FanFare

In a future where the government records dreams and taxes them, a dream auditor gets caught up in the dreams of an aging eccentric.
posted by gauche on Feb 6, 2024 - 3 comments

A parallel universe. South Texas. A third border wall might be erected between the United States and Mexico, narcotics are legal and there’s a new contraband on the market: filtered animals―species of animals brought back from extinction to amuse the very wealthy. Esteban Bellacosa has lived in the border town of MacArthur long enough to know to keep quiet and avoid the dangerous syndicates who make their money through trafficking. But his simple life gets complicated after a swashbuckling journalist invites him to an underground dinner at which filtered animals are served. Bellacosa soon finds himself in the middle of an increasingly perilous and surreal journey, in the course of which he encounters legends of the long-disappeared Aranaña Indian tribe and their object of worship: the mysterious Trufflepig, said to possess strange powers.
posted by Literaryhero on Jul 19, 2023 - 3 comments

A maintenance man for a seedy motel embarks on a path of self-destruction through the alleyways of Chicago after he discovers and eats from a stash of powerful hallucinogenic worms. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jun 14, 2023 - 5 comments

Michael (Bryan Madorsky) is a young boy living in a typical 1950s suburbanite home... except for his bizarre and horrific nightmares, and continued unease around his parents (Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt). Young Michael begins to suspect his parents are cooking more than just hamburgers on the grill outside. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 22, 2022 - 7 comments

Robert the sentient tire rolls through the desert, using the power of his mind to make small animals -- and human heads -- explode. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 22, 2022 - 5 comments

Traveler Allan Gray arrives in the village of Courtempierre and takes lodgings in a small inn. Gray has a great interest in the supernatural, particularly vampires, and is barely settled in when he feels a sinister force descending upon him.
posted by johnofjack on Oct 8, 2022 - 1 comment

Old and decrepit Krank (Daniel Emilfork) has lost his capacity for dreaming and is attempting to fight death by stealing the dreams of children. Krank's cadre of cloned henchmen (all played by Dominique Pinon) snatch 5-year-old Denree (Joseph Lucien) to subject him to the horrific dream-retrieval process. The boy's father, One (Ron Perlman), the hulking strongman of a traveling circus, and his precocious 9-year-old friend, Miette (Judith Vittet), join forces to defeat Krank's minions and save Denree. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's macabre fairy tale. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jun 14, 2022 - 20 comments

A young boy who detests taking piano lessons, Bart (Tommy Rettig) has developed a deep suspicion of his strict instructor, Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried). When Bart ends up in a Seussian dreamworld, he must join with the local plumber to rescue his mom from Dr. T's clutches and stop his plan to force 500 boys to play a massive piano in perpetuity. A 1953 live-action musical from a screen play by Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel himself. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jun 10, 2022 - 12 comments

When Lucy, a caregiver, is assigned to the rich, but comatose Madame Jessel, she hatches a plan with two friends to find riches inside the house. [more inside]
posted by miss-lapin on Mar 11, 2022 - 5 comments

The episode where Ben Kingsley sings "When Doves Cry," and Ma (Jacki Weaver) tells Scotty Sholes (Hana Mae Lee) some (mis)information about mourning doves. Also, there's a switch-back Mexico double-cross, but it's not time for the yogurt phase yet.
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 10, 2019 - 0 comments

On Father's Day in Mexico, Pa has a classroom monologue ("A little bit about me, personally I own a helicopter, and, yeah, I'm a black belt in karate with red stripes for some secret shit I know"), and James guides Glenn out of the desert ("Left isn't west. Sometimes it is, I mean, but sometimes it isn't. Life taught me that.") We get some backstory from Sheriff Hector Contreras ("I'm gonna call you 'Speedy,' not for Speedy Gonzales 'cause that's not cool").
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 10, 2019 - 0 comments

Both versions are fantastic but Tim Meadows excels in the US version. The second US season just dropped. Any interest in a discussion or comparison of the two versions?
posted by jojo and the benjamins on Nov 28, 2018 - 1 comment

Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.
posted by Tabitha Someday on Aug 18, 2017 - 8 comments

Two parallel stories about people trapped in illogical endless spaces: two brothers and a detective locked on an infinite staircase, and a family locked on an infinite road...for over 35 years. Written and directed by Nihilist Arby's Isaac Ezban. Spanish language, currently on Netflix.
posted by fleacircus on Aug 11, 2017 - 8 comments

What is Comrade Detective? Is it a spoof of American cop dramas/anti-Communist propaganda? Perhaps it's someone's worst idea ever. [more inside]
posted by fiercekitten on Aug 10, 2017 - 9 comments

Set over the course of a weekend tournament for chess software programmers thirty-some years ago, COMPUTER CHESS transports viewers to a nostalgic moment when the contest between technology and the human spirit seemed a little more up for grabs. We get to know the eccentric geniuses possessed with the vision to teach a metal box to defeat man, literally, at his own game, laying the groundwork for artificial intelligence as we know it and will come to know it in the future. [more inside]
posted by fleacircus on Jun 10, 2017 - 3 comments

A group of soldiers in a small town on the Mekong River in northern Thailand are struck with a bizarre sleeping illness.
posted by naju on Nov 15, 2016 - 2 comments

In Andrei Tarkovsky's Russian-language masterpiece, a Stalker leads two men into the Zone – an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers – to find the Room, a place where it is believed one's secret hopes come true. Adapted by its authors from the book Roadside Picnic, Stalker (trailer) is a beautiful, ponderous, dreamlike film – one which, though difficult to summarize, commonly ranks among the greatest films of all time.
posted by churl on Jul 19, 2016 - 14 comments

The soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers becomes the prize in a fight between forces of God and the Devil. [more inside]
posted by naju on Sep 14, 2015 - 10 comments

Hey everyone! I've been flirting with the idea of getting together a Strange Art Club on Fanfare. [more inside]
posted by naju on Aug 3, 2015 - 51 comments

In a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a Christ-like character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment. Not available on Netflix, but it is available to rent on Amazon.
posted by ian1977 on Jun 29, 2015 - 5 comments

THE SPIRIT OF 99 VIEWING CLUB - An out of work puppeteer takes a menial job in a office on the 7 1/2 floor only to find a door leading inside actor John Malkovich's head, then things get strange. [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Oct 14, 2014 - 24 comments