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.

There’s nothing weird in theaters this week (not really a surprise there).

NEW ON DVD:

Daydream Nation: A love triangle between a teen girl, an age-appropriate boyfriend, and their English teacher.  The press release calls it a “mash-up of the bizarre and the beautiful” and two separate reviewers have compared it to Donnie Darko.  Buy Daydream Nation.

Deep Red [Profundo Rosso] (1975): Dario Argento‘s Deep Red, about a jazz pianist caught in a web of murder, is more a standard, suspenseful giallo than a bizarre film, but it shows early traces of the extreme stylization and atmosphere he would expand on to create the Certified Weird Suspiria two years later.  This re-issue is reputed to be the director’s preferred cut; at 105 minutes, it’s longer than the 98 minute “R-rated” version that originally played in US theaters, but faster paced than the 126-minute “uncensored” cut.  Note that only the director’s cut is on the DVD, but the “full” 126 minute version is also included on the Blu-ray (below).  Buy Deep Red.

“Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job: Season 5” (2011): Absurdist sketch comedy from the Cartoon Network. Contains the episode “Lucky,” which had been removed from digital distribution for unstated reasons. An entire season fits on one 110 minute DVD. Buy “Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job: Season 5”.

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010):  Read our capsule review.  An unexplained plague of darkness falls over Detroit in this mystical horror from director Brad Anderson. Buy Vanishing on 7th Street.

Year of the Fish (2007): Here’s a movie idea you don’t see everyday: a rotoscoped adult retelling of “Cinderella,” with the lead role taken by a Chinese immigrant woman forced to work in a “happy-ending” massage parlor and befriended by a magical goldfish.  Previously available only on DVD-R, Fish is now available in a respectable DVD reissue complete with commentary tracks. Buy Year of the Fish.

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

Deep Red [Profundo Rosso] (1975): See entry in DVD above.  Note that the Blu-ray contains both the 105 minute director’s cut and the 126 minute “uncensored” version. Buy Deep Red [Blu-ray].

FREE MOVIES ON THE WEB:

Diseaster [Paashat] (2011): Dutch carrot farmers are terrorized by a killer Easter bunny.  This 30 minute horror/comedy features Easter eggs filled with blood, a rapping narrator with Down syndrome, crossbows that shoot sharpened carrots, and scary/ridiculous killer bunny puppets; it’s like a more professional, European version of Thankskilling.  With blood and guts and mild nudity and sexuality, but the only thing that might offend is that Down syndrome character.  Watch Diseaster for free at the official site.

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.