Sedmikrásky (AKA Daisies) 1966

Ahhh, Sedmikrásky (probably better known as its Americanized title Daisies), a delightfully weird and kitschy romp of an adventure about two girls named Marie who decide that the world is bad so they should be bad too. There's obviously some subtext to this movie, but I think Daisies' most endearing quality is that it's just fun to watch these two women and their wacky misadventures. Thrown in some ahead of its time experimental film techniques and all around surrealism and you've got one heck of a Czech Feminist art film. I'm not all too familiar with the Czech new wave that Sedmikrasky was right in the middle of, but this definitely makes me want to check out more of them. It's girl power wrapped up in social and political commentary with a sweet sugary shell and psychedelic colors - Perfect for a fun, light-hearted evening. If you're at all interested in experimental art films and haven't seen Daisies yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Directed by renowned Czech filmmaker Vera Chytilová, Sedmikrasky is awesome and definitely worth your time (and yes, the DVD does have English subtitles).

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Funky Forest: The First Contact (Naisu No Mori)

Naisu No Mori (AKA Funky Forest: The First Contact): Cult-favorite director Katsuhito Ishii (The Taste of Tea, Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl) teams up with the talented Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI to create a visually inventive masterpiece! Funky Forest is full of hilariously wacky and strange characters that takes you on an incredibly odd cosmic journey.

The story of Funky Forest centers around three unpopular brothers, Masaichi, Masaru and Masao, who are trying to be popular with the ladies, without much luck. But they finally get a chance to have a co-ed picnic with some sexy young women, and wacky hijinks enuse. With 21 surreal, free-associative stories ranging from a nonsense "sci-fi" comedy to a dance battle daydream, Funky Forest: The First Contact will challenge your mind and melt logic, as its unique characters find themselves in bizzare dimensions way past our imagination. Among many standouts, there's a very weird scene involving a guy in a yellow Teletubbie suit with a very long yellow penis that is as iconic as it is creepy and weird.

If I had to compare Funky Forest: The First Contact to another movie, I'd say that it probably most closely resembles Citizen Dog, although the two films really are nothing alike. To be honest, I don't think there are too many other films out there that are similar to Funky Forest: The First Contact, if any. It's truly a unique and mind-bending experience, the kind of which you can only get from Japanese cinema. Check it out!

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Hausu / House - Japan 1977 (Free Online!)

It wasn't too long ago that I first watched Hausu (apparently the official title is actually "House", but there are so many other movies named "House" already and "Hausu" sounds cooler, so I'm just going to refer to it as Hausu), and my mind is still officially blown. I'll spare you a full review on it because I doubt I could ever adequately describe what it's like to experience this movie in words, and any attempt would only result in a near-endless stream of adjectives mashed up with the incomprehensible gushing and screaming of a tweenage girl at her first flavor-of-the-month heartthrob pop-idol concert. Plus, I'm lazy. But I will say this - This is one of the craziest, most unique, wildly imaginative movies I've ever seen. Hausu is easily the best Japanese horror film EVER MADE, hands down - nothing can compare to the sheer lunacy of this movie. Nothing! I now need to rearrange my "Top 10 Greatest Films of All-Time" list to accomodate for this new bit of mind-bending awesomeness...

Unfortunately, the movie has never officially been released with English subtitles - No DVD, no VHS, no VCD, no Betamax... From what I've read online, apparently Criterion picked up the distribution rights awhile ago and are currently sitting on them. If ever there was a movie that I'd be willing to pay Criterion's ridiculously high asking price for, this would be it.

*UPDATE: It's been released on DVD now. Very high quality release too. Check it out on Amazon

*(UPDATE: This paragraph is no longer relevant, disregard) And now the good news: the whole film (with subtitles) is available on Youtube, so you too can watch it for the low, low price of $0! That's right - an essentially weird, amazing movie is just sitting here on the internet waiting for you to watch it free of charge! Here's the necessary link:

*NO LONGER AVAILABLE* - Sorry

Here's the trailer (which doesn't really do the movie justice, by the way):



You can thank me later...