Strange, absurd and surrealistic movies

[TheEvilDoctor]

I mean movies like brazil, city of the lost children and even a clockwork orange. Movies that are about weird backgrounds and a strange plot, movies that are more of a visual 'experience' than something else.
I know only a few of this kind of movies and I would greatly appreciate any recommendations any of you would make :)

[FearlessFreep]

"Liquid Sky"

ugh..

"Nadja" is probably pretty close

[vuego]

You should of course try David Lynchs' masterpiece Eraserhead!
The twin of City of the Lost Children - Delicatessen is also entertaining.
And then there's Videodrome.
Also I liked Naked Lunch.

[odinn7]

Maybe "Repo Man" would fit in here also.

[Ronin47]

I just watched "Donnie Darko" again today - it had been a while.  Excellent movie, and one that I would definitely recommend from that genre.
_____________________________________________________________________



Post Edited (03-21-04 00:13)

[Neon Noodle]

12 Monkeys would do well on the list, since Terry Gilliam did Brazil

[Mofo Rising]

Well, if you enjoy movies like that you should hit up most movie by directors previously mentioned.  David Lynch you should know, Terry Gilliam you seem familiar with, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who directed CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and AMELIE, but also, unfortunately, ALIEN RESURRECTION).  Still, most of these movies are easy to find.

I would also like to recommend some weirder flicks.  GREASER'S PALACE, reviewed on this site, is one of the strangest things you will ever see.  If you can understand it, well, you are a better person than I.

But maybe that's not weird enough for you.  Remember those creepy puppet shorts on MTV in the 80's?  Well that was the Brothers Quay.  They've also directed a live action movie called INSTITUTE BENJAMENTA, which is weird as hell.  Not really all that deep, but one of the best visual experiences I've seen in a while.

I don't even want to go into the works of Jan Svankmajer.  That Alice in Wonderland thing he did was not pleasant to watch, I don't care what any of you say.

Or say you just want to get into some low-budget weird early 90's films.  If you can get your hands on THE DARK BACKWARD or RUBIN AND ED, well you've got yourself something.  I can't say what.  Get back to me when you've watched both of them back to back.

If you don't want to go that deep, just watch INTACTO.  I'm looking forward to talking to somebody about that one.

[eeeee5]

.  .  .  .  The 'qaatsi triumphert (what?) is purely visual, with a score (have only seen and own Koyaanisqaatsi).  Though it's pretty much a very different set of films to experience (no narrative really), but you may already know about them.

[Mr. Hockstatter]

Zardoz immediately springs to mind.   Some nice imagery at the beginning.  And some weird imagery throughout.

[Mr. Hockstatter]

Oh yeah, how could I forget - Pink Floyd's The Wall.  I think it's got enough of a plot to qualify as a movie.  Then there's Pink Floyd at Pompeii and Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains The Same.  Heavy Metal was pretty wild as well.

For regular movies, Time Bandits has some very cool stuff.  And there's some movie called Labrynthe with David Bowie.

[Ellie]

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas comes to mind.

[Ellie]

Oh..and Sleepy Hollow.

[raj]

Definitely Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam seems to have a liking for this type of movies.  There is also the Adventures of Baron Munchausen

[TheEvilDoctor]

Thanks. Keep them coming :)
I have seen the terry gilliam trilogy already btw, and the jeunet/caro trilogy too (I made a topic about it a while ago)
To be honest I have never heard of David Lynch but I'll find some of his stuff :)

[BoyScoutKevin]

Again, if I may be allowed to mention some of the films reviewed at this site.

For the villains: "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"

For the ending (the only one I still can't understand): "Cemetery Man"

For the hallucination and dream sequences: "Lair of the White Worm"

For it just being "bad": "Plan 9 from Outer Space"

For trying to do a "straight" western with an all-midget cast: "The Terror of Tiny Town"

For the whole film: "Wizards"

And since I mentioned the film with the most surreal ending, here is the film with the most surreal opening I have ever seen: "Titus." Based on Shakespeare's play, "Titus Andronicus."

And one other category, any film that tries to do it "straight," without a single adult in it. That would include the all-bird film "Bill and Coo" and the all-children, gangster musical "Bugsy Malone." Even, if the cars in the latter are pedal cars, and the Thompson submachine guns shoot not bullets, but whip cream.

And not a movie, but, a television show from Australia, the teen soap "The Tribe." Not an adult in the cast, but, the children doing everyting adults would do, including being seen in bed and in the hay together, bedhopping, and getting pregnant. One would never get away with that here in America.