Top 5

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Risselada — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:54:03 GMT

tmoney:

Weird movies huh? I must be so desenitized to weird films because all the time i recommend movies to people that i think are fantastic and they say "um it was weird."

So some genuinely strange films:

1. Julien Donkey Boy - A Dogme 95 film by Harmony Korine (sp?). Really strange.

2. Grey Gardens - A great cinema verite documentary about a mother and daughter who live alone as recluses in a crumbling mansion in the hamptons. I almost couldn't believe what i was seeing was real. Very eerie and bizzarre lives. Not a strange movie i guess just a bizzare story?

3. Un Chien Andalou - already mentioned

4. Meet The Feebles - Peter Jackson's R Rated muppets movie. A bunny with aids, a coke snorting walrus boss, a whore siamese kitten, a rat porn director (staring pornographic insects, etc), and hippopotamus nudity. Weird.

5. Palindromes - What? Todd Solandz making a wierd movie? Its phenomenal though.

Hey tmoney! Long time no see. Good to hear from you.

If you think Julian Donkey-Boy is strange I'm wondering if you've seen Korine's Gummo. I think that one is even a bit stranger.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

tmoney — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:02:00 GMT

Dr_Gor:

Peter Jackson gets a nod for some of his early work like Bad Taste and Meet The Feebles .

< GOR >

I also added Meet the Feebles. Just crazy. Bad Taste is fantastic. Especially when you watch the extra feature documentary how they made it with basically no money.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

tmoney — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:55:39 GMT

Weird movies huh? I must be so desenitized to weird films because all the time i recommend movies to people that i think are fantastic and they say "um it was weird."

So some genuinely strange films:

1. Julien Donkey Boy - A Dogme 95 film by Harmony Korine (sp?). Really strange.

2. Grey Gardens - A great cinema verite documentary about a mother and daughter who live alone as recluses in a crumbling mansion in the hamptons. I almost couldn't believe what i was seeing was real. Very eerie and bizzarre lives. Not a strange movie i guess just a bizzare story?

3. Un Chien Andalou - already mentioned

4. Meet The Feebles - Peter Jackson's R Rated muppets movie. A bunny with aids, a coke snorting walrus boss, a whore siamese kitten, a rat porn director (staring pornographic insects, etc), and hippopotamus nudity. Weird.

5. Palindromes - What? Todd Solandz making a wierd movie? Its phenomenal though.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

indieabby88 — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:34:45 GMT

I would put Dark City in a category with the other "weird" movies. It's not quite as bizarre as things like the cell (the plot is easier to follow, I think), but as far as concept and visual aspects are concerned, I'd say it's about on par with Gilliam (visually, not necessarily intellectually).

I watched Videodrome a while back. Holy crap. Weird movie. Weirder, even, than Existenz, and that shit was pretty nuts.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Smooth_J — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:16:08 GMT

stacey042:

Seeing as though many people listed movies that are decades old, I could understand why they'd be weird since they're from a different time era. However, I have to admit that the bulk of the movies I watched are mostly from after the '80s... So my movies might pale in comparison to a lot of the movies given here since they're more recent... but I just have two that I would classify as really weird:

The Cell (2000)

This movie was odd and randomly creepy. Maybe the weirdness stemmed from the fact that the plot was based around the mind of a psychopath, so it was bound to be twisted and "psychotic." I was actually pretty disturbed after subjecting myself to such a dark imagination taking place in someone's mind... Afterward, I just remember being like, "What the hell was that all about?" and then feeling like I had somehow polluted my mind because that was the first dark, abnormal movie I ever watched at the time.

I just watched that the other night, and I couldn't shake it off for a while...some of the images in the killer's head are so grotesque that they're almost assaults on the viewer. It goes overboard in a few scenes, but I guess that was some of the movie's appeal. Tarsem's visual style also adds some bizarrity to the experience...he seems to constantly quote from surrealist art, with his focus on things like desert sands and warped perspectives. However, this seems to be most of the film's allure, making it an example of a movie that draws you in with weirdness instead of repelling you.

I also watched Dark City a while ago...that was another weird one. I don't know if it's in league with some of the others mentioned on the list, but it is pretty strange.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

stacey042 — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:03:15 GMT

Seeing as though many people listed movies that are decades old, I could understand why they'd be weird since they're from a different time era. However, I have to admit that the bulk of the movies I watched are mostly from after the '80s... So my movies might pale in comparison to a lot of the movies given here since they're more recent... but I just have two that I would classify as really weird:

The Cell (2000)

This movie was odd and randomly creepy. Maybe the weirdness stemmed from the fact that the plot was based around the mind of a psychopath, so it was bound to be twisted and "psychotic." I was actually pretty disturbed after subjecting myself to such a dark imagination taking place in someone's mind... Afterward, I just remember being like, "What the hell was that all about?" and then feeling like I had somehow polluted my mind because that was the first dark, abnormal movie I ever watched at the time.

