WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 5/19/2017

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.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

“366 Weird Movies 2016Yearbok” (Kindle edition): In case you missed the post below here’s our official release announcement for the Kindle version of the 366 Weird Movies Yearbook. Print edition to follow within a couple of weeks.

DVR ALERT (Showtime, May 21, 9:00 PM):

“Twin Peaks” Season 3: You may have heard of this one. More info  at Welcome to Twin Peaks.

IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):

Devil’s Domain (2017): A bullied bulimic girl makes a pact with Satan to get revenge on her tormentors. Sounds by-the-numbers, but we mention it based on Noel Murray’s observation that “intentionally or not, the stream-of-consciousness lurching from scene to scene does give ‘Devil’s Domain’ a dreamlike quality.Devil’s Domain official site.

Icaros: A Vision (2016): In the wake of Embrace of the Serpent comes this trippy pseudo-autobiographical film about first worlders traveling to the Amazon to partake in ayahuasca rituals. The co-director died of breast cancer soon after the movie was completed. Icaros: A Vision official site.

Paint it Black (2017): After her boyfriend commits suicide, a grieving woman comes into conflict with the mother who blames her for her son’s death. This highly-praised psychological thriller, reportedly with surreal/experimental bits, is the directing debut of Amber (daughter of ) Tamblyn. Paint It Black official site.

VIDEO-ON-DEMAND EXCLUSIVE RELEASES:

“The Natural World”: A new web-series with an intriguing description: “Derek sits and is shown visions of the natural world as his life unfolds before him. A strange being begins speaking to him. His Family begins to act strangely.” The first episode ( actually more of 3-minute teaser) is out and is free to watch. The first episode (actually more of 3-minute teaser) is out and is free to watch.

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.

FILM FESTIVALS – Cannes Film Festival (and Director’s Fortnight) (Cannes, France, May 17-28):

Cannes is an odd duck. Not known as a “weird-friendly” festival—movies like ‘s Crash and Antichrist have been famously hooted at by Cannes crowds who were having none of that—it aims to flatter the mainstream arthouse crowd with middle-of-the-road dramas (and, rarely, dramadies, so long as they are not too funny to be taken seriously). Cannes programmers revel in the dry, the conventional, and the pompous; Cannes’ juries’ tastes resemble those of Academy Awards voters, but with an even higher premium placed on boringness. Still, one or two movies worth looking at always seem to find their way onto the card. In many years a Cannes debut will end up Certified Weird: three films in the past five years, including, most recently, 2012’s Holy Motors. Movies at Cannes may either be screened “in competition” for the big prize, the Palm D’or; screen out-of-competition; or be entered in the “Un Certain Regard” section (a sort of also-ran competition for films that are either from first time directors, or are considered too daring or different to have a shot at the Palme d’Or). Recently, several major filmmakers have been debuting their films in the parallel festival called Directors’ Fortnight, which runs contemporaneous to Cannes proper but does not hand out awards for individual films.

There are a trio of Asian films here from directors who often interest us‘s monster fable Okja, ‘s Before We Vanish, and ‘s samurai epic Blade of the Immortal—but sadly, none of them look particularly weird. Here’s what we would be checking out if we were there:

  • How to Talk to Girls at Parties – adapts a   story about the perils of picking up an alien; the pedigree suggests this could be good and weird (but maybe not). Screening out of competition on 5/21.
  • Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc ‘s rock opera about young Joan D’Arc should ruffle the usual feathers. Playing at Director’s Fortnight, 5/21.
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer – this is the big weird ticket: ‘ followup to The Lobster (again starring ). Screening in competition. 5/22.
  • “Twin Peaks” – Ironically, a TV series is getting more buzz than any feature film at the festival, as  debuts the rebirth of his (in)famous series here a few days before it goes live. Special screening of the first two episodes on 5/25.

Cannes Film Festival official site (English).

IN DEVELOPMENT (funding):

We R Animals (20??): A black comedy about an underworld of sleazy puppets making exploitative cute animal videos. We first mentioned this one during its original crowdfunding campaign in 2010. Sounds like the script was optioned to someone who decided not to make it, then the creator got the rights back and decided to launch another Kickstarter campaign. They’re at $19,000 of a requested $255,000, with 26 days to go. We R Animals Kickstarter page.

IN DEVELOPMENT (completed):

Mother! (2017): ‘s latest psychological thriller stars Jennifer Lawrence (and who doesn’t want to see J-Law do a Black Swan thing?) They’re keeping a lid on the plot, but released a poster that’s getting some buzz. No official site but check out the Aronofsky Tumblr for the poster and a few rumors.

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.

2 thoughts on “WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 5/19/2017”

  1. About two months ago, I mentioned that weird anime director Masaaki Yuasa had a new film out, and would you believe it, but he has another one out this week too! Like last time, it’s not like any of us in the western world can see it, though… “Lu over the wall” looks a bit less crazy than usual (because it’s a family movie? i think), but his animation is ALWAYS very creative and strange.

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