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 (LIMITED RELEASE):
Life During Wartime: Not weird, but of interest, is Todd Solondz’s semi-sequel to his 1998 controversial cult-favorite black comedy Happiness, with different actors in the lead roles. With Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Allison Janney, Charlotte Rampling, and Paul Reubens. Opening in New York City this week with dates in other major cities in August. Life During Wartime official site.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Thunder-Sky: Our own Alfred Eaker‘s documentary project about Raymond Thunder-Sky, the outsider artist obsessed with clowns and construction workers. See raw footage, pledge support and follow the project’s progress at the new Thunder-Sky indiegogo page.
NEW ON DVD:
Legends of the Dark Kings: A Fist of the North Star Story (2010): Fist of the North Star was an influential anime with reportedly weird elements. This is a Japanese television show; it’s not clear to me exactly what “a Fist of the North Star story” entails, but if you’re in the target market you probably get it. Buy Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story
A Town Called Panic [Panique au Village] (2009): A stop-motion animated children’s film from Belgium; according to the press release, it “follows the wacky, hilarious and often surreal adventures of three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town which never fails to attract the weirdest events.” Expect a review soon! Buy A Town Called Panic
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Evil Aliens (2005): Gory would-be cult movie that prefers to compare itself to early Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi rather than to explain what’s unique about this movie. From the director of Razor Blade Smile (1998). Buy Evil Aliens [Blu-ray]
Legends of the Dark Kings: A Fist of the North Star Story (2010): See description in DVD above. Buy Legends of the Dark Kings: Fist of the North Star [Blu-ray]
Tin Man (2007): Nick Willing‘s Emmy-winning SciFi Channel miniseries, a dystopian adult retelling of the Wizard of Oz, hits the Blu-ray ranks this week in a 2-disc edition. Zooey Deschanel stars as Dorothy and Neal McDonough is the Titular Tin Man. We haven’t seen it, but it was better reviewed than Willing’s followup Alice, which we liked. Buy Tin Man [Blu-ray]
FREE (LEGITIMATE RELEASE) MOVIES ON YOUTUBE:
W the Movie (2009): Speaking of Alfred Eaker, 366 Distribution is putting W the Movie up on YouTube to watch for free, for a limited time. We’re describing it, with typical hyperbole, as “a surreal permutation of the Bush years, which could easily have been the Nixon years as well. W the Movie is a nightmare tale straight from the Theater of the absurd, a biblical melodrama told on wrestlemania television, a Greek myth played out on a Christian Broadcast network, the Book of Revelations told as a cheesy 1950’s sci-fi movie.” If you enjoy it, please consider adding the DVD to your collection.
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.