Silent Hill (2006)

Weird weird weird. Even more disturbing than just plain weird. It was gruesome, dark, graphic, sadistic, and it really held a perverted interest in gore. Awkward to sit through and watch certain scenes. I know this movie is based off a video game, but seriously it was weird. I didn't get it. I just thought there was too much dark interest in being gross and seeing people afraid, vulnerable and in pain...

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Dr_Gor — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:50:47 GMT

seely:

Nice choices... I sometimes forget that 'weird' was invented before 1995!

LonesomeRhodes:

The two Jodorowsky films which I have seen, El Topo and Holy Mountain, make David Lynch-type weirdness seem tame. I would include those two and Eraserhead as the three which leap to mind as incomprehensible (to me anyway). Without giving it much more thought, and probably just because Cronenberg deserves a mention in any category of wierdness, I'll round out the five with The Brood and his adaptation of Naked Lunch

As a guy who specializes in collecting the odd and unusual and WEIRD in the film world, I felt I must comment here. I have seen most of the movies mentioned above and I have Jodorowski's El Topo and The Holy Mountain as well as EVERYTHING by Lynch and Cronenberg and beyond in my collection. Some movies are SO weird (The Holy Mountain) that they just make NO sense at all and therefore have lttle or no entertainment value. However, some films can be completely weird AND highly entertaining as well! 2001 and Fantasia are excellent examples of this. I can't believe no one has mentioned the films of Ken Russel yet including Tommy , Altered States , The Lair of the White Worm and The Devils . Honorable mention should be given to John Waters with films such as Multiple Maniacs and Pink Flamingos . Peter Jackson gets a nod for some of his early work like Bad Taste and Meet The Feebles . Pink Floyd: The Wall and Flavia The Heretic get honorable mentions as well...

I know that is more than 5 but I was taking it easy on you guys... I could go on and on on this subject...

< GOR >

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

seely — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:05:01 GMT

Nice choices... I sometimes forget that 'weird' was invented before 1995!

LonesomeRhodes:

The two Jodorowsky films which I have seen, El Topo and Holy Mountain, make David Lynch-type weirdness seem tame. I would include those two and Eraserhead as the three which leap to mind as incomprehensible (to me anyway). Without giving it much more thought, and probably just because Cronenberg deserves a mention in any category of wierdness, I'll round out the five with The Brood and his adaptation of Naked Lunch

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

LonesomeRhodes — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:00:47 GMT

The two Jodorowsky films which I have seen, El Topo and Holy Mountain, make David Lynch-type weirdness seem tame. I would include those two and Eraserhead as the three which leap to mind as incomprehensible (to me anyway). Without giving it much more thought, and probably just because Cronenberg deserves a mention in any category of wierdness, I'll round out the five with The Brood and his adaptation of Naked Lunch

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

GradysGhost — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:10:33 GMT

seely:

Hm, so many of the ones I would pick have already been picked. Theres a few notables missing, however.

One of the all-time weirdest:

The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky (sp?) at his weirdest. I would try to explain it, but I'm not sure I can anymore. If you're interested, I reviewed it here.

Requiem for a Dream

Same director as Pi and the Fountain. The really trippy drug induced fantasies and hallucinations, plus the steady downward spiral of all the characters in this film make it a weird one.

Fantasia

Satan. Mickey Mouse. Pluto. Wizards. Demons. Nuff said.

Me and You and Everyone We Know

I saw this one twice and still can't really figure out quite what it is about. I've heard a wide range of theories. All I know is there is a 5 year old making out with a 35 year old woman, and he's obsessed with 'pooping back and forth forever'. Is it a metaphor? Is it funny? I don't really know.

Stranger than Fiction / The Science of Sleep

I don't know why, but I always think of these films together. Anyways, I think they both should be included on any 'weird' list. Both have pretty strange concepts that seem like they wouldn't work/be that interesting, but somehow both of them turned out to be good films--a big compliment to STF considering I don't like Will Ferrel as a rule of thumb. Both will definately mess with your mind a bit.

It's been ages since I've seen Fantasia, but I will vouch for The Science of Sleep and Me and You and Everyone We Know for being weird. Science of Sleep is such an amazing movie. Another thread around here somewhere spoke of Amelie as being a "gateway drug" to other foreign flicks. My brother has always adamently refused to watch foreign movies on the basis that he doesn't like to "read his movies." But he caught the last half of Science of Sleep and loved it. Something about how they keep switching between three languages for the entire film has this whirlwind effect that just sucks you up and moves you through the narrative, even when it's not so narrativey.

