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What is the strangest theater released movie you've watched all the way through? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 hours ago by setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world to c/movies@lemmy.world

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Obviously there's lots of weird trash in the direct to VHS/DVD/streaming ecosystems, but when it comes to something that actually got a first run theater release, what is your strangest?

For me, it's Southland Tales. I actually kind of love this movie but it's difficult to recommend because people you recommend it to might not look at you the same afterwards. The cast is positively stacked with big names, the movie looks great, and there's a fantastic and really sad musical number half way through. This is the only movie that has truly captured the vibe of reading the biblical book of Revelation in that it's making you go "wait, what?" every five minutes as it spirals into either intensely meaningful imagery or schizophrenia manifest on 35mm.

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[–] GiantRobotTRex@lemmy.today 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

The first two that come to mind are Titane and Moebius.

I went into them both mostly blind and loved them both! If you like dark and strange movies, I would strongly recommend them.

Edit: I just remembered the Takashi Miike films Gozu, Visitor Q, and The Happiness of the Katakuris which I believe all had brief theater stints.

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

See, I liked Southland Tales, too.

But, for me, and I've seen some pretty strange theatre releases:

Baise-Moi (2000): It was banned, for glaringly obvious reasons. But, the theatre got an injunction and we went to one of the only showings.

Happiness (1998): Todd Solondz makes everything awkward.

The Cell (2000): Tarsem's Jennifer Lopez starring sci-fi mind trip.

House of 1000 Corpses: Rob Zombie. I'm not a horror-movie person, yet, somehow, I saw this.

하녀 (The Housemaid, 2010): one of the wildest endings I have ever witnessed. Bar none.

Irreversible (2002): My first film by Gaspar Nöe.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990): This is what happens when you can make literally whatever you want. And, you're one of Japan's greatest filmmakers.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 44 minutes ago)

I just watched Zardoz with Sean Connery last night. I'm pretty sure it got a mainstream release back in 1974. My buddy described it as "an acid-trip."

[–] 1hitsong@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Kung Pao: Enter the Fist

I've never seen sooo many people walk out of a theater before.

[–] Epp@lemmus.org 4 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 55 minutes ago) (1 children)

One of my favorite! I quote it near daily. (Also, it's Kung Pow: Enter the Fist)

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

I can't purchase any nuts without saying/thinking "that's a lot of nuts!" to this day.

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 3 points 2 hours ago

The Room

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Asteroid City.

WTH was that even?

If you haven't seen this movie... Run! Save yourself!

[–] gothic_lemons@lemmy.world 1 points 18 minutes ago

By Wes Anderson? It was amazing

[–] WhiteRice@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Freddy Got Fingered, my mom took me. OMG.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Tom greene was millennial tiktok.

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago

Dude invented a whole genre of comedy.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Fantastic Planet.

Ever since watching that, I immediately think everything I watch/play that is super weird must be French. And a lot of the time, that ends up being true. 🤣

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 10 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The Gods Must Be Crazy

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

I love this movie. It's one of the few we had on VHS in my house growing up.

[–] HoneyMustardGas@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller version) 2013. It is also my favorite movie. It is strange because the whole movie or most of it is his imagination.

[–] jqubed@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Have you ever read the original story?

[–] HoneyMustardGas@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

No, didn't know there was one. I will check it out.

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The Greasy Strangler

[–] GiantRobotTRex@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Did you like it? Someone suggested it and I've been meaning to watch it but haven't gotten to it yet

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 49 minutes ago

If you like b rate cringe movies. I thought it was freaking hilarious but i seem to like really terrible movies.

[–] Gerudo@lemmy.zip 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Upstream Color. I was so hyped for the 2nd feature from the director of Primer, that I went to a premiere with Shane doing a QnA at the end. Despite him talking about it, I have no idea what the movie was about, and I have yet to figure it out. It was more like an experimental film student thesis than a movie.

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Saw this. Liked it. Not as much as Primer, but still, it was good to me.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 8 hours ago (5 children)

2001: A space Odyssey.

Probably the weirdest mainstream movie I’ve seen. It was bloody awful, too. Perhaps it’s not fair, because I watched it on an airplane, because apparently some people like it. It’s an absolute trip, about 5 lines of dialogue in the whole thing and about 90 minutes of content that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

I’m sure there’s other movies that are weird (and many that are bad) that I’ve seen but this one sticks in my memory.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

I've made a concerted effort to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey two or three times and I have yet to successfully make it through the entire opening scene let alone the entire move.

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago

See, to me, "thems fightin' words."

Well... Not actually. More, like, I'll plead a case.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968!) will always be one of my favourite film experiences because it is epic AND subtle. Arrival (2016) comes close, as do Her (2013) and Advantageous (2009).

It spans eons, megaparsecs, and bends the concept of reality itself. Meanwhile, it's also two guys on a ship with a talking computer. Some neat camera tricks and big scale sets. Some very creative storytelling and a reminder that we're sophisticated monkeys compared to a, potentially, cosmic-level intelligence.

Imagine Bezos or Musk digging up a 4 billion year old alien data center on the moon — one that pointed to Jupiter. What would follow would be, exactly, 2001. Everyone involved in a slipshod attempt to fly to Jupiter would die. Everyone. The AI would kill them all.

Also, note: the sheer impact a single secret has on an Artificial Intelligence system. And to top it off, a single, poorly told lie.

This film made me love film.

[–] bigbangdangler@reddthat.com 3 points 5 hours ago

It's made to be artsy more than it's made to be entertaining. I think that's what makes it a polarizing film.

Those bits that should have "stayed on the cutting room floor" are all shot and framed in a spectacularly consistent and artistically pleasing way. If you're the type that enjoys video essays on blocking, you probably love 2001. If not, it's likely not your movie.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 12 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Perhaps it’s not fair, because I watched it on an airplane

I genuinely can't think of a worse movie to try and watch on an airplane.

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 3 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Snakes on a Plane? Alive?

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Along this thread, Flight.

My partner will never forgive me for showing her the inversion scene a week before we had 13 h of flying to do to get home from one of the Gulf States.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Snakes on a Plane

I consider this part of a genre of cynically made movies that rely on a great poster and catchy premise to get butts in seats, and then the movie itself is just sort of slapped together. It's what I imagine has dudebros telling eachother is "Dude this movie is soooo crazy."

[–] ccunning@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

People love it so much - I think I’ve only once made it past the first 25 minutes until the first spoken dialogue without falling asleep…

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I fell asleep and woke up 20 min later nothing had happened. I know this because the poor sod in front of me was also watching it, about 45 min behind and I glanced over a few times to see if I’d missed anything.