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 at the official site links.
SCREENINGS – (Boston, MA, Coolidge Corner Theater, Fri., Sep. 9 (midnight):
El Topo (1970): Read the Certified Weird entry! It’s great to see Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s surrealist Spaghetti Western, the first midnight movie ever, back in regular rotation on late night screens across the country. El Topo at Coolidge Corner Theater.
SCREENINGS – (New York City, IFC Center, Sep. 9 – 15):
Fellini Satyricon (1969): Read the Certified Weird entry! IFC Center’s Federico Fellini retrospective rolls on with screenings of one of the maestro’s very weirdest, most self-indulgent experiments. Also screening on Friday and Saturday night at 11:20: Blue Velvet, a Certified Weird nightmare that is fast becoming one of IFC’s go-to midnight movies. Fellini Satyricon at IFC center.
SCREENINGS – (United Kingdom, multiple locations, beginning Sep. 9):
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976): Read the List Candidate review! Nicolas Roeg‘s weird sci-fi parable, starring David Bowie as an alien stranded on this planet, returns to cinemas in the UK this week in a new 4K restoration. The film’s out-of-print soundtrack was also released on Sept. 9, and there are promises of a new Blu-ray and DVD release on the horizon, plus future screenings in the USA. Unfortunately we haven’t located a site with the names and showtimes of the actual theaters, but you can read more at Bowie’s official site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) (Toronto, Canada, Sep. 8-18):
TIFF has become the North American destination for sub-blockbuster films and the most important marketplace for independent releases, including (occasionally) weird ones. It’s importance (if not its prestige) has surpassed Cannes and Sundance. We found a number of intriguingly bizarre nuggets hidden in TIFF’s massive film buffet, and that’s excluding shorts and movies (like Ana Lily Amirpour‘s post-apocalyptic cannibal satire The Bad Batch) that already debuted at other festivals. If we’re lucky, half of the potential gems listed below will emerge from this festival with reasonable distribution deals:
- Ayiti Mon Amour – Three stories intertwine in this Haitian magical realist fable: a teenager finds a superpower, a fisherman searches the sea for a cure for his wife’s illness, and a character tries to find its way out of the story an author is writing. Screening Sep. 10, 12, 13, and 18.
- Blind Sun – An immigrant house-sitter finds himself persecuted by authorities in the midst of a record-setting heatwave in this slow-burn psychothriller. Sep. 9, 14, 15, 17.
- My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea – A crudely animated story that literally describes the disaster of its title. Sep 11, 13 & 16.
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Attend a special, free 10th anniversary screening of the Certified Weird fantasy/war classic tomorrow, Sep. 10.
- Planetarium – A movie director seeks to exploit two psychic sisters (Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp) in between-the-wars Paris. Sep. 10,11 & 17.
- The Untamed – Mexican horror about an unhappy marriage and some sort of creature; programmers call it “uncompromisingly weird.” Sep. 13, 15 & 16.
- Weirdos – In 1976 two Canadian teens hit the road, accompanied by the ghost of Andy Warhol (who was still alive in 1976). True weirdos will catch it on Sep. 11.
- Yourself and Yours – A painter breaks up with his girlfriend but discovers multiple woman who look identical to her all around town. Korean. Sep. 13, 15, & 18.
Toronto International Film Festival official site.
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
Tale of Tales (2015): A triple fantasy of tales of three magical kingdoms; it’s sexy, it’s gory, and Salma Hayek eats a heart (which is both sexy and gory). Available on Blu-ray only, no DVD—is that an indication we’re coming to the Blu-standard tipping point? Buy Tale of Tales [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.