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 on the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Patch Town (2014): The story of what happens to those “Cabbage Patch” dolls when they grow up; they become factory workers, creating more dolls for their cruel overlords in an endless cycle of toy exploitation. The Dissolve warns that “anybody unable to get on its weirdo wavelength may grow fatigued by the film’s many flights of fancy“; we suspect our readers are just the sort to get on its weirdo wavelength. Patch Town official site.
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014): A series of bleak, absurdist sketches, framed around a pair of novelty salesman. Roy Andersson‘s other two films in this unofficial trilogy, Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living, were both Certified Weird, so we have high hopes for this one. Opening in NYC with selected showings across this great land through the summer. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence official site.
IN DEVELOPMENT (PRE-PRODUCTION):
“Night on Bald Mountain” project: The Hollywood Reporter and Variety are reporting that Disney Studios plans to make a live-action version of the demonic “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence from Fantasia. No word on whether Chernabog will be defeated by “Ave Maria”-chanting monks. Given Disney’s spate of live-action reimaginings of animated features (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella), it’s hard to imagine this will wind up weird in any way, but the idea is odd and it’s worth noting. We’ll keep our antennae up. Read more at Variety.
NEW ON DVD:
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015): Read our review. This kids’ movie turned out to be much weirder than expected, thanks in part to an Illuminati-connected cosmic dolphin. Buy The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Spring (2014): A disaffected American flees to Europe where he strikes up a romance with an Italian woman who harbors a deep secret. From the guys behind Resolution comes another under-the-radar horror that Colin Colvert called “a landmark of irresistible weirdness.” Buy Spring
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
“Dziga Vertov: The Man with the Movie Camera and Other Newly-Restored Works”: Read our review of Man with the Movie Camera. Historically significant experimental films from the dawn of Soviet cinema. Buy “Dziga Vertov: The Man with the Movie Camera and Other Newly-Restored Works” [Blu-ray]
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015): See description in DVD above. This three disc combo included a DVD and Blu-ray 3d. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water [Blu-ray/DVD/Blu-ray 3D].
Spring (2014): See description in DVD above. Buy Spring [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
Visioneers (2008): Read Pamela De Graff’s review. Corporate satire starring a young Zach Galifianakis, about a near-future where people literally explode from stress. Watch Visioneers free on YouTube.
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.