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.
Apocryphally Weird

66*. I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (2020)

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“And the sun flicks my eyes—
It was all a pack o’ lies!
I’m awake in a lonely room.

I ain’t gonna dream ’bout her arms no more!
I ain’t gonna leave her alone!
Goin’ outside,
Git myself a bride,
Git me a woman to call my own.”

–“Lonely Room,” Oklahoma!

DIRECTED BY:

FEATURING: , , , , Guy Boyd

PLOT: As a snowstorm approaches, a young woman travels for the first time with her boyfriend Jake to meet his parents, but inwardly she is struggling to work up the courage to end things between them. Strange things happen at Jake’s house: not only is his parent’s behavior awkward, but their ages change before her eyes. Meanwhile, the action frequently cuts to an elderly high school janitor as he makes his rounds; the third act will bring the couple into contact with him.

Still from i'm thinnking of ending things (2020)

BACKGROUND:

  • Based on Ian Reid’s 2016 psychological novel of the same name.
  • An early prestige property for Netflix, who gave it a limited theatrical release in 2020 to qualify for awards season, then kept it locked into their exclusive streaming service.
  • Several of the film’s monologues—including Buckley’s poem, her opinions on John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence, and Plemmons’ “acceptance” speech— are lifted wholesale from other people’s writings (“Bonedog” by Eva HD, Pauline Kael’s review, and A Beautiful Mind‘s Nobel speech, respectively).
  • The film-within-the-film, a romantic comedy credited to , is fictional. (Zemeckis is thanked in the credits for allowing his name to be attached.)
  • The end credits include a list of the various books, artworks, etc. referenced throughout the film.

INDELIBLE IMAGE: A cartoon pig leads a naked elderly man through the sterile hallways of a high school in the middle of the night. Bloody droplets drop from the animal’s underbelly, staining the newly-shined floor, as he plods along—maggots, he explains, as he is a maggot-infested pig.

TWO WEIRD THINGS: Ice cream in a blizzard; animated maggot-ridden pig leads naked man to awards ceremony

WHAT MAKES IT WEIRD: This labyrinth of awkward interactions, faulty memories, and uncertain identities may just be Charlie Kaufman’s most surreal film.

Original trailer for I’m Thinking of Ending Things

COMMENTS: Someone should take a pencil and catalog how many Continue reading 66*. I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (2020) →

Top 10 Lists

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2025: MAINSTREAM EDITION

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Will 2026 be the last year of cinema? Yes, if the prophets of the Netflixpocalypse are correct. But I’ll remain a contrarian on that score and suggest movies will continue on as they always have for the foreseeable future.

Here is my obligatory/traditional annual top 10 list of movies, ranked according to mainstream standards. In other words, weird movies are allowed on this list, but I attempt to rank the 2024 releases according to their general cinematic merit, intended for people who don’t specialize in the surrealer genres. We will announce our staff consensus top 10 weird movies of 2025 on this week’s Pod 366 released on Friday (print list to follow).

There are a fair number of films that might have made this list but for the fact that I didn’t have time to get to them in 2025, including, most notably, ‘s No Other Choice and Brazil’s international contender The Secret Agent. I expect to see them, and some other worthy movies I hadn’t considered, before awards voting season concludes in mid-January. Some of them may end up deserving inclusion here.

Before the official top ten starts, here are ten honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: Bad Guys 2, Boys Go to Jupiter, Companion, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle;  Eddington, Kill the Jockey, Reflection in a Dead Diamond, The Surfer, The Ugly Stepsister, and Warfare.

And now, the official list:

10. Paddington in Peru: Marmalade-loving bear Paddington travels to Peru to visit his Aunt Lucy, but when he arrives he discovers she has mysteriously disappeared, and he must venture into the Amazon jungle to find her. I don’t really care about the Paddington mythos or canon; I’m just here for the jokes, Olivia Colman as a guitar-playing nun, Antonio Banderas as a seedy riverboat captain and his own ancestors, and  references.

9. Sketch: Young Amber, being raised along with her brother by a single father after her mother’s death, draws pictures of monsters when she gets mad at people—but what will she do when the sketches come to life and start rampaging through town? Exceptional kids’ horror with comedy, kooky monsters, genuine suspense and scares, and a meaningful message that’s psychologically astute but simple enough for kid to grasp. Tony Hale is great as the bereaved father, and the kid acting is superior. Angel Films is a “faith-based” company (producers of the somewhat embarrassing Sound of Freedom, among others), but there is no preachiness (and scant religion) to be found here. Some people were turned off by the ad for a “Sketch” phone app that plays during the end credits, though.

8. Ghost Boy: A 12-year old boy develops a mysterious neurological condition that leaves him in a coma, then conscious but paralyzed and unable to speak; years later, he improves to the point where he’s able to use a speech computer to tell his story. This documentary begins as the ultimate real-life horror story about a man “marooned on the island of myself,” which makes Martin Pistorius’ eventual recovery emotionally profound. Director moves away Continue reading TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2025: MAINSTREAM EDITION →