In just a few hours, the telecast of the Oscars (or, as we refer to them, the “Weirdcademy Awards for squares”) will begin. We are happy to steal the Academy’s thunder by announcing cinema’s weirdest winners of 2019 now.
In the category of “Weirdest Short Film,” the winner is Nadia Lee Cohen for “Future Beach.”
In the category of “Weirdest Scene,” the Weirdcademy Award goes to The Lighthouse, for the final shot. Those who have seen it know that the scene elicited a lot of loud “WTF”s from the audience—even from those with a background in classical mythology. So we won’t spoil it for those who have yet to see the film. (The still below comes from the second-to-last-scene.)
In the category of “Weirdest Actress,” the Award goes to Aleksandra Cwen (below, left) in Hagazussa, as the creepy gal on the mountain who keeps mom’s skull on the mantle and masturbates around goats.
In the category of “Weirdest Actor,” the Award goes to Willem Dafoe, in The Lighthouse, for introducing himself with a fart and for starting his monologues with “Hark, Triton!”
https://youtu.be/C8yeo32thiI
And finally, the award for Weirdest Picture of 2019 goes to… drum roll… The Lighthouse, in a cakewalk.
Thanks to all voting members of the Weirdcademy, and see you again next year!
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Come to Daddy (2019): Read Giles Edwards’ review. This father and son reunion story is merely quirky up until “a plot spasm of strange violence brought the weird levels up to floodgate-breaking point.” No official site found, but director Ant Timpson posts info about the film on his Facebook page.
Horse Girl (2020): A mentally ill loner (Alison Brie) loses her grip as surreal dreams intrude on her waking life. Reviews are poor, but one bourgeois critic complained that it “gets weird for no good reason,” which sounds promising to us. In select theaters and debuting simultaneously on Netflix.
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951): The Flying Dutchman (James Mason) is doomed to sail the seas until he finds a woman willing to die for him; will femme fatale nightclub singer Pandora (Ava Gardner) be the one? This strange film—Surrealist Man Ray was on set as a photographer, and The New York Times said it has a “feverish, dreamlike quality“—is being re-released this week in a new 4K restoration. It appears to be playing at the Quad in NYC (other venues unknown), but will probably see another home video release soon.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
Brain Damage (1988): Read James Phillip’s “List Candidate” review. The Aylmer, a phallic creature who inserts a euphoric psychedelic directly into its (un)lucky host’s brain stem, comes to Blu-ray for the first time, accompanied by a horde of special features, courtesy of Arrow. Buy Brain Damage.
Evil Ed (1995): Read Pete Trbovich’s review. Another Arrow release; this splatter spoof was released on Blu-ray in 2017 in a lavish 3-disc set, but this single disc still has plenty of features and is a more affordable option. Buy Evil Ed.
CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.
El Topo (1970) / The Holy Mountain (1973) / Fando y Lis (1968) in the U.K. – We don’t generally list screenings outside of North America, but since we can provide our newly Brexited friends with a single link (courtesy of Arrow Video) to cover all of these Alejandro Jodorowsky re-releases, why not? We won’t be doing this every week, so bookmark it. This page details screenings of these three films as they are released all over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, from the current date through April. THE ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY TRIPTYCH.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: First up next week, we’ll announce the winners of this year’s Weirdcademy Awards on Sunday (before Hollywood even starts its Most Conventional Picture awards ceremonies). There is still plenty of time to vote (here for features, here for shorts). Even though is currently cleaning up in every category it was nominated in, the Weirdest Short race is still competitive, and the Weirdest Actress vote is, at the time of this writing, tied.
After the 2019 awards go into the books, it’s back to the grind as Pete Trbovich looks at the Conan the Barbarian/Mad Max mashup She (1984), Giles Edwards clears out another marginal reader request from the suggestion queue as he considers whether Earth Girls Are Easy should be apocryphized, and G. Smalley reports on the “new” David Lynch short, “What Did Jack Do?” Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
NEW ON HOME VIDEO:
“Boogiepop and Others: The Complete Series” (2019): A 2019 alternative to the 2000 anime series “Boogiepop Phantom,” about a mysterious angel of death; this one is animated by Madhouse (Satoshi Kon‘s old studio). Compared to the older series, these thirteen episodes (on one Blu-ray) cover some of the same territory, and some new side plots (both animes are sourced from an expansive series of fourteen short novels by Kouhei Kadono). Buy “Boogiepop and Others: The Complete Series”.
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971): A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown at a lake finds herself haunted by the undead. A surreal-ish, atmospheric budget horror with a misleading title and a small cult following. On Blu-ray from Shout! Factory with special features, including a director’s commentary. Buy Let’s Scare Jessica to Death.
Tammy and the T-Rex (1994): A mad scientist implants Tammy’s dead boyfriend’s brain into a Tyrannosaurus rex. This new release restores the gore that was cut from the original to qualify it for a PG-13 rating. Your choice of a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack or (for a little more moolah) a 4K HD disc. Buy Tammy and the T-Rex.
CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly or monthly screening near you.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: We’re fast approaching the final week of voting for the Weirdcademy Awards, and while holds a solid lead in most categories it was nominated in (ironically, its closest competition is in the Weirdest Picture category), the Weirdest Actress and Weirdest Short races are still in doubt. Vote away to your heart’s content (as long as your heart is content with casting one vote every 24 hours).