Stranger Than Fiction is a pretty good metafiction film, but as far as metafiction is concerned, I have to offer up a couple of Michael Haneke films, Cache and Funny Games. While neither of these movies might be considered "weird," they have a fourth-wall-breaking aspect that your average film doesn't. And that's the understatement of the century. Cache has some disturbing imagery at one point, which seems more gruesome than that of Funny Games, even though Funny Games is far gorier. I think it has something to do with the way Funny Games incorporates its violence, the way that the "bad guys" let you, the audience, know that you know what these games are all about, and you're used to it by now. It's quite convincing, which I guess is the true horror of the film.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

seely — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:35:16 GMT

Hm, so many of the ones I would pick have already been picked. Theres a few notables missing, however.

One of the all-time weirdest:

The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky (sp?) at his weirdest. I would try to explain it, but I'm not sure I can anymore. If you're interested, I reviewed it here.

Requiem for a Dream

Same director as Pi and the Fountain. The really trippy drug induced fantasies and hallucinations, plus the steady downward spiral of all the characters in this film make it a weird one.

Fantasia

Satan. Mickey Mouse. Pluto. Wizards. Demons. Nuff said.

Me and You and Everyone We Know

I saw this one twice and still can't really figure out quite what it is about. I've heard a wide range of theories. All I know is there is a 5 year old making out with a 35 year old woman, and he's obsessed with 'pooping back and forth forever'. Is it a metaphor? Is it funny? I don't really know.

Stranger than Fiction / The Science of Sleep

I don't know why, but I always think of these films together. Anyways, I think they both should be included on any 'weird' list. Both have pretty strange concepts that seem like they wouldn't work/be that interesting, but somehow both of them turned out to be good films--a big compliment to STF considering I don't like Will Ferrel as a rule of thumb. Both will definately mess with your mind a bit.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

1026nin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:19:23 GMT

I don't think many people have seen Phase IV (from 1974)

I thought that was a really weird one...

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

CaPeach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:14:12 GMT

All I wanted to do is relax and watch a movie I haven't seen yet. So I watched The Fountain . It was so weird, that the classic Carol Burnett bewildered look was on my face and had to be messaged out. Hugh Jackman 's performance was so intense that slimy spit came out of his mouth when he got angry. That's when I blinked the 3rd time.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Risselada — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:06:20 GMT

TheWorkingDead:

Risselada:

I'm just realy surprised that nothing by Alejandro Jodorowsky has been mentioned. Surely he must trump even Lynch, and certainly some of the kind of midly weird not not THAT weird folks like Gilliam or Junet.

Well, c'mon then, you can't just dismiss our choices as 'not weird enough' and not put up any of your own choices. Educate us.

Well, the only one of his movies I've seen is Fando and Lis. I've seen clips of his other films though, and they all look even weirder. I'm kind of scared frankly. Before seeing Fando and Lis I thought I might like them. Now after seeing that and hearing some interviews from the man, I think I would just find them strange but not necessarily good. I don't know how much I would read into them I mean, or how much stock I would take in their view of the universe.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

indieabby88 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:09:17 GMT

Smooth_J:

Surreal, absurd, disturbing, or just plain strange movies. I got this idea from a discussion on IMDB, and I believe some movie website or magazine released a list of the top 20 a while back. In terms of overall weirdness, here it goes:

1. Un Chien Andalou

The old Bunuel-Dali collaboration. This had me at the part where the eye gets sliced with a razor-blade. It is quite possibly one of the most disturbing images I have ever seen, and it was made in 1929. It is almost unsettlingly bizarre. This easily takes the cake at a whopping 16 minutes. Watching this film makes you realize how warped the human mind can be, and it's amazing. It is where every David Lynch film is originated, and really where the surrealist genre was created.

2. Eraserhead

Not much about this film can be explained that hasn't already been said a million times. It is adequate to say that never has anything like it ever been seen, and it began a long and illustrious career of nightmares and dreamscapes.

3. The City of Lost Children

This one is not quite surrealism, more like a plot-driven sci-fi nightmare that more than delivers on the absurdities. However, it also makes up for such strange detachment with likeable characters and genuine horror.

4. Brazil

Also one of my favorite movies, it is the crowned jewel of Terry Gilliam's catalogue. The way in which the dream sequences are paralleled by Lowry's just as bizarre existence makes this a masterpiece of surrealism.

