When I got my Entertainment Weekly Fall Movie Preview in the mail the other day, I was excited to see that Anthony Hopkins' Slipstream was to be released October 26. But the film, which is Hopkins' debut as a screenwriter (he has directed before), didn't seem to have a distributor. Well, now it has one, but it's a bit smaller than I would have expected or hoped. Strand Releasing picked up domestic rights and will give the film a limited release on the date given by EW. The real exposure will apparently come with video, as Sony will put out the DVD sometime (probably early) next year. Hopkins recently won directing and acting honors for Slipstream at the Locarno International Film Festival, but the film is supposedly not even worthy of theatrical distribution. Variety's review from Sundance says, "without the name of Hopkins and those of cast members mixing usually reliable stars and actors, project would be commercially DOA; only a minuscule theatrical window seems possible, with most curiosity seekers wading through the undoubtedly extras-filled DVD."

Well, call me one of the curiosity seekers. Slipstream, which co-stars Christian Slater, John Turturro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jeffrey Tambor and Camryn Manheim, is described by Hopkins as "a comedy of the absurd," and that is actually good enough for me. Of course, mainstream audiences don't share the same interest in weird stuff, so I guess the small release is fair. Another thing that doesn't really appeal to normal moviegoers is films about filmmaking, and Slipstream is set in the movie biz. It follows a screenwriter (Hopkins) working on a murder-mystery who has trouble discerning the difference between the real world and the one he's written. According to the Hollywood Reporter synopsis, "his brain begins to implode, captured in the film through a nonlinear, hallucinogenic narrative." I can't wait, even if it is as bad as they say.