February @ 366 Weird Movies: FORBIDDEN ZONE, JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA, more!

[Rev. Powell]

FORBIDDEN ZONE (1982): Certified Weird! "At times the misguided attempts at creating a live-action cartoon (which somewhat explains the ignorant use of blackface for one of the characters) and obvious obsession with breasts and putting men in drag betray the juvenile tendencies of the screenwriters, but such factors also contribute to the film’s perverse appeal, along with the scattershot narrative that keeps the audience guessing and questioning."-AK

LUST IN THE DUST (1985): "The idea of Paul Bartel, fresh off the 'bad taste' cult hit Eating Raoul, directing Divine in a Western with 'Lust' in the title suggests a raunchy and outrageous movie that never materializes."

JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA (2005): "[David Soul] makes a very convincing Jerry Springer, whether he’s ignoring the demands of his conscience (in the shape of an “Inner Valkyrie”), recounting the true story of the real Springer’s liaison with a prostitute, or spouting empty platitudes in a desperate attempt to solve all the world’s problems—-and more importantly, to avoid the torments of Hell, which, as the Devil constantly reminds him, include anal rape with barbed wire."-OB

TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP (1926): "As for the Landon haters, unenlightened to the Tao of Langdon—they serve as proof that uninformed opinions simply do not count."-AE

[Rev. Powell]

Some catching up to do:

THE TIN DRUM (1979): Certified Weird! "...a comic nightmare about 'little people’s' acquiescence to Fascism in the 1930s and 1940s; as Germany goes insane, children refuse to grow up, eels breed in horse’s heads, and Santa Claus turns into the Gas Man."

VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970): Certified Weird! "...a Freudian version of 'Alice in Wonderland,' with the confusion of new hormones surging through the young heroine’s body coloring her encounters with a dark and fearful tinge: Valerie faces vampires and rapist priests instead of Alice's White Rabbits and Cheshire Cats."

BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1976): "...if you don’t mind watching something Ted Bundy probably masturbated to, then by all means, have at it."

KING KONG LIVES (1986): " Kong—who, you may recall, had been riddled with machine-gun bullets until, obviously dying, he fell off the World Trade Center—has been comatose, kept alive by a vast custom-built life-support system. Why? Don’t ask, and then you won’t mind when they don’t bother to tell you."-OB

WEIRDSVILLE (2007): "...if Satanists plagued by midgets and junkies sounds like your kind of scene, you’ll probably enjoy Weirdsville."

OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS (LIVE ACTION) (2012): "When we think back over the most memorable and influential (post-silent era) short films of all time, titles like 'Meshes of the Afternoon,' (1943), 'La Jetee' (1962), and 'Scorpio Rising' (1964) spring to mind. Naturally, none of these classics were acknowledged by the Academy, who instead consistently nominate competent but boring shorts that disappear into the mists of time."

LOST AND FOUND: THE HARRY LANGDON COLLECTION: "Langdon’s persona was only suited to the abstract plane that silent cinema offered."-AE

THE STRONG MAN (1926): "An endless staircase, an  imagined rape, and a shocking eyeful of a nude model sends Paul exit, stage left."-AE

[Rev. Powell]

Finishing off February:

DOGVILLE (2003): Certified Weird! "'Justine' acted out on the set of 'Our Town.'"

A LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY: THE UNTRUE STORY OF MONTY PYTHON'S GRAHAM CHAPMAN (2012): " Though not the funniest by a long stretch, Autobiography may be the most surreal project any Python was ever associated with, which is saying something in itself."

SHEITAN (2006): "This movie really hates young people, which is cool and all—hey, we all want those damn kids to stay off our lawns—but Sheitan goes just a little too far."

THE CHASER (1928): "A small slice of Langdon’s late 1920 audience had stayed with him. However, the site of the star in drag, mistakenly believing he has laid an egg and attempting suicide, rendered them aghast."-AE