Undoubtedly one of the strangest films to ever emanate from a Hollywood studio is finally out on DVD this week. Jonathan Livingston Seagull left critics crying foul when it opened in 1973, with Roger Ebert acknowledging that he walked out on the film after 40 minutes due to its generally insufferable quality. The problem may well have been the source material: the novel was written by Richard Bach, a New Age guru who also wrote a how-to-live bible called Illusions (he penned the kind of crap that Oprah champions).

The story of our hero, Jonathan, is that he’s a seagull who wants to be more, to do more, to rise above his mere existence as a bottom-feeding gull. It’s the Little Engine That Could story, but in bird form. If you can make it past the early parts, the latter part of the film gets even stranger (pot helps), when birdy ascends higher and higher into the stratosphere, in an effort to reach a higher plane of existence—here, special effects have Jonathan flying around to a multi-coloured background. In its favour, Jonathan Livingston Seagull does offer some stunning cinematography. And it did receive awards for its soundtrack, written and sung by the only person I could imagine writing and singing a soundtrack for this movie: Neil Diamond.

Though it tanked, and even Bach distanced himself from Seagull when it came out, one cannot forget these immortal words of wisdom, uttered by Jonathan L. Seagull at one crucial juncture in the film: “I only wish to share what I’ve learned: the very simple fact that it is right for a gull to fly!” Jesus H. Christ, who sold the bad acid?

In other loopy DVD news, Mr. Brooks is now out. This is a film in which William Hurt plays Kevin Costner’s serial-killer conscience, and Demi Moore is the multimillionaire cop pursuing them. The film prompts one nagging question: were they playing this straight, or with irony?

by MATTHEW HAYS