Finishing up the weirdest month...
SMASH CUT (2009): "Even with way too much eye shadow slathered on, crossover porn star Sasha Grey has a doll-like, almost unreal prettiness, but she comes from the Connie Mason school of emoting (there’s the mandatory H.G. Lewis reference for you). It’s amusing, in a schadenfreude sense, to watch the aspiring starlet monotone her way through Hamlet’s “poor Yorick” speech while holding a severed head; but wouldn’t be doing my critical duty if I didn’t advise readers that Grey keeps her clothes on at all times—that may be a deal-breaker for her hardcore fan base."
THE CASSEROLE MASTERS (200?): "These two short worthwhile segments, both animated, rescue
The Casserole Masters from the 'beware' rating it would otherwise earn. If I had tried to watch
Masters from the beginning, without being obliged to review it, I would have given up within five minutes, because the rest of the movie looks like home video of some Dadaist frat boys noodling around on a Saturday afternoon." NOTE: This movie is embedded on and off site for viewing in its entirety.
DEAD MAN (1995): Upgraded to Certified Weird! "In
Dead Man, a measured journey into an odd, somber, dark and funny wilderness of the spirit, Jarmusch created a myth with staying power. Filled with poetic images like Johnny Depp reclining with a slaughtered fawn,
Dead Man has proven a mysterious power to linger in the memory."
TOD BROWNING'S THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929): "Serious awkwardness mars this film, a product of the transition from silent film to the new, imposing medium of sound. Because of that awkwardness
The Thirteenth Chair is not Browning in his best form, but he still manages to make it a curiously personal, queer con."-AE