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.
After several summer weeks of scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something weird, there’s an embarrassment of surreal cinematic riches to be had this week.
IN THEATERS (WIDE RELEASE):
Inception: Highly anticipated sci-fi psychological thriller from Christopher Nolan starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an agent with the ability to enter his target’s subconscious and steal (or plant) ideas. Early reviews are generally positive, with some proclaiming it a masterpiece. Look for a full report from us next week (and chime in with your own opinions). Inception official site.
SCREENINGS (IFC CENTER, NEW YORK CITY):
El Topo (1970): Read El Topo‘s Certified Weird entry. See Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s surreal, mystical Spaghetti western as it was meant to be seen: on the big screen, at midnight. Playing at 11:55 PM Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17.
Henri-George Clouzot’s Inferno (2009): Documentary on the director’s unfinished L’enfer, a big budget avant-garde movie from 1964 that was intended to out-weird Fellini’s surprise hit 8 1/2; the production was plagued with problems and never completed. The filmmakers had access to the raw footage and apparently use it liberally in the doc. Henri-George Clouzot’s Inferno at IFC center.
Valhalla Rising (2010): Dark Ages tale of a mute, one-eyed slave who escapes his Scottish master and joins with a group of Viking renegades; their ship is wrecked and washes up on a strange island. Critics are using adjectives like “trippy,” “crazy,” “hallucinatory,” and “poetic.” From director Nicholas Winding Refn, who already struck weird gold with Bronson (2008). Valhalla Rising official site.
NEW ON DVD:
Artois the Goat (2009): Indie comedy with dream sequences about a lab technician who tries to create the perfect goat cheese: a “cheese of destiny.” The Austin Chronicle called it “slightly surreal.” Buy Artois the Goat
Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. XVIII: A TV show premised on the concept of robots mocking bad movies qualifies as weird. We think a new MST3K collection is always noteworthy, but this one even more so because it contains the gang’s treatment of the Certified Weird The Beast of Yucca Flats. Other movies in the set include Lost Continent, Crash of the Moons and Jack Frost, a strange and obscure Soviet-era fairytale adaptation. Buy Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. XVIII
Parasomnia (2008): Unreleased Hollywood horror about a beautiful woman with a rare disorder that causes her to sleep most of her life away; a love triangle between an earnest beau and an evil mesmerist for her hand is told through her dreams and nightmares. Despite it’s unimpressive ancestry (it comes from the director of The House on Haunted Hill and feardotcom), it does look weird, an a few reviews make it sound like it might be a minor offbeat gem. Buy Parasomnia
Pornography: A Thriller (2009): Murder and weirdness in three related tales from the world of gay porn. The press release promised that “surreal and supernatural elements weave together these three haunting stories.” Reviews were generally negative. Buy Pornography: A Thriller
Saint John of Las Vegas (2009): his quirky road trip story about a retired blackjack player turned insurance fraud investigator returning to Las Vegas has some surreal interludes, but even the presence of Steve Buscemi and Sarah Silverman didn’t stop critics from savagely beating it and leaving the remains for dead in the desert. Buy Saint John of Las Vegas
Terribly Happy (2009): Danish film noir about a police officer assigned to a strange and insular town after he has a nervous breakdown; often compared to the Coen brothers or David Lynch, Slant calls it a “surreal noir” and The Hollywood Reporter called it “seriously weird.” Check back this weekend for our take! Buy Terribly Happy
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
In Bruges (2008): Brendan Gleeson and Collin Farrel star as two vulgar Irish hitmen who hole up in the medieval Belgian city of Bruges after a botched murder. Often compared to a brainier Pulp Fiction, it’s at least highly odd, if not all the way to weird, and it was both a critical and popular success. Buy In Bruges [Blu-ray]
Insomnia (2002): Not necessarily weird, but they say there is some disorientation in Christopher Nolan‘s followup to Memento, which features Al Pacino as a bleary-eyed, guilt-ridden detective who has trouble sleeping in the eternal sunshine of Alaskan summer. Released to coincide with Inception. Buy Insomnia [Blu-ray]
Parasomnia (2008): See entry in DVD above. Buy Parasomnia [Blu-ray]
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.