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 (WIDE RELEASE):
Splice: A speculative strand of genetic horror/science fiction about DNA splicing experiments in the near future. Unlikely to be truly weird, but it is from a visionary director (Vincenzo Natali, of Cube fame), and it has creepy, alien looking mutant kids; that counts for something. Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley. Splice official site.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Double Take: Archival footage of Alfred Hitchcock and a body double are used to create a new story involving the Master of Suspense meeting an evil doppelgänger during the Cold War. Sounds utterly fascinating. Opening in New York City this week, with scattered dates around the US until January 2011; hopefully more will be added. Double Take official site.
Gone with the Pope (1975/2010): Here’s an odd story: an ex-con plans to kidnap the Pope in order to extort one dollar from every Catholic in the world. Now for the strange part: this movie was shot in 1975 by a nightclub singer as a vanity project, but never released; the old raw footage has been pieced by Sam Raimi‘s editor. Supposedly, it’s a previously undiscovered camp classic that’s as tasteless as a John Waters flick in parts; either that, or it’s one of the best movie hoaxes ever. It’s been playing for a while but we’ve only just learned about it. Showing this week in New York City, with screenings to follow in Minneapolis, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and St. Louis. Gone with the Pope official site.
Ondine: An Irish Fisherman (Colin Farrel) falls in love with a woman he catches in his fishing nets, whom he comes to believe might be a creature from a fairy tale. Mild, sentimental-looking magical realism from sometimes-weird director Neil (The Company of Wolves, The Butcher Boy) Jordan. Ondine official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Alice in Wonderland (2010): Read our capsule review. Tim Burton’s “meh” vision of Wonderland arrives on home video. Aimed at today’s kids, not Lewis Carrol fans. Buy Alice in Wonderland
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vol 7: A new volume of the popular Adult Swim cartoon. Eleven short episodes from seasons 7 and 8, with extras to pad the runtime to two hours. Fast food surrealism, in every sense of the coinage. Buy “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” Vol. 7
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Alice in Wonderland (2010): See entry in DVD above. Buy Alice in Wonderland [Blu-ray]
Pale Rider (1985): A treasure trove of Clint Eastwood movies are being released on Blu-ray this week, but as much as we love the Man With No Name, the guy’s frankly just not that weird. The closest the legend’s ever come to making a “weird” movie is this Western with mystical overtones about a mysterious rider known only as “Preacher” who rescues miners from a greedy tycoon. Buy Pale Rider [Blu-ray]
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we’ve overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.