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Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
FILM FESTIVALS –(Arizona Underground Film Festival, Tuscon, AZ, Sep. 17-25):
It’s the 14th year for this underground film festival, one of many small fests from around the country that we rarely cover. This one comes to our notice because they’ll be screening two films we’ve reviewed here in 2021—5000 Space Aliens and Country of Hotels—so we suspect much of the rest of the slate may be up our alley. Here are a few features that caught our eye:
- DimLand – A woman goes to a country retreat where she meets a masked figure who convinces her to flee further from reality.
- Medusa – A French film about a romantic triangle between a man, a woman, and her mute, paralyzed sister; not much else is known except that Roxane Mesquida stars. Not to be confused with the 2020 American horror movie of the same name, or the 2021 Brazilian drama of the same name about female vigilantes that’s currently playing at TIFF.
- Ordinary Creatures – A “very strange” road movie/comedy further described by programmers as “borderline surreal.”
Arizona Underground Film Festival official homepage.
FILM FESTIVALS –(Nottingham International Film Festival, Nottingham, UK, Sep. 24-26):
For Brits, here’s an even smaller festival that includes two of the movies featured above: Medusa and Country of Hotels (with a Q&A with director Julio Maria Martino). The offbeat documentary about female wrestlers, Luchadoras, also plays there.
Nottingham International Film Festival official homepage.
IN DEVELOPMENT (post-production):
Mermaids’ Lament (est. 2022): Without giving too much away, allow us to quote director G.B. Hajim: “It’s an homage, in a way, to Man Facing Southeast… a psychological drama about a woman who may or may not have been a mermaid but definitely suffered a major trauma leaving her homeless and mute. Her life collides with a therapist who has a crippling anxiety about the ocean.” Mermaids’ Lament Facebook page.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Crazy Nights [Follie di notte] (1978): A mondo-style documentary about burlesque performances in the disco age, hosted by model and Salvador Dali confidant Amanda Lear. Directed by sleaze specialist Joe D’Amato, distributor Full Moon hyperbolically describes it as “the wildest and weirdest mondo movie ever made!” On Blu-ray or DVD. Buy Crazy Nights.
Vertigo (1958): Read the Canonically Weird entry! A 4K Ultra HD upgrade (plus a bonus standard Blu-ray), previously available as part of a four-movie Hitchcock set. Buy Vertigo.
CANONICALLY WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
This section will no longer be updated regularly. Instead, we direct you to our new “Repertory Cinemas Near You” page. This week, we added Indiana University Cinema to the list, as they’ve resumed live screenings and will feature The Blood of a Poet [Le sang d’un poète] (1930) as a companion to a lecture on the Surrealist photographs of Lee Miller (who also played the statue in Poet) on Sunday, Sept. 12. We will continue to mention exceptional events in this space from time to time.
FREE ONLINE WEIRD MOVIES ON TUBI.TV:
Gothic (1986): Read the Canonically Weird entry! Ken Russell‘s typically skewed take on the night Mary Shelley came up with the idea for “Frankenstein” is now listed as “leaving soon” on Tubi.tv (though we’ve noticed “soon” may mean months in Tubitalk). Watch Gothic on Tubi.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
Join us tomorrow at 10:15 PM ET on Netflix (via the Teleparty extension) for our screening of The Signal (2014). As always, look for the link to join around 10 PM ET here, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
And further down the road, we are planning a special screening of Strange Frame: Love & Sax (2012) with director G.B. Hajim on hand to answer your questions on September 18. The usual time, but this one will be hosted on Tubi.tv, so everyone can join in, no subscriptions required. More details this weekend.
Next week Shane Wilson reviews the cult classic Rock & Roll High School (1979), Giles Edwards takes on the Esperanto horror Incubus (1966), and Gregory J. Smalley finally gets around to the fourth installment of the second series of Evangelion: Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021). Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.