All posts by Gregory J. Smalley (366weirdmovies)

Gregory J. Smalley founded 366 Weird Movies in 2008 and has served as editor-in-chief since that time. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, and his film writing has appeared online in Pop Matters and The Spool.

POD 366: WORK, LOVE OF WORK, AND LOVE FOR “LOVE AND WORK”

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Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Love and Work (2024): Interview with director and cast begins. In an alternate reality, work is illegal, and a network of underground workers seek clandestine employment. This thought-provoking experiment is currently on the festival circuit; we’ll update when it becomes more widely available. No official site.

Archangel (1990): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! A remastered version of Guy Maddin‘s sophomore film, an amnesiac early talkie about soldiers fighting a war that they don’t know is over. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes with a new commentary track from Maddin. Buy Archangel.

Epic of Gilgamesh (2024): Discussion begins. surprises with a previously unannounced, feature-length A.I. generated movie on YouTube. It’s an Expressionist version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Watch the entire thing here (or the family-friendly, safe-for-work version here).

Frogman (2023): Discussion begins. A deadpan found-footage spoof about a documentarian searching for the elusive cryptid known as “Frogman.” Released a few weeks ago on VHS as a gimmick; now for purchase or rental on Google Play or Vudu, other outlets coming soon.

Moon Garden (2022): Discussion begins. Read Giles Edwards’ Apocrypha Candidate review. A esque fantasy about a little girl in a coma who voyages through a disturbing dream world, trying to find her way back to reality. Now on Blu-ray with a bonus short film, deleted scene, and “making of” doc. Buy Moon Garden.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest to announce on next week’s Pod 366 at this time. On YouTube, Pete Trbovich has his next Weird View Crew lined up, and it’s another “bad” one (that’s ‘s 1967 transgression, Bad). In written reviews, Shane Wilson gives his take on Poor Things (wonder why?); from Fantasporto, Rafael Moreira reports on ‘s latest, Shadow of Fire; and Giles Edwards takes on one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006). And of course, on Sunday, March 10, we announce 2023’s Weirdcademy Award Winners: if you haven’t voted yet, this is your last chance! Feature ballots here, shorts here. Onward and weirdward!

APOCRYPHA CANDIDATE: DAY OF THE WACKO (2002)

 Dzien swira

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Recommended

DIRECTED BY: Marek Koterski

FEATURING: Marek Kondrat

PLOT: An easily irritated Polish teacher with OCD spends a long day in increasingly surreal, comic situations.

Still from Day of the Wacko (2002)

WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE APOCRYPHA: This cult Polish comedy is a long shot for consideration among the weirdest of all time, but it does offer numerous imaginary sequences, a uniquely cynical perspective, and a scene where the main character complains, “where are all these weird people coming from?”

COMMENTS: Day of the Wacko’s Adas Miauczynski is a comic creation who transcends cultural boundaries. Perpetually annoyed, he strides through Warsaw like a Polish Basil Fawlty, arguing with noisy neighbors, defecating on their lawns, and sending a crippled lapdog flying over a hedge with a swift kick. He’s no role model, but his take-no-guff attitude is perversely appealing; his misbehavior allows the audience to live out a fantasy of taking out their frustrations on annoying urbanites. But while Adas’ antics are vicariously satisfying, the film never loses sight of how utterly miserable the man really is. The first twenty minutes or so show him engaged in his obsessive morning rituals, which involve him washing up and making coffee, always using multiples of seven. He’s the kind of sad sack who, when he finally meets a dream lover in a fantasy sequence, immediately begins worrying about how he’ll be able to get rid of her. And his final monologue as night falls over his apartment block is utterly despairing, tonally inconsistent with the foregoing comedy, and yet somehow not at all out-of-character.

The movie is essentially plotless, showing Adas mucking his way through various social disappointments over the course of a long day. After completing his persnickety ablutions and raging at his noisy neighbors, he gets peeved and walks out of the poetry class he’s teaching; visits his mother, ex-wife, and son, all of whom disappoint him to various degrees; putters about attempting to complete errands; tries to take an afternoon nap just as a wandering minstrel decides to stroll by with an accordion; and decides to take a trip to the beach, where he falls asleep and dreams about death. These adventures are peppered throughout with little fantasy sequences and skits: snippets of the serene-but-constantly-interrupted poem Adas tries vainly to compose, a TV ad for dildos. The satirical material aimed at millennial Polish audiences may go over your head: for example, a scene where various factions tug at a medieval flag, which rips apart and bleeds. The film occasionally looks like it was shot on video, and the fantasy sequences lack visual fireworks, but the imagery isn’t really the thing here: it’s all about Kondrat’s peeved performance, which keeps you watching to see what outrage he will suffer, or commit, next.

Marek Kondrat plays the role of Adas Miauczynski in two other Koterski films, Dom wariatów (1985) and Wszyscy jestesmy Chrystusam (2006). Cezary Pazura played the same character (although named “Adam” instead of “Adas”) in Nothing Funny (1995) and Ajlawju (1999), and at least one other actor has portrayed Miauczynski at a different stage in life. Like Mick Travis in ‘s movies, there is little narrative or stylistic continuity between the various Miauczynskis; Wszyscy jestesmy Chrystusam, for example, seems to be an earnest drama about alcoholism, and in another, the character is described as a film director rather than a teacher. Other than Nothing Funny and Wacko, none of the Miauczynski movies appear to have been translated into English. Wacko is the most universally praised.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“A nonstop screwball screed against the multitude of perceived indignities in contempo Poland… sheer chutzpah alone should propel this unique item to brave fests and perhaps a bit of business.”–Eddie Cockrell, Variety (contemporaneous)

(This movie was nominated for review by “haui.” Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)