5. So many to choose from!!!!!!

I can't pick this last one. So, I'll make a list of honorable mentions: Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive, Videodrome (and other Cronenberg), Dead Man, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits (and most other Gilliam), 2001, Donnie Darko, all of Guy Maddin's shorts (some of which aren't in the Spout database......), Pi.

Considering this is labeled "Top 5 Weirdest movies", I'm afraid to include 8 1/2, since it's not per se "weird", but more dreamy and surrealist, which does not necessarily mean weird in my book. All of the surrealist films I mentioned were really by-the-book WEIRD. Am I wrong here?

For some reason I don't like putting Giliam in the "weird" category, although I know his stuff generally is pretty off-the-wall. I grew up watching "Munchausen" and "Time Bandits," so I guess that kind of thing is just part of me.

I've been sporadically watching "Fantastic Planet" lately. Now that is a weird movie. It actually feels like I'm watching a feature-length Gilliam animation from the old Monty Python series.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Smooth_J — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:26:21 GMT

Risselada:

I'm just realy surprised that nothing by Alejandro Jodorowsky has been mentioned. Surely he must trump even Lynch, and certainly some of the kind of midly weird not not THAT weird folks like Gilliam or Junet.

I was thinking about mentioning him, but it may have been misleading considering I haven't seen anything by him yet. I've been eying up his box set for months now but have never got to buying it. From what I've heard, he takes the cake in this category.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Smooth_J — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:24:32 GMT

chrismorrell:

The thing i've found is that i want to watch this again and again,like Mulholland Drive.. I have seen "Inland Empire" three times but,it's just SOOO dark,that i am genuinely afraid of "going there"..Am i just a woos,or when the "actress" character finds herself in what looks quite a bit like "Henry's" corridoor ,and "confronts" the big Russian bloke..we get ,quite simply one of THE most grotesque and genuinely horrifying images EVER

Yeah, I'll have to agree with that. I was completely terrified both times I've watched it, and it's really almost too much to bear especially after going through the whole movie. Just when you think it can't get any worse, there's that final encounter in the corridor and it just completely blows your mind.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

TheWorkingDead — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:22:55 GMT

Risselada:

I'm just realy surprised that nothing by Alejandro Jodorowsky has been mentioned. Surely he must trump even Lynch, and certainly some of the kind of midly weird not not THAT weird folks like Gilliam or Junet.

Well, c'mon then, you can't just dismiss our choices as 'not weird enough' and not put up any of your own choices. Educate us.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

chrismorrell — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:06:05 GMT

Smooth_J:

TheWorkingDead:

Inland Empire

You had this as an honorary mention, and I'm putting it here because, well, it was the one time where David Lynch out-weirded me. I mean to say, I usually fall in love with all of his films and all of his surrealism, but Inland Empire kept shaking me loose faster than I could keep up with it.

I remember feeling like that after I watched it as well. It was the first Lynch film that I had felt oddly detached from, and I really didn't understand much of what was going on. It begins to make more sense after a second viewing, but it's still such a bizarre movie that it seems to me that really "getting" it means you partially know what's going on for about half of the movie.

The thing i've found is that i want to watch this again and again,like Mulholland Drive.. I have seen "Inland Empire" three times but,it's just SOOO dark,that i am genuinely afraid of "going there"..Am i just a woos,or when the "actress" character finds herself in what looks quite a bit like "Henry's" corridoor ,and "confronts" the big Russian bloke..we get ,quite simply one of THE most grotesque and genuinely horrifying images EVER

Chris Morrell

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Risselada — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:16:16 GMT

I'm just realy surprised that nothing by Alejandro Jodorowsky has been mentioned. Surely he must trump even Lynch, and certainly some of the kind of midly weird not not THAT weird folks like Gilliam or Junet.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

joem18b — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:26:09 GMT

i watched Summer Love the other day. It's a Polish spagetti western and truly one-of-a-kind weird.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

Smooth_J — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:05:53 GMT

TheWorkingDead:

Inland Empire

You had this as an honorary mention, and I'm putting it here because, well, it was the one time where David Lynch out-weirded me. I mean to say, I usually fall in love with all of his films and all of his surrealism, but Inland Empire kept shaking me loose faster than I could keep up with it.

I remember feeling like that after I watched it as well. It was the first Lynch film that I had felt oddly detached from, and I really didn't understand much of what was going on. It begins to make more sense after a second viewing, but it's still such a bizarre movie that it seems to me that really "getting" it means you partially know what's going on for about half of the movie.

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

leeroy711 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:43:30 GMT

Smooth_J:

Considering this is labeled "Top 5 Weirdest movies", I'm afraid to include 8 1/2, since it's not per se "weird", but more dreamy and surrealist, which does not necessarily mean weird in my book. All of the surrealist films I mentioned were really by-the-book WEIRD. Am I wrong here?

