Buy Tall Men.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Brain Damage (1988): See description in DVD above. Buy Brain Damage [DVD/Blu-ray combo pack].

“Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology”: See description in DVD above. Buy “Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology” [DVD/Blu-ray combo].

“Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism”: See description in DVD above. The set contains three Blu-rays and four DVDs. Buy “Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism” [DVD/Blu-ray combo]

Serial Mom (1994): Later John Waters effort starring a game Kathleen Turner as the title character. First time on Blu-ray, with all the extras from the 2008 “Collector’s Edition” DVD plus a new three-way interview with Waters, Turner, and co-star Mink Stole. Buy Serial Mom [Blu-ray].

Tall Men (2016): See description in DVD above. Buy Tall Men [Blu-ray].

CROWDFUNDING: BOOKS:

“Lost Girls: The Cinema of Jean Rollin”: A collection of essays on idiosyncratic artsploitation auteur Rollin, best known for his slow and mildly surreal lesbian vampire cycle, all written by women. The project has already met its $12,000 goal and is now into a stretch goal of $16,000—if they reach it they promise to add 40 pages of full color images. Perks include a Rollin-themed board game. Six days left and you can put them over the top. “Lost Girls: the Cinema of Jean Rollin” at Indiegogo.

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.