As far as what we’ll be adding to our massive weird online database next week: from the reader-suggested review queue, Giles Edwards investigates Mystery Men (1999), while Terri McSorley takes on Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971) (and gives you the scoop on Criterion’s massive Godzilla box set, to boot). G. Smalley will toss in a review of Noboru Iguchi‘s The Machine Girl (2008), specifically, the new “Jacked!” DVD release. Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Assassination 33 A.D. (2020): Islamic terrorists develop a time machine to go back to the Holy Land and assassinate Jesus Christ before he can be crucified; devout Christians rig up their own machine and race back to stop them. It all sounds, as Life of Brian‘s Pontius Pilate might say, “wisible.” Assassination 33 A.D. official site.
Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences (2020): Cory McAbee‘s movie apparently begins when a man approaches a robot at a party and discovers he must justify humankind. This has been in production for years, with McAbee publicly performing the character he plays in the movie (a singing New Age motivational speaker); it seems to be either finalized, or at least complete enough to release the teaser trailer below. Deep Astronomy and the Romantic Sciences official site.
Dunwich Horror (202?): Speaking of Color out of Space (above), SpectreVision has reportedly already greenlit another Richard Stanley Lovecraft adaptation. It’s “The Dunwich Horror,” about a mysterious monster sequestered in an Arkham farmhouse. There may be a third Stanley/Lovecraft movie after that (title not yet revealed). Stanley intends to connect the stories (slightly), in the trendy “extended universe” style. The news comes straight from Stanley via an interview with Rue Morgue magazine.
NEW ON NETFLIX:
“What Did Jack Do?” (2017): Detective David Lynch interrogates a monkey suspected of murder for 17 minutes. Netflix dropped this short, made for an art installation in 2017 and rarely screened since, as a surprise on Lynch’s 74th birthday. “What Did Jack Do?” on Netflix.
CERTIFIED WEIRD (AND OTHER) REPERTORY SCREENINGS:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: With the 2020 movie season yet to crank up, out writers will spend next week taking a crack at that massive (and actually still-growing) reader-suggested queue. To that end, look for reviews of Guy Ritchie‘s mystical gangster goof, Revolver; the sado-sexy Norwegian psychothriller Naboer (AKA Next Door); and Rian Johnson‘s high school noir, Brick. (There’s a common theme to these selections; does anyone see it?) At any rate, so as long as readers don’t add three new titles to the request queue next week, we will have whittled it down just a tad.
Meanwhile, you can continue voting for the 2019 Weirdcademy Awards, where currently has a big lead in every category it was nominated in (Weirdest Actress is a tighter race, and the Weirdest Short poll is still anyone’s game). Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs and Blu-rays (and hot off the server VODs), and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
My Hindu Friend (2015): A filmmaker, dying of cancer, is visited by death. Despite being made in 2015 and garnering festival awards for Willem Dafoe, the film was never properly released when director Hector Babenco died soon after making it (he survived cancer, then succumbed to a heart attack). Rock Salt Releasing is giving it a second life in specialty venues. My Hindu Friend official Facebook page.
The Wave (2019): Read our review. A corporate lawyer impulsively takes a mysterious drug that, among other disorienting effects, causes him to skip forward randomly in time. In select cinemas and contemporaneously out on video-on-demand; a physical media release should follow later in the year. The Wave official site.
FILM FESTIVALS – Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT, Jan 23-Feb 2):
The 2020 movie season will officially kick off with Sundance, where a hundred hopeful independent movies, including a few off-the-wall ones, come to vie for a handful of distribution contracts. In recent years, Sundance added the “Next” and “Midnight” screening sections to add some weirdness to the otherwise tame lineup of dramas about privileged white people and their problems. There is usually at least one memorably strange film that sneaks by the screeners: 2019 brought us the Groundhogian grief nightmare Koko-di, Koko-da. Here are a few titles we’ll be keeping our eyes on this year:
The Nowhere Inn – Singer St. Vincent creates a fictional documentary described as “distorted and bizarre” and slated for the Midnight category. Screens 1/25-26, 1/30-2/1.
Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia – Portmanteau feature centered around a Miami speedboat; it counts Swiss Army Man directing team Daniels among the contributors. On 1/26, 28-29, 31, or 2/1.
Wendy – Benh Zeitlin‘s second feature film comes 8 years after Beasts of the Southern Wild; it’s a retelling of Peter Pan set in Neverland and told from Wendy’s perspective. 1/26-28, 2/1-2.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). We’ll only list irregularly scheduled one-time screenings of this audience-participation classic below. You can use this page to find a regular weekly screening near you.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE: Before announcing next week’s lineup, we’ll remind you to vote in our 2019 Weirdcademy Awards poll (and also in the Weirdest Short Film of 2019 poll). These polls usually show some separation early, and this year it’s The Lighthouse that’s pulled far ahead in the Weirdest Actor and Weirdest Scene races, and also leading (though not necessarily dominating) the Weirdest Movie category. Weirdest Actress is still a contest, however, and Weirdest Short is anyone’s game. Polls close February 9.
Moving on, we’ll have a busy week of reviews next week as we give you the scoop on the highly anticipated Richard Stanley–H.P. Lovecraft–Nicolas Cage collaboration The Color out of Space. We’ll also have reviews of a couple of not-quite-as-fresh-but-still-newish offerings as El Rob Hubbard enters The Shasta Triangle and Shane Wilson finds I Lost My Hand. We’ll even throw in one from the reader-suggestion queue, as Giles Edwards celebrates the post-apocalyptic punk madness of Derek Jarman‘s Jubilee. That’s a pretty busy week for us. Onward and weirdward!
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that we have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
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