I wouldn't put 8 1/2 on the list, but possibly Fellini Satyricon (1969).

Re:Top 5 weirdest movies

TheWorkingDead — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:34:32 GMT

Gozu/Izo:

I know, I'm cheating by putting two films on here in one spot, but I can't decide which is weirder, and they're both by Takashi Miike. So if you're #5 spot can contain a whole list of movies, than I can include one tie. Gozu is a weird road trip as a yakuza tries to find and dispose of the body of his mentor in the weirdest small town this side of Twin Peaks. A man who collects the skins of dead Yakuza members for their tattoos, a woman who runs an inn and sells her breast milk to the town, and a giant minotaur demon are only three of the increasingly strange people he runs into. Izo is the tale of one man's rampage as he kills his way towards heaven, moving through time and space with every camera angle. There is not one 5 minute stretch of the film that takes place in one time period, and often past and future exist in the same setting. And, I have to be uncool and admit, I don't understand a lick of it.

Inland Empire

You had this as an honorary mention, and I'm putting it here because, well, it was the one time where David Lynch out-weirded me. I mean to say, I usually fall in love with all of his films and all of his surrealism, but Inland Empire kept shaking me loose faster than I could keep up with it.

Soul Vengeance

A pimp goes to prison, and while he probably deserved it for other crimes, he was basically railroaded by a racist cop(who tries to castrate him), judge and legal system. After he gets out of prison, he wreaks vengeance on those who wronged him by strangling them with his penis, which he discovered how to grow to a length of several yards. Seventies blacksploitation at it's craziest.

The Monkees Head

This movie is surprising even to the people who appreciate the surrealism and subversiveness of the Monkees TV show. For a band put together as a spoof, and mainly for commercial purposes, this movie is blisteringly anti-corporate. Wacky and silly like the show, but without the humor(intentionally so), with a script co-written by Jack Nicholson, Head is stranger than you could imagine. With some of the greatest music the Monkees ever produced, and a very funny Frank Zappa cameo. Watch it and marvel at what a G rated movie USED to be.

Riget I & II

Maybe this is cheating as well, since it's a Danish miniseries and it's technically two movies, but this deserves mention. There are certainly more surreal and bizarre things out there, but this one covers so much ground in it's run. You need only to watch it and witness Udo Kier's introduction to the series(towards the halfway point) to see that this movie deserves it's inclusion. A series about a haunted hospital that is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and the only downside to it is that they will never finish the series as many of the principal cast members died after the second miniseries aired. There was an american remake, Kingdom Hospital, but it is no overstatement to say that it was a travesty on all accounts.

Top 5 weirdest movies

Smooth_J — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:01:33 GMT

Surreal, absurd, disturbing, or just plain strange movies. I got this idea from a discussion on IMDB, and I believe some movie website or magazine released a list of the top 20 a while back. In terms of overall weirdness, here it goes:

1. Un Chien Andalou

The old Bunuel-Dali collaboration. This had me at the part where the eye gets sliced with a razor-blade. It is quite possibly one of the most disturbing images I have ever seen, and it was made in 1929. It is almost unsettlingly bizarre. This easily takes the cake at a whopping 16 minutes. Watching this film makes you realize how warped the human mind can be, and it's amazing. It is where every David Lynch film is originated, and really where the surrealist genre was created.

2. Eraserhead

Not much about this film can be explained that hasn't already been said a million times. It is adequate to say that never has anything like it ever been seen, and it began a long and illustrious career of nightmares and dreamscapes.

3. The City of Lost Children

This one is not quite surrealism, more like a plot-driven sci-fi nightmare that more than delivers on the absurdities. However, it also makes up for such strange detachment with likeable characters and genuine horror.

4. Brazil

Also one of my favorite movies, it is the crowned jewel of Terry Gilliam's catalogue. The way in which the dream sequences are paralleled by Lowry's just as bizarre existence makes this a masterpiece of surrealism.

5. So many to choose from!!!!!!

I can't pick this last one. So, I'll make a list of honorable mentions: Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive, Videodrome (and other Cronenberg), Dead Man, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits (and most other Gilliam), 2001, Donnie Darko, all of Guy Maddin's shorts (some of which aren't in the Spout database......), Pi.

Considering this is labeled "Top 5 Weirdest movies", I'm afraid to include 8 1/2, since it's not per se "weird", but more dreamy and surrealist, which does not necessarily mean weird in my book. All of the surrealist films I mentioned were really by-the-book WEIRD. Am I wrong here?